NorthPoint - November, 2010

Definition:

a. exceeding the limits of what is usual

b. not conventional or matter-of-fact

c. greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation

What an outrageous Big Camp! Our annual convention at Stuarts Point certainly lived up to its theme this year, with:

Outrageous weather.

Outrageous perseverance.

Outrageous fellowship.

Outrageous faith.

Outrageous blessings.

Outrageous volunteers.

Outrageous costumes.

Outrageous speakers.

Outrageous messages.

Outrageous music.

Outrageous activities.

Outrageous participation.

Outrageous patience.

Outrageous ministry.

Outrageous learning.

Outrageous food.

Outrageous witness.

Outrageous service to others.

Outrageous decisions for Jesus.

Outrageous love for God.

Outrageous love for one another.

We will definitely remember the outrageous amount of rain, but Big Camp 2010 will be remembered for all the right reasons — most of all for our experience and understanding of the outrageous love our Father in heaven has extended to each one of us.

1 John 3:1 “What outrageous love the Father has extended to us!”

Sharlene Guest, Director of Marketing & Communications

Big Camp 2010, Stuarts Point, NSW

Photographs of Big Camp 2010 used in this publication are courtesy of Kent Marcus Photography

OUR CHURCHES

Nutritionist talks health

Cyndi O’Meara, best selling author, internationally acclaimed nutritionist and speaker, recently spent an evening sharing her knowledge in an exciting and upbeat way in the Port Macquarie Adventist Church. Cyndi is not your typical nutritionist, she does not believe in today’s low fat way of eating. She believes that calorie counting and dull boring diets are better forgotten. In a world where we all want to be better than we are, especially for those who struggle to maintain healthy eating habits, Cyndi brings great news — eat natural foods, avoid additives of all kinds at all costs, enjoy life and remember life’s good so long as you eat thoughtfully.

Port Macquarie Adventist Church played host to Cyndi and 120 guests, most of whom were from the community and not church-attenders. Everyone had a fantastic evening listening to Cyndi’s insight and knowledge. All of the comments from those in attendance were positive and we were given permission to contact them again about any future health programs we run.

Amazon Adventure

During the July school holidays, 100 Port Macquarie children were treated to a trek through the Amazon Jungle. During the week long Vacation Bible School adventure, the children learned the seven C’s of History, starting with Creation and heading through the ages learning about Corruption, Catastrophes, Confusion, Christ and the Cross, culminating in the big word Consumation. All these Biblical principles were taught while learning all about the Amazon Jungle. It was a fastpaced program with lots of fun and activities.

On the final Sabbath, the Port Macquarie Adventist Church was overflowing as parents and friends watched the children take part in the program and receive their certificates of completion. They all stayed for some good food and a wonderful time of fellowship with church members. The program was a great success and planning is in progress for next year’s big “SPACE” adventure.

Cake Boxes for ADRA

On 4 September 2010, Port Macquarie Adventist Church held its second annual ‘Cake Box for ADRA’ fundraiser. Everyone who wants to be a part of the fundraiser is given a cake box that they can decorate any way they wish. The only stipulation given is that they must put something edible inside the box. Then the boxes are auctioned off and all funds raised are given to ADRA.

On the night of the fundraiser, 84 creatively decorated boxes were ready for auction. The boxes were set out so that they could be viewed prior to the auction. It was fun to see people picking out the ones they were going to bid for. They could also put a marker on the one they wanted to vote as the best decorated box. Two boxes had equal numbers of markers so there were two winners of the best decorated box prize — going to a mother and daughter team!

The bidding was fast and furious, with everyone trying to outbid the other, resulting in some of the boxes going for $130. The auctioneer worked hard all night, with great results. At the end of the evening we had raised $2,667 for ADRA and we had lots of fun along the way.

Evangelism from Russia

The Port Macquarie Adventist Church held an evangelistic series that was conducted by Pastor Vadim Butov. This was the first outreach program for Pastor Butov in Australia. Titled “Mysteries of Ancient Predictions” the series began with some 80 non-Adventists attending the opening presentations that were held at the Westport Club. Pastor Butov spoke for the first week of the series, before moving to the church, where local pastor Joseph Maticic took over for the remainder of the series.

