Lives and communities transformed
Unfolding
ONE 2024 Interserve Australia Print Post Approved 100000107
The Dormitory
The Runner Patient care
through God's hands
Interserve is a global community of ordinary Christians.
We long to see lives and communities transformed through encounter with Christ.
We use our spiritual gifts and professional skills to share the love of Jesus, who brings renewal in all of life.
We partner with the local church among the peoples of Asia and the Arab world.
We are committed to the journey of following Jesus together.
Will you join us?
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.
Material of Interserve may be freely reproduced with permission from Interserve Australia Limited. Permission for use of other text and images should be obtained from the original source.
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 sasint at Pixabay.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.
Interserve is a Child Safe organisation. www.interserve.org.au
ISSN 0256-4726.
Do you feel transformed?
Sometimes, in an age of instant gratification, it can be hard to recognise where God is at work. But we know that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion” (Philippians 1:6). God is patient and faithful!
These truths are just as certain around the world as they are in my neighbourhood and yours. This edition of Go Magazine explores the ways that God is transforming lives and communities, carrying His good work to completion over months, years and decades. From the young women who are equipped to teach and transform their remote villages, to the lecturer who encountered Jesus in his university days and now shares God’s transforming truth with students of his own.
This publication was printed by on Extraprint Luxury paper, which is a PEFC Certified supplied paper (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification). Extraprint Luxury paper is Australian made and manufactured in facilities with ISO14001 EMS certification and made elemental chlorine free. Printed by Classic Press.
As you read this edition of Go, may you be encouraged by the transforming faithfulness of God, in your life, at Interserve, and across Asia and the Arab world. Join us in thanking God for His willingness to work through the Interserve community and Partners in His transforming work!
Jane, Lisa & Kaitlyn
National Leadership Team
Contents 04 The Dormitory 08 The Runner 11 Inside Interserve 12 Unfolding through God’s hands 14 Patient care
Jane Fairweather, Kaitlyn Gaudion and Lisa Bateup from the National Leadership Team
Razia and Maria hurried through the office building, concerned, adjusting their head scarves on the way. They had just been told that nine men had arrived at the gate of the all-female dormitory.
More than two years ago, four dozen young women had arrived at the dormitory. They gathered in the dorm basement, dressed colourfully in their best clothes. Their eyes were bright, yet tinged with apprehension, even fear.
“Their eyes were bright, yet tinged with apprehension, even fear.”
The women had come from various parts of Central Asia, mostly remote farming communities. Some had never met anyone from outside their tribal community, let alone ventured outside their own village.
Razia had travelled the dusty roads to the women’s villages and spoken with the elders. She tried to convince fathers to allow their unwed daughters to come to the dormitory in the city for two years and study to become teachers. Some needed more convincing than others.
Even when their fathers agreed, the extended family and wider community would often speak ill of the decision. A girl was expected to remain under her father’s roof until she married. This was how her honour, which reflects upon the whole extended family, could be guaranteed for
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prospective husbands. For some, the thought of the young women being separated from their families to live in the city was appalling. The women arrived from different villages, different tribes, different religious sects and had already endured all of this pressure and stigma. Yet they were ready to study to become teachers, so that girls in their villages might have greater access to high school education.
In keeping with the strict gender segregation in more conservative areas of the country, many feel it is inappropriate for girls who have reached puberty to be taught by men. As a result, many girls cease their education after sixth grade.
However, having female high school teachers would allow girls to continue their education into high school. Not only would this improve the financial situation of the girl and her family, it would also have a flow-on effect in her community, such as reducing child and maternal death rates, raising literacy levels and increasing connections with the world.
Razia remembered how hard the teacher trainers had worked with the young women, often staying in the dormitory overnight, the smell of dinner still lingering in the air, in order to help them with their studies. She remembered an American who taught them English and the way they fumbled with computers for the first time. She remembered Maria instructing the women in teaching practices, as they swapped their desks for the maroon-carpeted floor, which was always more comfortable for them. They learned a form of teaching so different from their own schooling: principles of acceptance and loving all your students, not just the best and brightest. There was the sound of quiet grief as the teacher trainers mentored the young women, giving them a chance to share the struggles they had experienced throughout their lives. There were evenings fraught with strife and conflict, talking with the prospective teachers on how best to deal with such situations.
