NorthPoint - May, 2011

Born to be creative

The first time we meet God in the Bible (first sentence), He’s at His creative best: forming, shaping and styling the heavens and the earth. Then He says, “Let us make humans in our image.” While theologians have developed deep ways of describing what the image of God means, it includes creativity.

We’re born to be creative.

Of course, we’re creative to varying degrees. Besides, our creativity is best recognised in how we use it rather than how much we have.

In the olde days (before “olde” became “old”), creativity and God seemed a natural fit. Creativity built grand cathedrals, painted masterpieces and composed monumental music.

Not so today. There’s much more creativity outside the church. Worse, creative people within can feel they’re considered with suspicion rather than embraced with joy.

How sad.

We who are Christian seek guidance in the Word, claim to have truth, but then tend to dress them in funereal tones. How odd. One would think that discovering answers to life’s big questions would lead to dancing and singing and outbursts of yahoo-ing (or at least an “amen” or two).

Sombre tones are understandable if the Word and truth are seen merely as text in a book. But the revelation in the text is that the Word and the truth have come to life in the person of Jesus. How good is that? How creative is that?

We who are followers of Jesus need to see His creativity. You find it in His miracles, His clever word play, His humour, His storytelling. And His throwing the moneychangers out of the temple makes for great teaching theatre.

We who are followers of Jesus need to embrace and rejoice in our Godgiven creativity whatever its form. We’re born to be creative.

– Dr Bruce Manners, senior minister at Avondale College Seventh-day Adventist Church

Bourke Seventh-day Adventist Church, Bourke, NSW

OUR CREATIVITY

Manifest Festival honours creative artists

A number of creative artists, including some from the North New South Wales Conference, were honoured at the inaugural Manifest Creative Arts Festival, held from 25 – 26 March at Avondale College.

Manifest was coordinated by the church through the Adventist Media Network (AMN) and Avondale, and will become an annual event celebrating and encouraging the production of creative arts for ministry.

The focus for this year’s festival was filmmaking, song composing and writing, and an awards night was held on 26 March at the college. Manifest offered $A1000 for the winning entry in each category of its competition.

Joanna Darby, from Wallsend Seventh-day Adventist Church, was the winner of the highest award at the festival – the Gabe Reynaud Award. This award is in honour of Gabe Reynaud, an Avondale College alumnus and former Adventist Media Centre producer who became the church’s first professionally-trained director. Gabe’s vision was for the church to recognise the power of art and for artists to use their talents in all genres to testify to a God who is the embodiment of creativity.

Gabe’s wife Andi presented the award to Joanna, an alumna of Avondale who graduated with a Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Teaching in 2006. Andi said, “Joanna has created a unique blend of art and ministry. Her visual work has artistic integrity and outstanding quality. Her verbal art is innovative, refreshing, powerful and moving. Both overflow with a passion for communicating the love of Christ, delivered with humility and compassion.”

Joanna was commended for her visual and verbal creative ministry that reaches into churches, schools and community groups around the country. She says of her work, “It’s not just about listening anymore. It’s about experiencing — feeling and seeing.”

Glendon Harris, from Alstonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, received the Hope Award recognising excellence in filmmaking for “Her Story: Sarah.” The documentary explores the issue of self-esteem through the story of Sarah Chambers, a young adult from the church who suffers adult-onset acne.

Benjamin Milis and Jodie Barnes, Avondale College students and members of Avondale’s vocal ensemble The Promise, received the Psalter Award for excellence in song composition for “God Is Here.” The song, which uses three-part harmony, reminds the listener of God’s presence at the death of Jesus on the cross and of His presence today.

Nick Lindsay was one of the recipients of the Avondale Young Achiever Prize for his filmmaking skills with “Me Syndrome.” The winners in this category received $200 and a $500 discount on fees at Avondale.

Neale Schofield, CEO of AMN, affirmed creative people in his keynote address at the festival, and reminded attendees that their gifts can “revolutionise” the spreading of the gospel.

A number of workshops were conducted at the festival, including workshops by Adventist author Kay Rizzo and Signs Publishing Company book editor Nathan Brown. Both encouraged those in attendance to look for ways to involve creativity in our churches and lives.

