September - October 2014 IntraSyd

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intrasyd People, Places & Events in Greater Sydney SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2014

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Healthy Ways to Resolve Conflicts

Sydney’s 100-Year History with the Solomon Islands

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s s o r c A h c a e R

Men’s Ministry at Ryde Church Father & Daughter Baptised at Wollongong

www.gscadventist.org.au / September - August 2014 1

inside this issue

Eva Ing, Chief Financial Officer

3 Healthy Ways to Resolve Conflicts page 6

Men’s Ministry at Ryde page 6

Father & Daughter Baptised at Wollongong page 7

Loving Church Fellowship page 8-9

Sydney’s 100-year History with the Solomon Islands page 11

Rams Tupe’s Ordination Marked by Dedication of Family page 13

It was a surreal moment. On Sunday morning, the 24th of August, at the school hall of Mountain View Adventist College, I found myself facing a sea of faces, presenting the Chief Financial Officer’s Report to the 28th Constituency Meeting of the Greater Sydney Conference. Four years earlier, I had been one of the delegates listening to Graeme Moffitt, my predecessor, giving the Financial Report, never imagining that I would one day do the same.

There were some interesting facts in my report that I’d like to share with you, particularly about tithe.

Tithe grew from $11.1m in 2009 to $12.8m in 2013, which represented a 3.58% annual growth through the period.

However, the growth in 2013 was at a higher rate of 4.43%. One significant reason for the much higher tithe growth in 2013 was the combined evangelistic program, The Last Empire. For the 30 churches that ran The Last Empire, their tithe growth was a phenomenal 11.26%, which means that Reaching Out, can also mean Reaching In. Tithe giving is a barometer of our spiritual 2013 USE OF RETAINED TITHE connectedness to each Administra9ve, 19% other and to God. Our Conference, during Educa9on, 4% the last four years, Ministries, 9% forwarded 24% of our tithe to the Union, who retained 10% and Evangelism, 8% forwarded 14% to the Division, General Field, 61% Conference etc, and was used to support projects of national and international significance.

The tithe that is retained, is used predominately in the support of field pastors (61%), in evangelism (8%) and other ministries (9%).

Administration, which includes Safe Places, WHS, Finance and Administrative support, comprises 19% of tithe use.

Our tithe comprises about 75% of all revenues coming into the Conference, and therefore is our main source of funding. Therefore, I’d like to encourage all our church members to cheerfully continue contributing their tithes and offerings. It’s so important that we do this because our church cannot operate in a real and practical sense without this vital support.

OFFERING SCHEDULE

SUNSET TIMES Friday 17 October Sabbath 18 October Friday 24 October Sabbath 25 October Friday 31 October Sabbath 1 November Friday 7 November`

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7:10 pm 7:11 pm 7:16 pm 7:17 pm 7:22 pm 7:23 pm 7:28 pm

Sabbath 8 November Friday 14 November Sabbath 15 November Friday 21 November Sabbath 22 November Friday 28 November Sabbath 29 November

7:29 pm 7:35 pm 7:36 pm 7:42 pm 7:43 pm 7:48 pm 7:49 pm

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Sabbath 18 October Local Sabbath 25 October Education Macarthur Sabbath 1 November Local Sabbath 8 November World Mission Budget (Global Mission) Sabbath 15 November Local Sabbath 22 November Education Hurstville Sabbath 29 November Local

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“Thank you” almost seems an inadequate expression. I have been blessed, humbled and appreciative of all the prayers, support and encouragement we have received as a family during my recent bout of viral pneumonia. It is a privilege to be part of God’s family. It is good to be on the other side of this experience and to be taking some time out to rest and fully recuperate. I am told that never before has a president not been at the Conference Constituency meetings. I would like to express my appreciation to Pastor Ken Vogel for stepping in at the last minute and chairing the Constituency Meeting in such a professional manner. I also want to express appreciation to Pastor Adrian Raethel and Mrs Eva Ing for the way they stepped into the breach and ensured that all went well with the final arrangements, the presentation of reports and the facilitating of the Constituency Meeting. I am blessed to work with such a great team.

As an administrative team we are also blessed and humbled to be granted the privilege to lead the church forward in Greater Sydney over the next four years. I am genuinely excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.

In particular, I am looking forward to seeing how God will bless and grow His church as we put a concerted effort

Michael Worker, President into reaching the eastern seaboard of Sydney. There are many challenges in growing the church in the Northern and Eastern Suburbs, as well as in St George and Sutherland regions, but with the blessing of God and the outpouring of His Spirit, we have nothing to fear. At this stage we are early in our prayerful planning and would be open to ideas, suggestions and initiatives that we can consider. We also want to see the church grow its presence in the North West and South West growth corridors of Sydney, so that as the population expands, the church is present and growing effectively.

