Encounters with Christ
We use our spiritual gifts and professional skills to share the transformative love of Christ in all aspects of life.
We are committed to the journey of discipleship, following Jesus together.
We live and work among some of the most marginalised peoples of Asia and the Arab world.
We prioritise locally led projects and partner with the local church.
Let’s work together.
Interserve is a global community of ordinary Christians.
Thanks to all who contributed to the making of this magazine.
Primary sources of news and information: our own correspondents.
Editors: Kaitlyn Gaudion and team
Get in touch at comms@interserve.org.au
Design: Les Colston
Go Magazine is published twice a year by Interserve Australia Limited. It contains content of Interserve Australia Limited, its subsidiary Interserve Development Limited (collectively “Interserve”), and from friends in the Interserve International fellowship.
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Photos: Stock images or supplied by Interserve personnel, except where indicated – thanks to all. Photos do not necessarily relate to articles for sensitivity reasons. Cover photo by Prachi Palwe at unsplash.com.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Bible quotes in this magazine are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
Copyright 2011 by the New York International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
Interserve Australia Limited is not responsible for the content of external websites.
Interserve Australia Limited and Interserve Development Limited are ACNC Registered Charities. Interserve Australia Limited is a member of Australia’s Missions Interlink and the international Micah Network.
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ISSN 0256-4726.
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Encounters with Jesus Christ
In this edition of Go, we are revisiting our vision to see lives and communities transformed through encounters with Jesus Christ. The sequence is important. It is through an encounter with Jesus, that real and lasting transformation is possible.
But what does an encounter with Jesus look like?
In Acts chapter four, we read of the miraculous healing of a lame man, through ‘an act of kindness’ (verse 9). An undeniable miracle takes place, accompanied by unapologetic testimony from Peter and John. The transformation witnessed by so many was the result of an encounter with Jesus Christ.
Compounding the confusion for many of the Jewish rulers was the fact that Peter and John embodied the very message they proclaimed. There was a boldness about them that testified to their own transformation, despite the fact that they were seen as unschooled and ordinary men. It was noted that they ‘had been with Jesus’ (verse 13).
Their own encounter with Jesus and subsequent transformation equips them now to help others also encounter Jesus. And so it is today.
As we go love the world, people will encounter Jesus. We can trust God for the transformation as we persevere in prayer. May God bless and inspire you as you read on!
Stewart Hunt
National Director
It was two years ago that we asked our supporters to pray for a movement of God’s Spirit in the refugee community in our city in South East Asia.
We had known for a while that there were 900 refugees living in official compounds here. For more than three years, we have been blessed to be able to get to know a handful of single men coming to our church.
As we got to know them, we learnt to call them ‘sojourners’, because they had been treated so badly and felt dehumanised as refugees. They had been detained in harsh, overcrowded conditions – like living in jail. Some of them had been detained for two years before being confirmed as refugees and given their own rooms to stay in. A brother suggested we call them ‘fellow sojourners’, recognising that we
also are ‘passing through’ this land on our way to our true home.
We knew there were women and children living here too, but had heard from the men that it was culturally difficult for the women to leave their compound. So we weren’t sure how we could meet them.
We felt a burden for these families and that’s why we asked our supporters to pray. For quite a while, nothing seemed to be happening. Yet because of our supporters’ faithful enquiries, we knew that God had put the sojourners as well as the local people on their hearts. So we were encouraged to persist in prayer.
Then a few months ago, a sojourner from another city arranged for a group of women from our church to meet a group of women from a compound where he and his wife used to live.
I sent messages around our small church and found four other women excited to come and meet them with me.
Two children and a teenage girl greeted us at the gate of the compound. There was concrete everywhere – but their shy smiles were warm. They brought us through a courtyard, where 12 families each had a one-room living space, to a school room with chairs and a whiteboard and six more teenage girls.
We learnt each other’s names and that they had sewed the beautiful clothes they were wearing. Most of them had been in the compound for more than eight years. Many of the adults suffered from so much stress and poor mental health that they didn’t want to come out of their rooms. They remained traumatised by what they had come from and what still goes on in their home countries. They struggled being kept from work, in close confines, without respite. As the meeting progressed, one by one women looked in and saw everyone smiling. Children peeked in and saw the snacks. More and more bodies slipped into the room. And by the time we left that day, we had shaken more than 40 pairs of hands hello and goodbye.
we clung on to the fact that God was leading us together.