The next Manifest Creative Arts Festival will be held from 21–24 March, 2012. – Brenton Stacey/Nathan Brown/NorthPoint

Joanna Darby receives the Gabe Reynaud Award from Gabe’s wife, Andi. Credit: Ann Stafford

Steele McMahon, aged 16, received a Young Achiever Prize in song composing at the Manifest Creative Arts Festival. He travelled from Brisbane to perform during the ceremony that closed the festival.

Credit: Ben Turner

The Promise perform at the awards ceremony. Credit: Ben Turner

OUR WOMEN’S MINISTRIES

Women’s Retreat held at Lake Keepit

A total of 65 women (and two men) aged between 14 and 80 from 16 churches around the North New South Wales Conference – from Coffs Harbour to Wyee and out to Singleton, Dubbo and Moree – made their way to Lake Keepit to enjoy a weekend of fellowship, spiritual refreshment and fun from 18 – 20 March.

Deanna Pitchford and her husband drove eight hours to join the retreat attendees and led them in a weekend of discovering a “Pathway to God.” Under this theme, they explored practical ways to make prayer a part of everyday lives in more meaningful ways. There were opportunities to pray together and write prayers in the prayer book that has been part of the Lake Keepit Retreat experience for the past nine years. This also allows attendees to look back on the way God has led and answered prayers that have been written down and prayed over the years.

On the Sabbath afternoon, a time of sharing God’s leading was an inspiration for the women there who saw how prayer makes a difference in lives.

34 women train to lead in local church

The Women in Leadership Training weekend, hosted by the North New South Wales (NNSW) Conference’s Women’s Ministries department and held from 11–13 March at the conference office, had its largest attendance this year. Over the weekend, 34 women received certificates recognising their training — 19 completed Level I, nine completed Level II and six completed Level III. A variety of ages were represented at the weekend, with college students, mothers and retirees attending.

Susan Magaitis, director of Women’s Ministries, says she couldn’t be happier with the weekend. “I’m really pleased so many ladies are utilising the training we offer. Nineteen women in Level I is the largest group we’ve ever had. It gets better every year. This year, we had 18 speakers presenting 30 different subjects over three levels. Next year, I’m hoping to do all four levels.”

Topics covered in the training weekend included the philosophy of Women’s Ministries, women of the New Testament, principles of effective leadership, communication skills, women’s social and legal issues, and strategies in evangelism. Guest speakers included Dr Robyn Priestley, Dr Steve Thompson, Pastor John Denne, Dr Marion Shields and Sharlene Guest.

Susan says the success of the program was due to the speakers being experts in their fields. “In our conference we are very blessed to have experienced presenters who volunteer their time,” she says. “We have lecturers from Avondale College, retired lecturers, directors from the NNSW Conference and many other experienced people. I’m grateful for their input into the weekend, and their desire to see women leaders feel competent and confident. We couldn’t do Women in Leadership Training without them.”

All of the books and certificates for the training program were redesigned specifically for the NNSW Conference. This is the third year Susan has run the training program and has been encouraged by its growth over the years.

Feedback from some of the attendees included comments about how inspired they were by what they learnt over the weekend over the weekend. One wrote on a feedback form, “I thank God for the speakers who were organised to share with us. I have learnt some very practical things in life that I can take away with me to put into practice.”

Another wrote, “It was an inspirational weekend of learning for me and I’m truly blessed. . . . God has used every presenter this weekend to touch our hearts in many ways so that I for one can be used by Him to reach other women, not only in the church but in the community for Him.”

Susan says, “Leadership training is all about helping women use their giftedness to share the Gospel in church and the community. I hope we see many more women enrolled in 2012!”

– Susan Magaitis

Barbara Watson from the Coonabarabran Seventh-day Adventist Church wrote a poem for the retreat. Barabara has written a poem each year on the theme of the retreat since the first one was held in 2003. These have been very much appreciated by attendees.

The weekend also saw an offering collected for the Western Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea to buy much-needed supplies for volunteer ministries. This offering saw $A1500 raised. An offering is collected for a different project each year.

The Sabbath night saw many of the women showcasing their talents by putting on a wonderful and funny rendition of Cinderella, much to the delight of the audience.

