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281

Agape in name, nature and action

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The Greek word agape describes a love that is pure, unselfish and unconditional. With the aspiration of reflecting this sacrificial love, the Basel Christian Church of Malaysia’s (BCCM) day centre for children living with disability bears this word in its name. Ms Yap Pak Shun, a member of the BCCM Central Education Board, explains.

Social concern is Christian love in action. It expresses the faith and hope of the human spirit we have in Christ through the practical demonstration of love to the community, especially to those who are less fortunate, regardless of their race, language and religion.

The Basel Christian Church of Malaysia’s (BCCM) Agape Centre in Sandakan, East Malaysia, enacts this love. A day care centre for children living with intellectual and developmental disability, it was established on 10 January 1994. It opened with an enrolment of two students and two teachers, using local kindergarten facilities. Having relocated to the Rumah Wargatua Sri Harapan, Jalan Sibuga Senior Citizens Home in 1998, today it serves 18 students through various programs and activities (pictured top) and has four teachers.

The centre is managed by a committee grounded with the clear vision of showing Christ’s love in a practical manner. One of the main objectives of its establishment was to give children living with disability an opportunity to learn everything they need to live independently in the community and be accepted by the community.

Agape Chairman Mr Chris Lo Lie Meng says the centre is ‘committed to reaching out with compassion and Christian love to help’ children with intellectual and developmental challenges, ‘so that they can live to celebrate life over their own limitation’. ‘We strongly advocate a more inclusive society to ensure social justice for those being marginalised’, he says.

Centre teachers Rena SangFong, Jukinah Ujin, Rossani Edward and Flora Gurandi (pictured above right) say the wider community needs to ‘work together to help these special children and be sensitive to their needs’. ‘As Christians, we should love them, care for them, and see to it that they are not marginalised’, they say.

The running of the BCCM Agape Centre is dependent on donations from charitable organisations, church members and the public.

We especially thank LCA International Mission for its generous donation of AU$6,457.65 – $4,457.65 from Immanuel College Novar Gardens and $2,000 from the Stamps for Mission program. This money is being used for upgrades of the Agape Centre and to buy teaching and learning resources.

God’s grace is more than sufficient to sustain us! Let us all work together to help these special children and raise their hope and dignity.

The LCANZ, through LCA International Mission, has a long-term partnership with BCCM and supports ministries in Sabah Malaysia thanks to donations from our Lutheran family. LCA International Mission also coordinates volunteer opportunities and facilitates congregational and school mission partnerships between the churches. Read more uplifting stories in Border Crossings, included with this print edition of The Lutheran.

282

Celebrate and be inclusive

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by Tania Nelson

This month’s International Day of People with Disability (IDPWD) – marked on 3 December – is a great occasion to celebrate alongside people living with disability, and an opportunity to challenge the way we think about disability and to help grow a more inclusive community.

The Christian Care Sunday ‘More resources’ webpage at www.lca.org.au/christian-care-sunday/christian-care-resources has IDPWD resources to help you celebrate, including a ready-to-go worship service, a children’s address, a small group discussion guide and more.

READY-TO-GO WORSHIP SERVICE

The worship service order in the IDPWD resources has been prepared for congregations who wish to acknowledge and celebrate with persons living with disability. I particularly love the opening words of the service. Using selected verses of Psalm 139, it begins:

‘I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well … I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful! I know that very well.’

CHALLENGE YOURSELF TO LOVE

The discussion guide in the IDPWD resources challenges us about ‘Re-thinking Our Values’ and poses some challenging questions:

  • Have you ever felt defined by your achievements and abilities?
  • Do you tend to see differences or commonalities when we gather together in community?
  • How do you think we could extend open arms to one and all showing no partiality?

These challenges show me my weakness and, thankfully, God’s great love for us. They can lead us to prayer, too.