And praise God, just as he opened the door so we can see how he has been providing. With money gifted from supporters, we were able to buy paper, pencils and paints for activities. One supporter from overseas gifted her time, teaching us to run art therapy activities in a sensitive way. It felt exactly what we needed. From the women who visited the first time, God has been slowly adding more local believers to the team.
I shared with a friend from Australia a dream for the sojourner children to have mini-libraries in the four different compounds they live in. She enthusiastically took this up as her own and arranged to send 15 kilos of good quality storybooks, half of which have already been given out.
It is early days, but we can see signs of our sojourner friends experiencing God’s goodness, knowing that they are not forgotten or alone. Their smiles are precious as we sing together: ‘It’s good to see you here with me. I’m so glad that you came. You are precious, so am I.’ Remembering the women singing this song helped me a lot the first few weeks we were visiting.
God has used the books to open doors to meet people at the other compounds too. Women who were shy about their English are now coming regularly. Two widows who sat on the fringes have been joining in with everyone else. The oldest boy, who used to bully others, is now eager to help.
As we share our lives, it has been very special to talk with the women about our faith and to share what we are praying for them and their children. God began to move in the Spirit through our prayers, so we continue to pray in hope and to look to him for all that is needed.
We came home encouraged to have an invitation to return – but with hearts broken for the pain in their concerns about their children’s education and wellbeing. Our hands felt empty, but
Natalie and Shaun are team members in South East Asia. Names have been changed for security purposes.
“We learnt to call them ‘sojourners’, because they had been treated so badly and felt dehumanised as refugees.”
A year ago, Mary was in the depths of despair, with no hope and seemingly no one to turn to for help. She was struggling with severe depression, overwhelmed by spiritual attacks and consumed by deeply rooted lies. Yet the Father knew her struggles and led her to my doorstep. So I shared the love of Jesus with her and took her to the hospital to get the medication she needed.
Since then, Mary has continued to learn about herself and how to trust our heavenly Father
in every part of her life. Together with another sister, we meet every week to share about how we are doing, to read the Word and to see what the Father has to teach us.
A couple of months ago, another sister struggling in her marriage started joining us after hearing about our little group. It really is precious and humbling to hear these women’s stories, to pray with them and to encourage them to hold onto our Father’s promises. He truly enables us to persevere and overcome our daily battles.
Today, Mary is like a completely different person; the transformation in her really is 180 degrees! She has been working as a cashier in a local supermarket and has a sense of humour I never could have imagined. She continues to face a lot of the same difficult circumstances. But she is able to embrace and fight them with the confidence and assurance that she is deeply loved and accepted by God.
Another friend, also struggling with depression, has witnessed Mary’s transformation this past year. So she asked her, “What medicine are you taking? I need some too.”
Mary tells her how it really is Jesus who lifted her out of the depths and changed her into a new person.
The last time Mary went to the hospital to get her medicine, the doctor on duty was truly impressed by her improvement. So she began to tell him what – and who – has helped her.
Another doctor said to me, “I need to know what you’re doing with Mary. The medicine only helps her about 20 percent. The other 80 percent of her recovery is altogether something else.”
I simply but passionately told her how our powerful God truly heals and saves and
transforms. Just look at Mary: no one can miss or deny the power at work in her.
Mary’s son had his sixth birthday last weekend. This time last year, she was so sick she had to leave her son with her parents to look after. This year she (with a bit of help) organised a whole party for a bunch of highly energetic six-year-old boys.
She talks to her son about Jesus when possible. But one of the challenges is that her husband has been strongly against her faith and blamed it for her illness. Please pray for wisdom for Mary to witness to her family, and that they too would come to know Jesus.
Mary knows who to run to in her struggles. She knows that her heavenly Father will give her strength to face each day and walk her through every trial.
And because she is a forgiven sinner, a daughter of God redeemed by his grace, she has a new identity that helps her overcome the fears and lies that used to bind her.
