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191

It’s okay to say no

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by Anna Doecke

It was August 2011 when I had a conversation with my counsellor, who identified that what I was experiencing was burnout. ‘Burnout?’, I inquired, having never heard that term – apart from what the local lads used to do in the back paddock near the farm where I grew up.

My counsellor explained that I needed to learn to look after myself. She introduced me to words and concepts such as self-care, date days, being kind to myself, setting boundaries, saying No and asking for what I need.

I was almost 26 at the time and had just moved back to Adelaide after working as a youth worker and chaplain in schools and churches in Adelaide, Melbourne and the Gold Coast for seven years.

As I reflect on my years in ministry, I have many fond memories. They were some of the most formative and fun years of my life. I had great friends and community, but it was a very busy time. There were many factors that led to my burnout. It wasn’t easy being away from home at a young age and I often felt homesick.

I struggled regularly in my work environment, feeling that I was unsupported and isolated and with impossible tasks and expectations piled on me. My immediate pastors and managers were great, and we would often talk through how to make changes, but this rarely resulted in any long-term helpful solutions. I was also studying and caring for my housemate who had mental illness. Life was busy and simply too full.

I was a ‘yes woman’ and this went on for about four years. I and those around me didn’t know about boundaries. I didn’t know how to say No, and didn’t know I needed to say No. I didn’t know what I needed. I didn’t know how to ask for help. It was also in the era where burnout and self-care were only just starting to be talked about – much different from now.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know I was heading towards burnout, or already burnt out. Upon reflection, and through my counselling journey, I have become aware of the signs. These include: losing motivation and excitement for work and life; feeling overwhelmed, and more anxious or worried than normal; struggling to make decisions; having a sense of feeling depressed; lacking empathy; increasing irritability or anger; feeling exhausted; being unproductive at work; experiencing a change in eating and sleeping habits, and suffering from headaches, light-headedness or nausea.

Apart from experiencing some of these signs and symptoms, I was also behaving in ways that were unhelpful, including: saying Yes to everything and everyone, feeling like I couldn’t say No, not taking a lunch break (or any breaks), being out every night of the week, not asking for help, withdrawing from social activities, and people pleasing.

Unpacking my life in therapy really helped me to heal and understand what got me to burnout. Growing up I had seen some of the behaviours listed above in my parents and other significant adults, and I learned how to deal with life by what they did. I don’t blame my parents. I had a safe and happy upbringing, which provided me with the privilege that I now experience in life. I’m grateful for having a counsellor who journeyed with me, so that I could heal, forgive and move forward with hope.

My burnout and recovery have come at a cost. I had some hard relationship issues that needed to be addressed. I needed to come to terms with the fact that my upbringing and church experience wasn’t (and isn’t) perfect, and that as humans we hurt each other. I had to journey through a lot of pain by acknowledging, naming, facing and addressing shame messages that I learned growing up in the church – mainly related to what I thought God, and humans, expected of me.

A significant cost I now live with is a reduced capacity for work and life. It’s common that once you experience burnout your capacity changes. A lot of people think they can get back to where and who they were before burnout, but in fact we walk through the recovery to discover a new and better version of ourselves – usually more authentic and ‘real’ than the person before burnout.

I am so grateful for the incredible friends, family, and support people I have in my life. They were vital in my recovery process, and continue to be now. I have learned that by being courageous, and sharing my vulnerability with them helps them to understand me better and know how to support me. Unless I tell them, they can’t help.

In my recovery I learned that burnout is preventable, and I now work in various roles spreading the message of burnout prevention. As a counsellor and speaker with Journeez, I help women and groups to transform stress and burnout into wholehearted living. I also work as a regional manager with Schools Ministry Group, where I support pastoral care workers to help young people discover purpose, value and hope.

Anyone who knows me knows that preventing burnout and increasing self-care and wholeheartedness is in my bones. It’s not unusual for me to ask a co-worker, friend or loved one: ‘When was the last time you did something for yourself?’

My biggest learning from this journey is that we all have a choice. Often, we think we are stuck in our situation, but I will never forget what a mentor once said: ‘Not making a decision is making a decision’. What choices do you need to make today to prevent burnout, ask for help or be the best version of yourself?

One of my favourite quotes that helps me on this journey is from Dr Brené Brown who says: ‘I am never more courageous than when I am embracing imperfection, embracing vulnerabilities and setting boundaries with the people in my life.’

