THE LUTHERAN February 2016

N A TIO N A L M A G A ZIN E O F THE L U THE R A N C HU RC H O F A U STRA LIA

FEBRUARY 2016

How will they hear

On a

MISSION TO THE WEST

THE GODFATHER to a whole city

HOW Y OU CAN

Go AND Grow

IN YOU R FAITH

VOL 50 NO1

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Isaiah 6:8

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OF AUSTRALIA

Greg Spann and Oleander (known as O), then five months, took time out from sightseeing while on holiday in Florence, Italy, to catch up on news and views from home in The Lutheran. Along with wife and mum Tiffany Ng-Spann, they are members at Our Saviour, Rochedale, Queensland.

EDITORIAL Editor Lisa McIntosh p 08 8267 7300 m 0409 281 703 e lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au Executive Editor Linda Macqueen p 08 8339 5178 e linda.macqueen@lca.org.au

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FEBRUARY

Special features

EDITOR'S

Letter

A year or so ago I asked God to show me what he wanted me to do. Selfishly, I was relieved when he led me to this role at our church’s national magazine, rather than pointing me to a mosquito-ridden mission field where the weather is always humid, the toilets don’t flush and the spiders are the size of a dinner plate – a whole new meaning to ‘creature comforts’.

It can be scary, being open to God’s call. Do we really want God to reveal his will to us? Where might he ask us to go?

What might he want us to do? What if we don’t want to go there, or do that?

We do know that God can’t possibly ask us to give anything more than he’s already given. No sacrifice we could ever make in his service could come close to the one he made for our salvation. But, still …

In the book of Jonah, we read of the title character’s reaction when he was sent by God to Nineveh. Jonah headed for Tarshish, which was about as far as he could go in the opposite direction. And we know how that turned out, with a big fish playing water taxi to get Jonah back on the right path. How do you feel about Jonah’s disobedience? Superior, perhaps. Or maybe you see in him your own unwillingness to follow God’s call.

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‘Here I am, Lord, send me!’

You’ve probably heard, read, spoken or even sung those words, paraphrased from Isaiah 6:8, many times. But more to the point, how many times have you really, sincerely, meant them?

You know the story of the young man in Matthew 19, who was seeking eternal life. When Jesus told him to sell all he owned and give to the poor, ‘then come, follow me’, he ‘went away sad, because he had great wealth’. He didn’t want to be sent at all; he wanted to stay right where he was.

The godfather

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How will they hear?

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Here we are, send us!

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Regulars Heartland

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Little church

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Go and Grow

15

Inside story

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Directory

28

Letters

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Notices

30

World in brief

31

Reel life

32

Coffee break

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‘Here I am, Lord, send me!’

What’s your fear in praying that prayer? What might God ask you to give up? What might he ask you to do?

Thankfully not everyone is as soft or shallow as I am when asking God to lead them. In this issue of The Lutheran you will be inspired by people who have honestly sought and answered God’s call, without terms and conditions. Of course God doesn’t want every one of us to sell our house, quit our job and move away from loved ones. Most times he’ll call us to serve him where we are right now. So, as we go about our lives, may we have the courage to earnestly listen for God’s call – for the future, yes, but also for this moment.

Lisa

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Our cover: Photo Our December cover

from 123RF.com

was of the Strait Gate parish Longest Lutheran Lunch at Gruenberg church, Moculta, in SA’s Barossa Valley.

JES U S I S G OD'S LOVE. HE G IVES U S NE W HE ARTS TO L AY AS IDE O UR OL D WAYS, TO B EL IE VE AND FOL LOW HIM, TO L IVE WI T H HIM E VERY DAY.

heartland

REV JOHN HENDERSON

Bishop Lutheran Church of Australia Jesus became one of us (Hebrews 2:14 CEV) Every year in our worship we follow a cycle of seasons. Each season tells part of the story of faith.

Advent: the coming of Jesus is announced just as God has promised. Christmas and Epiphany: Jesus is born and is revealed as God's Son. Lent: Jesus prepares for his death. Easter: Jesus dies and rises again. Pentecost: the Father sends the Holy Spirit, who gives Jesus' followers strong faith and power to tell people about Jesus. After Pentecost: the message of salvation spreads all over the world.

These seasons tell God’s story, the Good News. God did it once and for all. God's saving action through Jesus never has to be repeated; it only needs to be told and retold. It shapes our lives. It is the story of our reconciliation – with God and with each other.

