Wednesday 23 Jun
Scott marks the middle of the year with thankfulness.
As we embrace God’s gracious invitation to mission, our passionate people and our faithful partners journey hand in hand.
During May Mission Month it has been so encouraging to see our intercultural workers and National Team work so closely together to bring stories of hope to churches across our Australian Baptist movement.
It’s also very appropriate that during May we accepted five new candidates, following Selection Committee interviews. I am very excited to welcome:
Suzanne: Long-term team member, Silk Road Area
KimLean: Long-term team member, Cambodia
Danny and Beth Hunt: Part-time leadership development role, Outback Australia
Fiona: Part-time community development role, South Asia
KimLean’s acceptance is very significant for our organisation, as he’s an ‘insider’, joining our team after a long association with our workers as a highly respected culture and language nurturer in Cambodia. As a faithful follower of Jesus he has rich life experiences to share with Khmer people.
I know you will join me in praying for these five new candidates, all with unique stories and a strong sense of God’s call on their life for a new season of service with Global Interaction.
Despite the challenges of COVID and partnership development in this context we’re celebrating the upcoming departure of two candidates – Mike and Ally - to South East Asia. They will join Ando, who has been on the ground as a new South East Asia team member for a few months.
These and other team member movements are encouraging and we give thanks to God that despite the challenges of the pandemic we’re seeing workers being able to travel from and to Australia.
At a National Team level we have recently welcomed Chris and Jodie MacCartney to the team, job-sharing as our Recruitment Specialists. I’m excited to have Chris and Jodie join us and I look forward to the strategic contribution they will bring. They’re well positioned to come alongside and encourage prospective workers after 14 years’ intercultural experience in Thailand.
Teagan Dwyer-Riviere, who is the passionate, driving force behind May Mission Month has also been promoted on our National Team to the role of Communications Manager. In the next few weeks we will appoint a new full-time accountant to join our Operations Team. This appointee will play a key role in on ongoing business and systems transformation.
I’m privileged to lead such a great team across Australia and please continue to pray for our National Team, as you also pray for our teams across the globe.
Our finance staff are busy processing many May Mission Month gifts from individuals, families and churches and as they go about this task we celebrate the vital importance of our faithful, generous partners.
Over the past few months as I have spoken in churches, met with pastors, wrote thank-you letters and responded to emails and phone calls I have been reminded again of the depth of commitment and engagement of our supporters.
You are an amazing community and we never take for granted your support!
One letter we received from a supporter in recent weeks certainly left an impression upon me. It was a handwritten letter from a woman in her late nineties, making a very generous gift to the team in Malawi and Mozambique. This long-time supporter highlighted that this would need to be her last financial gift, but she would not stop praying each day for our workers.
What a beautiful picture of sacrificial, generous partnership. This faithful woman is certainly a co-worker in the Gospel, who understands that she is very much a part of what God is doing through our teams across the world.
We have much to be thankful for at the half-way mark of 2021.
We look ahead in faith. We see great opportunities as we pursue our Strategic Roadmap. There are also some big challenges in the midst of the pandemic and a rapidly changing world. But we hold fast to our faith in an unchanging, powerful God and celebrate the privilege of standing on the shoulders of giants, as we keep writing our mission community’s story.
Grace and peace
Scott
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