The Lord has truly become her Rock and Refuge.
Cheryl is a Partner in Asia.
Names have been changed for security purposes.
“It really is Jesus who lifted her out of the depths and changed her into a new person.”
“Through prayer we can trust in God and his power to accomplish his will.”
Nearly ten years ago, we were visiting a rural village in South East Asia with some guests, and showed them one of our ministries’ clean water filtration systems. These systems are built with community involvement and ownership in mind. Each one provides clean water for up to 100 families, who would otherwise not have access to clean water.
Typically, these community-sized systems are maintained by a few people in the village, or a designated family. But in the village we visited, it was being maintained by an older man named Banyu, who was doing it well.
When we visit, Banyu is usually present to greet us and show us how their clean water system is doing. On this particular visit however, he was not in sight. Instead, his wife asked me to come into their home to see him. He was gravely ill after suffering a serious stroke.
When I entered their home with another member of our clean water team, we entered a darkened room. There we saw a weakened and pale Banyu lying on a woven mat on the floor. He was covered with a thin blanket, unable to move or talk, and surrounded by family who did not know if he would live or die.
After talking with Banyu’s wife and a few other family members, I asked if I could pray for him in the name of Jesus. Everyone in the room agreed. So I prayed, asking God to give him healing and strength, placing my request at the foot of our Lord.
As I left their home, I felt saddened for Banyu and his family's suffering. Yet I was thankful for the opportunity to pray and profess the name of Jesus in a community that follows the majority religion of their nation. I left their home trusting in God, knowing the outcome was in his hands.
Our team has continued to visit the village. On a recent visit, a photo was taken of Banyu attending to his village’s water filtration system. The photograph was shared around, along with the joyful story of his healing and recovery, for which his family and whole community give thanks.
The photo gave our team a time to rejoice and reflect on God’s goodness in making himself known in such a powerful way through prayer. Where Banyu had been struck down, God lifted him up. Although he has little use of one arm, he can walk, talk and continue to serve in maintaining his village’s clean water system.
Through all of this, I was reminded of the awesome power of prayer: it is not limited to our own understanding, faith or desired outcome; but through prayer we can trust in God and his power to accomplish his will.
So please pray with us that we can clearly make known the author of Banyu’s life through our shared joy, thanksgiving and meaningful Kingdom conversations.
Paul is a Partner in South East Asia.
As I cycled along in the sticky midday heat, my thoughts turned to the wise words of a seasoned cross-cultural worker I met many years ago: ‘You must learn to encourage yourself in the Lord!’
So as I pedalled towards the last possible ministry opportunity known to me amidst a pandemic, I began to reflect on the partnerships we had back in our home country with churches, Interserve personnel, friends and family. We could not have made it here without their steadfast support – fuelled by their genuine faith and obedience to serve as God has called them – through prayer, encouragement and finance.
Again, the doubts tempted to dissuade me from pedalling on: I couldn’t even go on my own children’s school campus. They had finally returned to in-person schooling after two years of online learning. Why would I be allowed to enter the preschool site I was heading for? And my speaking skills were not what I had
hoped they would be after 18 months of online language learning; I was still very much a learner, with a long way to go.
Then in his grace, God cut in and I began to turn my mind to how he brought us to this country in early 2020, weeks before the pandemic was to shut everything down. Faithfully he had kept us, enabled us to study online, assured us through his Word when online news feeds tempted us to fear, sent along teammates just when we needed help navigating a new country in the grips of a pandemic.
He will never forsake or leave me, I remembered; he has sent in-country partnerships to keep us steady here. This truth enabled me to trust the leading of the Spirit to go to the preschool, regardless of the outcome. I was here to use the gifts God had given me and I could but offer them in faith. And I had team support around me, encouraging me to reach out even though it was a sensitive time.
I reached the familiar long, brightly coloured painted wall that I had passed so many times
before. The front gate was open, so I made my way through. I walked along the cool, tiled veranda to the office. I was greeted and ushered in to see the director.
She was with another worker and we began a conversation in three languages: English, their mother tongue and the local language. I explained some possible ways I could minister in the preschool and that I hoped to get muchneeded language speaking practice in person.
Their answer was not what I expected.