Thank you, God, for your great love, which transforms our position from enemies to friends, from the least to the greatest. Without your love and mercy, we couldn’t do anything at all …

By your Holy Spirit, encourage and inspire us toward love and good deeds. Help us throw open the doors of our churches and homes in radical welcome. Help us to see the needs around us, and meet them wherever we can, with whatever you have given us to share. Make us an inclusive, welcoming community, where anyone can come to find love and acceptance and a place at your table. Amen.

FIND OUT MORE

As well as visiting the website at www.lca.org.au/christian-care-sunday/christian-care-resources to find out about the resources available, you can email careministries@lca.org.au

You can also learn more about the International Day of People with Disability at www.idpwd.com.au

Dr Tania Nelson is the LCANZ Executive Officer – Local Mission.

283

Winning scenes make calendar a hit

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by Richard Fox

Thank you to everyone who entered this year’s Lutheran Media Calendar Photo Competition. We received more than 80 entries which confirmed that we have some amazing photographers in our Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand.

With three categories to enter this time – Animal, Nature and Landscape – there were three times as many winners as in previous years.

In the Animal category, the winner was Stephen Jericho with ‘The Cow-nsellors’, which is on the cover of our 2023 calendar. Placegetters were Marissa Hartwig’s photo of a parrot and John Neldner’s picture of budgies.

In Nature, Stuart Kleinig came out on top with a shell scene, while talented mother-and-daughter entrants Amy Dahlenburg and Charlotte Dahlenburg were the placegetters with a frosty plant and sunflowers respectively.

And in the Landscape category, Amy Dahlenburg won with a beach rainbow scene, while Julie Oster and Genevieve Clark were the placegetters with images of an old cart and another beach scene respectively.

SHARING TALENTS SHARES HOPE TOO

Thanks to everyone who shared their amazing talents to encourage with hope the people who receive the Lutheran Media Calendar. With Bible verses on each page spread, along with the stunning photography, the calendars inspire many people, as the feedback we receive shows. As Elisabeth told us: ‘Thank you very much for recently sending me a calendar to give to my brother. When I told him I read my Bible every day, he was really interested which was why I decided to introduce him to your great calendar. Thank you.’

Another recipient, Nedrum, said: ‘I’m not religious at all, but have just ordered this for my religious mother who I think will really like it. Thanks for sharing!’

ORDER CALENDARS NOW!

You can order your 2023 calendar/s online at www.lutheranmedia.org.au, by calling us in the office on 1800 353 350 or via email to luthmedia@lca.org.au

We hope you enjoy the calendar as much as we have enjoyed preparing it for you.

Pastor Richard Fox is Director of Lutheran Media.

284

Great gifts for Advent

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by Anne Hansen

Lutheran Tract Mission (LTM) has again produced a new devotional booklet for Advent, which is free to all congregations and individuals who wish to use it.

It can be used as a flip book on electronic devices or downloaded and printed with an editable back page on which to include your congregation’s Christmas worship times.

LTM has been writing and producing these free of charge for the past five years and all the previous ones can also be viewed and used at any time. They are not dated, so if you have a specific focus for Advent, feel free to choose the one that best fits your congregation’s theme. They can all be found on the LTM website at www.ltm.org.au/resources/devotions

The new 2022 devotional ‘Gifts from God’ focuses on six of the fruits of the Holy Spirit – love, hope, joy, patience, peace and faithfulness. These are all gifts of God’s kindness and grace to his people. As God’s people, the gift of the baby Jesus is the epitome of the immense love that God has for us. There were so many obstacles placed before the baby Jesus and his parents, but God was able to overcome them all and, through his Son, show us the way to live as his faithful people.

Each week of these devotionals the focus will be on a different gift that God gives to us and places in our hearts to share and grow in our faith. May you use these devotionals to strengthen your faith and bring you to understand the Christmas season differently each day.

MANY CHRISTMAS RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE, TOO

LTM has many other resources for you to use in your ministry over Christmas and any other time, both within and outside of your church. God is on the move in our people, so be bold with the gospel, sharing the love he has for you and what he has done in your life. A way to be bold is to take a tract or two, put them in your car, bag or wallet and, when the Spirit prompts, share God’s love.