Whilst the numbers dropped off somewhat, there are still a number of non-Adventists attending who are keen for more information and others being followed up by the Port Macquarie Adventist Church. Overall it has been a worthwhile experience and a learning experience for both Pastor Butov as well as the church.

This series caps off a busy year for Port Macquarie Adventist Church in terms of outreach. In the lead up to Easter, an interactive outdoor walk-through program was conducted called “History, Our Story.” Over 200 people attended this inaugural event. In the July school holidays, a Vacation Bible School program called “Amazon Expedition” was conducted with over 100 children in attendance. Plans are to build on these next year.

PHOTO: Children enjoying an Amazon Jungle Adventure in Port Macquarie during the July school holidays.

PHOTO: Cake boxes being inspected prior to the auction in support of ADRA.

they had been baptised by immersion years ago in another church, Malcolm and Cherlyn opted to become members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church on profession of faith.

On 21 August they were welcomed into fellowship at Alstonville Adventist Church by Beth McMurtry, and this was followed by Pastor Tim Kingston’s prayer. It is our sincere wish that this couple will flourish and grow spiritually now that the seed sown in Taree years ago has finally germinated.

Raymond Terrace

The church company at Raymond Terrace enjoyed four special Sabbaths recently when Pastor Russel Stanley presented an interesting series on Reformation Church History. Drawing on his experience visiting sites associated with reformers from the 12th century through to the English reformers of the 16th century, Pastor Stanley’s pictorial tour provided interesting background information to how the Protestant churches were formed. We were pleased to welcome visitors from other churches to enjoy the series with us.

Lightning Ridge

During the last week of July each year, the town of Lightning Ridge holds an Opal Festival which attracts visitors from near and far, as well as the town folk. This year the Lightning Ridge Adventist Church held a Health Outreach featuring height, weight and blood pressure, as well as vegetarian recipes and a survey ascertaining any interests that there might be in forthcoming programs. We gave away 400 free showbags which contained recipes, information regarding Church events, items of interest for the children and a copy of “The Story of Redemption”. There was such a great deal of interest shown that we have been invited to participate again next year.

Left over from the Festival were 100 showbags and we were invited to go to a school fun day in Goodooga where we distributed these to the community up there. We had run a Kids Club in Goodooga a couple of years ago and have developed a really good rapport with the folk who appreciate the fact that we are taking an interest in their children God is blessing our efforts and we pray that we will see more folk come to know and serve Him in this district.

Truckin’ at 80

At 80 years young, Coffs Harbour Seventh-day Adventist Church member John Pink, has just passed his latest RTA test without a problem, to keep driving trucks carting logs. John is possibly the longest serving truckie on the Coffs Coast, if not the country and has held his truck licence continuously since 1948.

John and wife Norma’s Woolgoolga based company, operates a fleet of three trucks servicing local sawmills and timber yards with 25m logs. He doesn’t see the sense in retirement. “Working is the only thing that keeps me working,” he says.

Both John and Norma remain active in the Church as Deacon and Deaconess respectively.

PHOTO: John Pink behind the wheel of his log-carting truck.

(Photo courtesy of the Coffs Coast Advocate newspaper)

PHOTO: (L to R) Malcolm Moy, Cherlyn Moy, and Beth McMurtry

OUR CHURCHES

Moree

Baptisms

The Sabbath of 18 September was an exciting day at Moree Adventist Church as Ronald and Mereani Brice were baptised.

Special music at the baptism included a song by Ronald’s daughter, Janelle Adams and grandsons Michael and Benjamin Adams, followed by another special item by Pastor Turagas’ daughters Meri, Tokasa and Alsy. Following the baptism everyone enjoyed a potluck lunch organised by the church to celebrate Ronald and Mereani’s public expression to follow God.

