ReCharge NEWS August 2022
Aug 24, 2022
24th August 2022 | ReCharge News August 2022
Become a Foster Care Mentor!
Training Day in October
For just a few hours a month, you can significantly impact the life of a child in care for the better.
Fostering Hope is a community organisation who work closely with Tas Baptists to encourage and support Baptist families and churches to provide loving homes and church community for foster kids.
Their work is inspired by the Bible and the teachings of Jesus to ‘visit’ and ‘care for’ orphans and widows, to put the lonely in families, to love the fatherless, to care for children, and to love the neighbours in the communities.
Through their Mentoring Program, Fostering Hope seeks to provide a “friend with purpose” for kids in care.
Here is a way to live out your faith by caring for those in need. You can make a difference for a child in care by becoming a mentor.. Be equipped with training, connect with a child and be provided with ongoing support as you mentor your foster child.
The next training day is on Saturday, 1st October, in Hobart (Northern training will be available in 2023)
Find Out More or Apply at https://www.fosteringhope.community/mentoring.
Or reach out to Ellie: (ellie@fosteringhope.community.
Heartlands News – Winter 2022
Every quarter, a new Heartlands news for women is released by EmpowHer*.
The Winter 2022 edition was sent to subscribers by email a few weeks ago.
Inside Heartlands
- OVERVIEW of the SHELTER Retreat, back in June (more retreats are in the wind!)
- DIARY What’s coming up on the EmpowHer calendar – North, Northwest and South
- TAKE ACTION!
- READING God’s Whisper, by Jenny Baxter
- SUBSCRIBE to Heartlands for women >
*EmpowHer is an activity of Tasmanian Baptist Women
Help Fight Famine Today
Write to your MP
Baptist World Aid’s Christian Partners have seen first-hand how devastating hunger can be to a person’s health and wellbeing.
In Australia, we’ve seen our own food prices skyrocket due to the ongoing impact of the pandemic, climate disasters and most recently, the conflict in Ukraine. But in communities and countries where people were already facing life-threatening hunger, this conflict has pushed them to the breaking point. Right now, 49 million people are facing famine.
This is an urgent crisis that can’t wait. But we can make a difference. We can help save lives. We can help fight famine.
Baptist World Aid is part of Help Fight Famine, a new campaign calling on our government to urgently deliver $150 million to support the world’s hungriest countries, including communities in the Horn of Africa, Yemen, Afghanistan and Syria.
Write to your local MP here and call on them to push our new government to do our part in responding to this urgent crisis. It’s really easy!
Library Aid International
USED BOOKS AND EDUCATIONAL SUPPLIES URGENTLY NEEDED
Library Aid International Inc in Burnie, Tasmania is now filling a tenth shipping container for an overseas destination BUT have completely run out of incoming books and educational resources.
Please send any you no longer have a need for!
Boxed resources labelled ‘Library Aid c/- Burnie Depot’ can be left at any DeBruyn’s transport depot, and will be transported to us at no cost.
Educational resources for any age level are wanted for this next shipment and to keep our volunteers busy! Books used by your kids and grandkids and no longer use. High School, College and University textbooks are also needed.
For a full list of suitable educational and school supplies, please see the Books tab on the Donations page when you visit https://libraryaid.org.
READ: LIA August Update >
Domestic Violence Workshop
16 July 2022, Citywide Baptist
In Australia, on average one woman is killed each week by a current or former partner. While men can be victims of DV, the overwhelming majority of victims are women. Children, too, experience severe trauma and developmental delay when exposed to domestic violence.
Aware of this concern, approximately 25 people met at Citywide Baptist Church recently to learn more about domestic violence (DV). Dr Wilma Gallet led us through a one-day workshop on how the church can respond to this serious social issue.
An ever-present help
We explored the myths and facts about DV, its prevalence in Australia, the different forms it takes, and the ways in which it impacts people within our church communities as well as more broadly.
In particular, we looked at the SANCTUARY approach as a framework to help the church be better prepared to provide appropriate responses to both the victims/survivors of DV and those who perpetrate violence in the home.
A sanctuary is a sacred place, a place of safety and refuge. Psalm 46:1 tells us that, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble”. Churches can be places of sanctuary where all people can find rest and refuge as expressed in the Gospel.
- The DV Sanctuary Commitment is to create environments where victims of domestic violence feel safe, believed, included and loved. This includes:
- Safe spaces
- Acceptance and trust
- Networks of support
- Caring for children
- Trauma-informed approaches
- Understanding unconscious bias
- Affirming personal agency
- Recognising red flags
- Yielding hope
Step 1 for Citywide Baptist Church has been to make us more aware of the domestic violence issues in the community. Our challenge now is to work through what SANCTUARY can look like in our particular church community.