Another special part of the weekend was the inclusion of a separate program for younger women who attended. Kerryn led them in “Taking a Journey of Joy with Christ.” The younger girls asked whether there could be more retreats or to have them run for a week because they enjoyed the retreat so much. The seven girls were also prayed over by the entire group led by Deanna, who asked God to dedicate them to the Lord and His leading in their lives.

– Barbara Parkins

The women who attended the Women In Leadership Training weekend, held at the North New South Wales Conference Office.

Attendees of the Lake Keepit Retreat in one of the meetings held over the weekend.

The group prays for the young women who attended the retreat.

OUR CHURCHES

Tamworth Church connects with community

You might know about the Tamworth Seventh-day Adventist Church holding a community gospel music concert during the Tamworth Country Music Festival (reported in the Record, 19 February, 2011). What you might not know is that this is just one of the many outreach projects this very active regional church is conducting. The church has made a concerted effort to reach out to and connect with the community, focusing strongly on “needs-oriented” evangelism.

Three or four times a year, the church holds community breakfasts. This project is now entering its fifth year and Pastor James Venegas, the church’s minister, says the breakfasts combine healthy food with a health-related lecture by either a local or guest professional. Topics covered at previous breakfasts include depression, diabetes, healthy exotic foods, sleep and men’s health.

Pastor Venegas says, “Our most recent breakfast presentation was conducted by Dr Ross Grant, who spoke about oxidative stress, cardiovascular disease and the link between the two.”

The breakfasts, which started with a handful of non-Adventist people attending, now see around 20 non-Adventists in attendance. Attendance can fluctuate and has reached around 85 people at times. This includes the church members and their guests. Church members also supply the food for these breakfasts, and arrive en masse to cook and serve it.

The church also has a quarterly health newsletter, which is linked to the breakfasts. This newsletter has been produced for the past seven years and is mailed out to around 110 people in the community who have requested it. “The newsletter’s database is growing steadily,” says Pastor Venegas. “It feeds into the church’s breakfasts, too, as it lets people know when they’re happening. This is a great way of extending our reach to the community.”

Dr David and Yvonne Taylor are significantly involved in this outreach. David and Yvonne have a chiropractic clinic and supply the newsletter to patients at their clinic. In the past, they have also invited patients to attend the health lectures. “They’re elders of our church who have a strong ownership of these ministries,” says Pastor Venegas. “It’s a real passion for them — an extension of their vocation.”

Pastor Venegas believes Tamworth Church’s strength is “needs-oriented evangelism,” focusing on the needs of the community. “The church members have their finger on the pulse of the community,” says Pastor Venegas. However, he says the church

Bourke Seventh-day Adventist Church rededicated

The Bourke Seventh-day Adventist Church was rededicated on 26 March after 15 years of being closed. The church was filled with local people, including the Major of the local Salvation Army and his wife, and visitors from places including Broken Hill, Wauchope and Brisbane.

The staff and students from Currawah Adventist Aboriginal College were also in attendance, and Pastor John Lang, president of the North New South Wales (NNSW) Conference, says, “They sat quietly through Sabbath school and church. It was evident on the day the work the principal George Spero, his wife Thomasina, and the staff of Currawah are doing. The children responded very well.”

Following the morning’s program of Sabbath school and church, the rededication held in the afternoon was the highlight of the day. Robert Dale, general secretary of the NNSW Conference, led out in retelling the history of the church in Bourke. Pastor Leo Wright, the local church pastor, gave a history of the reconstruction of the church. Pastor Lang gave the dedicatory prayer.

also runs traditional stand-alone seminars throughout the year. In 2010, the “Love Languages” seminar was conducted, with more than 80 people attending. This year, seminars on recovery from depression and stress management are planned. The seminars have acted as a way of introducing people from the community to aspects of the church and build links with church members. “In terms of evangelism, what Tamworth Church does really well is the connections our members have with the community,” says Pastor Venegas. “Our members have strong links to all areas of the community, and with that broad spectrum of friendships, a variety of people can be invited to our programs.”

In following up building links with the community, the church has run community gospel music concerts during the Tamworth Country Music Festival since 2009. “Country Music is obviously what this town is known for,” Pastor Venegas notes. “Three years ago, another elder, Peter Groth, had a vision for running a major outreach concert at this time of year, sponsored and hosted by the church. However, in 2011, the church decided to step out in faith and use the community centre in town for the concert.”