Bray Park Baptisms

Recently the members of the Bray Park Adventist Church witnessed the baptism of two lovely young people. Shannen and Ben Cormick were baptised by Pastor Warren Price who had led them through their studies. Both students attend Wollumbin High School where they are able to witness for their faith. Family, church members and friends were present for this happy occasion.

Baptisms at Kempsey

It is always a special day when Kempsey and South Kempsey Adventist Churches come together for a combined church service, especially when a baptism is the core reason. Malika Moylan, Kiralee Davis and Kristy Smith publicly accepted Christ as their Saviour on 4 September in front of family and friends.

Pastor Murray Chapman, Michael Chapman (affectionately known as Chappo) and Pastor Jeff Parker, Youth Director for the NNSW Conference, assisted in the baptism service.

Chappo said, “It was great to see the spiritual growth while conducting the bible studies leading up to the baptisms”.

The service was made personal when the ladies shared their favourite bible verses. Malika chose 1 Timothy 4:12 while Kiralee and Kristy chose Psalm 18:1 and Psalm 68:5 respectively. Special items from Kyiarra and Karri Moseley, Jessica Smith and Michael Chapman also made the baptism service even more special and was testament to the strong bonds of friendship that exist in these churches.

Toronto Baptism

Aleesha Whatson was baptised by Pastor Aaron Jeffries on Sabbath afternoon, 28 August at the Toronto Adventist Church. Aleesha has grown up in the church and has always had a strong love for Jesus. It was a special day and one she will always remember because she turned 15 on the day before her baptism. She was supported by her parents, grandparents and church family, who all wish Aleesha much happiness in her walk with Jesus.

PHOTO: Ronald (above) and Mereani Brice (below) were baptised by Pastor Eti Seupule-Feau

PHOTO: (L to R) Shannen Cormick, Pastor Warren Price and Ben Cormick following their baptism.

PHOTO: (L to R) Malika Moylan, Kiralee Davis and Kristy Smith following their baptisms.

PHOTO: Aleesha Whatson was baptised by Pastor Aaron Jeffries.

Indigenous Deacon Ordained in Moree

Charles Groves and John Clarke were warmly welcomed by the Moree Adventist Church after their ordination as Deacons on 21 August. Pastor Eti SeupuleFeau has been instrumental in mentoring these two men and states that both are committed to God by their public declaration of their recent baptisms and their commitment to serve God.

Charles is the first indigenous man to be ordained in the Moree Adventist Church. He truly loves Jesus and is currently a student at Mamarapha College, Perth. He has a strong desire to work with men who are struggling in their walk with Jesus and is in the process of setting up the Wheelbarrow Ministry for men within Moree.

Charles said many times he had passed the Adventist Church and wondered what the people were doing there. He stated that since becoming a member of the church, his love and his hunger for Jesus has finally been met.

John too has come to a place where his searching for the “TRUTH” has now finally been realised. He says that as he continues to study God’s Word he is truly blessed and his knowledge of Jesus increases every day. This quiet young man has grown into a “BOLD” man for God. John has always taken every opportunity that has presented itself to share his love of Jesus to all he meets.

The testimonies of Charles and John are an inspiration to everyone who hears them. Their love for Jesus and their service to others is impacting many lives.

First Indigenous Women’s Retreat

Friday, 6 August marked the beginning of the Indigenous Women’s Retreat, held by the ladies from the Moree Adventist Church. The theme for this event was: “Arise, Shine.”

It was held over three days with ladies travelling from the Kempsey region, Sydney, North Coast, Brisbane and locally.

The main speaker for this event was Erna Johnson, Director of Women’s Ministries for the South Pacific Division. The other speaker for this event was Lynelda Tippo, Director of Mamarapha College. She is also the founder of the Wheelbarrow Ministries in Perth, WA.

Both these ladies spoke on how God has called women to be all that He has created them to be. By reading His Word and by allowing Jesus to change their lives, others can see God’s glory shining forth. The program included a drama on the book of Ruth and testimonies by ladies whose lives were completely changed by having a personal encounter with Jesus.