My heart leapt for joy. They would welcome me in to teach and minister to the local children and staff. It was an answer to their prayers too, they explained, as they were preparing to handover completely to the local people, with the exception of an English teacher/staff trainer.
Then the Lord’s assurance returned to me. As with what was happening right now, I would not do this work in my own strength and I would not be alone. As I partnered with his Spirit, the Lord Jesus would show me what to do, when and how.
He has been faithful to this day. Those who had gone before me and planted have now entrusted me to water the seeds they have sown. Now I am partnering with local believers to continue on with the good work.
As time has gone on, I have seen the ongoing power in praying for God’s clear leading through each day. He often guides me into discussions or situations that I could have easily missed without listening to his promptings. He has given me courage to speak as needed and to trust in his timing in every circumstance.
It is the Lord who gets anything of lasting value done. My job is simply to listen to him and obey, trusting that his ways are far higher than my own. And that one encounter, amidst a pandemic, has shown me how he partners with us by his Spirit and through others to achieve his purposes.
Lilia is a Partner in South East Asia.
Names have been changed for security purposes.
"As I partnered with his Spirit, the Lord Jesus would show me what to do, when and how.”
Interserve is a global community of ordinary Christians putting faith into action.
We live and work among the peoples of Asia and the Arab world – wherever they may be.
Motivated by Christ’s compassion, in partnership with his church, we share our skills and experience to address barriers to fullness of life.
Will you join with us in seeing lives and communities transformed through encounters with Jesus Christ?
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Interserve’s new National Director
In January this year, Stewart Hunt came on board as National Director of Interserve Australia. Stewart is married to Bronwyn, with four children and now grandchildren. He and Bronwyn are passionate about missions and have served in Australia and overseas with other organisations. And for 14 years, he served as lead pastor at the Vine Baptist Church in Melbourne. Let’s hear about some of his personal experiences and thoughts on cross-cultural mission and encounters with Christ.
Can you tell us about an occasion when you were serving overseas, where those who supported you made a difference in enabling the work to go ahead?
I often think of the everyday support, enabling us financially to survive overseas without the possibility of an income. But frequently there were moments of divine provision, intervention or even protection when we knew God was looking after us as a result of prayer.
One of the more frightening moments for me was when we were disembarking our ship, single file down a gangway in a southern African port. Somehow our youngest son Joel, who was around four at the time, had gotten in front of us all. Sensing adventure, he just wanted to run.
I lost sight of him as he disappeared behind a shipping container towards a road. I actually
saw a car passing the container at the same time and they were on a collision course.
As I sprinted towards the unthinkable, I found Joel in the arms of a stunned crew member. He was okay, but the half a dozen crew were in shock. Then one of them explained, he was running directly into the path of the car when suddenly it was like an invisible hand just stopped him.
We had more than a hundred people praying for us at that time, and I was thankful for every one of them!
Thank God for their prayers and for protecting your son! Now turning to the theme of transformation, tell us about a time when you met someone whose encounter with Jesus changed their life.
Again, I see it every day in the people I know. For instance, in the way that my kids parent their children. I don’t want to ever overlook the wonder of the familiar. However, I have also come across many quite dramatic examples of the transforming power of God.
Take Sargon for example. He arrived in Greece as a teenage refugee well over 20 years ago. A man by the name of Costas Macris met him and took him under his wing like a father. Costas was the founder of Hellenic Ministries. Sargon was so struck by his kindness that he just hung around the office doing any odd job he could to help out.
Let me begin with the concept of ministry. Ministry is not what we do for God, but what God does through us. His grace flowing through us for the benefit of others, displaying his kingdom and resulting in his glory alone.
Let’s now add the concept of mission which simply means, ‘to send’ or ‘sent’. Put these together and what we get is a picture of the people of God, sent out to broaden personal proximity to his grace. We’re like grace couriers.
With regard to our humanity, wholism is a way of acknowledging the many and varied ways in which God’s grace ministers both through and to the whole person. It celebrates the diversity of God’s grace ministering to our diversity of needs, including our ultimate need of reconciliation with God.
