Gosford’s Family Day Breakfast Dishes Up Taste of Church Life
Jenny Tinworth
Gosford’s annual Family Day Breakfast has become a landmark event for the surrounding community. The church held its third breakfast in August when it invited local residents to come along on Sabbath morning for a free breakfast as a ‘taster’ of the church.
Around 60 locals joined church members for a morning of fun and fellowship, enjoying the hearty buffet breakfast, kids’ craft activities and a short service. Church Pastor Dada Fialho said the breakfast goes hand in hand with the church’s weekly food pantry program.
“Around 20 of our regular food pantry customers came along to the breakfast,” he said. “Many have told me they now see the church as ‘their’ church, and are becoming comfortable not only attending the weekly food pantry but are joining for other programs, activities and
Sabbaths. They are even inviting their friends along.”
Another benefit of the annual breakfast is the way it encourages church members to be actively involved in evangelism. Church members mingled with the visitors, chatting over the meal, sharing information at stalls profiling different church programs, providing free health checks and helping children to make crafts.
“It’s a fun and gentle way for church members to share their love of Jesus and our message, even if they don’t usually feel comfortable in evangelistic outreach,” Dada said.
“We were very intentional about this day. It is part of a bigger plan to connect with our neighbours, add value to their lives and share our faith with them. We want to normalise church so that they relate to it as a place they would be comfortable to attend.”
Bringing Hope to The Outback
Young Adults Finke Mission Trip
Juliana Muniz
Located almost in the dead centre of Australia, Finke, or Aputula, is an aboriginal community that has only one church - a Seventhday Adventist Church. Supporting the district pastor David Gilmore, Mancel and his wife, Jubilee, are the ones responsible for keeping the church alive. They are bible workers that have sacrificed phone reception, modern infrastructure and pleasant weather, and have been ministering and influencing the community for the past six years.
North New South Wales Conference News November 2019
northpoint
But being only two in a community with over 200 people that need constant care, they don’t get to do everything that they dream for the church. Moved by that, the youth department of the NNSW Conference decided to take whoever was brave enough to hop in 4WDs and drive all the way from Newcastle to Finke, in the Northern Territory, to help the church in that community. And for 17 days, a group of 18 people left the comfort of their homes to drive there, camping on the side of the road, with no showers, no phone reception, but a great sense of mission in their hearts.
During the six days that the group were there, the calm and quiet Finke gained a little bit of excitement and hope. With the missionaries waking up at 5 am every day, the church building that once was grey and pale is now alive with colour. The orange and blue that symbolize the outback now make the church feel even more like home for the community.
The group also brought more life to the interior of the church with an evangelistic series themed ‘Hope Running Deep’ that ran every night. “It was so exciting to notice that after two days in the town, the community started to warm up to us. A lady sat with my wife to talk, and a young man came to ask me questions about life. Each night we could see the number of attendees increasing in the church. So people do respond to us when we come to these places and show them that we care and we love them”, says Dana Howard, NNSW Youth Ministries director.
Your Generosity Is Amazing
Ute Schulenberg
Dorrigo’s Jeannie Veitch left Macksville one Thursday afternoon with her car laden with fresh produce and other items donated by our community following the call-out on Tuesday. She also took a generous quantity of cooked food the day before, not to mention 12 dozen eggs donated by Dave’s poultry in Bowraville.
“The response has been so generous ... trucks also left Armidale and Kempsey loaded up with food,” Jeannie said. “And this is a small lower socio-economic community ... even today at the (Seventh Day Adventist) Food Hub people have been adding things from their own shopping.”
Jeannie said although the fires were still burning, the immediate need had slowed thanks to all the donations. The Seventh Day Adventist Church also donated $300 for fruit and vegetables, which has been placed on a tab at Pam’s Fruit and Veg in Dorrigo for use as and when needed. And in Nambucca Heads, Sarah Mills did a round of local businesses, who also gave generously, supplying a load which will be heading up the mountain soon via Coffs Harbour.
Feeding stock is still critical, however. You can donate by calling Beaumonts Produce and ‘buying’ some bales ($29.50 each), which will then be delivered free of charge (phone 6657 2389). Northern AgriServices in Dorrigo is also helping out6657 2068. Beaumonts is also collecting money to help farmers replace lost fences. Anyone wanting to donate to the fresh food kitty can call Pastor Paul Richardson on 0414 628 739.
Biggest Ever Jump Start Student LE Winter Canvassing Program
Andrew Kochanski Jump
Start Literature Evangelist
For the first time ever, over twenty students, part-time LE’s and active church members participated in a fiveweek canvassing program. It was run in Newcastle, Raymond Terrace, Kempsey and Taree ending on 21 July 2019. Over 1,200 hours were spent in the community, selling and giving away almost $8,000 worth of books, approximately 80% of which was spiritual.
Approximately 15,000 letterbox cards, glow tracts and church fliers were distributed, and 214 people were prayed with at their front door. Almost 140 contacts were established with people who are expecting further follow-up by church pastors, bible workers and active church members.
We praise God for approximately 520 The Great Controversy books and 360 Darkness Before Dawn (selected chapters from The Great Controversy) that were placed into the hands, hearts and homes of people who are hungry to know more. The spiritual books that were distributed literally number in the thousands! We know that much of Australia is in drought, not only physically, but also spiritually, which makes every book sold a miracle! God will take care of the gospel seeds that have been sown, and there will be an abundant harvest.
I wish to thank everyone involved for the part they played in making this year’s Jump Start Student LE program the best ever. Especially Fine Paiaaua who, after attending previous Winter Canvassing Programs, led the Newcastle team this year. Having recently completed his Theology degree, canvassing has been a great ‘front line’ experience for him. Currently leading out in a four week Jump Start LE outreach in Sydney, Fine continues this God-ordained work...
