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School outreach a chance to connect

by Kenneth Stringer

For St Matthew Lutheran Church in Hamilton on New Zealand’s North Island, having a public school just up the road has been a wonderful outreach opportunity.

Whitiora School was established in 1919 and today serves about 180 students in years 1 to 8. About half of the students are from migrant families, 35 per cent are Maori and the remaining 15 per cent are New Zealanders of European heritage.

The description of the primary school on its own website reflects its community interest: ‘a great little school in the heart of the city’. Visitors are struck by the school’s long history of community involvement when they are greeted at the main gate with a memorial to 31 former students who served in World War II.

Many of the migrant students live in the small flats which are the predominant residences in the area. This does not offer much space for these children to play in a safe environment, so the school opens its grounds on a 24-hour basis to the community.

The school community also has been developing gardens, allowing the children to learn to grow tomatoes and other edible produce in pots and raised garden beds. This teaches them the value of growing food in small areas, which is suitable to their home environments.

Principal Paul Cooper has served Whitiora School for many years. This dedicated man has a heartfelt empathy for the welfare of his school and its students, enhanced by his previous overseas mission experience.

These values led Paul to discuss the need for a voluntary chaplain with the school’s Board of Trustees. At the time, the school had a counsellor and social worker, who visited weekly to look after students’ emotional and physical needs. But it was agreed this was not enough, so about five years ago the school decided to find a chaplain who could relate to students’ spiritual needs in a multi-faith environment.

The school chaplain would need to be sensitive and not openly preach Christianity, but was entitled to answer questions from students and to show Christian values
in a practical way. Whitiora School received support for the project from Lifewalk Chaplaincy Service, which provided a lay pastor, who served in the role for four-and-a-half years.

Lifewalk then offered to find a replacement, knowing the school’s preference for someone from the local community who understood the sensitivities of working in a multi-faith environment. Pastor John Davison and St Matthew Lutheran Church Ministry Council recognised the need as a way for the church to connect with the local community.

Through Lifewalk, the congregation approached the school to suggest Pastor John for the role. He had previous experience in school chaplaincy at Parkview Public School in Leeton, New South Wales. Lutheran Church of New Zealand Bishop Mark Whitfield enthusiastically endorsed the opportunity.

Kenneth Stringer is a member at St Matthew Lutheran Church Hamilton in New Zealand.

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Holding Isaac – a mother’s story

by Rachel Schilling

Recently I read, ‘When a baby is born, it’s a mother’s instinct to protect the baby. When a baby dies, it’s the mother’s instinct to protect their memory.’

In 2005 I was working at the primary school at Trinity Lutheran College, on the Gold Coast, as a teacher and curriculum coordinator. Pete and I had been married for five years, were living in Brisbane, and had decided to start a family.

I had terrible morning sickness and was completely exhausted doing two jobs and travelling more than 100 kilometres to work and back each day. I was thankful when school finished and I could rest before the baby was due. I had a pretty run-of-the-mill pregnancy, though I didn’t go into labour until 29 January 2006 – 15 days after the due date.

It was long, hot and painful. Isaac, our first child, was born on 30 January, just before 9pm. He was big! Almost 11 pounds or 4½ kilograms. And he was perfect. There were no complications with the birth.

Pete and I marvelled that we had created this little being. We began calling our parents and friends. The wait was over – we had a boy!

It was Pete’s turn to have a cuddle and one of the midwives noticed Isaac ‘didn’t seem quite right’. She took him outside to the resuscitation table asking Pete to press the red emergency button on the way.

Isaac needed oxygen as he wasn’t breathing on his own. Doctors, midwives and neo-natal specialists gathered around his tiny body. Cords were going in and all over him. He continued to deteriorate. Every attempt was made to get him to respond but nothing worked.

After about 20 minutes, I was wheeled out to this commotion. I was suddenly in a haze of noise and people. Only half an hour earlier I was holding my baby.