  • Look at our website to find what you need for your ministry: www.ltm.org.au
  • Give two of the Advent devotionals to all members of your church so that they can each give one away.
  • Share the good news of Jesus’ love through ‘Gifts from God’ this Advent.

Anne Hansen is Lutheran Tract Mission Development Officer.

285

New Assistant Bishop for NZ Lutherans

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by Rosie Schefe

Pastor Nich Kitchen is the new Assistant Bishop for the Lutheran Church of New Zealand (LCNZ), following the unexpected early retirement of former assistant bishop, Pastor Jim Pietsch.

Elected to the position by his fellow pastors on 1 September, Pastor Nich said he accepted the nomination to the position to serve with Bishop Mark Whitfield because he had a heart for the Lutheran Church of New Zealand, where he grew up in faith. He felt this was a time when he needed to step up.

Ordained at the end of 2014, Pastor Nich served in the Victoria-Tasmania District: first in the Northern Tasmania parish and then as an interim pastor in Mildura.

He was installed as pastor at Mountainside Lutheran Church in Auckland in August 2018.

Mountainside is one of New Zealand’s larger congregations and is its most diverse in cultural identity, serving members from 26 different countries spread across all continents except Antarctica. Approximately 85 per cent of Mountainside’s members are bilingual.

The congregation is part of the LCANZ Cross-Cultural Ministry network, which intentionally links congregations with culturally diverse memberships. Pastor Nich himself has been a consultant to the LCANZ Department of Local Mission’s Committee for Cross-Cultural Ministry since 2021.

Pastor Jim Pietsch retired suddenly from active ministry and his call to St Paul’s Wellington early in August, in direct response to family need – to support his wife Grace as she cares for her ailing mother in Indonesia. Pastor Jim led his final service on 7 August, and the next day flew to join family members in Jakarta.

Pastor Jim was ordained in 1982, celebrating 40 years of ministry in January. He served in parishes at Whyalla and Waikerie in South Australia, and in the Melton, St Albans and Sunbury congregations in the north-western suburbs of Melbourne. He also served a term as manager of theological books at Openbook Publishers.

Pastor Jim arrived in Wellington on Anzac Day 2013 and served at St Pauls for more than nine years.

He served as pastors’ representative on the LCNZ’s Council of Synod from 2015, then assistant bishop from 2017 until his retirement. The appointment of the assistant bishop is made by the Synod of LCNZ on the nomination of the pastors, and as Pastor Jim’s retirement came between conventions, the Council of Synod has appointed Pastor Nich to this position on the nomination of the pastors.

Rosie Schefe is Lutheran Church of New Zealand District Administrator and former editor of The Lutheran.

286

Child Safety reporting change

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LCA congregations now only need to complete their Child Safety Self-Assessments and Plans once every two years instead of annually.

The General Church Board approved the change to the frequency of reporting at its August meeting, in response to feedback from congregations and districts. LCA Child Protection Project Officer Mary-Ann Carver said it was hoped that the change in reporting requirements would ‘assist congregations to meet their child-safety obligations and also help them to keep their workload manageable’.

The self-assessments and plans are part of the reporting requirements for the LCA Child Safety Standards (CSS) for Congregations. The CSS are designed to help congregations maximise the safety of children and young people. It is also envisaged that they will help the church to meet its regulatory responsibilities in response to an increasingly rigorous child safety landscape in Australia and New Zealand.

This is especially so in the wake of the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

All congregations that have children participating in regular worship, prayer or children’s ministry are expected to implement the CSS.

Ms Carver said in addition to providing congregations with more time to implement their child safety plans, the extended reporting timeframe gives the church’s child protection support staff more time to raise awareness across the church about the importance of child-safe cultures and more opportunities to support congregations requiring assistance.

‘If you have already completed your Child Safety Self-Assessment and for 2022, you do not have to do this again until mid-2024’, she said. ‘Instead, you can focus on implementing your child safety plan and reviewing your progress.