Anna Doecke is a counsellor and speaker at Journeez (www.journeez.com.au) and regional manager at Schools Ministry Group.

192

With God all things are possible

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Going GREYT! 1 Peter 4:10

In Going GREYT! we feature stories of some of our ‘more experienced’ people within the LCA, who have been called to make a positive contribution in their retirement. We pray their examples of service will be an inspiration and encouragement to us all as we look to be Christ’s hands and feet wherever we are, with whatever gifts and opportunities we’ve been given.

by Helen Brinkman

Matthew 19:26 assures us that, ‘with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible’.

Retiree Robert ‘Rob’ Krause reflects on that Bible verse when he thinks of the decades of service he has provided to his local community. It is service provided simply because he has seen a need and tried to help.

From reacting to a fear of fire by assisting a group to start a rural fire brigade, to responding to the call for a local Lutheran school, Rob’s need for action has come in many forms.

The fourth-generation dairy farmer’s home is the historic village of Marburg, on the scrubland between Brisbane and Toowoomba. Rob’s service to this regional community was recognised when he was awarded an Order of Australia medal in this year’s Australia Day Honours.

And his list of service is long! It includes decades of support for the local Marburg Show Society, activities in his Lutheran congregation of Rosewood, and supporting several local schools, among other volunteer roles.

Rob says it was a desire to help his local community that drew him to volunteer.

‘I guess it grew out of wanting to be part of the community, and to put in an effort to make things a bit better around the place’, Rob says.

‘Things were hard in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and a lot of us had to make our own entertainment, and it was a matter of wanting to help your neighbour.’

Rob has lived in Marburg for most of his 86 years. One of six children, he grew up on his parents’ dairy farm and eventually took over the farm from 1972 to 2002.

This personal connection with Marburg, 15 minutes west of Ipswich, helped Rob find ways to help out in his community, starting with the local show. As a schoolboy he began helping with stalls and acting as a steward, then gradually took on more jobs, which has led to his 75-year association with the Marburg Show Society.

‘From school days on, I used to submit produce for judging in show categories’, Rob recalls. He’s even won a couple of first prizes for his sorghum, a grain for stock feed.

Rob served as the show society’s president from 2006 to 2017. He has been a life member since 1994. In addition, he not only helped set up the Marburg Rural Fire Brigade but also became its treasurer for a time. He is a former member of Ipswich Council City Country Consultative Group and was chair of the Marburg State School Centenary celebrations in 1979.

Rob and his wife Janet have been members of the Rosewood congregation for more than 50 years. The pair met through church and the local rural youth group. They were also active in the activities of Lutheran Youth of Queensland.

In June they will celebrate their 50th anniversary. ‘She is my biggest support and strength’, Rob says.

Rob served as congregational chair for several years. Janet, a former school teacher, also took on the congregational chair role for a few years. Both have served as General Synod delegates and have held other congregational roles.

Always interested in education, from 1982 to 1993 Rob served as a board member of the Bethany Lutheran Primary School, Raceview, where their four sons attended.

Their children had all but finished secondary school when the idea of a new secondary school in the region was sown. And so planning began for the Faith Lutheran College in nearby Plainland, with the school opening in 1999 with about 35 students.

Rob was part of the planning committee and a member of the school council for a decade, from 1999 to 2009. With Faith College now educating almost 800 students from across the Ipswich and Lockyer region, Rob and Janet’s son Paul is among its teaching staff.

As grandparents to eight grandsons and one granddaughter, Rob and Janet say that there have been many times when they have seen the hand of God in their activities.

‘There were a lot of things that happened which were quite miraculous’, they recall.

Rob regularly reflects on the words of Hymn 499 from the original black Lutheran Hymnal, which was shared in prayer before each sermon delivered by one of his previous ministers, Pastor Ludwig Doehler, at nearby Lowood: ‘Lord Jesus Christ to us attend, thy Holy Spirit to us send. With grace to rule us day by day and lead us in true wisdom’s way.’

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   

193

Tamil ministry unfolds in Geelong

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by Nathan Hedt

God is good and he keeps surprising us! That is the feeling among Lutherans in Geelong as they see something new that God is unfolding in their mission and outreach there. Before December, the possibility of a church plant among Tamil immigrants in Victoria’s second-largest city was not on anyone’s strategic plan. Anyone except the Holy Spirit, that is!