Thousands of fliers advertising the event were printed and distributed throughout the town, advertising was placed in gig guides and magazines, and posters were put up around town. The guest artists for the gospel music concert — Rick Ferret, Anna Weatherup, and Gavin Chatellier and family — busked in the week leading up to the event to promote it. This helped to make contacts, and Gavin made it to the top 10 finalists of the street buskers.

Held on 22 January at 7.00pm, the Country Gospel Concert was attended by 185 people. “Not even a third of them were Adventists,” says Pastor Venegas. “This was a huge success. We made it interactive, too, by having some good ‘old-fashioned’ country gospel classics people could sing along to. My wife Kaylene and I led these with one of our young people, Jessica Read.”

A free-will offering was collected during the concert and raised $A1000.

The church has seen the event as being a “reaping” of the effort church members have put into meeting needs and making friends in the community. Pastor Venegas’s predecessors Pastor Frank and Marlene Cantrill emphasised the importance of building connections strongly, and the church has continued with this vision.

Each May, Tamworth hosts LifeFest, a Christian expo, in the town’s Bicentennial Park. Strong links between the Adventist church and other churches have been built through participation in this event. Tamworth Seventh-day Adventist Church has

Pastor Ken Vogel and his wife Marlene began the work in Bourke in 1978, following up on the work done by E R Osman, the subsidised Literature Evangelist for Bourke, Walgett and Lightning Ridge who worked with Pastor Geoff Helsby. Pastor Vogel expanded the ministry into schools with religious education and health ministry. Adventist Aviation Association (AAA) helped with trips to assist in specific projects, such as a drop of copies of The Desire of Ages. Church meetings were held in the Vogel’s home each Sabbath, and the group slowly grew.

Pastor Vogel and Marlene also participated in plans to start a community radio station and participated in the building of the studio. The Vogels also took part in clearing land for a church to be built on.

Pastor Frank Cantrill and his wife Marlene were in Bourke from 1980 to 1982 and oversaw the construction and opening of the current church building in 1981. They continued on with the radio programs Pastor Vogel had been involved in. The Cantrills explored a variety of outreach options in the area, including a “Heartbeat Program” by Pastor Don Bain that focused on health issues.

Other pastors to minister to Bourke have included R Rushton, Keith Godfrey, William Wemys, R Hilan, John Lang, Des Wiggins and Daryn Drury.

been heavily involved in this for the past six years, in providing food stalls, activities for children and a health-focused stall. In previous years, the church has conducted health age assessments, given an Arnie’s Shack performance and utilised the Pinnacle of Terror.

In addition to the public outreach programs, the church is conducting a number of Bible studies, and is focusing on making the church a vibrant place of worship. Kaylene and Pastor Venegas work as a worship team and encourage others with musical talents to participate in worship services. He says that on occasion, they have almost half the church up the front singing and playing.

Another initiative of the Cantrill’s was KidsSpot, an outreach to children run during Sabbath School time. “This is like a weekly Vacation Bible School,” says Pastor Venegas. “It’s been hugely successful, with up to 25 children turning up from the community each week.”

Now that the children who have attended the program are growing up, the church is adjusting its focus for the program to cater to teens and youth so the journey the children are on continues to progress. Pastor Venegas says, “The youth, led by elder Laurie Tiller, have decked out their own room in the basement of the church. It looks fantastic and acts as their ‘home away from home.’ Each Sabbath morning they engage in discussions about relevant, current issues with a biblical focus.”

Additionally, for the past two years the youth has run Crossroads, a weekly, interactive youth program held on Sabbath afternoons. for the past two years. Pastor Venegas commends the elders at the church for finding their areas of passion, and is happy the church is willing to provide them with resources to help in their ministries.

He credits this to conducting a Natural Church Development (NCD) survey at the church.

Pastor Justin Lawman, director of Personal Ministries for the North New South Wales Conference, says of NCD, “It involved 30 people filling out a questionnaire that’s like a health check-up for the church. This is just the beginning — once the survey has been done, you go to work on the areas the survey indicate need improvement. We sometimes need to say we can improve. Barriers in churches can prevent God from working, so the NCD aims to work toward identifying these and encouraging people to break them down with God’s help.”

He adds, “For a country church, Tamworth really is a bright spot.”

