Watching grass grow
"Herein lies the battle. We like quick results. I want instant deep relationships. I want the school project to be fully funded, location determined… I want my kids to speak the local language already! But is being here about what I want? We are learning that there is value in the waiting; in the slowing down."
OSCaR: a story about software
On the face of it, software development can seem like a stodgy business, and it wasn’t what Chris had in mind when he and his family left Adelaide. But this project has already had an impact on Cambodian society, and the kids Children In Families follows up every day.
Fearless, generous hospitality
Hope in the powerful name of Jesus is light in darkness—it breaks the bonds of fear.
By Grace Alone
Suzy is a 32-year-old yellow Suzuki Swift who was loaned to us by friends when they realised we needed a temporary second car. She can be reluctant to start some mornings and she is not as beautiful as she once was.
The gentle healer
Joshua is truly a humble man of God with wisdom beyond his years, yet with humility and clarity of thought. His unusual passion for the rural poor and for training minority people, whom the nation’s church often overlooks, is outstanding.
Towards an Unshakeable Kingdom
The team took the opportunity to explain why they, as Christians, were doing disaster relief and explained how many people around the world loved the villagers and had contributed generously.
In a temporary place
Speaking and sharing with some of these asylum seekers, we realised the there were common questions we all shared about our lives. We were all in a temporary place, wondering about our and our children's futures.
God shaped me for this
The plane took off and, full of nervous energy, trepidation and excitement, I felt like I was flying to Neverland. For the first time in my life I was headed somewhere totally foreign. Four weeks before, I hadn’t even heard of this country, tucked deep in Central Asia. But that’s how God works sometimes – He brings surprises, a turn of events, the intercession of His children, to break our focus on the earthly, refocus on the eternal and point the way to something unknown. When the seatbelt light turned off, it signified a break from the safety of my culture and my lifestyle.
Where is God in all of this?
In the Middle East where we live and work, suffering is in your face every day. As people striving to live authentic Christian lives, how do we respond to our suffering and theirs?
The church and the refugee
In our corner of this city, we’re having a crack at being a welcoming church community for the asylum seekers and new migrants among us.
Serving as a single
It is quite a different challenge to move continents and serve across cultures as a single than as a family, but it also presents different opportunities.
God is moving
"I didn’t want to be alone anymore. I was so lonely I was ready to befriend anything that moved."
Love made complete
I met Jesus the other day. He asked me to come with him to see a man who was sick – dying maybe.
Of Cars and Karma
A Buddhist friend in Australia asked for my help in buying a used car. He was frustrated after several unsuccessful attempts, disappointed and baffled by the experience; after all, he had done nothing particularly bad in his life. For a Buddhist, the law of karma means that bad deeds result in bad consequences, so why him?
Taking a back seat
Stumbling out of the train in pitch darkness, I’m bundled unceremoniously into a rickshaw. “Don’t show your face. Don’t speak. Keep your head down.” Arriving at our destination, I’m rushed inside. Three days later, I have full-on cabin fever. Frequent requests for a walk are politely declined: “It’s not safe.”
On the far side of the sea
Heading to the Middle East with four kids under seven, including a baby on my hip and a toddler at my knee, there was not a lot of fighting I could do. I did, however, need to do a lot of trusting.
Don’t cry, God is kind
No longer am I in an isolated, almost forgotten, rural location: I am in a city, bustling with over half a million people, full of the noises and busyness of urban life. I am also in a very different job to before; I am now a nurse in a government hospital. One of my most overwhelming doubts over the past months has been, can I cope? Can I do this job?
Splashing over
"And may the Master pour on the love so it fills your lives and splashes over on everyone around you just as it does from us to you." 1 Thess 3:13
The spirit in the room
We learned about ‘Anji’, believed to be the resident evil spirit. This led to a most unusual management/ministry issue that I was not prepared for...
Four denominations, one church
I have been privileged to serve the national church in the Middle East and to see God at work. Under the local leadership of the Anglican, Methodist, Orthodox and Presbyterian churches, I helped pastors and directors run NGOs. Serving God is considered a real honour and privilege and they do it with zeal.