I could see Pete’s confused, strained, angry, teary face. I didn’t know what was happening. It never occurred to me Isaac would die.

A chaplain arrived and asked whether we would like to baptise Isaac. Pete took the vial of water and baptised him.

We talked with the neonatal specialist. I remember hearing: ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before’, ‘acid levels so high, babies don’t recover from’ and ‘the machines are keeping him alive’.

Rachel Schilling is a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church, at Buderim Queensland, along with her husband Pete and children Ethan, 9, Anika, 8, and Pearl, 5 (pictured).

Rachel is Congregation Coach for the LCA’s Grow Ministries, while Peter Schilling is Operations Manager at Lutheran Youth of Queensland’s Luther Heights Youth Camp at Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast.

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Time to treasure

by Lisa McIntosh

For Barbara Schmidt being a mum and grandma has been a huge blessing full of times to treasure.

While she did receptionist and office work before she was married and finally realised a long-held dream of being a nurse for 17 years when her children were older, motherhood has been her most cherished role.

Marriage to a pastor – Kevin Schmidt – naturally meant multiple moves around Australia. Their four children were born during service in three different parishes, often away from extended family support.

As adults, Barbara and Kevin’s children Julie, Phil, David and Tim have also been scattered in different states, following their own vocations and families.

Despite these separations, Barbara has placed a high priority on being involved with her children and their children as much as possible, at times through interstate visits. In fact, she and Kevin have been an important presence for each of their seven grandchildren.

‘We just feel very blessed at having had that opportunity to spend time with them. I’ve just loved every minute of it’, she says of school pickups, sleepovers, bicycle rides and general babysitting with Kate, Sam, Ruby, Matilda, Oscar, Cooper and Miranda, who are now aged between 29 and six.

‘I’ve also seen people who’ve had very little input with their children or their grandchildren and I think they’re missing out on so much. Just having that love and that connection with each one is precious. Just to see your grandchildren following their chosen field is wonderful.’

Barbara says she and Kevin wanted their children to choose what they would do as adults. Two sons, David and Tim, have followed their father and studied to become pastors. David Schmidt serves as youth and family pastor at Prince of Peace Everton Hills, Queensland; while Tim Castle-Schmidt, a former teacher, is in his final year at Australian Lutheran College and is doing his vicarage at Faith Warradale, South Australia. Elder son Phil Fagan-Schmidt works for the South Australian government in housing, while daughter Julie Wiesner, a former teacher, works on her family’s farm at Walla Walla in New South Wales.

Barbara and Kevin Schmidt are members at Our Saviour Lutheran Church Aberfoyle Park, in Adelaide’s southern suburbs.

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Christ answers reconciliation question

by Shona Reid

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (Romans 5:8–10)

What an amazing passage … God was willing to do whatever it took to reconcile us to him.

As an Aboriginal woman, whose family and community has been influenced and marked by the torturous history of this nation, I often find myself asking, can anything mend these deep wounds? Can any of this ever by truly reconciled? Can Indigenous and non-Indigenous people achieve reconciliation?

As an Aboriginal woman who strives daily to live in the presence of God, my answer is a resounding ‘yes’. My answer is yes, because in Christ we are all one. We are all in need of salvation and it is in him, and only him, there is true reconciliation.

So as National Reconciliation Week (27 May to 3 June) approaches, I wonder where we are as Christians in these celebrations, in this remembrance, in these commemorations and in this conversation. Isn’t reconciliation our thing? Reconciliation is our heritage, it is our culture and it is our destination.

National Reconciliation Week is a wonderful time to focus our thoughts, our prayers and our energy into coming together to join the reconciliation effort. Learning and sharing our stories and our cultures that may have more in common than we realise.

Shona Reid is a member at St Paul’s Lutheran Church Ferryden Park South Australia, a member of SA-NT District Lutheran Community Care Board and of the council for Aboriginal Ministry SA. She also has an extensive background in working in Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation in the South Australian Government public sector.