So, as a goal, wholistic mission includes the activity of God as he seeks to redeem the whole person and restore his image in each of us. In its broadest sense though, it refers to the overall activity of God as he seeks to redeem the whole of his creation through his coming kingdom.
As a practice, it is the appreciation that our whole life has the capacity to reflect God’s glory: our being, our words, and our deeds. So, the so-called ‘everyday’ aspects of our lives can be infused with grace and used by the Spirit –for example though integrity, witness, hospitality and acts of kindness – for ‘everyday mission with God’.
Eventually, he had heard enough about God to make him want to encounter Jesus for himself. He is now married with two boys, manages a major retail store in the USA, is active in his local church and serves on the Hellenic Ministries USA board. A totally changed life!
Yes, a wholly changed life. It calls to mind a core value of Interserve. In your view, what is wholistic mission? Why is it important?
Understanding what it means helps us to appreciate its importance.
Put that together and we see the fullness of God being redeemed in us fully, so that from that fullness, we might fully join him in his mission.
It’s all modelled by and made possible through Jesus Christ, who announces, demonstrates, and then ushers in his new kingdom. Saving us by grace and then apportioning grace to each of us that we might work with him.
Actually, that’s really important. I think previous generations just assumed the centrality of Christ
“Eventually, he had heard enough about God to make him want to encounter Jesus for himself.”
to our understanding of wholistic mission, but that’s not necessarily true today. Wholistic mission without Christ is like a doughnut: yummy but lacking its core. Perhaps we need to change our language to ‘Christ-centred wholistic mission’.
To your last point, why do we need Jesus in wholistic mission to restore people and communities? Why don’t we just focus on doing practical community development projects to bring about transformation?
This is an interesting question. Let me tackle the second part of the question first. Theologians acknowledge something called ‘common grace’. This means, there is a grace from God available to everyone, regardless of whether they acknowledge him or not.
Everyone can experience the sun rising, the rain falling and the sharing of universal truths or knowledge that benefit people’s health and wellbeing. If a community development project
brings real and practical help to a community – even if delivered by non-Christians – we see God’s hand in that through common grace.
Now to the first part of the question. Remember wholistic mission acknowledges the multifaceted nature of our humanity. As Christians, we believe that there is a spiritual aspect to our humanity that only God through Christ can meet. Real transformation of this type requires special or saving grace. An encounter with Jesus Christ is the means to this kind of transformation.
So, transforming lives and communities is not what we do. It’s what we hope for. God is at work in and through us to bring about transformation, acting through both common grace and through special or saving grace.
What we do is love others through word and deed. This is the tangible way in which people can encounter Jesus Christ. ‘We love because he first loved us’. We do this through ‘Christ in us – the hope of glory’!
Transforming lives and communities through Christ is certainly what we hope for, especially in wholistic mission. But sometimes at church, we feel at a distance from this. How can we be directly involved in cross-cultural mission while living in Australia?
In the past, we might have simply urged someone to get better informed by signing up to a newsletter, praying for needs overseas, maybe getting involved by financially supporting someone working overseas, or perhaps even visiting a person or project far away.
Whilst all of that is good, new opportunities have emerged. Over the last few decades, we have seen people from many parts of the world migrate to Australia and move in next door. If not literally next door, then probably not far away.
What this means is that we can now engage with people from all over the world here in our own local cities! God has opened some previously unimaginable doors of opportunity for his church in Australia.
However, the church in Australia can often feel ill-equipped to engage with the changes to their neighbourhood. That’s one of the reasons our Community and Partnerships team is running various courses to help equip churches for cross-cultural ministry.
May God keep equipping and guiding us through the doors he is opening. Thank you for your time and insights, Stewart!
The saying goes, you can't give away what you don't have. Often preachers will use this explanation of how an encounter with the love of God is first needed before we can share it with others.
As a recently graduated teacher of young people, I am familiar with the sense of desperation and search for acceptance that many of us possess as we grow. Although I have been a believer for close to a decade now, there are days when fleeting doubts remind me of these seasons in my life.
I recall finding it difficult to connect with others and to reinforce how a Holy God could love them, when I had trouble believing it for myself. As I reflect over my journey, I am amazed at how central a knowledge of God and an encounter with his love is to our ministry.