‘If you have already completed your Child Safety Self-Assessment but are still developing your Child Safety Plan, once your plan is endorsed by your church council or leadership team, you will not have to undertake another Self-Assessment or develop another Child Safety Plan until mid-2024.’

A suite of resources is available on the LCA website to assist congregations as they prepare their Child Safety Self-Assessment and Child Safety Plan.

Go to the Child Safety Standards page at www.lca.org.au/governance/child-safety-standards and follow the links.

287

Now home after lives of love and service

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Going GREYT! 1 Peter 4:10

Over the years, this column has celebrated how God’s light shines through those who share their talents in his service. Those interviewed are but a small reflection of the many quiet workers in God’s vineyard. This month, as we observe All Saints’ Day, we bring you a posthumous Going GREYT! account of a couple recently called to their heavenly home, whose story shows how God works through the joys and heartbreaks of our lives and remains with us always.

by Helen Brinkman

A shared love of God and of helping others brought Ray and Clarice Thiele together 40 years ago.

And it was God’s love that brought them to their heavenly home little more than 12 hours apart in August this year. It fulfilled their prayer that neither would be left to grieve the other, as both had experienced lives marred by sorrow, with the deaths of their first spouses and each having lost a child.

Yet together they carved out full lives of love, work and service. The members of Faith Lutheran Church at Warradale, in Adelaide’s southern suburbs, had both been brought up in the church. Clarice (nee Krieg) was born in Brinkworth in 1932, and Ray in suburban Adelaide in 1927.

Ray and his first wife Jeannine, who was known as Jenny, were foundation members of the Warradale congregation, which began regular worship services in 1960. He taught Sunday school, was involved with the men’s fellowship and supporting the youth, helped with the church maintenance, and was instrumental in establishing the congregation’s Lighthouse coffee lounge outreach.

Clarice and her husband Gordon had joined the congregation in 1966 when the two Lutheran synods combined. It was a treasured spiritual connection that lasted the rest of Clarice’s life.

Clarice and Ray’s wife Jenny had bonded through a shared love of God, flower arranging and supporting one another through loss. Clarice’s first daughter, Kerry, had died in 1965, while Jenny and Ray had lost their daughter Julie in 1963. In 1974, Clarice was devastated by Gordon’s death after a heart attack. Then Jenny fell ill with bladder cancer.

At Clarice and Ray’s joint memorial service on August 19, the family described Jenny’s generosity of spirit recalling that, when she realised that she was going to die, Jenny told Ray that he was ‘too good a husband to remain alone’, and that Clarice ‘deserved someone to love her’. ‘You should marry Clarice’, Jenny had said.

Four years after Jenny’s death in 1978, her wish came true, and Ray and Clarice married.

Together they worked hard and contributed to the life of the church. In retirement, they maintained their busy lives volunteering, visiting residents of the local Resthaven nursing home, and Ray continuing his volunteer work with Technical Aid for the Disabled and the Ileostomy Association of SA, supporting people living with a stoma, generally as a result of urinary or bowel surgery.

Clarice and her friends started a friendship group through the church called Plus 50s. ‘She loved socialising and relished the chance to natter with the girls, raise money for Australian Lutheran World Service, “Keep Fit” classes, bus trips to local sights and hoped people would have a laugh together’, the family recalled. The Warradale Lutheran Women’s Guild and Concordia Old Collegians were also regular commitments for Clarice, who boarded at Concordia College, Adelaide, from ages 13 to 16.

However, Clarice and Ray’s story of dying together is as ‘greyt’ as their story of living and serving God together. They passed away around 12 hours apart, on August 8, in separate rooms of Eldercare’s Allambi aged-care home in Glengowrie, in suburban Adelaide. It fulfilled their wish that neither would be left to grieve when their partner died.

This miraculous story of love and service caught the attention of Adelaide’s daily newspaper, The Advertiser, which featured the Thieles in both its online and print editions. The story even included their family recounting the prayer Clarice lovingly shared with Ray in their final FaceTime conversation:

‘Jesus, tender Shepherd, hear me; bless Your little lamb tonight; through the darkness please be near me; watch my sleep till morning light.

