NorthPoint - April, 2023

April 2023

North New South Wales Conference News

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Why not book a stall at Super Sunday?

Super Sunday is a market day event held on the first Sunday of Big Camp. There will be lots of different ministries featured along with jumping castles, food trucks, kids activities and live music. Why not book a market stall at Super Sunday? Register your stall today!

NEED LIST

Tables

Chairs

Gazebo

Extension cords

Powerboards

Point of sale

Register your stall here!

AAA: Soaring Ministry Amid COVID Challenges

The NNSW Conference is blessed to have multiple and diverse ministries operating within its territory. One such long-standing ministry is the Adventist Aviation Association (AAA), currently chaired by retired pastor, John Kosmeier. Although COVID-19 definitely had a negative impact on its operations, AAA is basically back to its regular schedule of monthly flights. During 2022, pilots Garry Fraser and Paul Slade—who entirely volunteer their time and expertise—made 17 return flights to churches in the west and north west regions of the Conference, including Brewarrina, Moree, Narrabri, Coonamble, Lightning Ridge and Coonabarabran. The coastal towns of Kempsey and Coffs Harbour have also been visited.

Last year, passengers included church members, musicians, Conference officers and youth groups who have led church services and special occasions including baptisms, ATSIM services and regional meetings. A big thank you to everyone involved, including the management committee, the pilots and particularly Marcela Cuff from Gosford Church who have organised personnel and the programming for many of the visits.

Adventist Aviation Association is funded primarily by donations and bequests, and is grateful for the generosity of church members who support this unique and valuable ministry.

The Adventist Aviation Association is a ministry that concentrates on providing resources, fostering church growth, and nurturing discipleship in the isolated regions of Western New South Wales. To support their efforts, you can make a donation to AAA via the eGiving app or website <egiving.org.au> by searching for “Adventist Aviation Association Offering (NNSW Conference).” Your offerings will help advance the work in these remote communities.

Pastor Adrian Raethel NNSW Conference president

Visitors from the AUC and SEUM

Megantha Kiruwi Associate Editor, NorthPoint

The Conference office was thrilled to have three special visitors from both the Australian Union Conference (AUC) and the Southeastern Asia Union Mission (SEUM) on March 8. Pastor Michael Worker, General Secretary for the AUC along with his personal assistant Lei-See Ong, accompanied Natnicha Jawjong, personal assistant to the secretary of the SEUM, as she toured around some of the offices in Australia.

The SEUM is a relatively new mission and has only been operating since January 2022. Since the SEUM has a union partnership with the AUC, Ms Jawjong visited our conference and several others including Greater Sydney, the South Pacific Division office in Wahroonga (NSW) and the AUC office in Ringwood (Vic) to learn from the different entities within Australia.

The staff at the Conference office were able to connect, network, and teach different methods of professional development in hopes that Ms Jawjong can implement them at the SEUM office in Thailand.

Constituency Meeting Of The North New South Wales Conference

Notice is hereby given that the 59th Constituency Meeting of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, North New South Wales Conference, will be held at Yarra Holiday Park (Stuarts Point Convention Centre), 250 Grassy Head Rd, Stuarts Point, NSW 2441. The meeting will be held on Sunday, September 17, 2023, commencing at 9:00am. Delegates will be appointed in harmony with the constitution. The business of the constituency meeting will be as provided in the constitution, including the presentation of reports and financial statements for the quadrennial period 2019-2022 inclusive. The executive officers, departmental directors, executive committee, constitution committee and appointments committee for the North New South Wales Conference will be elected.

For more information, please contact Pastor Abel Iorgulescu, NNSW general secretary.

PHOTO: (Left to Right) Michael Worker, Natnicha Jawjong, Lei-See Ong, Jodie Bird and Abel Iorgulescu at the NNSW Conference office

For the delegates of the Session

On September 17, 2023, over 400 members from around the NNSW Conference will be converging at Yarra Holiday Park for our 59th regular constituency meeting. What is this meeting and why does it matter?