Pastor Venegas says, “When you’re out west and in a church that’s small to medium sized, you have to ask yourself some serious questions – questions about the

resources we have, what we will do with them and how we can use our ‘human resources’ in ways that don’t lead to the group of core leaders burning out.

“In small churches, it’s often the same group of people doing many jobs. Thanks to NCD, our nominating committee has looked at what we can do to put key leaders in each area of evangelism and ministry so it’s distributed evenly.”

He adds, “We’ve got a local literature evangelist David Moran, who focuses completely on that work; Laurie Tiller focuses on teen and youth ministries; another elder, Russell Nash, is solely focused on men’s ministry, while Yvonne Taylor looks after women’s ministry; and so on. The idea is to work with the church’s resources and find out where people’s abilities lie.”

Through the NCD survey, the church learned it needed to improve its small group ministry. Since then, they have worked to train people for this, and have assigned another elder, Ross Pevy, to coordinate this new area of ministry.

Pastor Venegas encourages other churches and pastors to try the NCD, saying it can be a way of discovering a stronger sense of direction. “Since taking part in NCD, we now look for people who are passionate in various areas of outreach and get them into the appropriate positions. It’s really injected enthusiasm and has had a positive impact on the church.” In 2012, we are planning a large ‘reaping’ event capitalising on all these programs and community connections.

– Adele Nash

In 2008, Pastor Lang and Robert visited the church on the way to an inspection of the Currawah property. “We were dismayed at the condition of the church and hall,” says Robert. “We decided to clean up the mess, and two trailer loads of rubbish were taken to the tip. It was then we decided there was no point in fixing up a church until a minister was appointed and lived on the site.”

“In the 15 years it was closed, the church had been broken into and decimated, really,” says Pastor Lang. “We felt the only way to do anything with the work out there was to put a pastor there in the house next to the church, and at the beginning of 2010, we did this.”

The church was repaired at a cost of around $30,000. Paul Slade and Geoff Frew worked on the repairs to the church building and Pastor Lang says, “The church and grounds really are immaculate.”

Pastor Wright and his wife Colleen have been ministering to the town and have worked on beautifying the church grounds. Pastor Lang says they have build good connections in the town. They have a large garden and give vegetables away to the community. “This has opened up many doors,” says Pastor Lang. “It’s appreciated by people in Bourke.”

Pastor Wright also takes part in a community radio program there, and they are looking forward to building up the church. Although the church membership remains small, it is hoped the most remote church in the NNSW Conference will grow.

Pastor Lang says, “Leo and Colleen are doing a marvelous work, and it’s very much appreciated – not only by the local community, but also by the conference.”

– Adele Nash

A significant number of people attended the rededication of the Bourke Seventh-day Adventist Church on 26 March.

OUR BAPTISMS

Baptisms celebrated at Kurri Kurri

On 12 February, Kurri Kurri Seventh-day Adventist Church celebrated the baptism of Evelyn Holt and Josephine Kennedy. It was a joy to see the local church filled with family and friends who came to watch, support and witness this public declaration by Evelyn and Josephine.

Evelyn has been attending Kurri Kurri Church for many years as a free spirit. Only recently, she was convicted that she should be baptised and initiated Bible studies with Pastor Elwyn Raethel. Pastor Raethel had the privilege of inviting Evelyn into the waters of baptism where she was born again and became part of the body of Christ.

Josephine started attending a Holiday Club at the Kurri Kurri Adventist Cottage a number of years ago and has been attending the church since then. Josephine has also been attending the Kids Club, which is run on Sabbath Mornings. Last year,

she asked Pastor Mark Venz for Bible studies so she could be baptised. Pastor Venz guided Josephine into the waters of baptism and baptised her in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Pastor Venz shared a message that Jesus came to seek and save the lost. The parables in Luke 15 of the lost sheep, coin and prodigal son highlighted Jesus’ mission and how much joy there in in heaven when one accepts Jesus as their personal Saviour. Evelyn and Josephine have accepted Jesus as their Saviour.

The church members gathered after the baptism for a combined lunch to celebrate the momentous occasion.

