As 105 Moore College students graduated in a ceremony in Sydney, the rest of the college and faculty were preparing to head south for the annual mission which, for the first time, was centred on one region of the Diocese.

Graduation night is always a celebration of achievements and a chance to give thanks to God and to set a vision and pray for ministry ahead. Six hundred people filled the City Recital Hall in Angel Place to spur on graduates bound for England, New Zealand, Taiwan and New Caledonia, as well as rural Australia and across the city of Sydney.

“We not only get to congratulate those who have studied with us, but we get to delight at what the Lord is doing with them now that they’ve left us,” college principal Dr Mark Thompson told the crowd.

“It is thrilling to see our graduates going out into all the world with the life-giving message of the gospel. I can’t wait till next year.”

A former principal of the college, Dr Peter Jensen, gave a gospel charge to the graduates.

“You may have done four years study, or now have the MA or the MTh,” he said. “Whatever you have done, your family and friends have every right to be proud of a very, very considerable achievement. But let me remind you: it will all have been wasted if you are not prepared to tell the world this great truth: ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life’.”

Within a week of the graduation, the current student body had spread out across the Wollongong region in a dovetailing of the 2018 Moore Mission with the Jesus is____ campaign being run in local churches. Teams were marshaled for the Shire, Macarthur, Highlands, Lake Illawarra, Wollongong, and Shoalhaven areas and members reported a warm welcome from churches, even as the temperature topped 38 degrees on the first day.

At Wilton Anglican Church, Macarthur team member Dan McKinlay was helping at an afternoon kids’ carnival. “Like so many areas in Macarthur, Wilton is undergoing rapid expansion and the church here is planning for growth,” he said. “We were delighted that over 50 kids turned up and that many more parents joined later on. We had inflatables, games and a puppet theatre to help kids find out more about Jesus the rescuer.”

Once the working week started, members of the Wollongong team integrated with locals to catch commuters from 5.45 am.

“Our team spread themselves across various train stations in the Wollongong area to connect with the early morning commuters,” Mitchell Albert said. “We had the great pleasure of serving alongside members of the local church as we offered ‘Jesus is____’ flyers to the public.”

For some team members, it was their own testimony as much as their work on the mission that hit home. Student Michelle Polley told of a particularly warm service at Keiraville International Church.

“One of our team members, Faraj, shared his testimony, recounting the merciful way God drew himself and his father to know the true and living God,” she said. “Tears of joy and gratitude flowed as the room hung onto every word. Even the sweat pooling at my feet faded into the background as I was reminded of the power, love and grace that our Lord and Saviour has and continues to exhibit.”