The constituency meeting, historically referred to as “the Session”, occurs when delegates from each of the local churches in our Conference, along with special delegates (including guests from the Australian Union Conference and South Pacific Division), come together to review the progress of the Church and its mission in the NNSW Conference. The operation of the constituency meeting is governed by the NNSW Conference Unincorporated Constitution.

Each local church has an allocation of delegates based on membership. Each local church can send two delegates, plus an additional delegate for every 40 members. The local church business meeting selects the delegates from those on their membership roll in good and regular standing.

The constitution states that the following matters be addressed at a constituency meeting:

• Election of Conference officers, departmental directors and the appointment and constitution committees.

• A discussion of any matter recommended by the NNSW Conference Executive Committee.

• A discussion of matters received from local churches and approved for discussion by the Executive Committee.

• The presentation of reports on the operation of the NNSW Conference for the 2019 ‐ 2022 period.

• Any required amendments to the NNSW Conference Unincorporated Constitution

Will there be an option to attend the meeting virtually?

As we have seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, many meetings and events had to be either cancelled, postponed or adapted to the current climate of health and safety. Unless the NSW state government laws prohibit gathering for such an event, the 2023 NNSW Constituency Meeting will be held as an in-person only event.

What is the process leading to the election of officers and departmental directors?

A Selection Committee consisting of a delegate from each local church will meet at Yarra Adventure Park Chapel on Sunday, April 16, 2023 to appoint a Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee will meet several times leading up to the constituency meeting. At the constituency meeting, the Nominating Committee will put forward their recommendations for the position of the Conference president, general secretary and chief financial officer, as well as departmental directors and associates for the next four years. They will also recommend a team to serve as the Executive Committee as well as a Standing Appointments Committee which appoints replacement personnel between constituency meetings when needed and a Constitution Committee.

The constituency meeting is the primary forum for the local church to influence the governance of the local Conference. It can appoint or reject church conference leaders, amend the constitution and ask all the hard questions—so it really does matter! We hope you are able to make a contribution to the effective governance of the NNSW Conference by attending this meeting as an elected delegate by your local church business meeting.

If you are a delegate and have not yet registered, please email <jodiebird@adventist.org.au>.

Youth Mission Trip

to World’s Happiest Country

Megantha Kiruwi Associate Editor, NorthPoint

Agroup of 40 young adults from in and around NNSW volunteered at the Koivikko Lifestyle Centre in Finland from January 29 to February 14. The young people aided the team at Koivikko with multiple renovation projects, outreach in the community of Mikkeli and leading out in various local church services.

The property on which the Koivikko Lifestyle Centre is built was once a government boarding school facility that was bought by a local church in Finland. Former Conference pastor and Koivikko volunteer, Kyle Morrison, shares that the desire of the local church is to “set up a community centre of influence, to teach lifestyle medicine principles and advance the gospel.”

The young people worked in teams, each with an allocated group leader. Teams worked on assigned projects in two sessions: morning and afternoon, preparing the rooms for various purposes. Different projects included electrical work, bathroom renovation, and the refurbishment of a top floor building that was used to host a worship night on the last Sabbath of the trip.

TOP: The main building of Koivikko //

RIGHT: Some of the group before the flight to Helsinki // BELOW: Renovation work

Avondale University student, Kate Simpson, shares that many of her hours at Koivikko were spent painting, whilst others “ripped out cupboards, scraped off wallpaper, sanded… [and] helped in the kitchen and babysitting department to allow others to work.” Miss Simpson also adds that “aside from renovating, we also had the opportunity to do some outreach. One of the events was a "stand" in a local shopping mall where we were offering people shoulder massages, healthy desserts, and an invitation to a health program at Koivikko.”

