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421

We’ve helped send 14,000 kids to school

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Our Lutheran family and friends in Australia helped to send more than 14,000 refugee children to school through Australian Lutheran World Service’s Walk My Way in 2021.

A record number of 4,178 people from around the country took part in the 26km walking challenge last year, with walkers asking friends and family to sponsor them. As of 12 January, the $368,708 raised was enough to support 14,181 refugee children to go to school through ALWS. Each $26 raised helps a refugee child in East Africa go to school for a year by providing teachers, textbooks and tables. And there will be more walks and opportunities to give your support in 2022.

Participants walked, wheeled and woofed their way in more than 30 events from the southwest coast of Western Australia, through South Australia and the Northern Territory to Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. The young and the not-so-young, people living with a disability, mums and dads, kids in prams, dog walkers and cyclists all united in changing the future for refugee children.

While 610 people walked their way through the largest walk of 2021 in SA’s Barossa Valley in May, many schools, churches and groups who lived further afield organised their own walks locally.

Members of St Matthews Lutheran Church in the small Queensland town of Maclagan cheered on their 10 Sunday school children – with a few extras – as they walked 26 laps of the church and Sunday school building for their Walk My Way.

St Matthews member Margaret said: ‘The congregation, as well as various mums, dads, grandmas, grandpas, uncles, aunts, cousins and neighbours, helped fill the donation box with a wonderful amount of $1394. The kids gave it their all with lots of sweat and “are we there yet?” comments and were thoroughly busted when done, but they all felt strongly about helping the children in Africa to go to school.’

Although a small church, St Matthews helped 54 refugee children to go to school – five children for every Sunday school child!

Meanwhile, in October, almost 200 people came together at Hervey Bay in Queensland for a special walk to honour the late St James Lutheran College teacher and ALWS rep Christian Stern, who died last year of cancer.

Before he died, Christian shared his dream of getting his community involved in ALWS’s Walk My Way challenge, to help a preschool in Cambodia.

Walk Sterny’s Way has raised more than $22,616 as of 12 January to support the people of Mean Serei village, who will now have a preschool for their children. Walkers included Christian’s wife Tanya and 10-year-old son Jasper and many from the college community.

ALWS Executive Director Jamie Davies said the scale of the challenge to support refugee children is ‘astounding’.

‘We live in a world where more than 80 million people have been forced to flee from their homes – that’s more than three times the population of Australia’, she said.

‘We can take heart in this amazing outpouring of love and compassion – it is truly an example of our church in action bringing love to life!

‘Thank you – whether you walked, wheeled or woofed, with every step, you’ve shown your refugee neighbours that they will never be forgotten.’

You can find out more about Walk My Way on the website (https://walkmyway.org.au/)

Walk My Way returns this year. Email walkmyway@alws.org.au or sign up to ALWS eNews (https://www.alws.org.au/contact-us/) to stay informed.

422

Pastors’ input sought for research project

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Pastors are being invited to share their insights into how religious beliefs and practices have been used in the perpetration of violence, as part of a research project initiated by the LCANZ.

The research, commissioned by the church’s Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Campaign task force and supported by Bishop Paul Smith, involves interviewing and surveying pastors about their understanding of domestic violence and experiences as they ministered to men who have used violence. It also involves interviewing and surveying men who have used violence to understand their recovery journey and beliefs.

It is hoped that the research’s outcomes will support the development of more effective policies and practices to prevent domestic violence, both inside and outside of church settings.

Bishop Paul said, ‘Anyone who has been with a victim/survivor of domestic violence knows deeply that we cannot ignore this great wickedness at work in our society, in our congregations, and even in many of our own families.

‘Our Lord has called his people to be on guard against all kinds of evil and wrongdoing. He has taught us to pray, “Deliver us from evil”. Hence, as people of the LCANZ, as God’s people seeking to bring God’s love to life in our society, I commend to you this project.’

The research is being led by Professor Sarah Wendt, at Flinders University, in partnership with Professor Wendy Mayer at Australian Lutheran College.

The confidential online survey for pastors can be accessed at:
https://qualtrics.flinders.edu.au/jfe/form/SV_01CpsPDf4wveJ9Q

A separate online survey for men who have previously used violence against their partners is at: https://qualtrics.flinders.edu.au/jfe/form/SV_79QdDy5Bium80fk

For more information, contact Professor Sarah Wendt on 08 8201 3978 or at sarah.wendt@flinders.edu.au

Phone 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or MensLine (1300 789 978) for free, 24-hour domestic violence counselling.

423

LCANZ notices

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INSTALLATION SERVICE

Pastor Paul Smith as Churchwide Bishop 

Bethlehem Lutheran Church Flinders Street, Adelaide SA
20 February 2022 commencing at 3.00pm

Due to current COVID restrictions, attendance will be by invitation only.

The service will be livestreamed. See the LCA website and eNews for further details.

SERVANT OF CHRIST AWARD

The Servant of Christ Award honours lay people of the church by recognising those who give outstanding service. Districts, committees, agencies and congregations are invited to submit nominations for the award.

Award guidelines and nomination forms are available from the LCA website

at www.lca.org.au/soc or from the Office of the Bishop.

Please submit nominations to soc@lca.org.au or by post to ‘Servant of Christ Award’,

Lutheran Church of Australia, 197 Archer Street, North Adelaide SA 5006, no later than Friday 22 April 2022.