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Cross has power for all cultures

by Tania Nelson

Did you know that cross-cultural ministry is alive and well in the Lutheran Church of Australia? Now that doesn’t mean that ministering cross-culturally is without its challenges. Nor does it mean that we can’t do more. Actually much, much more is required!

In March 2016, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released the following media statement:

‘The proportion of Australians who were born overseas has hit its highest point in over 120 years, with 28 per cent of Australia’s population born overseas, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).’

The media release goes on to say that the largest gains in net migration from overseas were in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland (in that order). This statistic – that more than a quarter of Australians were born overseas – is an amazing challenge for local mission in the LCA.

Are our congregations, schools, and aged-care facilities multi-cultural and inter-cultural communities? Are we welcoming, inclusive, loving? ‘Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest’” (Matthew 9:37–38 NRSV).

The following are some wonderful insights into lay worker and pastor labourers in cross-cultural ministry. May I challenge you to think of yourself as a labourer – a labourer who is welcoming, who includes others, and who brings love to life in your community?

Tania Nelson is the LCA’s Executive Officer – Local Mission.

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Because of Easter … terror is nothing to fear

by Reid Matthias

War. Jesus spoke pointedly to the disciples about their questions of the end times, including war:

‘Watch out that no-one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, “I am the Messiah”, and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of the birth pains’ (Matthew 24:4-8).

From our vantage point on the southern curve of the planet, we have not seen war on Australian soil since Japanese bombers rained destruction on Darwin in World War II.

Generations have passed since that great and monstrous conflict and slowly, but surely, the understanding of war has diminished.

However, the fear of war perhaps has increased for many of us.

No-one is immune from the fear and the terror of war, but most people in Australia are insulated from the realities of it; the death and destruction and the torturous pain of loss has been left to other corners of the globe.

But we still hear about the war – and the rumours of the faceless conflict – against the undefeatable foe of terror.

Most Christians would like to say they deal with it in the way that they have been given – through prayer and meditation. In many cases this is the only course of action at hand.

But the truth of the matter is that even the Christian is not immune to the great sickness that sweeps across the planet like the pandemics of old, a spiritual tuberculosis that removes our breath and causes our hearts to seize in the fear this terror will engulf even Terra Australis.

And how do we know this? Because the other insipid malady that mows down large swathes of the western world is what I call ‘intellectual bulimia’.

We gorge ourselves on the news bites and sound bites from the array of screens in front of us. They tell us not only that the war is imminent but that death by terror is lurking behind every closed door.

The terror has swallowed us.

But, in the midst of the abyss of terror, no different than the blackness that engulfed the Place of the Skull 2000 years ago, a light continues to shine from the empty tomb of fear.

This gift of God – which is a flame that shines light into the edges of a world bleeding profusely from the ravages of war – is yours and mine.

Reid Matthias is Parish Team Pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Para Vista, in South Australia.

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Walking the hard road to hope

Civil war has been a near-constant scourge for the people of Sudan in eastern Africa for many years. Mary Abuk Dau was still a child, living on her family’s farm in the country’s south, when bloody conflict flared up there in 1991. She walked for years in search of safety. Having been educated through Lutheran support in a Kenyan refugee camp, she’s since been an ambassador for peace. Jonathan Krause, Community Action Manager with Australian Lutheran World Service, met Mary in South Sudan and shares her story.

Mary Abuk Dau knew the horrors of war from a young age. People were killed in front of her when she was just 10. Growing up in what is now South Sudan, with civil war sweeping the country, Mary believes God saved her life. Thanks to help from Lutheran aid partnerships, she now has hope for the future – despite her country again being in crisis today.

‘The soldiers came and killed some people while I was looking’, Mary says of the civil war that came to her region in 1991. ‘Some of my relatives were killed. My uncle died. It is only to God that we are saved.’

Her elder siblings left Sudan for Ethiopia, while Mary stayed with the young children of her family. When the conflict became worse, they too set out on foot, with no shoes or clothes to protect them from the terrain and elements. People died of disease and hunger.