– Pastor Mark Venz

Rain fails to dampen spirits at Lismore baptisms

Rain could not wash the smiles from the faces of Ken and Esther Perry at their outdoor baptism on 5 March, where Pastor Paul Geelan officiated. The Perrys chose Chilcott’s Creek, which runs through the property of Lismore Seventh-day Adventist Church members Lionel and Joy Hughes in Alstonville, for the site of their commitment.

Ken and Esther were married last year, but prior to that, their lives had taken different twists and turns. A new direction was forged when they attended public meetings in Lismore run in 2009 by Pastor Justin Lawman, director of the North New South Wales Conference’s Evangelism Department.

With further study and the support and prayers of many people, they have a new peace and assurance in their lives.

Valerie Dunstan

Pastor Elwyn Raethel with Evelyn Holt

Pastor Mark Venz with Josephine Kennedy

Pastor Paul Geelan prepares to baptise Ken Perry. Geoff Chilcott and Ken’s wife Esther look on. Credit: Leanne Rudwick

Camden Haven and Wauchope celebrate baptism and dedication

Camden Haven and Wauchope Seventh-day Adventist Church members helped celebrate Karen McCall’s baptism at Bonny Hills and her young son Jaris’s dedication in December 2010, both of which were performed by Pastor Danny Milenkov.

After moving from Queensland and questioning what the future had in store, Karen and Jaris’s journey started in a park. She began chatting with Alison Matic, Pastor Joseph Matic’s wife, who invited her and her son to a playgroup. This later led to an invitation to attend church.

Friendships developed between the family and many Wauchope church members when they moved to Wauchope. Karen’s daughter Madelane also commenced school

at the Port Macquarie Adventist School before transferring to Kempsey Adventist School for high school. Jaris is now in Year 1 at Port Macquarie Adventist School.

Karen began Bible studies with Pastor Milenkov last year and felt a strong longing to be baptised and bring her children to the Lord. She feels blessed with so many answers to prayer and has put her trust in God leading her for the future.

Camden Haven church members are happy to have Karen’s family worshipping with them.

Linda Grant

Toronto celebrates baptism

Jordan Maua chose the Sabbath afternoon of 26 March for his baptism at Toronto Seventh-day Adventist Church. A large crowd of friends and relatives were there to encourage him in his decision to follow Jesus.

Jordan had studied with Gustav Hoffman, a theology student from Avondale College, and was baptised by Pastor Cheonneth Strickland, director of Youth Ministries for the Greater Sydney Conference.

Jordan is a Year 12 student at Avondale School and is popular and talented, always happy to help where needed and kind and considerate to other students. He is a great role model for his younger brothers and sister. Toronto Church sees him as a wonderful asset and knows God will use him as he grows in his Christian experience.

– Michelle Down

Karen McCall (centre, with flowers) celebrated her baptism with Camden Haven and Wauchope Seventh-day Adventist Church members.

Jordan being baptised by Pastor Cheonneth Strickland (right) and Gustav Hoffman (left).

OUR SCHOOLS

iCentre officially opened

On 31 March, Avondale School officially opened its brand-new library complex, the iCentre. Local Federal MP Greg Combet attended the event, along with others members of the community. The MP acknowledged the contribution made by the Commonwealth Government’s Building the Education Revolution (BER) program toward the cost of building the impressive facility.

As part of the BER grant, the Federal Government contributed $A3 million to the project. In total, it is a $A3.8 million facility.

The opening brought all students together to participate in the significant moment of Avondale School history. An item by the Kindergarten students was particularly appreciated.

The iCentre is an impressive 1700-square metre building and is laid out over three split levels. The size of the project marks the significance of it being completed on time and on budget.

Housing both the primary and secondary libraries, the iCentre is now in use. The extra space for research, learning services, tuition rooms and a media room is already much appreciated by students. In addition, Avondale School’s entire IT infrastructure has been relocated to the building, along with an upgraded main school server.

The official opening was the final step in signing over the project for completion. Principal Dr David Faull can see the iCentre will bring together all members of the Avondale School community. “This is an exciting development that will provide increased learning space, library research and information technology services across the campus,” he says.

– Susan Rogers

Students and staff at the opening of the iCentre.

Pastor John Lang, Greg Comet, Chris Boddey and Dr David Faull at the opening of the iCentre at Avondale School.