I am also looking forward to further developing and enhancing the partnership we have with the Solomon Islands Mission. If your church or school is interested in a Fly’n’Preach, Fly’n’Build, Fly’n’Paint or whatever you have to contribute, please contact me, as we will find a suitable location in the Solomon’s where we can facilitate such a ministry. We would love to see churches in our Conference set-up partnerships with churches in the Solomon’s where they can pray and encourage one another.

Currently, Pastor Alex Currie is loading a container bound for Honiara with good, clean, summer-weight clothes for children and adults. If you have clothes that you can donate to this cause, please contact myself or Dulce Ferguson (9868 6522; dulceferguson@adventist.org.au) for details on how to get those clothes into the container.

Over the weekend of 23/24 August, just over 500 delegates met at Mountain View Adventist College for the 28th Constituency Meeting of the Greater Sydney Conference. The program commenced on Sabbath afternoon with praise and worship, a celebration of what God is doing in our Conference and a reflection on the strategic direction of the Church in Sydney. The formal part of the weekend commenced at 7:00 pm Sabbath evening and re-convened at 9:00 am on Sunday. Three churches were welcomed into the Sisterhood of Churches, being Granville Fijian, Granville Multicultural and Lakemba Tongan, the latter of which was only organised the week before. Future directions documents for the Church, Schools and Aged Care companies were presented and voted on as were some constitutional amendments. The Partners in Mission project for our Conference was officially launched as the Greater Sydney Conference

Adrian Raethel, General Secretary partners with the Solomon Islands Mission.

The Nominating Committee, which commenced work in May, presented its recommendations for the officers and the new Executive Committee. All three incumbent officers were returned and the incoming Executive Committee is listed within the next few pages. On Sunday afternoon, there was some robust and open discussion following the presentation of the Education report. The Selection Committee, which met during the weekend, presented its report for the new quadrennium for the Appointments, Nominating and Constitution Committees. This report was voted on by the Constituents.

Following a rezoning of the central Epping business precinct by the State Government, the potential re-development of the Conference office site was discussed. The new Executive Committee was commissioned to explore all options relating to the property, with any final decision to be presented to a Constituency Meeting. We praise God for the presence of His Spirit over the course of the weekend.

Next Intrasyd Deadline 08 NOVEMBER

Editor: Assistant Editor: Design: Editorial Consultant:

Michael Worker Rachel Lemons Aitken Rachel Lemons Aitken Adrian Raethel

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sydney@adventist.org.au PH: (02) 9868 6522 Fax: (02) 9868 6533 4 Cambridge Street Epping 2121

ON THE COVER: Matt, Rontania, Kayley & Ebony Jensen of Parramatta Church during Diversity Service.

Photo Credit: Jonathan Falzon Greater Sydney Conference Communication Department

www.gscadventist.org.au / September - August 2014 3

Reach Across With extensive experience, Pr Nataniel Pereira is dedicated to leading, guiding and training his

congregations. He will now apply this knowledge and experience to his new role as Ministerial Association Secretary of the Greater Sydney Conference (GSC).

We caught up with him recently to gain some insight on the ins-and-outs of a pastor’s life.

Pr. Nataniel regards Sabbath morning preaching as a priority for a pastor. Even still, his responsibilities reach beyond the pulpit. His life is buzzing with activity throughout the week, as he works to stay sharp, train his congregations, equip them with biblical knowledge and minister to them.

In speaking with him, he shared that he focuses on four areas of ministry: Preaching “I spend 3-4 hours a day looking at different preachers – contemporary and traditional. I like to get ideas how they are preaching and presenting their message to contemporary people….but when I listen Raul Moran is joining the Greater Sydney Conference (GSC) as an Associate Youth Director. Raul

has been with the GSC since graduating from Avondale in 2011. He started as a parttime chaplain at Hurstville Adventist School, where he has worked for 3 years, along with serving as pastor at Wetherill Park Spanish Church and Cabramatta West Spanish Church.

Do you remember the moment when you felt ministry was your calling?

In October 2006, I was at Latin Youth Congress.

People kept asking me about studying to be a pastor.

I said no because I’m from Melbourne, and I didn’t want to leave my family. However, throughout the Congress, the pastor’s message stuck with me, “Whoever is not willing to leave his mother and father is not worthy to follow me.” It stuck with me. I felt God was speaking to me saying, ‘You know what? I have a calling for you. I know there are certain things you don’t want to leave behind, but I have something for you.’

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Nataniel Pereira, Ministerial Secretary to them, I like to always bring it into the Adventist context of the Bible, especially the three angels’ message.”

Training “Teaching is a priority in my life. A few weeks ago, I took 14 people...to train on how to run the Last Empire. Because Holroyd is a new church, it involves a lot of training. On Sabbath, we always have something going in the afternoon.”

Bible Studies “Currently I have 9 Bible Studies going with 14 people. Most recently, I started giving Bible studies to someone who walked into the church several Sabbaths ago. He said he read the whole Bible in 18 months, and he believes the Seventh-day Adventist church is the closest to the Bible. My Bible study candidates come from letterboxing, from contacts, from visitation and sometimes like this gentleman, they just walk in.”