On Saturday 26 February a Tamil Christian church service was held at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in North Geelong. Joyce Mailvaganam, a Tamil guest from London, shared a message, and Pastor Vino from a Melbourne Tamil church led the praise and worship service. Around 95 people attended the service, including about 30 to 40 from the Geelong Tamil community.

The Tamil community is now being invited to attend either Sunday morning worship or a fortnightly Tamil fellowship and prayer group held in the afternoon at Our Redeemer.

Michelle Filipovic, who has worked for a number of years with asylum seekers and new immigrants in Geelong, is employed part-time in a united approach to ministry by four Lutheran congregations in Geelong.

She says that historically St Paul’s Lutheran Church Grovedale has been serving asylum seekers, refugees and migrants by means of practical, relational and spiritual support. The congregation was first called to support asylum seekers when some Tamil men arrived for worship one Sunday in 2013.

Now, together with the Lutheran churches in Geelong, St Paul’s Kindergarten and Geelong Lutheran College, the Grovedale congregation supports around 23 households. Nationalities supported include Iranians, Afghans, Haitians and Kurds, with the Tamil community being the largest group the community walks with.

‘The ministry to our families is practical, relational and pastoral’, Michelle says. ‘We have walked closely with our families, assisting them as needs arise, doing life alongside them while offering prayer, reading scripture, and sharing God’s love and the gospel in very gentle and loving but bold ways.’

The ministry is bathed in prayer, and friendships are created through visiting people in their homes. Practical support is offered via donating and distributing non-perishable food, providing transport to appointments, delivering large items, advocating and making referrals for support, teaching in-home English lessons, and resourcing community opportunities for volunteering and employment.

The ministry works closely with community organisations in Geelong, such as Diversitat Asylum Seeker Program, Barwon Health, 3216 Connect charity group, Geelong Mums, and the Baptist and Uniting churches.

LCA New and Renewing Churches is working with Michelle and the Lutheran congregations in Geelong to seek funding, form a core team, support Tamil Christians in leadership and discipleship, and connect with those who are not yet Christian through evangelism, service, witness, and reading the Bible together.

We hope and pray that this gathering of people is the birthing of a Tamil church plant in Geelong.

Michelle says that she is motivated by the words of John 6:40: ‘For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day’.

‘I love this verse because of the evangelistic heart of God’, she says. ‘God’s will is that everyone would know Jesus and have eternal life. This is my heart for those who do not know Jesus as their Saviour, especially in my role with asylum seekers and refugees. It is good news because it simply says that whoever believes in Jesus will be saved.

‘It also reminds me of the petition in the Lord’s prayer: “Your will be done”. His will is “that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life”. It is the Great Commission, the sharing of the gospel to all nations.’

We give God alone the glory for the ways in which he has and is working around us, bringing his kingdom to earth as it is in heaven. As Jesus leads us to people coming to know him as their Lord and Saviour, we are quietly expecting to see the unfolding of a new church.

Pastor Nathan Hedt is the manager of the LCA New and Renewing Churches Department.

Please pray

  • That visa applications are approved
  • For provisions for bridging-visa families who receive no Centrelink payments or healthcare care
  • For open hearts for families who don’t know Jesus yet, so that as we serve and minister to them they would hear and receive Jesus as their Lord and Saviour
194

Injection

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by Reid Matthias

The old man sat with his hands resting on the arch of his cane. His chin, embedded in the papery skin on the top of his right hand, was set firmly. It was obvious he was unhappy, and he had every reason to be.

Over three nights, the rains on the eastern shores of Queensland continued unabated until finally, Tallebudgera Creek couldn’t hold back its gorge and it vomited millions of litres of water over the banks and through the streets near the creek. As the water surged between and into houses, most people were forced to evacuate. Emergencies services drove (or boated) through water-swollen roads to reach the unhoused. But the question that resonated with everyone was: where were they going to go?

For Eddie*, an elderly man who lived with his daughter Evelyn*, finding a place to stay was particularly difficult. As they, and a small mass of humanity, were rescued from their home, they came to my school for short-term housing. It was here that I found Eddie sitting morosely in the middle of the hallway.