Love in action from Macquarie College

Students, staff and parents of Macquarie College were so moved by the devastation of the recent Christchurch earthquake that they embarked on an optimistic fundraising project to help earthquake victims at their sister school, Christchurch Adventist School (CAS). The “Cash for CAS” project spanned two weeks and gained intensity with everyone volunteering time and money. A variety of activities were undertaken to raise funds, and money soon began to add up.

Small buckets were left in each classroom where students could make donations of any size throughout the fundraising period. One of the Year 4 classes held a cupcake stall, where all of the cupcakes on sale had been donated by the parents of students. A Year 1 class raised a total of $A1000.

At the end of the two-week period, Macquarie College held a “Red and Black” mufti day. Students were encouraged to come to school dressed in red and black – the colours of New Zealand’s Canterbury region – and offer a gold coin donation for the privilege.

On the day, all kinds of stalls were set up around the college grounds, selling items ranging from food to drinks to plaster models. In addition to the overwhelming parent and student support, local business Megamania visited Macquarie College on the final day of the appeal and donated their time and equipment to the fundraising cause. Students were able to have a go on the rock-climbing wall and buy fairyfloss with all proceeds going to Christchurch.

At the end of the fundraising period, the school had raised a total of $A8000 – more than $NZ10,600 — for the victims of the earthquake. More than $A4000 was collected from the mufti day alone.

Having achieved its fundraising goal, the Macquarie College community was delighted to send the final cheque to New Zealand in person with staff member Gayle Sleight. On 25 March during a special morning chapel assembly, Gayle presented the cheque to CAS. The presentation was followed by a prayer of thanks for the support from the Macquarie College community.

Danny Carrasco, principal of CAS, indicated that the funds would be vital in remunerating school fees, purchasing groceries and meeting the immediate needs of his school community. He also expressed his most sincere thanks to everyone involved in the fundraising.

Head of Senior School at Macquarie College Marvin Anderson says, “It has been said that justice is love in action, and at Macquarie College, Wallsend, this has never been more apparent than in recent times. With sister school Christchurch Adventist School battling to recover from the trauma of the devastating earthquake, it seemed only natural to the Macquarie College community that something had to be done.”

Michael Heath/Josh Brown

Students wait to have a turn on the climbing wall at Macquarie College’s mufti day.

Fairy floss was just one of the things on sale at the mufti day, the profits of which went to the fundraising effort.

More baked goods for sale on the mufti day.

The cheque for funds raised by Macquarie College was presented to Christchurch Adventist School by Gayle Sleight on 25 March.

Cupcakes decorated with black and red NZs were just some of the tasty goodies sold to raise funds for earthquake victims of Christchurch Adventist School

OUR SCHOOLS

Building construction boys in action

A class of senior students at Avondale School recently returned from a very hands-on week of building work placement. The students were taken on by a number of local construction companies, where they gained invaluable experience from qualified tradesmen.

Avondale School’s teachers for the Building Construction subject are Peter Hosken and Nigel Lynn. They received very positive comments from the placement employers regarding the attitudes and skills of the students.

Building Construction is a Vocational Education and Training (VET) subject currently offered at Avondale School. It provides senior students with a pathway to the primary trades in the construction industry. Skills attained are directed towards entry to offsite occupations such as carpentry, joinery, shop-fitting and bricklaying.

Peter sees the course as a great opportunity for students to learn an array of specialist practical skills relevant to the construction industry. He puts great value on the Christian learning environment.

“The Certificate II is designed to introduce learners to the recognised trade callings in the construction industry and provide meaningful credit in a construction industry Australian Apprenticeship,” he says.

The structure of the course at Avondale School provides students with the opportunity to gain their Higher School Certificate, an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) and CPC20208 Certificate II in Construction Pathways. Year 12 Students can also choose to take additional training in the Trade Training Centre in order to gain a Statement of Attainment towards Certificate III in Carpentry.

Training and assessment is undertaken throughout the course with a total of 70 hours of work placement required over Years 11 and 12. For the students, this means they gain excellent work and life experience in a rewarding learning environment – giving a real kick-start to their careers.

– Susan Rogers

Students tackle a tasmanian expedition

A group of eager students from Avondale School recently travelled to Tasmania as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award. They visited two National Parks in the state where they were able to practice both hiking and camping skills.

