Thank you for a most generous June!
God is able to make all grace about to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may about in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)
Thank you for supporting Interserve’s June appeal! Through your generosity, God has provided $359,000 for his work in transforming lives and communities through encounter with Jesus Christ.
Your generous support has exceeded our goal of $300,000 and last year’s record.
These funds are essential to Interserve’s purpose of making Jesus Christ known among the peoples of Asia and the Arab world.
This includes enabling our workers to provide wholistic care for people through healthcare, education, practical help and building friendships. It involves coming alongside refugees, displaced people and diaspora communities in their suffering, so that they may have freedom and hope for the future.
“I believe Interserve is providing very valuable support and guidance to those who seek to serve and honour the Lord in a variety of ways, some of them in risky/marginal human environments.”
Robin, Interserve Supporter
So thank you wholeheartedly for your participation in growing God’s kingdom, here in Australia and around the globe.
If you would like to read more stories about real people impacted by your support of Interserve, come and have a look here.
Introducing our interim National Director!
Here’s Arco (our interim National Director) and his wife Mirjam!
In February, Arco and Mirjam flew from chilly Amsterdam to warm Melbourne. Since then, they’ve met Partners and community members right across Australia!
Arco and Mirjam have had a long association with Interserve, including as Partners in the Middle East. Arco was also the National Director of Interserve Netherlands until December 2020, and holds significant business expertise. We’ve greatly benefited from Arco & Mirjam’s expertise and experience. They will be in Australia until August.
Q: Arco, what were your first impressions of Australia?
The first night we were in Australia, Jane (a staff member) told us we needed to adopt a footy club… and specifically told us we should NOT support Collingwood. So, we’ve chosen to support Collingwood. 🙂
I have also been amused by the sense of competition between the states, particularly the rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne. There’s nothing like it in the Netherlands!
I’ve also been very struck by the town planning – roads are wide and straight, and the suburbs are very planned. Cities in Europe are much more dense, which means roads are smaller and more meandering, and fun to explore.
The people are very welcoming. I have met many people in the Interserve community and Partners from around the country including Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane. (Perth is coming up!) We’ve even met familiar faces from our time in the Middle East, and it’s been a pleasure!
Q: What are you excited to see happen in the coming months?
The Australian Board has asked me to help continue the implementation of the Strategic Plan. The next steps are about envisioning and equipping churches in Australia to engage in local intercultural work. We have some exciting initiatives to help church members and youth groups learn how to engage across cultures.
I’m excited about our ongoing vision to serve the peoples of Asia and the Arab world, both overseas and here in Australia, and about strengthening some of the ways we work here in Australia.
Q: Lastly, how can we pray for you and Mirjam?
Our three children are back in the Netherlands. Please pray for all the ways we try to stay connected with them.
I’d also value your prayers for the leadership team and Interserve staff during this time, and that God would lead us as we seek the next National Director of Interserve Australia. Thank you.
Put your faith into future action
Since January 2021, Interserve has received almost $180,000 from bequests! We are so thankful for our faithful supporters who have entrusted Interserve with their precious gifts to be invested in future kingdom work.
Ranging from gifts of $1000 to much larger gifts, these bequests have come from incredible supporters who have chosen to invest in Interserve beyond their time here on earth. We are so thankful that they have entrusted us to use their money wisely for the sake of the kingdom – as we support workers walking alongside people of Asia and the Arab world. Their faith in leaving a gift to Interserve in their Will has resulted in FUTURE ACTION.
What difference do bequests make?
Bequests are an amazing opportunity for Interserve to respond to current needs and future-building initiatives. Those who have entrusted us with their funds didn’t know how it might be used to bless others in the future!
Building a resilient foundation for Interserve allows our workers to plan and invest in their local communities for the long haul. The sustainable impact of ministries on the ground can be seen through many examples of long-term partnership.
We are here to stay.
As a highly trusted international ministry organisation serving for 170 years, we want to encourage faithful supporters to consider leaving a gift to Interserve in their Will to support future ministry. Throughout our history, we’ve served in many different ways in many different places, but always with the same vision:
“To see lives and communities transformed through encounter with Jesus Christ.”
If this is something you want to enable for future generations, we would love your support through a bequest.
Put your faith into future action today.
Would you please consider these two things?
- If you have already included Interserve in your Will, please consider sharing your story with us (which you can do anonymously) and tell us why you have chosen to support Interserve in this way.
- For everyone else, if you love Interserve and what we do, please consider investing in future kingdom work by leaving a gift in your Will today. Find out more.
For any enquiries or comments or to have a chat about what this means for you, please contact us on 1800 067 100 or email [email protected]
“We have taken a lot of encouragement that even when times were tough (and they were, with COVID, a military takeover and lots of divisions and injustice in society), we could ‘take heart’, as in John 16, as Jesus has ‘overcome the world’. We’ve been very conscious of being upheld by prayer over many years.” – Interserve worker
Cross-cultural mission in our own backyard: CultureConnect featured in Eternity
CultureConnect director Lisa Bateup was interviewed by Eternity magazine.
While doing research for a refugee-focused social enterprise project, Lisa Bateup spent half a day hanging around at Bankstown Centrelink, in western Sydney.
“I had four very significant conversations with people on the steps of Bankstown Centrelink – complete strangers. I prayed with people – three of them were Muslim background, one was a Kiwi; and on that day, I asked every single one of those people, ‘Have you had contact with a local church?’ And 100 per cent response was that they had not.“
And this is the opportunity that we have. There are people here in our community and they’re open to the gospel and we’re just not reaching them because we’re not going to where they are.”