As a pastor, there are times when I am put (or insert myself) in situations which are completely unexpected. For me to be sitting with Eddie on a rain-soaked Monday afternoon was certainly unexpected and more. For my part, I did not do what a pastor was ‘supposed’ to do, but what a member of the human race is required to do.

I sat down with him.

Eddie was hard of hearing. To make matters worse, my accent was difficult for him. Thus, our interaction was a string of questions (by me) answered by a string of ‘Huhs?’ (by Eddie). For almost an hour, my first question was asked slowly and deliberately, and the refrain was asked even louder and more deliberately. Finally, I worked out the best way for me to hear Eddie’s story and why Evelyn was pacing further up the hallway.

‘It’s been a hard day’, I said.

‘You think?’

‘Have you seen this kind of flood before?’

‘Yuh.’

‘Tell me about it.’ It sounds like an abrupt question, but sometimes one is able to read people well enough to know that if I asked Eddie if he wanted to talk about it, he would refuse.

For a while – I’m not sure how long – Eddie’s eyes wandered back to a previous place in a previous time. He jumped from topic to topic, from the last flood a few years ago, to his time on the farm. Acres and acres of wheat and sheep, reaping and shearing, harvest and drought. He spoke of his football-playing days, how fast he used to be. Throughout his description of ‘used to be’, it was quite apparent that much of his despondency was not about the flooded river, but the flooded emotions of being unable to do the things he wanted to do. At the end of his narrative he fell quiet, and I asked the question that is considered taboo, but I asked it anyway.

‘How old are you, Eddie?’

When he turned to me, I saw the drained tiredness in his eyes. ‘I’ll be 90 at the end of next month.’

‘How will you celebrate?’

He snorted. ‘I won’t. Basically, I’m ready for the injection.’

Startled, yet not surprised, I pressed him.

‘When you can’t do the things you used to do’, he responded, as he stared into the vacant space opposite him, ‘and you can’t enjoy life the way you want to – they won’t even let me drive a car anymore – and my daughter has to take care of me and take me to places, it’s time to hang up the boots.’

I wanted to object. I wanted to contradict this dark assessment of his life, but there was nothing I could say that would bring back the joy of ‘used to be’. His instinct for an injection was rational. Pain and loss can bring us to our knees and a desire to end their influence. And the thought of being placed in a nursing home, even short-term, was almost too painful for him.

‘I’m so sorry, Eddie.’

He grunted, but there was something about empathy that stirred him.

‘Maybe when the waters go down, we can drive over to your house and have a look.’

It was his turn to be startled. ‘You would take me to my house?’

‘Yes’, I answered. It was then, I saw an injection of something different in his life.

Hope.

It wasn’t simply seeing the house, damaged or otherwise, it was that someone had taken the time to sit with him in the dark hallway of time and shine a light to expose a connected humanity.

I hope, as you read this, that this episode had very little to do with me, and more to do with a perspective of humankind which injects hope rather than selfishness. A humankind which seeks a joy for the communal rather than a protection of the individual. Even as we see the endless debates over masks and restrictions, wars and threats, anger and outrage, can we infuse the syringe of the future with hope rather than despair?

I hope we can.

Pastor Reid Matthias is Chaplain at St Andrews Lutheran College, Tallebudgera, Queensland.

* Names changed to protect privacy

195

LCANZ launches flood appeal

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The General Church Board has authorised the launch of a flood appeal to help alleviate the suffering of people and communities in south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales.

While it appears that the properties of Lutherans and Lutheran communities have largely escaped long-term damage, many are aware of immediate needs in their neighbourhoods.

On behalf of the Queensland District, District Administrator Trevor Ruthenberg has thanked everyone who responded when the call for donations was first made. Some of these funds have already been approved for distribution to affected people and communities.

Mr Ruthenberg points out, however, that the longer-term impact will only be discovered as Lutherans get back into their neighbourhoods and help with the clean-up and restoration efforts.

‘This is going to be a long-haul healing process for many people’, he says. ‘This is why funds are going to be needed, not only for emergency support now, but also for longer-term hardship relief and psychological assistance.’

In Queensland’s Darling Downs region, after a second major rain event, Pastor Ken Schultz of the Oakey parish said ‘things are as bad, if not worse, than a month ago’, with ‘the whole of the Norwin/Bongeen plain awash with water’.