Smaller teams also took part in letterboxing, which included walking through snow and ice to deliver evangelistic material. From this outreach, 22 people from the community signed up for the advertised health program and two people requested a copy of the Great Controversy

Pastor Morgan Vincent, associate pastor of Avondale University Church and mission trip organiser shares that the spiritual aspect of the trip was the highlight. “From the worships we had each day you could sense throughout the two weeks or so we’ve been here, that people were growing in their faith and growing more… When you place

people in the right environment they can only grow.”

Many young people made commitments for baptism and most pledging to be involved in mission in their local churches.

Pastor Vincent shared, “we really want to see a partnership between the NNSW Conference and Koivikko and we desire to see many trips happen in the future."

Koivikko Lifestyle Centre in Finland

1 Community outreach at the local shopping centre // 2 Painting a room in the main building // 3 Upstairs room before renovations // 4 Renovated upstairs being used for worship night.

5 Daily morning worship // 6 Young people sharing testimonies at a local Finnish church // 7 Scraping walls

Koivikko

Atcheson family celebrates ordination

Megantha Kiruwi Associate Editor, NorthPoint

The Tumbulgum Church held an outstanding ordination program for Pastor Matthew Atcheson on March 11. Pastor Atcheson has been serving his local church long before becoming a minister, and has served in many churches in the NNSW Conference, including Hillview, Kingscliff and The Vine.

“The desire of my family is to serve the Lord wherever He leads us,” Pastor Atcheson shares. His family played a significant role in the ceremony as he was supported by his loving wife Nina and his children, Jacob, Tahlia and Eli led the opening prayer. Ministers from the Northern Rivers area laid hands on Pastor Atcheson and his family as NNSW secretary, Pastor Abel Iorgulescu conducted the dedicatory prayer.

Awardwinning Op Shop

Lazio Crescentini ADRA NSW Regional Manager

The annual Lake Mac Awards night for the Lake Macquarie City Council was held on Saturday, March 11. Many outstanding individuals and groups took home awards including the ADRA Op Shop Morisset. The Op Shop won the Lake Mac Community Group of the Year award due to its incredible service to its community.

An indomitable group of volunteers led by manager Dr Paul Rankin put an unbelievable amount of volunteer hours into receiving, cleaning, repairing, recycling, organising and selling. The Op Shop is a project of the Hillview SDA Church in partnership with the NNSW Conference and ADRA Australia.

Surplus funds from this Op Shop go toward a low-cost counselling centre, assisting flood victims in NNSW, local school scholarships and several other projects to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the local and wider district.

If you have some spare hours and would like to be a part of this incredible outreach project, please contact the Op Shop which is open Sunday through Wednesday.

Pastor Atcheson describes God’s call in His life as undeniable. He adds that “responding to pastoral ministry is the only way I’ve had peace and contentment in my work and service. God has never let us down, and no matter the joys and challenges we face, He always provides. He is always faithful and we feel so blessed to be sharing in His work at this time in Earth’s history.”

TOP: Ministers lay hands on Atcheson family as Pastor Iorgulescu offers a dedicatory prayer

LEFT: Pastor Matthew Atcheson with wife Nina and children Jacob, Tahlia and Eli.

RIGHT: Pastor Atcheson sharing a response and acknowledgements at Tumbulgum Church

PHOTO: (Left to Right) Shona Solomon, Dr Paul Rankin, Cr Madeline Bishop, Theo Vanbezouwn and Justin Stafford at the Lake Mac awards ceremony

An extra high Sabbath at Kingscliff

Megantha Kiruwi Associate Editor, NorthPoint

The Kingscliff Church was doubly blessed on March 11 as they celebrated the baptisms of new members, Leanne Croft and Daniel Slater.

Last year two ARISE students knocked on the door of Mr Slater and connected with him before he took part in Bible studies with other Bible workers from the Kingscliff Church. Many passionate people were involved in leading Mr Slater to the decision of baptism.

Ms Croft was attending the Kingscliff Church and joined a Bible study group led by Pastor Robbie Morgan and other members of the church.

