northpoint November 2019
North New South Wales Conference News
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.