‘Farmers are facing their third major harvest loss in a row, or severe downgrade of quality, or total loss for some, following on from three or four years of major drought’, Pastor Schultz says. ‘I’m not sure how they are all hanging in there, but they are.’

Mr Ruthenberg encourages congregations and communities to look around them and reach out to people in need.

‘It’s at times such as this that we can be a church “where love comes to life”’, he says. ‘There are so many opportunities for people to see the love of God come to them through us. We’re praying that donations to the flood appeal will help Lutherans reach out to their communities and thereby allow people who don’t know God to experience what his love looks and feels like.’

An example of this is the Lismore congregation, he says. ‘Their church was undamaged, and they are making it available during the week for a disability support organisation to use at low rent so they can continue to operate.’

At Rochedale in Brisbane’s southern suburbs, a school family from Redeemer Lutheran College received a gift of money from the LCA Disaster and Welfare Fund. The family, who did not have flood insurance, lost everything in the deluge, but the gift helped them manage their immediate devastating situation.

‘When I called them to let them know we wanted to help them in this small way, there was silence and then some tears as they realised they were not in this fight alone’, Mr Ruthenberg says.

Applicants for funding will need to meet certain criteria, one of which is agreeing to a face-to-face visit by a local Lutheran leader. ‘In this way, we can make personal connections with the people we are caring for’, Mr Ruthenberg says.

Options for donating to support flood-affected communities, including credit card online and bank transfer, are available at www.lca.org.au/disaster-welfare  Donors should be aware that in the event of funds not being fully drawn down for flood recovery support, the money will be retained in the Disaster and Welfare Fund for use in the future.

196

Church@Home May 2022

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Encouraging words to soothe our souls

With many people still facing uncertainty or grief two years into the COVID pandemic, plus the devastation of floods and bushfires close to home and war overseas, we can all benefit from reading or hearing some encouraging words and uplifting Scripture and experiencing a sense of God’s closeness. Nurturing our faith at home through regular devotions strengthens our relationship with Jesus and helps to open our hearts to the work of the Holy Spirit. We pray that you will be blessed by the devotional materials here and in the Church@Home resources collection online at www.lca.org.au/churchhome

Lisa

Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you.

DEVOTIONS FOR HOME WORSHIP

These reflections are adapted from a collection of devotions written for our LCANZ family and friends to help us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus no matter what we face. You can find these and many others on the LCA website at www.lca.org.au/daily-devotion and you can subscribe to receive them daily via email by clicking on the link on that same page. 

Great expectations? by Faye Schmidt

I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief! (Mark 9:24).

Read Mark 9:14–29.

During the 1980s, a popular publication for those in business was In Search of Excellence by Thomas J Peters and Robert H Waterman Jr. I always liked this title because it didn’t demand that I actually attain excellence but continue to strive towards it. What a relief! Not only was I relieved of expecting excellence within myself, but I was relieved that others would not be expecting excellence from me. It is about the journey, the striving, the search.

There are many times in our lives that we have failed to meet the expectations of others. We are also at fault when we have expectations of others that they may not be able to meet. I recall on one occasion someone saying to me, ‘I didn’t fail you – I failed your expectations’. Was I wrong to place my expectations on another?

Our humanity and imperfections result in us regularly failing to meet the expectations of others and ourselves.

In our text today, Jesus sets out his expectations regarding our faith. He doesn’t expect perfection in us. The text tells us that upon hearing the father’s statement of faith (and doubt), Jesus immediately healed the boy. Jesus didn’t rebuke the father for his doubt. Instead, he rebuked the demons in the boy so that they left him.

Faith grows in us as we live under that grace, be open to the Holy Spirit serving us through the word and sacraments, and demonstrate God’s love for us through others. Faith is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and our trust is in his providing sufficient for our needs, not to meet our expectations.

We are made perfect in God’s eyes only through Jesus’ own life, death and resurrection. Through Jesus’ perfection, we can be assured when he makes a promise, we can trust it and know such expectations will be met.

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that you send your Holy Spirit to lead me closer to you and trust in your promise of salvation through your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Because we bear your name by Dianne Eckermann

You are among us, Lord, and we bear your name; do not forsake us (Jeremiah 14:9).

Read Jeremiah 14:7–9.