Visitation “There are elderly who are lonely, people who are struggling, people who are going through divorce. I want to be there to build them when they are going through crisis.”

Raul Moran, Youth Associate What do you enjoy about being a chaplain?

Having been a primary school chaplain for more than two and a half years now, I’ve really enjoyed seeing the openness kids have to learn about Jesus -- to worship Him. When people get in high school, they think they’re too cool to praise God. With primary school kids, it’s awesome to see them really on fire and really receptive – really living out the messages we give in chapel. That’s been the biggest thing – seeing the passion and enthusiasm they have for Jesus.

How do you feel about your new role?

I’m excited about the new role, a bit nervous about seeing everything that it entails, but I’m looking forward to being able to work with a great team that’s trying to see where we can take the youth of Sydney together. My vision for the work I would like to do is to empower the youth leaders of our church and really go to the local church level and empower them to do the work, alongside with the events that we run. I would love to see youth leaders and ministries be empowered through training and connecting, knowing that they have our support.

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Meet the New Executive Committee What’s the purpose of the Executive Committee?

To act on behalf of the constituents (representatives of the members of the Conference) between regular constituency meetings and to manage the affairs of the Conference.

How are the members decided?

The Constitution requires 13 members that are voted on during a regular Constituency Meeting. The group is elected at the Constituency Meeting by a process detailed in the Constitution.

The Executive Committee is required to include the Conference President, General Secretary, Chief Financial Officer, along with ten additional members, balanced between lay persons and employees of the Church and its affiliated entities.

Executive Committee 2014-2018 Ex-officio officers Pr Michael Worker: Chairman/ President Pr Adrian Raethel: General Secretary Mrs Eva Ing: Chief Financial Officer Employees Pr Nataniel Pereira (Woollahra & Holroyd, field pastor)

Pr Jonathan Valls (Wetherill Park Spanish, field pastor) Pr Cheonneth Strickland (Thornleigh, departmental representative) Mrs Anna Calandra (Church in the Fields, principal) Mrs Jocabed Leuluai (Mountain View, teacher)

Lay representatives Mr Colin Sperring (Stanmore) Ms Victoria Karraz (Castle Hill) Mr David Swain (Wahroonga) Ms Christiana Leimena (Fountain in the City) Prof Esther Chang (Waitara)

Departmental Appointments 2014-2018 Assistant CFO Mr Luke Bapty Ministerial Association Secretary Pr Nataniel Pereira Sabbath School/Personal Ministries, Discipleship and Stewardship Dr Sven Ostring Youth, Family & Children’s Cluster Leader (Youth & Family Director) Pr Cheonneth Strickland

Youth Associate (0.5 FTE) Pastor John Wells Youth Associate Mr Raul Moran Children’s Associate (0.5 FTE) Pastor Craig Vanas Adventist Women (0.4 FTE) Mrs Beryl Landers ADRA and Health Mr Malcolm Rea

Executive Director of Education Dr Jean Carter Associate Executive Director of Education Mr Murray Chapman ABC Mrs Cheryl Keene Communications and PARL Pastor Michael Worker Trust Services Mr Rodney Woods

Executive Officers 2014-2018 Pr Michael Worker: President

Pr Adrian Raethel: General Secretary

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Mrs Eva Ing: Chief Financial Officer

www.gscadventist.org.au / September - August 2014 5

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Healthy Ways to Resolve Conflicts

Conflict is a normal par t of any healthy relationship as we can’t be expected to agree on everything all the time! It is not always a battle waged with malicious intent, but often a misunderstanding between people that love and care about each other. The closer we are to a person, the greater the capacity to get hurt as the actions of that person are meaningful and important to us. Sometimes the topic of debate may appear trivial, but when a conflict triggers strong feelings, a deep personal need is often at the core of the problem, such as a need to feel accepted and secure, a need to feel respected and valued or a need for greater closeness. If dealt with in a healthy manner, conflict can lead to closer bonds in our relationships. Here are 3 basic skills that can help us to manage and resolve conflict in a healthy way: Active listening: While the other person is talking in a conflict, we are often using that time to prepare the rebuttal. We want to be ready to fire back once they have stopped talking in the futile hope that they will be convinced of our side of the argument and admit defeat! By doing this, we end up with both people trying desperately to be understood but feeling utterly misunderstood. We can stop a conflict in its tracks by first reflecting back our understanding of another’s point of view before presenting our own. “So what you’re saying is…..Is that right?”

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Assertive communication: “You always..!” or “You never..!” are statements that are guaranteed to make a person feel accused or blamed. Blaming is never helpful in resolving a conflict…it leaves no room for change as the accused feels disempowered by the attack. Instead, by stating our feelings from our own point of view we can communicate the same message without hurting the other person’s feelings. “I feel that…” or “I would like…” becomes an invitation for the other to understand.