It is, of course, the story of the Bible, the story of Jesus. If we ask about God and his will, we know we will always find the answer in Jesus. He is the entry point, the doorway. We can’t really know God without knowing Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life. It’s vital that we know him, and learn his story well.

We Christians believe that God became human, one of us. As Jesus, he lived and died as one of us,

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The unique hope of Christianity – and its greatest scandal – is that God, in Jesus, became one of us.

This changes everything. No longer are we humans desperately searching for God, but God comes to meet us right where we are. He finds us through what he has done for us in Jesus, and through the Spirit, who brings Jesus to us.

The unique hope of Christianity – and its greatest scandal – is that God, in Jesus, became ONE OF US. This changes everything.

The events tell us who God is and who we are. Its message strengthens us when we are weak, gives us hope when we are troubled, and calls us back home when we wander away. By knowing this story well, we grow in trusting God and his immeasurable love, grace and compassion.

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without claiming rank or privilege. He did everything right. He treated everyone with love, justice and compassion.

The seasons of the church year, which have been part of our worship pattern for generations, tell us Jesus' story year in and year out, so that we know it and remember it. If we forget God’s story, we will also forget our faith and the reason for our hope.

Jesus is among us. He is all that stands between us and death and everything that stultifies or terrifies us. Even in our apathy, or in our worst nightmares, we know that Jesus is here to stand beside us, comfort us, protect us and save us.

This issue of The Lutheran will reach your coffee table near the beginning of the season of Lent. This is the season in which we prepare for Easter, the most important festival of the Christian faith. Christ's death and resurrection are the centrepiece, the moment when all of heaven and earth falls away and God is revealed in all his glory.

God strengthen you as you continue to share God’s story, the story of Jesus, and as you go out from your churches and worship services in love, ready to tell of him, sharing his story with the whole world.

Ernst Bernhardt Heyne Junior and Senior on return from Changi 1946

Ern and seven siblings.

by TICK ZWECK

the G O D F A T H E R When Ern Heyne died, an entire city mourned.

Riding the tram in suburban Adelaide one day, I noticed the woman next to me fidgeting in her handbag one minute, peering intently out of the window the next.

I asked whether she was okay and she responded she was from the country, and had no idea at which stop to get off. I said she could follow me as her destination was on my way.

We chatted and, when I discovered she hailed from Port Pirie, I asked if she had any connections with the

Lutheran church there. She didn’t, and wanted to know why I had asked. I told her my mother’s eldest brother lived there, and she insisted I elaborate, so I inquired whether she knew of Ern Heyne. She answered incredulously: ‘Everyone knows Pastor Heyne!’.

A former primary school teacher, Ern made a huge impact on this large regional centre in the MidNorth of South Australia. Ordained in January 1964, he was installed in the Port Pirie Lutheran Church

soon after, and continued to serve the city until he retired (officially) in December 1997.

In a civic reception in 2014 he was honoured for 50 years of service to Port Pirie. In 2012 he wrote in his regular column, ‘My Say’, in The Recorder, ‘When I was appointed as pastor of the Port Pirie Lutheran Church, there were people in the big smoke who, in their ignorance, said, “Port Pirie?” My simple response was “Yes. I prayed last night I would get Pirie”.’

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He was bound to make an impact, though when he first arrived, sporting long hair and riding a motorbike, one parishioner inquired who he was!

This was a man who sincerely said, ‘Here I am, Lord, send me’.

I’ve learnt that when you offer your service to God in gratitude, he will take you up on it, and use you to be his hands and feet to glorify him.

This was a match literally made in heaven. In his own inimitable style, he reckoned God thought, ‘Ern’s a bit rough, Pirie’s a bit rough; they’ll get on great’. He often said he would not want to be anywhere else: ‘I look into people’s faces and I think, “Port Pirie is the most beautiful place in the world”’ (The Recorder, 18 September 2014).

Ern’s care for the people of Pirie was evident in the 2132 weekly columns (‘My Say’) he wrote for The Recorder spanning 41 years. His final message was on 19 November 2015, only 18 days before he died.

Even when he was overseas visiting House of Hope, the children’s home he sponsored in Sumatra, or seeing his nephew working in Uganda, Ern submitted an article. Featuring both everyday issues and broader social topics, they ‘enlightened and inspired people, but also enraged some or caused strong debate’, according to an editorial in The Recorder (9 August 2011). I have read hundreds of the provocative pieces, infused with personal observations and childhood reminiscences. The latter were arguably to illustrate the importance he placed on faith, family values and forgiveness. The same editorial put it this way: ‘Ern is a quiet believer in his faith who has his say, but never forces his opinions on anyone.