The food was delicious and was provided by the Moree Adventist Catering Team coordinated by Rongo Richards. Those who attended were served by the youth of the church, who did a wonderful job! A concert was held on Saturday night. All who came performed an item, including Sister Maryann of the Moree Adventist Church who had the ladies doing the Fijian ‘Zumba’ and everyone certainly got a vigorous workout.

The Retreat concluded with a final session by Erna, who inspired all to “Arise and Shine” and be the women whom God wants to fill to overflowing with His peace and love, and empower them to go forth and show others how He can change them too.

A heartfelt thanks to all those ladies who travelled for the weekend and to the awesome team of women who helped organise the event. Thanks also go to Pastor Eti and the men from Moree Adventist Church who had to do a lot of work behind the scenes.

Lyiata Ballangarry, Women’s Ministries Leader, Moree Adventist Church

Pastor Eti Seupule-Feau Moree Adventist Church

PHOTO: (L to R) John Clarke, Pastor Eti Seupule-Feau and Charlie Groves.

PHOTO: Indigenous women from around Australia met in Moree for the first Indigenous Women’s Retreat.

Forster/Tuncurry Church

If you see a member from Forster/Tuncurry Adventist Church and they look a little tired — it is no wonder. In the last few months we have run a health series of lectures by Barbara O’Neil, followed by a cooking demonstration. We then ran a mission presented by Pastor Justin Lawman that had more than 10 non-Adventists regularly attending. This was the first major mission run in Forster for some time. It was a great rallying event for our church, along with a lot of letter boxing by many people. There is now an ongoing Monday night prophecy seminar that Pastor David Kosmeier is presenting which has eight non-Adventist people regularly attending.

Other recent guests to our church include the ‘Marisious Singers’ who are regular guests at Forster, and the Manning Valley music group ‘One Accord’ who presented worship services for us. We were truly blessed by their music.

OUR CHURCHES Service Sojourn Celebrated at Kempsey

Forster Adventist Church recently said farewell to our Bible worker Ricky Sharpe and his family, who have moved to Cooranbong where Ricky has started the theology degree at Avondale College. Ricky was our first Bible worker and was a tremendous asset to the church especially in the lead up to the mission.

Our children’s Sabbath School featured an Egyptian theme for the last two quarters, with a Pyramid being built out of paper that the kids really enjoyed tearing apart at the end of the lesson. We also had a church social based around the Egyptian theme. So although small in number, our church is actively sharing our love for Jesus with our community.

A packed Kempsey Adventist Church celebrated the return of two mission-based service trips on the Sabbath of 14 August. Each year the Kempsey Adventist Church supports the service trips organised by Kempsey Adventist School. The Year 10 students venture to Central Australia and the Year 11 students go to Fiji. The trips are organised by Kempsey Adventist School’s Camps coordinator, Daniel Sekulic.

The Central Australian expedition included a Saturday kids program for the local Coober Pedy children. “This was a real highlight for me” said Year 10 student Jess Hawken. The students also managed to raise over $2,700 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

The trip included a 120km walk across the desert as part of a personal development program for the students. The benefits of such an experience were evident with comments from the students such as: “I learned not to let our past mistakes determine our lives now... and, if I trust in God all things are possible,” said Christine Deeth, Year 10 student. Another Year 10 student Graham Bagley also shared with the congregation that “the trip built my confidence and I can voice my opinion”.

The Year 11 Fiji trip was also celebrated from the pulpit. “The greatest experience was the running of the Week of Worship and sharing our gifts and talents,” said Kempsey Adventist School Chaplain, Kieren Jackson. Many “unchurched” parents witnessed the wonderful celebrations at Kempsey Adventist Church. The Service concluded with a small thank you ceremony from the school community to the church community and served as a testament that there is indeed a strong bond between the school and church in the Kempsey Adventist community.

PHOTO: (L to R) Pastor Murray Chapman receiving thank you gifts from Jack Ryder (Year 11 Fiji Service participant) and Jess Hawken (Year 10 Central Australia participant).