All this day Your hand has led me, and I thank You for Your care; You have clothed me, warmed and fed me, listen to my evening prayer.

Let my sins be all forgiven; bless the friends I love so well; take me, when I die, to heaven, happy there with You to dwell.’

Clarice finished with: ‘Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Beautiful man. Thank you!’ Ray said, ‘Love you’, and went to sleep.

As mourners were told at the pair’s memorial service in August: ‘God’s love guided them and shone through them throughout their lives, bringing them together for 40 years of marriage, sustaining them in Allambi, then taking them together to heaven. Their prayer was that their family, friends and all they met would feel loved and know the love of God.’

And it was only the beginning of Clarice and Ray’s real story, according to the eulogy of their lives together, which cited one of Ray’s favourite authors, C.S Lewis: ‘All their life in this world … had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no-one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.’

‘We look forward to meeting them in heaven.’

As we commemorate the faithfully departed on All Saints’ Day this month, we remember the Thieles, and all the passed GREYTs who have shone God’s light into our lives and the lives of those in our communities.

NOTE: The author and The Lutheran Executive Editor Linda Macqueen sincerely thank the family of Ray and Clarice Thiele, including Lisa McIntosh, for permission to share this story.

Helen Brinkman is a Brisbane-based writer who is inspired by the many GREYT people who serve tirelessly and humbly in our community. By sharing stories of how God shines his light through his people, she hopes others are encouraged to explore how they can use their gifts to share his light in the world. Know of any other GREYT stories in your local community? Email the editor lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au

289

God’s own adventure

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When John Belani arrived as a young single man in an Austrian refugee camp in 1957, he was seeking a life of adventure in the Congo, in search of rainforest hunter-gatherer people and wild animals. However, the sound of hymns coming from a nearby hall led him not only to his future wife, but an unexpected change in plans.

290

Editor’s letter

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Growing up in a Christian family, with the influences of regular worship, Sunday school and Lutheran schooling, naturally I was familiar from a young age with the Ten Commandments.

The First Commandment sets the tone. ‘You shall have no other gods.’ It was spelt out even more clearly through Luther’s Small Catechism explanation: ‘What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.’

All the other Commandments flowed from it. If we put God first, if he is the Lord of our lives, we shouldn’t have trouble keeping the other 9/10ths of God’s law.

It sounds simple enough. Don’t put your trust in other ‘gods’, or idols, like those recalcitrant Israelites did. The Golden Calf (Exodus 32, 1 Kings 12) and Baal (Numbers 25, Deuteronomy 4) are just two that spring to mind. Or like those first sinners, Adam and Eve, who were tempted by the prospect of being God.

Of course, in addition to not judging others, we need to be wary of putting our faith in things like money and possessions, success and power, and passions, including sport. And then there are music and movie celebrities and sporting ‘gods’ all vying for our adoration.

But, as Rev Dr Michael Lockwood and Pastor Mick Hauser point out in our theme features, the greatest danger we often face when it comes to breaking the First Commandment is even closer to home: the Idol of the Self.

In God’s eyes it’s not wrong to love ourselves – in fact, we should. But not more than God. And not at the expense of loving and serving our neighbours.

It’s worth remembering that examples of material plenty aren’t the only idolatry traps. Elements of our faith lives can be, too. We can make idols of the saints, the church as an institution, the ordained ministry and even Scripture. The list goes on.

Indeed, most of our idols are good gifts from God. They become a gateway to sin when we rank them above him, and they interfere with our relationship with him. Jesus offers the alternative in Luke 10:27, when he says: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.’

As well as looking at idolatry in this edition, we begin the build-up to February’s in-person sessions of General Synod and, as always, are privileged to share encouraging stories, resources and devotional materials. I hope you’ll be blessed by what you read, as I have been as I’ve prepared these stories for you.

Lisa