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Be the first to forgive or apologise: In most conflicts both people have usually contributed to the problem in some way. Be able to recognise your part, have a readiness to apologise or forgive and move past the conflict without holding on to resentment or anger. This is a decision we will need to make in our own thoughts by appraising the situation in a positive way and focusing on the messenger rather than the message.

By learning skills to resolve conflict we can nurture strong and healthy relationships. “By this all men will know that we are His disciples, if we love one another” (John 13:35).

The greatest want of the world is the want of men— men who will not be bought or sold, men who in their inmost souls are true and honest...

Claire Marsh 6

September - October 2014 \ www.gscadventist.org.au

Ed 57.3

Men’s Ministry at Ryde Church The Ryde Church is similar to most churches in the western world. Our church is blessed by the par ticipation that takes place by both men and women, but just as in most churches in Australia, the women outnumber the men. Praise God for the women and the men that are interested and faithful, but where are the rest of the men? Why aren’t the numbers more equal? And what can we do to help more men feel like they want to belong in a church community?

At Ryde, we noticed there were several men that were attending but not really connected to the church. We decided we needed to create a ministry that would focus on helping these men build community with the church. So we began a Men’s Ministry program that has begun meeting together every other month.

These events are based on providing social needs and spiritual needs. We begin with a meal – different venue and menu every time – followed by a devotional geared towards encouraging men in their family, church, work and community life. This has also been a great opportunity to invite friends that are not inclined to visit the church.

It is one way we were able to connect with a semi-interested man. As he grews to know us and to learn of what we believe, he decided to be baptised and become a member.

Another man attended the group one day and a few weeks later attended church for the first time.

Church is about community and encouraging one another in the faith, and this program has helped both newcomers and long-time members feel encouraged. The men have said that they are blessed by the meetings and two men that previously have not had leadership roles stood up to the challenge of organising and running this ministry.

Allen Bierschbach Tweet @SydneyAdventist

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Father & Daughter Baptised at Wollongong It was with great joy that Wollongong Church witnessed the baptisms of Melissa Spagnolo and her father Enzo Spagnolo on the 26th of July, performed by Pastor John O’Malley.

The father-daughter pair studied with John and Donna Nigem as well as the Pastor before making their decisions for Christ.

Before getting baptised, Melissa and Enzo gave their testimonies, which were heartfelt and brought tears to the eyes of many church members.

Enzo grew up in the Catholic Church and for a while things seemed to be fine. He had a family and a job, however his life felt empty. In trying to fill the void, he fell into drugs, immorality and spiritualism. During this time, his marriage broke up, and he moved away from his family. Enzo knew his life was spiralling downwards until he saw changes in his daughter Melissa as she turned her life over to God. Her transformation planted a seed in his mind, which grew until eventually God rescued him from the emptiness in his life.

Similarly, Melissa gave her

testimony about her struggle to connect to God. Even though she thought she was a Christian, she began to wander away, only looking out for herself. When her parents broke up, she struggled, especially as she watched her father’s battle with drugs.

She feared what might happen to him.

Eventually, unable to cope with the situation, she turned to God, surrendered to Him and admitted she could do nothing. She asked Jesus to help her and her father, and from then, God began rebuilding her life and her father’s life. Now the father and daughter are closer than ever.

Enzo explained that God led him and his daughter to the Wollongong Church where they’ve made friends and spiritual connections.

Enzo has come a long way since then, and Mel has a new purpose in life because of Jesus’ love for her.

Melissa’s mother and Enzo’s ex-wife, Marianna Spagnolo, also came to the baptism. She’s very proud of Melissa and Enzo and supports the steps they were taking.

Marianna has expressed an interest in learning more about the Bible as well.

At the end of her testimony Mel stated, “I believe there is no greater goal in life and nothing more satisfying than knowing Christ and having Him to lean on”.

Enzo ended with Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus our Lord”.

We praise and thank God for these two souls who have accepted Christ as their Saviour and are now citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

Pam Grootemaat

Lift Technician Chooses Adventist Aged Care for Mum Our motto, “Care Because of Loving Community with love and When the lift technician who services facilities around the region so he has a the elevators at one of our Adventist fairly good idea of the inner workings dignity” are not Aged Care facilities needed to find a of health care facilities. He recounted place for his mom, he knew exactly that every time he visits Adventist just nice words on where he wanted her to live – Aged Care, he is greeted by the staff Adventist Aged Care. Though not a piece of paper in and treated as an important part of Adventist, his mother attends Sabbath the team. Even if the lift has been an office - it is services, along with other worship out of service for a while, because services. One day, after the Sabbath they are waiting on spare parts, he is how our residents service, the lift technician had a chat always spoken to in a decent way. He with Toni Marsh, our chaplain, and also noticed how staff members treat are cared for and shared a bit of the reason behind his residents and each other – always decision to choose Adventist Aged treated with respect.