Even in some refugee camps along their journey, Mary and her companions were not safe to settle. ‘We were on foot for four years’, she says. ‘We may stay in a camp for one month, but then the attacks would come again, so we would move again. There was no food for us to survive, and we did not know where the water [was]. If a child got tired they must be left behind, and they die[d]. If a person die[d] we could not bury them because we did not have the time or strength.

‘But even though we had nothing, we knew God was there.’

They reached Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya in 1995. It was there Mary learnt about Lutheran World Federation (LWF), a partner of Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS).

ALWS has launched an emergency appeal to support the work of LWF in South Sudan.

You can donate by visiting alws.org.au or phoning FREECALL 1300 763 407.

It has also launched Walk My Way, a campaign to fund schooling for refugee children, including those from South Sudan. To be held on 4 July 2017, the 26 kilometre walk will go from Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills to Beaumont in the South Australian capital’s eastern suburbs, following in steps of Lutheran pioneer women.

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God’s deliverance: from war to peace

by Paul Kraus

For my parents, the 10 years before my birth in October 1944 were indeed uncertain ones. Both were Hungarian Jews. My mother, Clara, came from Budapest and my father, Emery (Jim), was from Banska Bystrica, a village originally in Hungary but belonging to Slovakia after World War I.

From 1935 onwards, it was clear that the net of Nazism was slowly closing in around them. My parents tried to migrate to New Zealand, Australia, the United States and South America but they were unsuccessful as they could not raise the money required.

Their lives were directly threatened on Palm Sunday in 1943, when Belgrade, the Yugoslav capital where they were living and working, was badly bombed. They escaped to a town my father had lived in as a child – Subotica in Central Slovakia – where they again began to re-establish their lives.

Within 12 months the men were taken for forced labour and, by the end of 1944, were transported to the infamous Mauthausen Concentration Camp. In the middle of 1944 my pregnant mother, together with my two-year-old brother Peter, was forced into a ghetto reserved for Jews who were destined for Auschwitz, an inescapable death sentence for both of them.

An incident that belied coincidence, but had all the hallmarks of divine intervention, resulted in my mother being called to jump from one line of prisoners to another, along with my brother. The first line was headed for Auschwitz, the second to an Austrian labour camp. She arrived in the labour camp in July 1944 after spending an unbearable and stifling three days in a cattle train, during which a number of people died.

Once in the camp she was unable to work because of her pregnancy. The Nazi elite corps, known as the SS, made regular visits but she hid whenever they came to the camp. The story of her survival is nothing short of miraculous.

Shortly after my birth in late October she had a vision of Jesus while in her cell and accepted him as her Messiah. She had become a believer in Jesus and promised Almighty God that whether or not she had a future, she and her sons would be his followers. She fervently prayed for survival for herself and her family and promised Jesus she would always follow him.

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Shining through diversity

Sunshine Christian School in the western suburbs of Melbourne is different from others in the Lutheran Education Australia family. It started out life as a Uniting Church school in 1982. Facing closure in 2004, the school asked to join the Lutheran system, with nearby St Matthew’s Lutheran Church taking on the role of supporting congregation. It is a deliberately small school and has an extremely high percentage of students from non-English speaking backgrounds and a significant refugee population. As of 2015 more than 80 per cent of Sunshine’s students had English as a second, third or fourth language and the school population spoke more than 20 different languages.

by Paolo Familari

Sunshine Christian School serves the multi-cultural community of Sunshine in Melbourne’s western suburbs.

From humble beginnings more than 30 years ago, our school has grown into a Christian community united by a desire to bring up young people to love God, love each other and love learning. The school is capped at 100 students and simply has no physical room to grow. Our small size has enabled us to provide a harmonious learning environment in which we know each student.