The first camp started at the Freycinet National Park on Tasmania’s east coast. The group did an overnight trip to Hazards Beach, but due to the lack of fresh drinking water they were forced to return early.

Boarding the bus again, the students travelled to Cradle Mountain National Park where there is a much higher rainfall. The large number of trails gave them plenty of options for planning and executing their hikes.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award is a challenge offered through Avondale School’s extensive extra-curricular outdoor education program. The expedition to Tasmania is a task where students applying for the award must plan, train for and complete an adventurous journey abroad.

It is a great opportunity for students to make friends, challenge themselves and gain useful skills. Those at Avondale School who participate and gain their Duke of Edinburgh Awards continually find the experience rewarding and also a lot of fun.

Students of Avondale School’s Building Construction subject recently completed placements at a number of local construction companies.

The work experience placements gave the students a great opportunity to learn more about work in a variety of construction-related industries.

Overlooking Cradle Mountain.

The group of students and staff who visited Tasmania as part of Avondale School’s Duke of Edinburgh Award program.

– Susan Rogers

OUR OUTREACH

Signs of the Times answers “Why?”

Signs of the Times has produced a flyer to help churches share with those seeking an explanation for the spate of tragedies the world has experienced since the beginning of the year.

According to Lee Dunstan, editor of Signs of the Times, the idea for the flyer came as a result of watching an interview with a journalist on TV one morning. “She mentioned that as journalists, their job was to report on the who, what, where, when and how,” he says. “They were doing a good job of reporting on the disasters but were having trouble with answering ‘why?’”

Lee says the admission planted the seed for a Signs of the Times article that would explain what she – and the secular world – can’t. He adds the answer can’t be found in geology, plate tectonics or global warming, but in the Bible – its history and predictions.

The article has been transformed into a flyer entitled “Why?” which sensitively deals with loss and gives hope. “It is the hope of Signs Ministry that every home in the country receives this message, helping to answer people’s questions and direct to their only hope in these troubled times,” says Lee. You can find out more about “Why?” at www.signsofthetimes.org.au/why.

– Melody Tan

Service for all ages

Having been born in Fiji to missionary parents working at Fulton College, I have a fondness for both the country and its people, and felt a special connection when our Conference became ‘Partners in Mission’ with the Fiji Mission. It has been a privilege to report here in NorthPoint on the various groups from across our Conference who have undertaken mission trips to Fiji, particularly the Year 12 ‘schoolies’ service trips run by a number of our schools.

But it’s not just the younger generations getting involved in outreach projects to our sister nation! I’m pleased to report that the Avondale Retirement Village (ARV) is undertaking an exciting service outreach initiative by residents from the Village community, which they hope will be an annual program.

“The inaugural mission project chosen for 2011 is based in the Tavua Valley of Fiji and has come about as a response to an appeal by our Adventist churches in this region,” said Pastor David Bertlesen, ARV Chaplain, who is heading up the trip in August.

Called ‘To Fiji With Love’, this year’s project will provide a range of much needed outreach services and materials including literacy books and training for local public schools; hospital and medical equipment for local hospitals; health assessments and health education programs; building materials and labour for renovations; a Vacation Bible School; and a two-week evangelism program by Pastor Ray Stanley, including distribution of free Bibles.

The benefits for the communities in this outer region of Fiji will be far reaching, but they need our help. The Management and Board of the ARV are generously supporting this endeavour and the ARV residents involved are self-funding their travel, however they still need to raise a further $A20,000 in order to provide the resources and services outlined above. Your financial support would be greatly appreciated.

A special dedication Prayer Meeting and fundraising offering will be held at 10:00am on Tuesday, 24 May in the Fellowship Hall at Avondale Memorial Seventh-day Adventist Church, in order to raise the funding for this worthwhile project. The ARV and the ‘To Fiji With Love’ team are inviting those who are able to join this $A100 note offering and help them help our brothers and sisters in Fiji. All donations will be gratefully received. Cash donations can also be made at the ARV Office in Cooranbong or by direct deposit.

For more information about the project, contact Pastor David Bertlesen on (02) 4393 6180 or 0410 621 408.

I look forward to publishing a full report of their trip in NorthPoint later this year. And thank you in advance for your support of Fiji – our Partner in Mission.

– Sharlene Guest