Care. His job as a lift technician takes him to hospitals and aged care

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Brian Swanepoel

www.gscadventist.org.au / September - August 2014 7

Loving Fellow CHURCH

We see a church where people experience authentic Christian relationships and real Biblical community by being involved in the life and mission of the church. We see a church that promotes our values and equips our members for growing in loving relationships. We aim to developing resources for growing healthy relationships and families.

We long to fostering healthy church communities who reveal God to the world in their love for one another.

10 Minute Rule

Pastor Tim Shelton of the Chatswood Church gives a great suggestion for creating loving church fellowship. At Chatswood, church members and leaders are encouraged to follow the 10 MINUTE RULE .

Members are encouraged to talk to visitors and people who are on the fringes of the church community for the first 10 minutes after church, then take the time to catch up with friends. How do you create a loving community at your church?

Seven Hills Group

Photo Credit: Lisa Sheppard Ah-You.

Cabramatta Fijian Oshkosh

Photo Credit: Cabramatta Facebook

Described by Sven Ă–string, Director of Discipleship Movements for the Greater Sydney Conference, as one of the best training resources for small groups, Leading Life-Changing Small Groups, is packed with Group great ideas on how you can start a small group at your church or Resource give your small group more life and energy. Available at the ABC.

Small

We want to know if your church is running small groups. E-mail us at sydney@ adventist.org.au. We’d love to hear from you!

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March - April 2014 \ www.gscadventist.org.au

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Fountain Ma After sustaining a major injury while en route to the Sydney Tongan building project, Farrel Steyn, returns to check on the progress of the site. The church community united in prayer after the incident and prays extensively for his continued recovery.

Sydney Ton

wship ountain View

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The Last Empire-Hurstville

Ghanaian Group

Kids Church

The Ghanaian Group started as a Sabbath School class at Margaret Bonsu’s house on Sabbath afternoons, initiated by Isaac Agyeman A. By reaching out to the Ghanaian community the group doubled to 4 people. Then, we began to visit house-to-house. From there our numbers started increasing. We then started to meet at Merrylands Children Museum once a month on sabbath mornings. We then went to Oakurst, and then we decided we needed to find a centre to worship. Recently, we secured a place at Living Word Worship Centre at Merrylands. At the end of 2013, the Conference delegated Pr Daniel to us.

Church Dedication

Adventurer Rally

Drug-Free Rally

Greater Sydney Conference Takes ADRA Australia’s Top Two Awards Congratulations to Waitara and Tahmoor Adventist Churches for winning the titles as top Knocktober fundraising churches in Australia in 2013. This year for the very first time, ADRA Australia released the names of the top 20 churches in Australia.

The first list recognised churches that raised the “Most Money” and the second recognised churches that raised the “Most Per Person” (attendee).

Waitara Adventist Church took out the “Most Money” title as top fundraising church. They raised $29,641 during ADRA’s Knocktober Appeal last year - more than any other church in Australia. Well done, Waitara!

Tahmoor Company, raised $12,243 during the Knocktober Appeal last year. This equates to $1,113 per person and places them on the very top of ADRA’s National fundraising per person list. Although Tahmoor is one of our smaller groups, they punch well above their weight and were also listed on ADRA Australia’s “Most Money” list for 2013 fundraising. They ranked twelfth highest fundraising church in Australia! Not bad for a little group of 11 members.

Two other GSC churches also ranked on ADRA Australia’s National Top 20 list. In 2013, the Sydney Russian

church raised $14,225 or $290 per person, ranking them 4th highest in Australia for “Most Money” and 8th on the “Most Per Person” list. Our hearty congratulations to the Russian Church! The Thornleigh Adventist Church has long been one of GSC’s top ADRA supporters and last year they raised $12,486 placing them as 11th highest fundraising church in Australia.

Well done, Thornleigh!

The final Sydney church to be placed on ADRA’s Top 20 list was Lord Howe Island. They raised $3,790, equivalent to $118 per person, ranking them 13th on ADRA’s top 20 per person list. Great work, Lord Howe Island members!

The question is, can we retain these titles this Knocktober? This year we have challenged churches to raise $40 per person. When you think about it, $40 is less than a dollar a week across a year.

Imagine doubling our impact on the poor … feeding the hungry, giving the thirsty something to drink, inviting the stranger in, clothing people, visiting the sick and imprisoned. $40 challenge? – with God’s help, easy!

Malcolm Rea

Take the $40 Challenge If each person attending a Seventh-day Adventist church in Australia committed to raising just $40, as a community we could raise approximately $1.6 million to help those in need. Just think of the difference that amount of money could make!

Whether it be door-knocking, collecting in a public place, giving of your own money or simply asking a few friends for small donations, encourage each member of your church community to take on the $40 challenge this Knocktober!