'With congeniality to the broader community, relating to everyone, he is a friend, confidant, mentor and mate to many and is known simply as a great bloke’.

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He also had his say on the weekly TV program ‘Panel Probe’ (GTS Channel 4), co-hosting with Dr Noel Hutchens and Father Eugene Hurley (now bishop of Darwin) for 17 years in the 1970s and 80s. It was a show characterised by discussion on social problems in an authentic, yet entertaining manner.

Bishop Hurley was a lifelong friend – the two worked together in the Australia Post sorting room while studying for the ministry at their respective seminaries in Adelaide. The bishop returned to Pirie to give the eulogy at Ern’s funeral (held in the Catholic cathedral as the Lutheran church would not have been big enough!).

action, it occurred to me this was exactly what he modelled: to me, to his seven younger siblings and their 26 kids, to his beloved flock in Pirie.

Ern was, for all intents and purposes, a godfather to many.

Some memories from my childhood point to this. There were holidays in Pirie with my siblings/cousins – we had a ball, along with some straighttalking lessons we received from him in curbing our pride or selfishness. We played in one of the many sports teams he coached (under the name ‘Lutherettes’, which at their peak constituted 28 netball, softball, football and baseball teams).

A recent post on Facebook reflected on those days: ‘What a great man ... he’d pick us up in his packed station wagon and take us to matches around the region ... I hope I can reflect even just some of his values in my life’.

'Here I am, Lord, SEND ME' ... when you offer your service to God in gratitude, he will take you up on it.

And yet, Ern Heyne was also my quirky bachelor uncle – and my godfather. In a recent letter to me, he thanked me for the love I had shown him. He also asked my forgiveness for failing to carry out his responsibilities as well as he should have. I was staggered – given the profoundly positive influence he had on my life and faith. He directed me to Romans 12 as ‘a lamp for my feet’ and, as I read its central messages of being a living sacrifice of humble service in the body of Christ, and love in

We attended the youth camps he ran at Melrose at the base of Mount Remarkable, in the Flinders Ranges.

Another Facebook post, this time from a man who attended the camps and went on to be a school teacher: ‘Pastor Heyne had a wonderfully positive effect on my life during my teen years. In

Ern and A2 Lutherettes Netball 1968 runners up

Port Pirie, his no-bull, tough-love approach has helped shape the psyche of the entire city.’

We accompanied him to services at St Andrew’s Port Pirie, and St John’s Crystal Brook (later, he also served Woomera and Roxby Downs in the state’s north), and he took a service at the Port Germein community church (30 kilometres north of Pirie) for more than three decades, into his 89th year; as well as to lunches with parishioners, and on his trademark home visits.

We struggled to keep up with him as he strode down church aisles, or the streets of Port Pirie to engage with folk who would stop to say hello, hang out of a car window, or approach him in a shop, cafe or pub. I was always intrigued by the number of people Uncle Ern knew by name. The scope of his cheeky, lopsided grin and his compassion knew no bounds; age, race, religion or social status did not figure.

And yes, the stranger on the tram spoke of how he helped her sick husband through a rough patch and assisted her son to obtain work.

Such is the legacy of this servant of Christ.

For him, people were more important than money and things.

My brother, Nathan Zweck, rated this as the first of Ern’s enduring lessons for him: ‘We came to understand that one of the higher crimes against humanity was to be tighter than a fish’s proverbial with one’s money.

The love of, or preoccupation with money, is a barrier to our ability to be truly available to others and receptive to their needs.’

The second lesson Nathan remembers is: ‘Start every day with 20 minutes of prayer – God is more important than people, and money, and things. Every morning, without fail, in all the days I lived in his house, he would shower, dress, and then kneel by the side of his bed

Ern with Paul Heyne and Tick Zweck - godchildren - on the 40th anniversary of his ordination

like a child in a picture and pray for 20 minutes. I wanted to know what his prayers were about. He interceded for his large family, for his church flock, and then prayed for his own forgiveness.’

The forgiveness of Christ energised Ern for the work of each new day.

‘It would be hard to find someone with a stronger work ethic, because it was born of the clearest sense of what his years on earth were about’, Nathan said. ‘His calling to do God’s work did not stop at three o’clock in the morning, or on public holidays, or when he turned 65. He relished the opportunity to serve the community in whatever way he was asked to. Although Ern spent a lot of time speaking words or writing words, we all know that talk can be cheap. The indelible lessons for me are those he modelled, rather than those he spoke.’

