Upload
cathyhoelzer
View
219
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
7/26/2019 Mission Together Issue 144
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mission-together-issue-144 1/8
7/26/2019 Mission Together Issue 144
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mission-together-issue-144 2/8
In a culture where children were looked down upon and not
seen as valuable until they were at an age to be useful in the
family business, Jesus welcomed the little children with arms
wide open. Jesus had time for ‘the least’ in first century Jewish
society. Jesus also holds up children as a picture of how all
people ought to come before him. Contrary to conventional
wisdom, Jesus declares that the Kingdom belongs to those like
children – the humble, weak and acutely aware of their
dependency on God.
Jesus’ atoning death has grafted us into the family of God. As
beloved children, we can have the freedom to approach the
King’s throne of grace with our needs. Pastor Tim Keller puts it
this way, “The only person who dares wake up a King at 3.00am
for a glass of water is his child. We have that kind of access!”
It is therefore both Jesus’ precedent of loving the ‘least’ and our
new identity as children of God that should compel us to
demonstrate God’s love and compassion to a group prone to
vulnerability in every society – children.
This edition of Mission Together has a special focus on SIM’s
ministry to children living and dying without hearing the Good
News. You can read about different child-focused ministries of
compassion, health and education assisting communities living
in physical and spiritual poverty. Be inspired and informed to
pray and invest in the next generation. There are also diverse
ministry opportunities overseas for you to participate in as
Jesus Christ brings many children to Himself.
Thank you for your faithful partnership in mission,
Omar Djoeandy
National Director of SIM Australia
Founding Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, and author of The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Scepticism.
Main Speaker: Richard Coombs
Richard is the Australian Director of MECOAustralia (Middle East Christian Outreach) as wellas a Church History lecturer at the MelbourneSchool of Theology.
Melbourne, 8 October9.00am-4.30pmMelbourne School of Theology, Wantirna
Sydney, 15 October9.00am-4.00pm
St Anne’s Anglican Church, Ryde
7/26/2019 Mission Together Issue 144
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mission-together-issue-144 3/8
MISSION TOGETHER | MAY 2016 | ISSUE 144 | 3
GIVE A $65 donation to SIM’s Girls off the Street Fund (09340) will
give a girl medical care, legal assistance and education for
one month in an aftercare home. You can give online byvisiting www.sim.org.au, or use the response form at the
back of this newsletter.
“She is more precious
than rubies…”
Proverbs 3:15a
When Shilpa turned eighteen, she was finally ready to move to
the adult aftercare home. There she is continuing her studies
as well as having the opportunity to help others, such as HIV
positive children who live in a care home nearby. The girls and
team at Redlight-Greenlight were sad to see her go and gave
her a farewell party. In return, Shilpa wrote a special card in
Hindi:
Shilpa’s thank you note can also be applied to all who have
given generously so that the Redlight-Greenlight aftercare
home can remain open and available to help survivors of sex
trafficking and abuse like Shilpa on a path to healing.
When Shilpa*, survivor of terrible sexualabuse, first came to the Redlight-Greenlight
aftercare home, she struggled to participate
in school, group therapy, dance or art.She
would compare herself to the other girls and say, “I can’t dothis right,” before getting angry and just giving up altogether.
As she approached her eighteenth birthday, the staff at
Redlight-Greenlight started making plans for her transfer to a
partner home for adult women as Shilpa had no safe place to
go. However, the carers at Redlight-Greenlight were concerned
about her relational skills and that she would be able to relate
with others at an ‘adult’ level. Days before she had yelled in
frustration at a Redlight-Greenlight counsellor, “I’ve decided
just to be ‘bad’ and cause trouble wherever I go, here or in the
other home!” As the counsellor calmly listened to Shilpa, sheopened up and said, “I’m so afraid to fail that I don’t even want
to try and fit in!”