For inquiries, please contact Chelsea Bellamy by email or phone 08 8267 7300.

424

Celebration as cultures come together

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It was a ‘day of celebration’ for members of Bethlehem Lutheran congregation at Morley in suburban Perth recently, when a visiting Sudanese community choir swelled their numbers and shared African hymns and songs during worship.

The congregation’s Pastor James Luk, who was born in South Sudan and spent seven years in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya after fleeing his country because of civil war, has been building relationships with the local Sudanese community members since being installed at Morley in February 2021.

Bethlehem secretary Keith Kowald said several Sudanese families had been regularly worshipping with the congregation due to Pastor James’s outreach and that, at his invitation, the choir had ‘blessed us with some African hymns and songs’ during a Sunday worship service. ‘They didn’t need amplification for their singing as the rafters reverberated with the melodic sound of their voices’, Keith said.

‘Their love of the Lord was reflected in their songs and the expressions of joy on their faces. The choir members also brought their families and friends with them resulting in 60 Sudanese men, women and children boosting the church attendance that day.

‘What a day of celebration it was bringing two cultures together in praise to God!’

425

Preparing leaders after God’s own heart

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by James Winderlich

There are many useful theories and models for effective leadership. These approaches allow us to identify traits and skills necessary for good leadership in diverse contexts. At Australian Lutheran College (ALC) we use these varied approaches to help us prepare people to serve as pastors, teachers and layworkers throughout the LCANZ and its partner churches.

At ALC we challenge our students to not only consider human perspectives of leadership but also engage with God’s perspective. And what does God desire from leaders? In Jeremiah 3:15 God promises leaders who are ‘after God’s own heart’.

Through the Holy Spirit leadership happens heart to heart. The approach to leadership with which we challenge our students begins with following Jesus. This leads us to sacrificially and joyfully serve the people placed in our care. That sacrificial service is always grounded in God’s forgiveness. We learn to serve and lead by learning to forgive. We learn to forgive through God’s forgiveness of us.

TAKING A CHRIST-CENTRED APPROACH

As they prepare to serve in our congregations, schools, aged and community care facilities, our students are challenged with radical, Christ-centred approaches to leadership at ALC. These approaches rarely offer advancement by any human expectation. Instead, they offer the precious, world-changing gift of humility; the humility that confuses the proud; the humility whose seedbed is God’s own heart (Philippians 2:5-11).

Are you called by God’s own heart? Are you being called to make a difference in people’s lives? Leadership in the LCANZ can take different vocational directions through ALC. Contact us to find out where your world-changing place might be as a sacrificial, humble and joyful leader by emailing enquiries@alc.edu.au

Pastor James Winderlich is Principal of ALC.

426

Share hospitality and support our overseas partners

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LCA International Mission’s Soul Food cookbook has already proven a well-loved gift and family and community resource since its recent release. A book of recipes from countries where the LCANZ’s partner churches are based, it contains instructions and ingredients to make 23 dishes from Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar, along with colourful photos. By ordering your copy (or copies), you support ministry done through hospitality among LCA International Mission partner churches, with all proceeds helping our overseas partners to share the gospel.

Order your book or some extra copies to give away for a donation of $20 per copy, plus postage.

For more information or to order, contact Erin Kerber at erin.kerber@lca.org.au or phone 08 8267 7317. You can also watch a video about the book, which features testimonies from our overseas mission partners at https://vimeo.com/617489062

427

Prayer guide for Lent

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Each year, LCA International Mission produces a prayer guide and devotional for Lent as a resource to invite our LCANZ family to join our overseas mission partners, as together we pray for God’s global mission.

The 40 Days – a Lenten Devotion and Prayer Guide for 2022 includes devotions written by members and leaders of our partner churches from South-East Asia, as well as daily prayer points.

As people read the devotions, we hope that they will not only learn more about the people with whom we partner but that the Holy Spirit will also speak into their hearts and they will be made aware of the many ways God is present in their life.

Furthermore, during this Lenten period, the guide presents an opportunity to join us in prayer with and for our partners, knowing that our Heavenly Father hears the prayers of his children.

The 40 Days guide is available in printed and electronic forms. Go to the LCA International Mission website at www.lcamission.org.au/pray to download an electronic copy or request a printed copy by sending an email to
lcaim@lca.org.au or phoning 08 8267 7300.

428

Helping families weave faith into the everyday

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Grow Ministries has created a new resource to encourage home devotions for families with children of all ages. Woven Together has been designed to assist families to weave faith conversations and practices into their everyday lives.

It comes in a beautifully presented folder with printed devotion sheets ready for each month of the year. To follow are some ideas of how you could use it or share Woven Together.

At Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Para Vista in suburban Adelaide, the congregation has given Woven Together to families whose child has been recently baptised.

Family Support Coordinator Georgie Schuster explains: ‘We gifted our baptism families this wonderful new resource from Grow Ministries. We used the last baptism class, held prior to the actual baptism day, to place this resource in parents/caregivers’ hands. We explained what the resource is and offered suggestions about how it could be used. Its simple monthly format provides a structure for families to follow as they engage in their important role of nurturing faith in their homes.’

At St Andrews Tallebudgera on Queensland’s Gold Coast, the congregation gave Woven Together to each of their families for Christmas, while Maria Rudolph from Concordia Duncraig in northern Perth says her daughters have enjoyed using the resource together at home.