A scripture that has always intrigued me and gripped my heart is found at the outset of 2 Corinthians: ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God’ (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
It is clear that our experiences are not wasted, but are in fact stepping stones into intimacy with God and deeper connection with others. In the year prior to leaving Australia for South East Asia, I was confronted with my own painful trials.
Beginning with understandably very concerned and resistant parents, I found myself in constant prayer, desperately seeking guidance to help me
navigate these tensions. Further exasperated by an oncoming pandemic and other family health challenges, it was here I asked the Lord to give me a greater revelation of who he was.
I was on a mission to know how ‘long and high and deep is the love of Christ’ (Ephesians 3:18). Although it was painful, I know that this made way for me to become ‘rooted and established in love’ (3:17) as I prepared for the future that lay before me.
The time spent in prayer and conversation with my parents prior to departure actually gave me a deeper desire to share the love of Christ! I would ask God to help me know he is near. It took time, but as he drew near in this season of confusion and poured his love into my heart, little by little the dissonance and fear I experienced gave way to child-like faith.
I suppose it should come as no surprise that knowing the love of Christ more deeply allowed me to really learn to love others as I was first
“I am familiar with the sense of desperation and search for acceptance that many of us possess as we grow.”
loved. Perhaps it is an ongoing journey we have as believers. Though as Jesus warns Martha in Luke 10, sometimes we can get lost in our work for the Lord.
In retrospect, only when I took the time to be still and seek God first did I have the words and encouragement to share in my work. One of the mentors I have been fortunate enough to gain in this time said that we are most effective when our ‘doing comes from our being’.
Being a teacher, my job is layered and multifaceted. Students come with varying perspectives and life experiences. This diversity is even greater in an International School setting, requiring prayerful consideration of how to express biblical values cross-culturally.
Thankfully the school leadership is well aware of this challenge and has provided ‘Third Culture Kid’ awareness training to help us understand our students and to communicate our values. I am ever grateful for this opportunity to imitate
the love of the Father, who does not judge based on outward appearance. He searches deep within our hearts and knows us; he embraces us with his unchanging love and enables me to do the same.
In time I have had increasing involvement in the local church, facilitating Bible studies and the like, but I have really needed to cultivate my relationship with the Lord first. Perhaps that's why scripture warns us to guard our hearts above all else; our work and everything we do certainly flows from it.
It has been a joy over the last year to grow increasingly closer to the community here. Thankfully our former team leader put us in great stead when he reminded us of the value of love. Above having all the perfect words and language (although this has helped), if we do not have love we gain nothing (1 Corinthians 13).
Louise is a Partner in South East Asia.
Names have been changed for security purposes.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
(Proverbs 3:5-6)
I have been honoured to serve in cross-cultural mission over the past months as a health advisor and medical educator to local healthcare professionals. I have been presented with incredible opportunities to use my skills, talents and experience in a rural region of South East Asia.
Working with other expatriates and local staff, we identified areas of need, which in turn assisted local health professionals in organising and leading training programs to improve clinical competency. The training courses included basic life support, newborn baby checks and newborn life support.
During my placement, I became aware of a prevailing spiritual need. The country is a place of great beauty, yet it faces hard social issues such as poverty, corruption, political oppression and unemployment. Against global measures, the nation has been left behind in prospects of economic development and societal advancement.
The political system restricts any religious tenets or practices. It is heartbreaking to hear of believers being persecuted and discriminated against for following Christ. They are often ostracised, cast out from their village, or even arrested and abused by authorities.1
Christ’s followers remain a very small minority. There are many more people yet to see the glorious light of the good news or to understand the glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4). So please pray for the local church as it bears witness to Jesus and all he has done.
On a personal level, I had to keep my religious beliefs to myself in order to protect my fellow believers in the area. But through prayer and participation in private worship gatherings with other crosscultural workers, I have grown in my commitment to my faith and have learned not to waver in my convictions.
The Father constantly reminds me that the darkness of separation from God as a result of sin has been overcome through the light of Christ: ‘In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it’ (John 1:4-5).