“Female teachers would allow girls to continue their education into high school.”
Tears had sprung in Razia’s eyes when the women graduated in their robes. They all cheered and threw their graduation hats in the air. After working so hard and sacrificing so much, they celebrated in the bright lights of the hotel hall, with loud music and plenty of cake.
For many, they were the first in their families to have graduated a higher qualification.
There were great sobbing cries and hugs as the women returned to their families and villages. Before arriving at the dormitory, they had been taught to avoid and fear others – but after living with each other for two years, they left as lifelong friends.
The offices, classrooms and dormitory all seemed so empty after the graduates returned to their villages, with only the echoes of their laughter against the walls. There were still two years left in the project, where trainers would travel to the villages and support the new teachers to implement all they had learned in their classroom practice.
There had always been opposition from some to girls’ education, believing that girls don’t need an education as their role is confined to the home. And now nine men had arrived at the offices.
Maria, as project manager, tentatively greeted the men. We made our way to the basement where the young women had first gathered. Colourful learning posters still hung on the wall, a reminder of days gone by.
We settled at table and one of the men stood up, distinguished in his striped robe. As spokesman for the others he said:
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“Some people have taken the day off work. Others have cancelled their meetings. We have hired this vehicle to bring us from the village and each person wanted to be here to say thank you for what you have done for our daughters.
“We did not recognise our daughters when they came back to us. Before they came to you, they were gossips and busybodies. But now, they are women who treat others well, concerned not just for themselves but for their communities. They are confident, well-spoken and wise in their thinking.
“When our women saw the change that had come over our daughters, they too wanted to learn. So now many of our wives are coming to the city to get literacy classes as well.
“Our girls are transforming the schools in which they teach. They are role models for all the other girls in our village. Thank you for what you have done for our daughters.”
Maria served as a Partner in Central Asia.
Names have been changed for security purposes.
“Our girls are transforming the schools in which they teach.”
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Let’s work together!
We want to support you in the exciting reality of growing a multiethnic church in Australia today!
Interserve offers customised training to suit your church’s needs:
Changing Lanes, Crossing Cultures
Equipping churches to plan for local intercultural ministry.
CHAT
Intercultural understanding for children and young people.
Connecting Across Cultures
A learning community for adults to grow in intercultural skills.
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We offer personalised consulting to achieve your goals.
Let’s chat! 1800 067 100 partnerships@interserve.org.au
For the past 15 years, Lara has worked in a multi-missional venture in northern Asia. There she attends to office matters, from IT-related issues to making cups of tea, with an assured confidence and inner joy that bubbles out in jokes or amusing stories.
But there is more to Lara’s life than the confines of her office world.
She was the first believer in her family, possibly her village. Though there were a few Christians in her locale, most were Buddhist or Shamans. So her upbringing was one of strict obedience to the deities and avoiding anything that adhered to Christian ways.
In a domain under repressive government and harsh climate conditions, the rural dwellers turned to the spirits who ruled the rivers and mountains for protection and prosperity.
Whenever passing over the crest of the mountain, they would acknowledge the mountain spirit and seek its favour – otherwise they would stir the ire of the gods and bring disaster on the village.
But during her schooling, one of Lara’s classmates spoke of Christmas and Easter, and her curiosity was piqued. She began secretly attending a church gathering and seeking to know more. She knew that if her family found out about it, she would be stopped.
When her parents did discover her leaning towards this “superstition,” they forbade her to go back to the church. But she found ways to get there and soon confessed faith in Jesus.
Lara moved to the city for tertiary education, where she had the opportunity to immerse herself in Christian teaching and fellowship. Her spirit was hungry and she grew in faith.
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Of course, her family discovered what was happening and were very displeased. Her father came to the city and met with the church pastor to try and deter them. But instead, it led to a dramatic turn-around in his own life and he began to follow Jesus. Returning to his village, he shared the joy of his new faith and others from his family and community also began to trust in Jesus.