The three verses of today’s reading provide great insight into the human character. Verse 7 acknowledges human sinfulness. In fact, it is emphasised not once but twice. However, by opening the verse with the phrase, ‘Although our sins testify against us’, the writer is already preparing an argument that perhaps we are not totally responsible for our sins. He demands action – not his own action but a demand that the Lord do something.

He continues with several questions, essentially suggesting that if God had been more present and less of a stranger, God would have been better prepared and these great transgressions may have been averted.

I have listened to many complaints of this nature during my working life. For example, complaints beginning by acknowledging the complainer may have done something they should not have. But they end up suggesting that their poor behaviour was actually caused by the system or by other people not doing their job correctly, all the while talking themselves out of taking responsibility for their own poor choices.

Verse 9 turns this mode of complaining on its head. Whether the confession of sin was sincere or not, the writer pleads with God for help. By its very nature, his plea acknowledges his sinfulness and that it is God alone who can provide the assistance he needs. Most importantly, it also mentions a significant reason why only God can help him; it is because the writer bears his name. It is not for himself that he is pleading for help: it is because he is the image of God. Whether the confession of sin was sincere or not, the plea not to be forsaken or separated from God seems absolutely genuine.

As Christians, we bear the name of Christ. If we are honest, there are times we have not acted as though that is the case, and we need God’s help as much as the people of Jeremiah’s time, perhaps even more so. It’s not easy being a Christian in a post-Christian environment, but through Christ, we are not forsaken but saved.

Lord God, no matter how challenging it may be, help us always remember that we bear your name and that through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are not forsaken but have the gift of salvation. Amen.

PRAYER

THE STONE HAS BEEN ROLLED AWAY

When the broken come to wholeness,
when the wounded come to healing,
when the frightened come to trusting,
the stone has been rolled away.

When the lonely find friendship,
when the hurt find new loving,
when the worried find peace,
the stone has been rolled away.

When we share instead of taking,
when we stroke instead of striking,
when we join around the table
the stone has been rolled away.
The stone has been rolled away!

In you, Christ Jesus,
love breaks through hatred,
hope breaks through despair,
life breaks through death.
Hallelujah, Christ is risen!

– ‘Prayers Encircling the World’, Francis Brienen, Westminster John Knox Press, United Kingdom, 1999, p57, sourced from justprayer.org

Habakkuk 3:18

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour.

Repent by Mark Schubert

Do you think that these … were worse sinners? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish (Luke 13:2,5).

Read Luke 13:1–9.

When bad things happen to someone, is God punishing them for their sins?

Some people told Jesus about the Galileans killed by Pilate when sacrificing to God. Jesus responded to their unasked question, ‘Do you think that these… were worse sinners? … No …’ (Luke 13:2,3a).

No, they were not worse sinners than anyone else – the same for those killed by the collapse of a tower. No, they were not more guilty than others.

All of us are sinners. None worse than any other.

We can all say with Paul, ‘the good that I want to do I can’t, instead I do the evil I don’t want to do’ (Romans 7:19).

All are sinners inside – some can hide it better than others, but we are all turned in on ourselves, egocentric, hard-hearted – building walls, cutting ourselves off from each other by our thoughts and actions, working towards the final separation, death. ‘The wages of sin is death’ (Romans 6:23).

‘But unless you repent, you too will all perish’ (Luke 13:5).

To repent is to be sorry, to admit your selfishness and inability to change. Jesus started his mission with, ‘Repent and believe the good news!’ (Mark 1:15). Confess your sinfulness, and turn to the good news that you have been forgiven.

Jesus came to die for you – to take your death, to forgive you. And he rose again to live in you. He gives his goodness, holiness and love for all helpless, hopeless sinners.

This is the time of grace, the time to decide – stay in the power of sin and perish, or receive what Jesus has done for you, so his Spirit can produce good fruit in you.

Lord, we admit that we sin – we hurt others, ourselves, and you. Have mercy on us, for Jesus’ sake. Amen. 

Confronting fear by Pastor Greg Fowler

The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? (Psalm 27:1).

Read Psalm 27.

The great American president Franklin Roosevelt said about the Depression, ‘All we have to fear is fear itself’. This classic piece of oratory put the troubles of the time into perspective. Of course, there was unemployment and a lack of income. There was uncertainty about the future, but there was always a reason to hope. Roosevelt called upon the nation to not let the emotion of the time overtake the events. There were ways to combat the problems, which his famous New Deal showed. The president was saying don’t make the problems big and the solutions small.