The counsellor then reminded Shilpa of the many new things
she had learned to do since coming to the Redlight-Greenlight
home; dancing, drawing, being able to pass a school exam,
share her opinion, listen to others and forgive a friend after a
fight. She encouraged Shilpa to reflect on these changes and
challenged her that she did not have to choose to be “bad”.
A few days later, Shilpa returned to the counsellor and said, “I
have been thinking about what you said, and I feel that God
told me, ‘You have forgiven others who hurt you, but you need
to forgive yourself!’” She then made a list of many things she
had said or done in the past that had made her angry at
herself but was now forgiving.*not real name to protect identity
7/26/2019 Mission Together Issue 144
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mission-together-issue-144 4/8
Bethany*, missionary with SIM Australia serving as
principal in a school for missionary kids in South Asia.
*not real name to protect identity
7/26/2019 Mission Together Issue 144
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mission-together-issue-144 5/8
Do you have experience in teaching or education? Are you passionate about passing on the Gospel
to the next generation? Do you have a heart for God’s global mission?
If you answered yes to these questions, you might be just the right person to fill a vacant teaching
role with SIM in a community where Christ is least known!
Would you consider going towhere Christ is least known to
minister to children? We’d love tochat with you. Drop us a line at:
www.sim.org.au/enquire
When you teach missionary children, you are
freeing up other missionaries to do Kingdom
work. There is a current need for French, science-
math, chemistry and IT at this academy for
elementary students.
The Mission Academy was started in 2007 to
provide English education to Missionary Kids
across a wide range of cultural backgrounds and
ages. The role has a strong emphasis on mentoring
Missionary Kids and preparing the older children
to live for Christ after graduating.
Get on board with what God is doing in this South
Asian country through teaching at a local school.
The children attending the school come from poor
and disadvantaged communities. This is a great
opportunity to sensitively share the love of Christ
with students from different religious
backgrounds.
This Christian missionary school is seeking a
person with integrity and experience to fill the
position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The CEO
is responsible for the development of the ethos of
the school and supporting the spiritual life of the
school alongside other responsibilities.
7/26/2019 Mission Together Issue 144
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mission-together-issue-144 6/8
After the delivery, Amuna was not psychologically or
physically prepared for a new baby. She could not produce
breast milk and was neglecting to give her new-born baby theattention and care she needed. Six months later, Amuna
returned to GMC with her baby. Molla was suffering from a
respiratory disease as well as being severely malnourished. It
was confronting for me to see a mother who had given up on
her baby and just wanted to take her “unwanted” baby home
to die.
The staff at GMC did what they could to lift Amuna’s spirits and
enrolled her in the clinic’s nutrition village – a medical facility
for mothers and malnourished infants. Mother and daughter
stayed for several months, over which time Molla gained
significant weight.
Amuna left able to produce breast milk but the greatest
change was in Amuna’s outlook on life. She went away from
the clinic with a new found love for her daughter.
Coming back to the present, it is hard to believe that Molla
was an “unwanted” baby the way her mother fussed over her.
Seeing them together caused me to stop and realise just how
many other “Mollas” have passed through GMC and are now
healthy children. This sudden realisation caused me to forget
about my hard week’s work and instead praise God!”
The Grieve Memorial Medical Clinic (GMC) is a faith-based
primary health care centre that serves an extremely under-
developed region in Doro, South Sudan. The centre providesholistic health care to all patients who walk through the doors,
including outpatient services, prenatal and maternal services,
leprosy treatment, a nutrition village for malnourished
children and a very busy general health clinic.
From unwanted to unconditionally
loved…
“Friday was a very chaotic day at the clinic. In fact, the whole
week had been busy with the numbers of patients increasing
daily. It was one of those days where I need to ask God to give
me the strength to keep going.
As I was busy seeing a patient, a woman walked into the clinic
with her young child. Her daughter looked beautiful, healthy
and ‘chubby’. The mother looked very familiar but I could not
remember where I had seen her before.
Then it clicked. Two years ago Amuna had visited the clinic
expecting her 11th child. She was depressed and did not want
another child as the family were already struggling to feed all
the hungry mouths at home. After a difficult pregnancy and
labour, baby Molla was brought into the world by a caesarean
operation.