In 2010 Ern was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for service to the LCA and the community of Port Pirie. A friend, Pastor Rodney Witmitz, wrote in a letter to the editor (The Recorder, 17 December 2015), ‘Ern was … the pastor to the city rather than just to a congregation’.

Indeed, it’s been estimated that he conducted more than 1000 burials, 1000 baptisms and 1000 weddings

– with fewer than half of these for members of his own congregation.

The Recorder devoted three and a half pages to articles and tributes about Ern (10 December 2015).

The love and respect they show for this pastor, who didn’t quite fit the mould, is palpable: ‘It is amazing this one person could have so much respect from the whole city. I doubt if we will see such a person ever again’, and, ‘I am going to miss our chats and your endeavour to keep me on the right track through life. Save a spot next to you in heaven for me.’

In 2014, Ern’s nephew Dr David Heyne produced a documentary Race You to Heaven, featuring the eight Heyne siblings, then aged from 74 to 87. Always eager to meet his Saviour, Ern won the race, beating his younger brothers and sisters to heaven. He passed peacefully, in the Port Pirie hospital on 7 December 2015 and, as he had requested, the song Here I am, Lord accompanied his funeral cortege from St Mark’s Cathedral: Here I am, Lord, is it I, Lord?

I have heard you calling in the night I will go, Lord, if you lead me I will hold your people in my heart.

And so he did.

Dr Tick Zweck is Senior Lecturer at Tabor Adelaide (School of Humanities and Social Sciences), and is married to Peter Behrndt.

She has one son, who is named after Ern – Elijah Bernhardt.

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I remember the first car I really wanted.

It was an Iroc Z28 5.7l automatic. Let me be honest; I know nothing about cars. My general assumption is that the ‘l’ after the 5.7 means ‘litre’ but I could be wrong. Even though I didn’t know a thing about the Iroc apart from where the engine might be located, I knew it looked good and sounded even better.

The first car I owned was a 2.0 litre Dodge Omni. It was orange.

I don’t think any church sets out to be a Dodge Omni. Almost every one of them would rather think of themselves as an Iroc Z28 or, in the local lingo, a Holden Commodore Super Sedan. Most churches have visions (or delusions) of ecclesiastical grandeur.

They don’t have an ordained pastor to call their own, but a retired pastor comes twice per month and takes communion, with lay-reading services on other Sundays.

I interviewed Judy, one of the lay readers The Lutheran FEBRUARY 2016

Calvary … is just a little place where some of God's children come to gather that I get to call family … I believe that it is the like-mindedness of sharing love, God's love, that makes our Christian relationship more concrete and so easy to fall in love with. You can't force love.

Loving is a choice. At times I do long for fellow Christian friends of my own age, and youth of similar age to my children, but then I have to remember it's not about me; it's about God, and this is where he's calling me.

‘It's not about me; it's about God, and this is where he's calling me.’

I visited Calvary Lutheran Church in Queensland’s Glass House Mountains on Christmas Eve. There were about 25 people there, which is similar to the church’s average weekly attendance.

Calvary’s members know their little church can never be a supercharged, turbo worship centre, for multiple reasons. Firstly, it’s a matter of space – the building is designed for a smaller flock, one more likely to fit into a generously sized VW conversion van.

Secondly, the congregants are honest about their understanding of what the future is and how they might share God’s love in the world. In essence, they know that they are a Dodge Omni in a muscle-car world.

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at Calvary, her son Kale, and Bob, an 80-year-old elder of the church. After the interview Judy sent me a note which summed up her feeling about being a part of this little church:

Both Kale, 14 years of age, and Bob agreed. One of the biggest strengths of the congregation is that members have the wisdom of the ages. One of the greatest struggles is that there are very few non-grey-haired congregants with whom to share their wisdom, as probably three-quarters of regular attendees are 70 or older.

The

by REID MATTHIAS

THAT COULD ...

Calvary GLASSHOUSE COUNTRY

Pastor Reid Mat t hias has en ter tai ned readers for t h re e years wi t h his Li t t le Church on t he Prairie column , reflect i ng o n his life and work as an A merican pastor i n an Aust ralian coun t ry s et t i ng.

Now he takes o n a new challenge, feat uri ng ‘li t t le’ churches f rom across t he LCA , i ncludi ng New Zealand, highligh t i ng t hei r i nspi rat io nal st ruggles and succ ess es, t hei r d reams and disappoi n t men ts, t hei r plans for grow t h , t hei r work to share t he gospel i n a local co n text, and t hei r fai t h i n and hope for a brigh ter, ‘bigger’ fu t ure.

