We have changed the dates for CTC11.  It’ll now be on from Friday 23 evening to Monday 26 afternoon September 2011 (the last weekend of September).  For all the AFL fans out there, the Grand Final has now been moved to the 1st Saturday of October, so you’ll still be able to come along to Connect Training Conference without missing the Grand Final!

Peter Adam will be speaking on the theme ‘God’s word to God’s world’.  So mark your diaries now!  Registration for the conference will open very soon! Stay tuned…

On Behalf of the Connect Ministry, I would like to welcome Adam Ch’ng from SonLife Community Church as the Director of Promotions. Adam is a disciple of Jesus who shares Connect’s vision of seeing leaders raised in every generation who will grow the church and empower her for mission to reach Melbourne, Australia and the world with the gospel.  We’re all very excited that Adam is willing to serve the churches of Melbourne in this capacity and look forward to working with him closely.

Thank God for Connect Training Conference 2010 and thank-you for coming along to make it possible!

This year’s conference was bigger and even more intense than last year’s.  We heard some of the most thought-provoking and insightful talks from Deuteronomy by Paul Barker.  We were taught how to read either the New Testament in Strand 1 or the Old Testament in Strand 2.  We went to an elective that dealt with practical ministry issues such as apologetics (with a specific emphasis on Richard Dawkins), mentoring relationships, women’s ministry, boy/girl relationships, servant leadership, personal evangelism or predestination.  And we had some of our ministry questions answered during Question Time with Paul Barker and Ying Yee.  Phew!

The 4 days were pretty intense, but that didn’t mean we didn’t have fun!  We had ‘Facebook unplugged’, indoor soccer and basketball, pool, table tennis, board games, card games (with push-ups/sit-ups as punishment!) and even played ‘psychiatrist’ and ‘mafia’ late at night. We had great conversations and met lots of people from other churches.  We even had the opportunity to pray for each other, our pastors and our churches.

All-in-all, Connect Training Conference 2010 was one of the highlights of my year, and I hope it was for you too!  My prayer is that you’ll use what you learnt at the conference back at your church and that you’ll keep encouraging each other in the faith!  I can’t wait to see all of you again at next year’s conference (23-26 September 2011 – mark your diaries now)!