The inspired writings of Ellen White state that “as long as probation continues, there will be an opportunity for the canvasser to work.” Colporteur Ministry, 11. What part are you playing?
RTM Church Needs You!
Raymond Terrace Mission Church (just North of Newcastle) is seeking young/ enthusiastic and committed Seventh-day Adventist people to assist in running an evangelistic Newstart Juice ‘cafe’ and Op Shop on the main street of town (45 William St). We already have a young team in place, and we’re seeking to grow and expand our influence for health and for Jesus! Contact Paul Kochanski 0410132491.
Wanted: Singles Ministry Leader
Looking for expressions of interest for a volunteer to lead out in planning events for singles 30+ - 65+ for the NNSW conference. Mentoring will be offered to such a person from other active conferences. If you are interested, please contact Christine on 0403519878.
Holistic Small Groups Part 2
By Gillian Knight - NNSW NCD Coordinator
The previous article outlined the questions in the survey related to Holistic Small Groups and how they are grouped into five key areas:
1. Essential foundations for growing meaningful relationships
2. Growing relational depth
3. Relevancy
4. Small group leader training
5. Growing in numbers, not just maturity.
The first two points were discussed and how meaningful relationships is essential in growing a healthy church. The next point, relevancy, is one that is often neglected. What does it mean when we say a small group is relevant? There are two questions that cover the topic of relevance, but both are significant in ensuring that a small group is successful or not.
in spiritual maturity and support one another in Biblical community.
Q76 – The leaders of our small groups are trained for their tasks.
It is surprising how many pastors say small groups are important but don’t have regular small group leader training and don’t allocate money in the budget to resource them. Carl George set a benchmark with his VHS meetings –monthly gatherings of small group leaders where some ‘vision’ is shared, the leaders ‘huddle’ to discuss issues of importance to them in working with their small groups and ‘skill’ is imparted to grow leader competence.
The last two questions are about growing in numbers, not just maturity.
Q54 – In the group I belong to it is easy for newcomers to be integrated.
Q78 – Our small groups actively seek to multiply themselves.
Young Adult Tour to Israel & Jordan Upcoming Events
Q27 – In my small group, we spend lots of time on things which are irrelevant to me (negative).
Join Anna and friends as she leads worships on a Bible Lands tour where we visit Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jericho, En Gedi, Capernaum, Megiddo, Mt Carmel, Nazareth, Sea of Galilee, Petra, the Dead Sea, and many others. Explore the stories where they happened and get to know the places and times of the Bible. This an unparalleled opportunity to join a low-cost budget tour to Israel and Jordan. An extension to Egypt following on January 15-22 is also available. Visitwww. faithtours.com.au, email lea-anne@ faithtours.com.au or phone 0417 017 892 for more details.
Q11 – My small group helps me with the challenges of my life.
These two questions imply that a small group must provide an environment where members can raise issues confronting them in their daily lives and then address them with responses which are relevant and helpful. For example, does it offer Christian community or apply Biblical principles. Many traditional Bible study groups fail because they do not appreciate that simply studying the Bible together is no guarantee of relevance.
I was intrigued to learn that, on average, small groups become closed to outsiders just six weeks after forming. Yes, that quickly. The reason most often given is that every time you add a new person, the relational dynamics change. That is a good point, but closing the door to newcomers can also be an excuse for becoming comfortable. Think of it as a ‘billabong’ problem – at some point, the lack of ‘inflow’ not only leads to a lack of ‘outflow’ but progressively leads to stagnation. Over time the groups need a steady supply of newcomers to keep them fresh, relevant and a vital part of the healthy growth of the church as a whole.
Summer Camps
December 17 - January 26
Details on the conference website.
SoZo Health Retreat
November 24-December 1, 2019
Stuarts Point Convention Centre
AMEN Annual Conference
November 8-10
Friday 6 – Sunday 8 December 2019
Oaks Plaza Pier Hotel, Adelaide, SA Register at amenaustralia.org/events
Adventist Singles Network Summer Beach Camp
Friday 24 Jan - Mon 27 January, 2020
Stuart’s Point Convention Centre Register at snsw.adventist.org.au/events/#singles
This brings me to the uncomfortable word of ‘vulnerability’. Churches can often be perceived by the wider unchurched community, as places where you go when you are ‘good’. I have heard people say, “I am not good enough to go to church” or “I will go when I am a better person”. Our community should be a place that welcomes the broken-hearted and crushed in spirit. A place for healing and acceptance, but without us being vulnerable and real with others, it will be hard to build a trust relationship. We have all sinned and in God’s sight we are all equal.
Small Group Leader Training, like churches, small groups rise and fall on leadership. If growing holistic small groups is a priority in your church, then investing in the ongoing training of your small group leaders should be a priority. The essence of the training should be on how the prospective leaders can bring together a small group of people to grow
This leads to the issue of multiplication. Issue? I’ve heard the argument that ‘multiplication’ leads to ‘division’ and ‘division is death’. That is, multiplying a group into two breaks up relationships that have been forged for years. I fear the argument is more based on staying within a comfort zone rather than facing the challenges of ongoing growth (both personal and church). Healthy groups focused on growth in both numbers and maturity can expect to multiply naturally and welcome it when it happens!
Let us recreate church to be a community, a place of love...v one that never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.
“The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
More News Online...
nnsw.adventist.org.au/news-and-events
NCD Pathway
Don’t miss out on the excitement. Get the conference news straight to your inbox! nnsw.adventist.org.au/ northpoint-bulletin