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Greater Sydney Conference’s 100-year History with the Solomon Islands About one hundred years ago, Captain Griffith Francis Jones and his wife Marion left the shores of Sydney on the boat, The Advent Herald. Their sole purpose was to proclaim the gospel of Jesus to the people of the Solomon Islands. They had no statistics to go by and no extensive exit strategy, only a complete faith and trust in Jesus. In Mark 4:35-41and Mark 5, the Scriptures tell of Jesus and his disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee, Jesus calming a storm and delivering a man who was demon possessed in the country of the Gadarenes. Captain Jones and his wife encountered a people with no knowledge of Jesus and a life steeped in ancient devil worship.

Only the love and power of Jesus released these peoples from a life of bondage and darkness.

Scripture mentions that the devil immediately met Jesus upon His arrival. Likewise, the adversary pays immediate attention when we plan on making initiatives for God. Satan ever seeks to thwart the great commission.

Our Godly influence and dependence on Him will show forth His wonderful

works and glorify His name.

So it was with GF Jones; as a result of his sacrifice, and

many after him, there are now 186 Seventh-day Adventist churches in the Solomon Islands Mission (SIM), with a membership of 46,000 and a 1:5 ratio of Seventh Day Adventists to nonAdventist in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands. The rapid growth of Adventism in the Solomon Islands

lends itself to more opportunities for input from our churches in The Greater Sydney Conference. The South Pacific Division and many local churches in Australia have already begun an incredible partnership with clinics in the island nations, namely, the adopt-a-clinic project, which is becoming a huge success. Your local church may want to adopt a school instead or perhaps help out in socially directed activities of the SIM. Hospital, prison and Dorcas ministries are but a few examples of activities that your church might consider supporting.

This can be in the form of sending paperback Bibles, Steps to Christ and The Great Controversy, to mention but a few. For the more adventurous individual, there is opportunity to do fly ‘n’ build and similar activities.

How fitting that 100 years later, Greater Sydney Conference is partnering with the Solomon Islands Mission to continue this work. It all began with the vision of one man.

You can continue the work that many before you have done. Maranatha!

Narko Anthony Tutuo

Collecting Summer Clothes for Solomon Islands Outreach In looking at the idea of loving church fellowship, the Greater Sydney Conference has expanded its reach to include the community within the Solomon Islands. Each Wednesday, a group meets in Fox Valley to sort clothing and pack a shipping container that will be sent to the Solomon Islands.

The contents include summer clothing and footwear that will be distributed by the Conference’s partner in mission, the Solomon Islands Mission (SIM). The clothing is being sent in response to an expressed need by SIM. The shipment that is being prepared is the second container that will be sent.

Those interested in participating in this outreach project, can donate summer clothing and footwear (all ages, both genders) to 148 Fox Valley Rd, Fox Valley between 9 am – 3 pm on Wednesdays. Additional help is needed to help sort the clothing and pack it into the shipping containers. Contact Marge Batchelor on 9481-4454 or Alex Curry on 0414 777 180 for more information.

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Reach Across

Churches should be the safest places for children and young families. Church attendance provides spiritual comfor t and inspiration and a critical social network. The healthy lifestyle, prayer life and the message of love and forgiveness contribute to a person’s overall wellbeing and fulfilment.

Unfortunately, churches can also attract people who see the environment of love, care and trust as an opportunity for abuse and exploitation. That is why we all have to be alert.

According to Dallas O’Connor, Investigation Coordinator at Safe Place Services, addressing risks begins with recognising the existence of risks. “If we don’t realise there is a problem, then there is little motivation to do anything about it. The data that Safe Place Services has accumulated over the past 10-years shows us clearly who is at risk in the Adventist Church in Australia and New Zealand.

75% of cases investigated

by Safe Place Services relate to situations in local congregations, and

Our Church Must be Safe

it is women and children who are most likely to experience the Church as unsafe.”

Pr David Robertson, director of Safe Place Services, says “It appears that there has been a shift in the Church’s culture over the past decade. When conducting training amongst Churches and local Conference leaders, the culture of denial and embarrassment that used to exist when talking about abuse has been replaced with an openness and willingness to acknowledge and address issues. In 2010, a survey of Conferencelevel administrators and departmental staff across both Australia and New Zealand, gained 68 responses.”

Overwhelmingly, respondents in the survey agreed that: (1) perpetrators can deliberately target the Adventist Church for childvictims (82%); (2) Adventist congregations are not thought to be safer for children than groups in the community like sports clubs

or child care centres (86%); and (3) being a ‘believer’ does not make a person automatically ‘safer’ in terms of their potential to abuse (85%). “This level of response indicates that the Church’s leadership now have their eyes wide open to potential risks,” reflects Pr Robertson.

Pr Robertson states, “We now recognise and have a better understanding of risks. As we see the work being done in local Conferences to establish Safe Place Committees, implement local Church policies and train local Church Boards and children’s ministry leaders, the safety within the Church is increasing.

As local Churches, Conferences, and Unions across Australia and New Zealand continue to work together, these combined efforts are helping the Church in its mission to offer a foretaste of the peace and safety that will one day characterise God’s eternal kingdom.”