PHOTO: Children enjoy the Egyptian themed Sabbath School

PHOTO: (Barbara O’Neil presents a cooking demonstration

OUR SCHOOLS Operation Christmas Child boxes at KAS

The students at Kempsey Adventist School (KAS) love a challenge and recently achieved amazing results. The KAS Chaplain, Kieren Jackson introduced Kirri Hawes, a representative from Operation Christmas Child (OCC) to the whole school body. OCC collect shoebox-sized gifts that are shipped to countries where the children do not receive anything at Christmas. Each class was challenged to come up with one box, meaning the school would donate about 15 boxes to this worthwhile charity. KAS students and teachers were kept busy coming up with ways that they could increase this total. Some classes divided items up and compiled boxes together, while other families from KAS donated boxes themselves. Local Kempsey Adventist Church members even donated knitted teddies to go into the boxes. The Year 6 class held a ‘Bibliathlon’, receiving sponsorship for reading the Bible all through the night, along with their brave teacher, Mr Humphries and several enthusiastic parents. With their sponsorship money they were able to purchase enough items to fill 93 boxes, an effort they should be extremely proud of. They also contributed nearly $1,000 towards the shipping costs for the boxes.

Mrs Hawes was ‘blown away’ when she visited the school recently to collect the gifts so that they can be shipped overseas in time for Christmas. A final count of the boxes revealed that 268 had been donated — a number she had never even contemplated. KAS is proud of the way their community-minded students and parents contributed so willingly to making the Christmas of 268 children in far off countries a very special one.

TVC host staff from Fijian sister-school

Tweed Valley College (TVC) was just one of the schools that a number of teachers from Navesau Adventist High School, Fiji, visited on their trip to Australia in August. The staff spent their term-break observing teachers in action at several Adventist schools across NSW and QLD. This professional development trip provided an opportunity for the teachers to see how Australian Adventist Schools operate and to collect ideas and resources to take home and implement in their own classrooms in Fiji.

“Tweed Valley College was particularly interesting for us to visit,” said Laveti Tiko, teacher at Navesau Adventist High School. “As a sister-school to Navesau Adventist High School, we have a special relationship with the staff and students here.”

As part of the service program at TVC, each year the Year 11 students visit Navesau Adventist High School where they get involved in activities such as painting, building, repairing, and running worship programs. With almost 300 students, Navesau is nestled in a valley about three hours north of Suva. Due to its damp climate, the school has ongoing maintenance issues.

As the Fijian teachers felt the “cold” of our Australian winter, ADRA came to the rescue by providing long-sleeved shirts and socks for the staff.

“We have been impressed with so many things at TVC,” said Apolosi, Business Studies teacher at Navesau Adventist High School. “We went to the local retirement village and it was fantastic to see the students and the principal interacting with the residents.”

The teachers were also impressed with TVC’s agricultural program. “It is a great initiative,” said another teacher. “The nursery is so well organised and I think it is wonderful how the College will use it to serve their community.”

Linda Stuart, Tweed Valley College

PHOTO: School Chaplain, Mr Kieren Jackson and OCC Volunteer Kirri Hawes with some of the 268 Christmas boxes donated.

PHOTO: Teachers from Navesau Adventist High School in Fiji pose for photos with students from Tweed Valley College, Australia.

OUR SCHOOLS

New Kids Worship Book Launched at Avondale

Recently, Valmai Hill launched her compilation of children’s worship songs at Avondale Primary Chapel. ongs for Kids by Kids’ is a worship resource for families, schools and he songbook contains 12 original songs written by children, many of them from Avondale

here were 15 young singers from Avondale chool who led out the worship service for the launch. A selection of the new songs were used and the students

As producer of the songbook, Valmai Hill presented a copy to Pastor Mel Lemke, Primary School Chaplain. “This is a fantastic resource,” he said. Each song has activities outlined

Get your copy of the newly released “Songs for Kids by ids” Music and Worship Book with CD from the ABC Cooranbong for only $20.

The book contains ‘Easy’ and ‘Intermediate’ music score, song words, activities and discussion questions.