Centuries before Roosevelt, the psalmist similarly encouraged the people of God. If God is my light, then what problem could possibly put me in the shade? We do not need to fear events or people because our God is bigger than all these things. We need to hear this truth because our eyes can focus on the problem, and our minds can fixate on worry rather than the promise of God.

Today, we face many threats. We know what it is like to live with a global pandemic. We know what it is like to live with geopolitical uncertainty in our region and war in Europe. We know what it’s like to live in a society more polarised than before. Yet we do not fear these things. We have faith in God, who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. We trust in the salvation of the creator and sustainer of the universe. Diseases come and go; nations rise and fall. Public opinion is constantly changing. These things are not bigger than our God.

Lord God, may we see you in your majesty and power. May we recognise you are more than any problem we face. Take away our fear and give us your peace. Amen.

197

God places us just where he wants us

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by James Winderlich

Throughout our lives, God places us in many different relationships and roles. They are never just one thing. In some cases, they are not one thing forever.

Identifying and valuing our various life settings requires discernment. Sometimes it’s difficult to recognise them. At other times it can be difficult to appreciate them. We can even be tempted to believe that we deserve better, but God places us exactly where he wants us to be. Discernment leads us towards seeing, valuing and enacting our God-given roles.

Our roles can include being a follower of Jesus and a member of a Christian community, being someone’s daughter, son, or parent. It can include being a marriage partner, or an unmarried person. It can include being employed, or unemployed. Our life settings are where God places us to bear witness to him and to lovingly serve our neighbours. Vocations are what we do in those settings to witness and care. All of our roles and vocations have purpose irrespective of the status people give them. They are gifts from God.

As followers of Jesus one role is common to all of us. Living in faith and by faith is our shared life setting. That is why being part of a worshipping Christian community is so important.

Discerning the role that God calls us to begins with God’s word. As we read the scriptures, the Holy Spirit opens us up to recognise and appreciate where God places us and what God asks of us.

Role discernment also involves our lives together in Christian communities where our sense of internal calling is challenged and refined by Christian sisters and brothers. It is in community that we hear God’s word together, and are then able to help each other recognise and value our various callings.

Discernment also includes prayer. When we pray, we ask God for guidance, to provide what we need to witness and serve, and to thank God for the gift of our various life settings.

While Australian Lutheran College (ALC) focuses on the formation of pastors, teachers and church workers, we also support our students to give attention to their full range of callings. ALC also offers a learning program of intentional discernment called Discover. Discover helps people to recognise where God places them, and where God might be calling them to be.

Pastor James Winderlich is Australian Lutheran College Principal.

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How I discovered God’s will for my life

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by Lisa McIntosh

When Tom Krahling was about 12 or 13, he began to wonder whether God wanted him to become a pastor. So, he spoke to his parish pastor about it and received some surprising advice.

‘He told me to be like Jonah, to run away and that if God wanted me to do it, he’d send a big fish to swallow me up and spit me out’, Tom, pictured above right, says. ‘I went and asked some other pastors and other mentors and they thought that advice wasn’t bad, and so throughout high school, I spent my academics preparing to be an engineer and I spent my Sundays growing in the faith and preparing in that way.

‘At the end of the day, it comes down to the theology of vocation. What has God given me to do? How can I use those gifts to serve others?

‘I thought I would pursue engineering, and I worked at it as if working for the Lord. But when the opportunity came up at church to grow or to get experience, I would go for that as well.’

The sense he was meant to be a pastor didn’t leave Tom, despite putting his energies into engineering studies. And so, with COVID ramping up in 2020, he decided to take leave from university and ‘test the waters’ by enrolling in the Discover program at Australian Lutheran College (ALC) from the second semester. Now 21, he has since completed three semesters of Discover and has applied to enter pastoral ministry study.

In his second semester at ALC, Tom moved onto campus at North Adelaide – a move that helped crystalise his decision to pursue pastoral ministry. ‘It became pretty clear that this is what I wanted to be doing’, Tom says. ‘And the study confirmed that more and more.’

The two-part Discover program features academic study and personal formation, including a ministry placement. Tom’s placement was at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Adelaide, helping out with the youth group and livestreaming services there.