During the baptismal service, Pastor Morgan shared “the reality is that the ministry of the gospel is not the pastor’s job alone; it’s the responsibility of every Christian and it is the privilege of every Christian that we can participate in leading people on their journey with Jesus.”

THE STORY OF JONAH : FIND-A-WORD

Growing gardens for the gospel

Camila Skaf NNSW Health Director

The NNSW Conference Health Department has launched a new initiative in partnership with the SoZo Retreat School to provide practical education on Syntropic Agroforestry to church members. The inaugural NNSW Syntropic Agroforestry Retreat and Workshop was held at the Stuarts Point Convention Centre from March 3 to 6. This initiative aims to promote whole-person health and restoration with the Creator by connecting people and enabling them to utilise these skills in their backyards, community gardens, farms, and other areas.

Last year, the Convention Centre managers, Danielle and Trevor Toomey, along with John Addis, an experienced syntropic gardener, Camila Skaf, and the SoZo Garden team began offering Syntropic Agroforestry workshops at Big Camp.

We were blessed with the “highest quality plant-based food” stated an attendee from Wauchope Church, and all the 31 people attending demonstrated an interest to continue to invest in the practices and principles they learnt at the retreat. These practices align with Biblical teachings, Spirit of Prophecy, and modern syntropic agriculture.

According to an attendee from Kings Creek, “the concepts and methods taught in this workshop have such enormous potential for impact in our communities and capacity to teach non-Christian community members the principles of the kingdom of heaven.”

Lisa Hayden and Edward Price from Taree Church shared that they “learnt a lot of practical information that will be utilised in the Community Garden that Taree Church is planning, as part of our strategic approach to church growth.” The pair have already surveyed their church community for interest in the proposed garden and have many who are keen to join their garden project.

Come and experience our SoZo Syntropic Garden workshop at Big Camp and stay tuned for more retreats and workshop opportunities this year.

TOP: NNSW Health Director Camila Skaf sharing some agricultural wisdom with workshop participants. ABOVE: One of the workshop teachers. BELOW: Attendee using the skills he has learnt to plant. BOTTOM: Ms Skaf shares a devotional thought with attendees.

Jesse joins the family

Megantha Kiruwi Associate Editor, NorthPoint

The Avondale University Church congregation has increased as Jesse Gray was baptised on March 4. The church service consisted of wonderful music and a message shared by associate pastor Morgan Vincent.

Mr Gray was one of the young people involved in the mission trip to Finland where he was able to listen to the testimonies of many of the staff. After an encouraging message from pastor Braedan Entermann, Mr Gray said, “I would see the light in his eyes, and I could just see that God was so special to him.” On a different night, pastor Kyle Morrison shared his testimony and inspired the young people to step outside of their comfort zone and do something purposeful for God. These messages stirred within Mr Gray’s heart and helped him make the commitment to baptism.

“Believing in God isn’t an easy road,” Mr Gray comments. He shared in a short testimonial before his baptism about the biggest moment in his life where he saw God move. The Holy Spirit convicted him to leave a relationship he was in several years ago. It was one of the hardest decisions he has ever had to make as he lacked understanding of why God wanted him to leave a relationship that he thought was good. Nonetheless he trusted God and as a result, his faith was strengthened. “It’s a faith worth having,” Mr Gray explains. Jesus is “a person worth pursuing because I’ve seen Him come through and change me every single day.”

Mr Gray says, “I have chosen to be baptised because God is special to me, and I want Him to be a part of my life. Over my journey, I have seen Him move in countless ways and I’m excited to see where He moves in the future.”

Consulting Editor Adrian Raethel

Editor Henrique Felix

Associate Editor Megantha Kiruwi

Cover Joseph Skaf

We would love to share news from your local church with the Conference in print or online. Please send through relevant contributions to <nnswcommunication@adventist.org.au>.

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