The CD contains vocal and instrumental backings and PowerPoint presentations.

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and discussion questions which focus on particular values and themes. Pastor Mel made the statement:

“We are honoured our school was chosen as the place to launch this new songbook, and congratulations to all the Avondale School students and families who helped create it.”

PHOTO: Valmai Hill (L) with students and staff who contributed to the new ‘Songs for kids by kids‘ music book.

OUR SCHOOLS

All Action at Toronto

With construction underway, an exciting new Pre-Kindy group and recent sporting success, Toronto Adventist Primary School is all action. Recently the Pre-Kindy students had afternoon tea with their parents who were able to chat with each other and the teaching staff. They had a great introduction to the program and found out everything they needed to know about the Pre-Kindy program.

There are 12 young students beginning their learning journey under the teaching of Avondale College graduate, Kandas Brown. The young students have been enjoying learning in the interactive environment. Playing games, listening to stories, doing gymnastics and participating in chapel are some of the highlights.

As well as this, Toronto Adventist Primary School has been busy with construction. A new building that will house the Business Office and a Multipurpose Room is beginning to take shape. There is already one computer to each student as well as software and Interactive Whiteboard technology. This valuable part of the learning program at Toronto Adventist Primary will be housed in the new facility.

With Toronto Adventist Primary under the management by Avondale School, the students have the benefit of participating in special events. The recent HRIS Athletics Carnival gave the students from Toronto Adventist Primary a chance to team up with the bigger Avondale School. The event was held in Glendale with 18 schools form the Hunter Region represented.

A big congratulations to Angus Gray for winning first in high jump, shot put and discus for the eight year old boys division. Also Jaylen Maua won the 12 year old boys shot put and placed fifth in 100 metre sprint. The third Toronto Adventist Primary representative, Jack Gray placed fifth in shot put for the 10 year old boys.

All students excelled themselves and the overall win was well deserved. The points were close between Hunter Valley Grammar and Avondale School throughout the day. Toronto Adventist Primary made a great contribution to Avondale School’s point score and were proud to be the HRIS Athletics Champions.

Macksville’s Spring Festival

Macksville Adventist School (MACS) held its first Spring Festival on 10 September 2010 addressing environmental issues. MACS had four guest speakers running workshops on energy efficiency/consumption in the home, recycling waste, gardening and solar power renewable energy.

Students from Alphabet Long Day Care College, Port Macquarie Adventist School and MACS enjoyed the interactive, hands-on and informative workshops. In total there were 60 students in attendance, plus teachers and volunteers.

The expressions of joy and delight were written all over the faces of the students when they got down and raced solar power cars, potted their own plant to take home, tested home appliances for energy consumption and built their own group scarecrow.

MACS had two competitions running on the day being making a group scarecrow and a colouring-in competition. After lunch we had a fun, friendly game of soccer.

Our Spring Festival would not have been possible without the support from our community, volunteers, guest speakers and the students who attended. We are now planning our 2011 Spring Festival and have had a number of other schools asking if they can attend next year.

PHOTO: Macksville Adventist School students with their scarecrow.

PHOTO: The new building is taking shape at Toronto Adventist Primary School.

POSITIONS VACANT

Avondale Adventist Aged Care Facility

RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES OFFICER (Part Time)

We are seeking an enthusiastic Recreational Activities Officer to join our Lifestyle team to enhance the lives of our Low Care residents by the development and implementation of innovative lifestyle programs.

Key selection criteria:

• Experience in planning and implementing activity / lifestyle programs for residential aged care residents

• Ability to lead group activities

• Interest in arts / crafts / music

• Ability to work with individual lifestyle needs

• Ability to document plans and reports

• Ability to organise programs and functions

• Able to work within a team and independently as needed

• Excellent communication skills

• General computer literacy

• Able to promote the Christian mission, vision & values of the organisation

• Current National Police Clearance

• Genuine interest in the elderly and commitment to providing excellent quality lifestyle programs for them

Desirable:

• Current First Aid Certificate

• Cert 1V in Lifestyle & Leisure or willing to work towards same