We have wonderful support from our parents who are very loyal to the school and its mission. We believe in the development of the whole child, and provide high quality physical education, arts and camping/excursion programs alongside our wide-ranging curriculum and rigorous academic study.

Our school is known for its strong Christian foundations, excellent pastoral care, sound academic record, vibrant curriculum and being ‘a big family’. The school places an emphasis on tolerance and celebrating our cultural diversity.

Our staff also come from diverse backgrounds, which has enriched the school community. Some of the benefits of having such a multi-cultural community are living the Christian values of tolerance, kindness and patience.

Our community provides opportunities to spread the gospel, particularly through our actions.

Paolo Familari is Principal of Sunshine Christian School.

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Called to do more than a good job

Called to do more than a good job 

We don’t hear the word ‘vocation’ much these days, but for a Christian it is an everyday concern. And that’s not just for those who work for the church in a formal capacity. We are all called to live – and work – for Christ. We asked four people to share their stories about the way in which their faith underpins their daily work.

 

Farming takes faith
by Katy Kucks

When I attended Lutheran Youth of Queensland camps more than 25 years ago and met farmers for the first time, little did I know I would marry one and leave Brisbane behind for rural central Queensland and the farming life.

It’s been a great adventure and learning journey. Faith has also been central and critical throughout.

These days, the once naïve suburban girl is a wiser farmer’s wife – and company director! And working the land has changed as technology has advanced. Now we have ‘agribusiness’ and it is big business.

Yet the timeless constant is the struggle of coaxing food from the land on the driest, harshest habited continent. This is where our faith is a vibrant, living thing that sees us through.

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Katy Kucks is a member at Theodore Lutheran Church, Queensland.

 

Glorifying God at home
by Sarah Joy Fandrich 

I am a pastor’s wife and stay-at-home, homeschooling mum to seven children. This is my career and calling, and in a way I view myself as a CEO.

As Christian parents, our greatest desire is that our children know Christ as their Saviour. Teaching our children about how God works in their world when things are not easy is the most important part of how I serve God.

Faith in God is what keeps me sane.

As a pastor’s wife I serve our church by supporting my husband in his work. Pastoral ministry is a lot like housework in that there’s always more to be done. It’s a lot like raising kids in that there are often challenging behaviours to work with.

Being a career mum is tiring. I seek a home glorifying God in all we do with fun and service. I love it when that happens.

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Sarah Joy Fandrich is a member of Burrumbuttock Lutheran Parish NSW.

  

Seeking his purpose
by Bob Thiele

Two years ago I received a letter from my superannuation fund. ‘Dear Mr Thiele, this is to inform you that your pension scheme has matured and you will no longer be required to pay into the scheme’.

Most people work to retire. I had to make a conscious decision to work when I didn’t need to. Why work when you could live a life of leisure?

For me the answer is purpose. I do still feel called to be in the same vocation I believe God called me to at six years of age when I decided to become a teacher.

Now as a principal of more than 20 years, I try to take God into every class, every meeting and every situation.

I trust he is using me to make a positive difference in the lives of the children and families with whom I work, serving his purpose.

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Bob Thiele is a member at Seaford Lutheran Church, South Australia.

 

 

Seeing beyond the labels
by Greg Spann 

My journey to my current job (as a pharmacist) started at school. I was good at science and, unimaginatively, thought I’d do a science degree.

Fortunately my father and my chemistry teacher suggested pharmacy. My first thought was what most people think of pharmacy – white coats behind a counter. But a lady at church commended the simple role of a pharmacist as an educator. ‘Great’, I thought, ‘I can help people’.

I know that aspiration is very clichéd but, even now, after years of working, I still need to be reminded of it every day. ‘God’, I pray as I drive to work, ‘let me serve my patients today’.

A few years into my career I found that space working in mental health.

Every day I am able to meet people at their worst, discuss with them what’s brought them here and try to assist them to manage their medication
to get them back on track.

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Greg Spann is a member at Our Saviour Lutheran Church, Rochedale, Queensland.

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