Suzanne Hadfield

i. Visit www.safeplaceservices.org.au, click on ‘Resources’ menu to download PDF entitled “Safe Place Services Year-end Repor t 2011”. ii. See The Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual (2010, 18th Edition), Warbur ton, VIC: Signs, pp. 167 – 168. iii. See www.safeplaceservices.org.au

What should I do in response?

Situations of children exposed to abuse or neglect should be reported to Government child-protection services in your region. In an emergency contact Police in Australia on 000 or on 111 in New Zealand. To seek advice, or to discuss a situation of concern within the Adventist Church, call Safe Place Services on 1800 220 468 in Australia or 0800 442 458 from New Zealand.

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ALWAYS have two or more adults present at activities for children and young people;

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PROMOTE an opendoor policy; activities are not run in confined and private one-on-one spaces;

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SCREEN volunteers using reference checks and required criminal history checks; REQUIRE new attendees to wait six months before appointing them to work with children;

TRAIN and support volunteers.

These steps are covered in the Child Environments Safe policy template for local churches and endorsed for use in Australia and New Zealand by both Unions.

The Policy, and all the resources that go with it, such as forms, brochures, and posters, have been translated into Spanish, Chinese and Samoan.

They can be downloaded by visiting the Safe Place Services website: www. safeplaceservices.org.au.

The Church’s website www.safeplaceservices.org.au contains information on counselling and child protection services throughout Australia and New Zealand.

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Steps to Prevent Abuse

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Ram Tupe’s Ordination Marked by Dedication of Family Pastor Rams Tupe’s ordination on 6 September 2014 was marked by the dedication of his entire family, including his three children, Asenath, Ezra and Atarah. Rams said, “For me, it was important that when I got ordained, my children be part of the journey as well. I want my kids to be prepared, along with my wife and I, for what God has planned for us.”

Rams shared that it was also significant to see representation from the different churches where he had served, “It was overwhelming to see them all and feel supported. It was really touching for us to see all of our friends.

Throughout our ministry, we’ve made some lifelong friends, and it was good to see a lot of them, along with our family, there to witness the occasion.”

Originally from Samoa, Rams eventually made his way to New Zealand and finally to Australia, where he studied at Avondale College. After graduation, he began his ministry in the Greater Sydney Conference in 2008. He has served in a variety of churches and schools, including Church in the Fields, Macarthur College, Hurstville Adventist School, Mt Druitt Samoan Church, Merrylands Church, Mountain View Adventist College, Epping Church, Ryde Church and Mountain View Adventist College.

Rams acknowledges how God has been leading Him and his family to this new phase in their lives and he looks forward to continuing his ministry.

Lakemba Tongan Officially Recognised as a Church

The worshipping community of the Lakemba Tongan Church has been on a journey together for many years, first as a group, then as a company. On 16 August 2014, the Greater Sydney Conference officially recognised the Lakemba Tongan Company as a church.

Ana Lolohea, volunteer pastor of the church said, “Where we are now is absolutely exciting!” Having been part of the journey since 2008 as a volunteer pastor, she has seen the growth and development of the church community. “We are a very small group, but we are very much like a family,” she explained.

The day of recognition was more than a celebration of the church’s new status; it was also a day to celebrate the ordination of 3 elders: Sione Kite, Olivia Hala and Mele Pakau;

the dedication of 5 babies and the baptisms of 6 young people: Eiken Vaovasa, Lorenzo Paiaaua, Palu Paiaaua, Lavinia Afimeimounga, Yasmin ‘Ulavalu and Maryann ‘Ulavalu. Pr. Michael Worker, president of the Greater Sydney Conference, conducted the baptisms and Pr. Adrian Raethel, general secretary of the Conference, conducted the ordination ceremony.

Over the past four years, Ana shared that they have worked hard to continue to develop and strengthen the church community, and much of the focus has been on establishing youth and children’s ministries, including Pathfinders and Adventurers.

Another way the church is gaining strength is through its passion for home groups and home visits. When speaking about visiting, Ana said, “We

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never stop visiting people. If people don’t turn up, we say, let’s go and visit. This environment, coupled with evangelistic efforts, such as the Last Empire, which they ran this year, is resulting in the growth of their church.

They are expecting to hold their next baptism on the 11th of October.

This growing church has a big heart. Ana said that people who visit say, “We love your little church; it’s so warm and friendly.” She explained. “I think that’s what it’s supposed to be.

You can attract people to your church this way.” She continued, “I always believe in prayer and getting people to Bible studies. It’s just amazing. That’s the power that comes from church.

If we just get another soul into the kingdom that will be the best thing we can do.”

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Hurstville Learns about the Heart of a Champion

Last week was our WOSE at Hurstville Adventist School. It was a blessed week in which the kids and staff where challenged to become champions of faith. Our theme was entitled “The Heart of a Champion,” and throughout the week we looked at five different characteristics that make up a true spiritual champion.