Living in a country with tight restrictions on religion has taught me to spread the gospel by demonstrating its principles through serving others, rather than by openly preaching the message as I would in a more open society. By following Jesus’ example, we can embody God's love and life. By building relationships and working together across cultures, we can be better informed to meet local needs.2 By providing practical help and showing compassion, we can touch people’s lives with God's mercy and grace.
Trust was essential to building effective partnerships in our crosscultural setting as I carried out the medical training and tutorials. Trust helped us to create an atmosphere of safety. It allowed us to be vulnerable and to explore different perspectives without fear of judgment or rejection. It required trust to bear one another’s burdens and to ‘spur one another on toward love and good deeds’ (Hebrews 10:24). To build this trust, it was essential to be honest and devoted to our mission.
It was a satisfying experience to collaborate with local healthcare professionals and to observe their progress and transformation, especially when witnessing their newfound understanding of the responsibility of their acquired knowledge. At the end of my placement, it was a testament to God’s goodness to see them taking up the leadership roles themselves to train others.
Since the training programs were set up, 150 staff have been trained in basic life support and 40 in new-born life support. Using a team-based approach to training changes the way healthcare members interact with each other in patient care, and yields an increase in professional knowledge and skill.
Despite the spiritual darkness, this placement provided a profound sense of God's presence throughout as I held on to the vision of the Great Commandment to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18–20). God's divine protection and blessed provision were evident as he guided and supported me every step of the way.
God has been my help and shield (Psalm 33:20). Despite the country’s prevalent tropical diseases and political oppression of Christianity, he has been faithful in protecting me from physical harm, major sickness and spiritual danger. He is my source of hope and comfort. He gives me the courage and strength I need to keep pressing forward, and enables me to trust him in the face of the unknown.
Adenine served as an On Tracker in South East Asia. Names have been changed for security purposes.
1. Steffen and McKinney Douglas, Encountering Missionary Life and Work: Preparing for Intercultural Ministry, 310-311.
2. Ken Baker, ‘The incarnation Model: Perception or Deception’, EMQ Evangelical missions quarterly, vol.1 (US: Missio Nexus, 2002): 21-24.
“By following Jesus’ example, we can embody God's love and life.”
Interserve was formed by a community of women who helped women. To this day, Interserve is still very much involved in working amongst communities of women.
Here is the story of one woman, who encountered Jesus through the love, care and support of an Interserve Partner in a community centre in the South of England.
“One of my friends told me about this place I could go to with my kids. They could play in a safe place, while I could just sit and think or talk over my current issues with the other ladies who were there.
“It was a very different kind of place. They didn’t quiz me on my life; they didn’t want to know anything really, but just let me be myself and talk when I wanted to. I had the freedom to say nothing if I felt like doing that. I could sleep or I could cry, it didn’t matter. I was accepted. No one had ever treated me like that before.
“My relationships had taken away all my confidence and I just ‘knew’ everything was my fault. The ladies who ran that group were so loving and understanding – I knew I could trust them.
“I can’t remember who told me that the ladies running the group were Christians who came from several different churches. I was amazed that they gave up their time to be with me and others like me.
“Knowing they were Christians encouraged me to ask them to pray for me and my family. They were always happy to pray for me and then, sometimes, when it was quiet, they would pray with me – that was so special.
“I just knew their prayers worked. They were ‘connected to God’ in some way that I wasn’t and their prayers were often answered. Even when the group itself was closed for the day I knew there was always someone I could contact to ask for prayer.
“I have a good job now which has improved my confidence. And the ladies in the group were so supportive as I tried to transform my sad life to a life with purpose.
“Life is still not easy, but I now have somewhere I can go and offload, somewhere I know I’m not judged by anyone – but I know they are praying for me. These ladies have shown me that I don’t need to stay in my dark life, but that there is another way. They told me about the power of Jesus.”
The centre has been running for more than 20 years and has a reputation in the community for being a place where women can come freely without finding judgement.
It now runs out of a church building and has maintained good relationships and reputation, so that local services and many husbands encourage their partners to come to us when they know they are lonely, depressed or in need.
Jesus has used his people to impact the local community. Our Christian faith is evident; but still, those who don’t know Jesus come along and share their lives with us, as we share our stories and prayers with them. God is doing an amazing thing!
Written by an Interserve Partner in Great Britain.