His own experience shows that the so-called ‘aha’ moment of discernment is ‘often a lot more mundane than people expect’. ‘Over the years I’d had an interest, I’d had encouragement from people, but the final moment was just that last person who said, “You know Tom, I think you should become a pastor”’, he says. ‘And she was not the first person to say this. She was maybe the 100th person – pastors and mentors and friends confirming the inner call, and that’s really what made me sure.

‘There is more than one good thing that you can do in life, and I felt like God was saying, “Tom, you can be an engineer and do good and I will work through you in that; you can be a pastor and do good and I’ll work through that. I’m giving this choice to you”. I chose to study to be an engineer, and he said, “Good choice, but try again”.’

Contact Australian Lutheran College at enquiries@alc.edu.au to learn more about Discover. 

Knitting together past and future: the new ALC – see page 27

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Opportunity to pick up visiting tips

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Are you happy to visit people but don’t know how to start? Or have you been a long-term visitor who wants to improve your skills? Then this month’s LCANZ Care Ministries ‘Tips for congregational visiting webinar’ is for you.

Pastor Peter Miller has a wealth of experience (and stories) to share through the online seminar and he’ll put participants’ minds at ease about sharing the love of Jesus with others.

The hour-long webinar will be held on Friday 8 April from 2pm ACST (2.30pm AEST, 12.30pm AWST, 4.30pm NZST). To register as a participant, go to

www.lcaregister.online/cong-visiting and click on the ‘Register Now’ button. For those unable to attend on the day, the webinar will later be available to watch on demand online – along with other care ministry webinars – at

www.lca.org.au/care-ministries/events-training-resources

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Chance to engage with church history

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by Rachel Kuchel

Have you ever heard of Friends of Lutheran Archives (FoLA)? If not, or even if you know the name, did you know that FoLA is a community of people from around Australia, New Zealand and the world that is interested in preserving, hearing and sharing the stories of our church and its history?

FoLA was established in 1990 to support the work and mission of Lutheran Archives. We are proud to have maintained that community for more than 30 years with nearly 300 members – some of whom are from as far afield as Germany. FoLA branches exist in Victoria, South Australia and Queensland.

TECHNOLOGY OPENS MEETING DOORS

A FoLA journal containing historical articles, research, book reviews and newly translated documents from the Archives’ collection is published each year. But another much-loved feature of FoLA has, until now, been available mainly only to members in or near Adelaide – regular meetings with guest speakers. A dedicated volunteer committee curates an annual program each month from February to October, with meetings held at an Adelaide church. Now, thanks to the wonders of livestreaming, ‘attending’ these events will be open to people from anywhere.

Expert speakers come from a wide range of fields, and while many have undertaken research at Lutheran Archives, they may not otherwise be connected with the LCANZ – which helps bring a diversity of perspectives. Topics vary from the experience of migration to individual members, pastors, congregations, synods, institutions and practices of the church.

Livestreaming details will be published in the days before each meeting at www.lca.org.au/archives

WHAT’S COMING UP?

19 May, 7:30pm (CST)

Topic: German Internees at Loveday internment camp

Speaker: Peter Monteath

Loveday internment camp in South Australia’s Riverland was the largest Australian internment camp. At its peak in World War II, it held more than 5000 civilians from all over the world. A professor of history at Flinders University, Peter will speak about the German internees in the camp, with a particular focus on several hundred German men who had been arrested and detained in Persia before being deported to the Antipodes.

23 June, 7:30 pm (CST)

Topic: Researching Native Title

Speakers: Tom Gara, Skye Krichauff, Clara Stockigt

Within the legal setting of native title, historians, anthropologists and linguists are engaged by the Federal Court to provide expert and non-advocatory opinions about Aboriginal societies that have maintained traditional and customary rights and interests in country since their earliest contact with Europeans. Lutheran missionaries recorded languages, births, deaths and marriages, the movement of Aboriginal people and their relationships with Europeans and neighbouring and distant Aboriginal groups. Their diaries, correspondence and vocabularies are crucial primary documents that deepen current understanding of Aboriginal culture and society. In this presentation, three experts who have drawn heavily on records held by Lutheran Archives demonstrate how access to this material has enriched their findings.

For more information or to join FoLA, go to www.lca.org.au/fola or email fola@lca.org.au

Rachel Kuchel is Director of Lutheran Archives.