They ask the same questions all little churches ask: How will we survive? How will we bring the young people in? Who is going to serve on committees? How is the faith going to be passed on?

What I found beautiful about Calvary’s people was their passion in their position. In spite of their ‘smallness’ and in spite of their ‘withoutness’ of a pastor, they bring the message to the small town and serve as only small churches can – with faithfulness and hope.

By the way, my Dodge Omni was my favourite car.

Pastor Reid with his wife, Christine, daughters Josephine and Greta, and parents-in-law Judith and Robert Smyth, who are members at Calvary.

Photo courtesy Interserve

How will they hear?

by LISA MCINTOSH

Two young Australians are leaving their families and taking their baby – and the gospel – to West Asia. ’‘You’ve got a new baby, and you’re doing what?’

It’s a question Mary and John have become somewhat used to as they prepare to head overseas to serve as volunteer cross-cultural workers – with baby James in tow.

The simplest and best answer is that they’re answering God’s call and following his lead to wherever he guides them, no matter what the cost.

‘How can they BELIEVE in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they HEAR without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are SENT?’

Members of a Lutheran church in Adelaide’s northern suburbs, in South Australia, Mary and John will be going to serve people in West Asia for a time to be determined, but probably at least six years. In the interests of their security, The Lutheran is withholding their names, their exact destination and other details.

They’ll spend the first 12 months learning the local language and culture and building relationships with local people.

Then it will be a matter of what God has in store for Mary, a teacher in Lutheran schools, and John, a software engineer, both in their early 30s.

Their supporting agency Interserve Australia has identified a number of potential voluntary roles, possibly

working with refugees, and, in Mary’s case, perhaps with children with autism.

The aim, as with many development roles, will be to train local people to do a needed job.

Their long-term service overseas has been arranged through the supporting agency, which has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Lutheran Church of Australia International Mission. They won’t be paid a wage while they are away, but will rather draw on a living allowance and medical cover from Interserve, which will be funded purely by regular donations from individual and church partners.

James will be just six months old when the trio hopes to leave Australia in April, and the young parents know that being away from their families at such a time in their lives will be difficult – on them and their loved ones.

However, Mary and John believe God is behind the move and offers reassurance in the Bible.

‘Mark chapter 10 has really spoken to me because it’s about giving up things, and we’re going to be leaving our families’, Mary says.

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John adds: ‘Even though it’s going to be tough leaving, that’s been really encouraging to have Scripture like that’.

‘Having a baby made us think longer and harder about whether it was the right thing for us, but it didn’t ever change our minds. Once we started this journey towards going away, we met so many people with families and discovered that most of the people serving overseas have children.

‘It’s a sacrifice for the people who stay behind as well. Our families are sacrificing a lot and missing out on things. We realise it doesn’t affect just us, our going away.’

What will you miss most about being away from Australia?

• Family (John and Mary) • Going to the shops and buying food easily without having to speak another language (Mary) • Being part of our church family (John and Mary) • Getting outdoors in the Australian sun (John)

What are you most looking forward to about volunteering in West Asia?

• Being part of a communal culture – we’re quite individualistic in Australia (Mary) • Being able to speak another language (John) • Meeting other mothers and learning how they live life (Mary) • Experiencing the hospitality of a different culture (John)

Indeed, their decision to leave their families, friends and church family, give up secure jobs and sell their house hasn’t been taken lightly.

Nor has it been made overnight. The duo believes God has been working for years to prepare their hearts for this move.

After meeting Mary, John went on a shortterm volunteer trip to Cambodia, organised through the LCA International Mission.

He says that once they started planning their wedding, the idea of ‘staying overseas, doing something meaningful’ became stronger.

Married in January 2012, they spent four months in Malaysia volunteering at Bethany Home (a school and accommodation for young people with disabilities), as part of an overseas trip.

Including that LCA International Missionorganised service as a component of an extended honeymoon did have friends and colleagues questioning whether it was a sensible move for newlyweds.

‘People thought that it would be tough on our relationship’, Mary says.

‘But we found that it was better because we weren’t just going straight into (normal) life.’

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John rebuilt Bethany Home’s website, helped the staff with computer issues, as well as assisting with sport for the students and general transport. They were involved with church services at the home and community projects, and attended Bible studies with staff.

Most importantly for the pair, that trip and a return two-week visit in 2013 sowed the seeds for a longer-term commitment to overseas volunteering.