The clinic was started by Dr Bob Grieve and his wife Claire in 1937. They sought to serve the local people group with much needed medical care. Tragically, they were both
killed in WWII when an Italian plane bombed the region. The fifty year civil war in Sudan has seen the centre open and close over the years but more recently opening its
doors again in 2008.
7/26/2019 Mission Together Issue 144
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mission-together-issue-144 7/8
GIVEYour gift to our Reaching the Unreached Fund (09310) will
help contribute to improving health for children in SouthSudan! You can give online at www.sim.org.au, or use the
response form at the back of this newsletter.
• The civil war that has scarred the nation of South Sudan over the
past two years has deeply hurt the economy of this nation. Pray for the
Sudanese staff who are struggling to make ends meet and GMC as they
work out how to support them.
• This year is predicted to be a year of famine across the nation. Reports
indicate that 25% of the country’s population are in urgent need of food
assistance and at least 40,000 people are on the brink of catastrophe.* Pray
that GMC can continue to feed those in great need.
*source: Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS)
7/26/2019 Mission Together Issue 144
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/mission-together-issue-144 8/8
Please email me monthly enews about
mission projects
Please mail me SIM Project Focus newsletter
Please mail me information about leaving a bequest to SIM
Please remove me from your mailing list
Praying Together daily prayer points via
email print
I’m interested in exploring mission; please contact me.
Comments _________________________________________
___________________________________________________
REGULAR CREDIT CARD PLEDGE
Regular Pledge gift^ to SIM’s project or missionary:
Name & Country ____________________________________
Project or Missionary # ________________________________
Frequency of pledge: monthly quarterly yearly
$ _________________________________________________
Payments to begin Immediately OR
date: / /
Recurring direct debit giving is available on
http://www.sim.org.au/other-ways-to-give
Online giving is available on
http://www.sim.org.au
^All donations to SIM will receive a receipt. SIM Australia will use gifts to meetthe needs of the projects specified. Should a project raise funds in excess of itstarget, we will apply it to similar projects where most needed.
1.
2.
MY DETAILS *required fields
Supporter Number (if known) __________________________
* Title Mr / Mrs / Ms / Miss / Dr / Rev /Other
* First name _________________________________________
* Surname __________________________________________
* Address ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________________
* Suburb ___________ * State ___________ * Postcode _______ * Phone ____________________________________________ Email ______________________________________________
PAYMENT DETAILS
Please debit my:
Visa Mastercard Amex
Name on card ______________________________________
Signature __________________________________________
Card no. / / /
Expiry /
Please make all cheques payable to SIM Australia.
CONTACT DETAILS
PO Box 42, Penshurst NSW 2222www.sim.org.au(P) 1300 746 580(E) [email protected]
SIM Australia ABN 46 002 679 441SIMaid ABN 43 484 030 223
Code MT144
Mission Together is a publication of Serving in Mission (SIM), aninterdenominational evangelical mission. SIM includes Africa EvangelicalFellowship, Andes Evangelical Mission, International Christian Fellowshipand Sudan Interior Mission.
SIM Australia mobilises people, prayer and funds to make Christ known.We facilitate missionaries from anywhere to everywhere to reach theunreached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to partner with local churchesto evangelise, disciple and share the love of Christ. We support a wide rangeof projects to minister to human need, including aid and developmentinitiatives through our tax deductible arm SIMaid.
For security reasons, pseudonyms are used to protect some of thecontributors and people mentioned in this newsletter. Copyright © 2014 SIMand its licensors. All rights reserved. Enquiries: [email protected]
4.
5.
6.
3.
ProjectProject Number
Amount
TAX-DEDUCTIBLE
Girls off the Streets Fund 09340 $
NON TAX-DEDUCTIBLE
Reaching the Unreached Fund 09310 $
OTHER: $
$$
Please send me a Heaven Sent Gifts Catalogue Yes / No
TOTAL $