“She continually found strength in her Lord and the Christian community.”
Things did not always go smoothly for Lara, following Jesus among people who held to other deities. Yet she continually found strength in her Lord and the Christian community as she served in various ministries and developed many skills.
She would need the Lord’s strength in what was to come.
Lara deeply respected her father and found in him an emotional support. Like her countrymen, she valued the role of family and her part in it as a responsible member. She was proud of his athletic achievements in archery and running.
But, too soon, illness came and drained his life. When her father passed away, she devoted herself to a new challenge: running. She wanted to run to honour her father and his achievements.
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And like her father, Lara could run. Each day after work, she would don her joggers and run 10 kilometres. Her commitment to this discipline soon turned to bigger challenges. She joined competitions and worked her way up to become part of an elite running team.
Not all her Christian friends could understand her passion for running. Some would wonder, “Was it distracting her from what was really important?” However, others saw the potential she had as a runner to represent Jesus in an environment that few could enter.
Yet here she faced more challenges. Before races, the members of the running team performed Buddhist rites. Lara faced taunts and mocking for not participating, and the pressure to conform was very strong. But she abstained; she knew she could not compromise her allegiance to Jesus.
Moreover Lara found joy in serving her teammates. She respected them and found a variety of ways to show them honour, as most were senior to her in age. She was always ready with a bright and cheery manner to hand around the sweets and biscuits she brought along for them.
Her teammates could not deny that Lara was a competent runner and that there was something special about her. God has gifted her with strength and speed – even more, with a gracious heart that enables her to put herself last and consider the needs of her team.
Lara’s gain is not in medals, but in using her talents to serve the Lord she loves and receiving the greater reward in heaven.
Christy is an Interserve Partner in Asia. Names have been changed for security purposes.
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“He knows he is truly known, accepted and loved by our heavenly Father.”
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Sajid is a brilliant scholar, with a fire-in-hisbelly passion for the transformation Jesus can make in the lives of Muslims in his nation. He has that uncompromising passion that Jesus’ disciples may also have noticed in their leader.
Once Sajid was one of them: a good Muslim boy in a strong Muslim family. However, the difference was that he heard the whispers of Jesus, carefully investigated these, and gradually followed him.
His life has never been the same again. For Sajid has known the truth and the joy of knowing Jesus, while at the same time bearing much suffering, family rejection and shaming.
Undeterred, sometimes Sajid still goes to the mosque when Jesus prompts him, to meet someone indicated by the Spirit. Together they open up and compare the Qur’an and the Bible. And little by little, some have also believed in Jesus.
Over the decades Sajid has become a seminary lecturer, imparting to his students the importance of engaging with Muslims. He perseveres in encouraging his students to do this, because it can be less painful to simply remain in the Christian church paradigm than to engage with the national reality of Islam.
Sajid is also a much-loved student in our Pastoral and Advanced Counsellor Training (PACT). The course focusses on the transformation Jesus promises as he heals and sanctifies us, first experienced personally and then applied in counselling others.
There are many in Sajid’s class with their own unique stories of Jesus’ impact in their lives. And they are now beginning to offer his healing and transformation to others.
Through the Spirit at work in him and his study, Sajid has moved from a place where suffering is seen as normal, even desirable, to a place where one can live a life of abundance.
He knows he is truly known, accepted and loved by our heavenly Father. And so Sajid can share
this deeper knowledge of Jesus’ life with those around him. He now seems lighter, more joyful, more energised and more fully equipped to share this message.
The scope of opportunity to share this knowledge is opening up further afield too – something God has been preparing for years…
Interserve Partners Tom and Anna were involved in the same seminary as Sajid in the 80s and 90s: Tom was Dean of Theological Education by Extension (TEE) and Principal; Anna is a counsellor.
Now this husband-and-wife team is writing a simplified version of PACT at TEE level, making it accessible to a great number of rural pastors, many of whom only reach grade six. The program offers core elements of biblically and psychologically integrated pastoral counselling in a simple yet profound way.
Once this program is completed, it may become a resource for other nations.