We spoke about ‘true strength’ in making the right choices as we reflected on the life of Samson.

Though he was considered the strongest man physically, his choices showed his spiritual weakness. We were encouraged to make the right choices by the leading of Jesus. We spoke about the need for service as seen in the life of the greatest champion, Jesus, and how others need to see Christ in us through our actions. We spoke about the power of encouraging words and how champions breed other champions through their

encouragement.

We spoke about perseverance through the life of Joseph and how true champions never give up.

And finally, we spoke about love.

Champions of faith recognise love and

love others as Jesus loves us.

Our speakers for the week were Pastor Beez from Church in the fields, Pastor Alexis from Auburn Church, Daniela Garrido from Wetherill Park church and myself.

Apart from the messages shared

my highlight was actually the praise and worship. I have never seen our students so excited to praise God and be so willing to lead out. We had children from year 2 up to year 6 lead out on the different days. They lead out in icebreakers, prayers, welcomes and special items and it was just such a huge blessing for me as the chaplain to have an abundance of kids wanting to be a part of our worship service. God really made an impact on all our lives throughout this week and we just ask that you may continue to keep our school and our children in prayer as we continue to journey with Jesus and praise Him all our days.

May all our hearts be that of a true spiritual champion and may we help others to see the hope and blessing of giving our hearts to Jesus Christ our Lord.

Raul Moran

Wahroonga Adventist School Participates in Pink Glove Dance Competition Wahroonga Adventist School was recently able to par ticipate in Sydney Adventist Hospital’s entry for the 2014 Medline Pink Glove Dance competition. Students all adorned themselves in pink for the day to show support and raise awareness for Breast Cancer. They had a lot of fun participating in the event. Medline’s first Pink Glove Dance ran in 2009 and generated over 13 million views. The Pink Glove Dance has been held annually since and now has sites and participants across the globe. This event allowed students to get involved in the community and support a great cause.

Wahroonga teacher Bronwyn Goodwin commented, “It was an exciting opportunity for our children to engage with the hospital community in a fun way and to raise awareness for a cause that has touched the lives of so many.” The video was filmed and submitted for the competition to Medline; the winner will be announced in October and receive $10,000 toward the breast cancer charity of their choice.

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Making Jesus Real

Sydney Adventist Schools Staff Retreat: The staff retreat this year, themed Making It Real, took place before the star t of term three. Over 160 staff members from Sydney Adventist Schools came together to participate in praise and worship, hear TED-like talks and workshops and fellowship together. This retreat took place at Wesley Vision Valley in Arcadia. The worship was led by La-Dean Malifa and Endless Praise, while keynote speakers were Ian Howie, Brendan Pratt and Lisa Clark Diller, who each spoke about different aspects that resonated the theme of the retreat.

Howie, current director at KinCare and former senior pastor of Gateway Church, focused his workshop on asking some tough questions that had the tables of staff members discussing and sharing with each other and with tables around them. The questions sparked some insightful and honest talks about the spiritual well-being of our teachers and staff and the important roles chaplains and churches play in a school environment. “What’s important about these questions is that they’re creating discussion,” Howie stated. “This is what is pivotal about this exercise.”

Brendan Pratt’s talk on

Real Friendship looked at mistaken views of God, as well as different spiritual pathways in which everyone can experience God. A sound bite from Pratt’s talk heard him telling staff, “You’re wired up a unique way for a relationship with God… we need to stop beating ourselves up and comparing ourselves and our experiences when we see someone

else’s experience of God.”

Lisa Diller, a professor at Southern Adventist University in Tennessee, USA communicated the Real Blessing of Education. Diller highlighted the unique role that teachers play and how their spirituality impacts their teaching and their students. The conference wrapped up with Panapa Leuluai, chaplain of

Mountain View Adventist College, asking for a call-to-action that would see the teaching staff go out and make it real as they began this term.

Staff who attended seemed to welcome the day and were thankful for the experience. Erika Ratu, a primary teacher from Hurstville Adventist School shared, “I loved the spiritual retreat because of the worship experience. I felt filled spiritually and reminded of the impact of the ministry of teaching. I enjoyed connecting with old mates and having conversations to encourage friends from other schools. I hope they have it again next year!”

Pate Namakadre, a secondary teacher at Macarthur Adventist College, appreciated being able to get together with fellow teachers on a day specifically for fellowship.

“We finally had a day that was not in our holidays or weekends, where we as teachers could connect on a spiritual level, but also on a personal level. We rarely have those opportunities…” Namakadre also shared how “Making Jesus Real” was reflected in the space and time they had at the retreat. “It was a space where we were given permission to be authentic and real about how we felt and we thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Academic Olympics: Fun, Collaborative Learning The annual Academic Olympics for the Sydney Adventist Schools took place at Mountain View Adventist Academy this past term on 21 August. It was a chance for Sydney Adventist primary school students, years 3-6, to get together and participate in problem-solving activities in teams. It was also a great opportunity for the schools to interact with each other.

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