‘We thought, “We’re so BLESSED with skills and supportive family, CHURCH back in Australia; why don’t we use that to go and BLESS other people?”ʼ

At Bethany Home, Mary worked with students with a wide range of disabilities, and ran meetings to train staff, as well

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as developing resources for the local workers. That work moved her to do specialised study in the field of special education, which she continued after returning to Australia.

‘We started wondering while we were in Malaysia, could we possibly do this long-term?’

Mary says. ‘Is this something God might be calling us to do? So we started looking into different avenues for doing something longer-term.

‘We also realised (with the second visit) that what was influential was going back and showing them that you loved them; that the relationships were the key thing that lasted.

‘We realised that you need to be somewhere for several years before being able to help people with any longterm professional changes. You need to build the relationship before they can trust what you’re saying and that you know what you’re talking about.’

However, John says, there are great benefits to be gained from short-term service trips too.

‘It exposes people to different ways of life and to get an appreciation of how blessed we are back in Australia’, he says. ‘So it can inspire things in people to go and do something longer. So there’s definitely a benefit.

‘And I think that God really used that time that we were away from life and our normal routines to get us thinking about where our life was heading. We thought, “We’re so blessed with skills, and supportive family and church back in Australia; why don’t we use that to go and bless other people?”

‘Our eyes were opened up to so much

physical and spiritual need. You realise there are places in the world that don’t have the facilities we have in Australia or the opportunities for people to hear about God.’ Mary says Romans 10:14–15 sums up that concept well and has become one of their favourite texts. ‘How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?’

While they say there has been ‘no lightning bolt moment’ confirming God’s call to head overseas for an extended period, John says there have been ‘lots of little incidents along the way’.

They did an online course about volunteer Christian service and investigated the opportunities for an overseas placement, as well as where the greatest need existed.

‘Even at a Bible study while we were in Malaysia praying and worshipping, the pastor looked at me and Mary and said, “God has got amazing plans for you two”’, John says.

‘We believe that going overseas is part of that.

I’ve often wondered with the Here I am, Lord song in the All Together Everybody book – are we actually saying to God, “Send me, I’ll go wherever you want me to go”, or are we just singing it?

‘Basically we went to God and said, “We’re willing to go; you show us where to go and what to do”. And we believe that’s West Asia.

‘It’s mostly about going where there’s the biggest need. When we’ve done studies on that, the stats that convicted us the most were that of the people going out, only three per cent are going out to parts of the world where there are the most unbelievers.’

Mary says the couple began writing down things which have confirmed their call and that everything has been ‘falling into place’ with preparations for this next phase in their lives.

An everyday scene in West Asia, where Mary and John will spend their first 12 months learning the local language and culture and building relationships with local people.

‘Selling our house and considering what furniture to give away has been really good in coming to see that these things actually don’t all matter; what matters is eternity and whatever God’s calling us to do’, she says. ‘It makes you realise it’s just earthly possessions.’

John adds: ‘We no longer have desires for bigger homes or better cars. The question is more about what is God calling us to do.’

While they are looking forward to answering the call, they admit they do have concerns about what they’ll encounter in West Asia and understand there will be a risk to their safety.

‘The Christian life is never safe’, John says. ‘Jesus basically promised that if you’re following him, things may be tough, so we go knowing there are no guarantees for our safety. But we know that, if God’s wanting us to go, he’s going to work out whatever happens.

We just have to trust him for our safety.

‘We don’t go with unrealistic expectations; we know it will be many years of hard work and that we may not see any fruit from our work in our lifetime.’

‘But the Bible teaches that God’s purposes are good’, Mary says.

John and Mary have been speaking at local churches and home groups, sharing what they feel God is calling them to do. Some people from those visits have committed to support the family financially and/ or through prayer.

‘It’s not about just us going; it’s about a whole network of people – people partnering with us in prayer and financially’, Mary says. ‘This is just one way to serve God. It’s not a better way than other ways, it’s just a different way and it’s one people often don’t hear a lot about.’

Interserve Australia is a non-denominational Christian community dedicated to serving among the peoples of Asia and the Arab world.

To support John and Mary financially phone Interserve on freecall 1800 067 100; or to learn more about volunteering for cross-cultural work, go to http://interserve.org.au/ or email info@interserve.org.au To learn more about LCA International Mission, how you can volunteer for a project or become a partner in prayer and/or financial support, go to www.lca.org.au/international-mission or email lcaim@lca.org.au or phone 08 8267 7334.