Sajid is working on how to present this material in a culturally appropriate way. He has also moved into a missional role as a pastor of a church of believers of Muslim background.
The beauty of this work is that it has been unfolding through God’s hands, crafted over decades in the lives of his people working together: Tom and Anna, years later Sajib, his seminary team and his students, and through TEE students and potentially students further afield.
God is at work through the seen and unseen Body of Christ.
We stand in awe. God is making something beautiful available to his church in one of the poorest countries in Asia. He is bringing Jesus’ lasting transformation to a great many lives across this Muslim nation.
Such work in partnership over the years involves his praying and giving people. Will you join in? There is lots of room!
Sebastian is a Partner serving in Asia.
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My husband Jeff and I moved to Asia ten years ago by invitation from other Interserve Partners, who saw the need for people with our medical qualifications. Even before we made initial contact with the people there, we were advised that flexibility and patience were essential as things change. And they certainly did change.
Just before we arrived, we were advised that the hospital administration had changed, and Jeff might find himself doing a completely different role if we proceeded. We came anyway, trusting that as God called, he would supply the work.
Sure enough, once we had completed some language study, the doctor at the local hospital told Jeff that his support was no longer needed. So he was referred to a different hospital department. There he did some consultations, only to find that none of his recommendations
were being followed. Instead, the patients were simply being shipped out to another hospital.
I remember the first time I was asked to conduct training at a local NGO. Unbeknown to me, I was the second person to present that day. I arrived early to set up, but the room was in use with another speaker. I waited 40 minutes, after which my training was cancelled. The first trainer went overtime and it would have been disrespectful to stop him.
So despite a warm welcome, Jeff and I did not feel valued. But we persisted in being available.
While I continued to support local NGOs, my husband began work in a community clinic, where another Interserve Partner had already demonstrated competence and established trust with the staff and local people. Jeff started working half a day per week, and increased his involvement as more people began to appreciate
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his work and seek him out. He demonstrated good clinical care, while showing respect and support for his patients and their carers.
There was one God-given opportunity where Jeff’s clinical expertise saved the life of a young woman. He was able to recognise her underlying medical problem, which had been missed by other doctors, and recommended a simple yet effective treatment which saved her.
He did not know it at the time, but the young woman’s mother was an important and influential doctor in her own right. She was very grateful and recognised both his expertise and his care for her as the mother.
After about two years of meeting with colleagues, demonstrating competence and establishing trust, we gradually began to gain the respect of the local people. This allowed us to have a positive influence in people’s work as well as their attitudes.
“We gradually began to gain the respect of the local people.”
Over time, Jeff was given the opportunity to train many local colleagues in two of his fields of expertise. The training was useful because the information was up to date and the program was interactive, requiring trainees to solve problems and demonstrate competence.
His opinion became valued and he was consulted on difficult cases. With the support of local and international colleagues and partners, he was able to conduct regional clinics and commence a project for the prevention of a serious health condition, which is gradually being extended community by community across the nation.
It was important for Jeff to present the difficulties he identified, together with their solutions, without placing blame on current healthcare practices. So he worked with local doctors, showed respect and gave them encouragement.
He also helped to raise the status of mothers by listening carefully to them and answering their questions, showing them concern and respect. He explained the nature of the serious health problems their children faced and how to address them.
I began counselling in a women’s shelter and training a local NGO in counselling and health topics. So many people did not have a basic understanding of health and disease. So I provided training in areas such as basic hygiene, managing simple infections, managing high blood pressure, and having a healthy lifestyle.
Training in violence prevention was taken up eagerly. And the NGO I worked with began their own violence prevention project, which has been well-received in local communities year after year.
Over these last 10 years, we have discovered that not only are patience and flexibility necessary, but so are availability, consistency, credibility, persistence and relationship building. The Christian values of doing good to all, showing love and respect to all, and doing competent work based on truth are readily accepted in places where preaching is not.
Our pastor told us that his country needed more people who could demonstrate their faith by their works. For by God’s patient and enduring grace, He is well able to use these acts of faithfulness to bless a nation.
Neralie and Jeff are Interserve Partners serving in Asia.
Names have been changed for security purposes.
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