With God’s help, we will be an inclusive, safe sanctuary where healing can occur.
NB: Another resource available to us is the SAFERSPACESTOOLKIT.COM.AU, developed by Australian Baptists.
Baptist Word Alliance Gathering
10-15 July 2022, Birmingham, Alabama USA
Gathering for the first time in person since 2019, over 600 Baptist leaders from more than 65 countries participated in worship, prayer, learning, relationship building, and shared ministry at the 2022 Baptist World Alliance (BWA) Annual Gathering.
Offered as a hybrid event, hundreds met on the campus of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, USA, (pictured) with more than 150 others participating virtually.
Those gathered included Aussies ABM National Ministries Director Mark Wilson; CEO Baptist World Aid Melissa Lipsett; President Baptist World Alliance Women Karen Wilson; and President of Baptist Women of the Pacific Elissa Macpherson.
- The focus for the Gathering was largely facilitated by the BWA Racial Justice Action Group which was launched in October 2020. At the gathering the Action Group embarked on a two-year journey to:
- Focus the 2022 BWA Annual Gathering around the theme of racial justice.
- Engage in theological reflection related to the call for racial justice today
- Develop tools for ongoing engagement within the BWA, BWA Member Bodies, and Churches so that the pursuit of racial justice will remain an ongoing priority
Grieving Your Way
Launceston, 20th August 2022
DOWNLOAD BROCHURE FOR REGO DETAILS >
Thank you Newnham Baptist!
Newnham Baptist closed its doors in April 2016. At that time the leadership team made plans for remaining funds in their bank account .
This year, all funds have been donated to mission work as agreed. Jit and Jan Yawan, and their work with Lanternlight Ministries in Thailand, were recipients of some of the funds.
Below are excerpts of the thank you letter sent to Jill Ashdown. Jill is a past member at Newnham Baptist, who has overseen the project.
Dear Jill and all associated with the former Newnham Baptist Church, We have seen your support gift and also the letter you sent to Baptist Mission Australia to tell us about the gift. We have very fond memories of the breakfast gathering at Jill’s home. We loved the setting and felt a very warm acceptance at that session. We also remember our visits to the Newnham Baptist Church gatherings. We have seen your support gift and also the letter you sent to Baptist Mission Australia to tell us about the gift . We have very fond memories of the breakfast gathering at Jill’s home. We loved the setting and felt a very warm acceptance at that session. We also remember our visits to the Newnham Baptist Church gatherings. We want to take this opportunity again to say thank you for the support you sent for our work with people with disabilities through Lanternlight Ministries. Our recent newsletter gives you a snippet of an update of some of the folk we have been able to visit to touch your hearts. Jit and Jan Yawan
Stand Sunday 2022
Supporting Foster Carers during September
On Stand Sunday, Christians unite on behalf of every child in care. They commit to pray for them to be restored to a forever family.
In Australia, we host Stand Sunday on the second Sunday of September to coincide with National Child Protection Week (4-10 Sept) and National Foster Carer’s Week (11-17 Sept). In 2022 that is on Sunday 11th September. However, your church is welcome to participate on any Sunday in September.
Each year, Fostering Hope provides a Stand Sunday Kit and video for you to use in your church, small group or community. These will soon be available.
Fostering Hope asks churches to come together to:
- Celebrate foster carers who STAND as carers and family for children who desperately need it.
- For churches to STAND with carers to understand the beautiful and messy lives they live.
- And for churches to STAND up with information about the need for more homes for vulnerable Aussie children.
This Stand Sunday, we ask Baptist churches in Tasmania to open up to those who need a home, a family and community – let’s find fostering families to fill this need in Tassie!
For more info contact Mary Dickins, Executive Officer Fostering Hope: mary@fosteringhope.community
Mary with her two sons. For security reasons Mary’s foster sons cannot be photographed with them.
Become a Money Mentor
Christians Against Poverty calls on the Christian church community to consider becoming money mentors to meet growing demand.
With continued interest rate rises and the skyrocketing cost of living, it’s likely that more than 1 in 4 Australians will currently be living in financial distress and CAP says they need thousands of church-based money mentors to meet the growing demand for their services.
CAP trains volunteers to walk alongside people experiencing financial distress. They give them the tools and support they need to see beyond their current financial challenges.
CEO of CAP, Rosie Kendall says, “We re working hard now to ensure that no Australian suffers financial distress, and we’ll need a lot of help to do that. Especially in the current economic climate. The fact that so many Australians are living in financial distress just shows that we’re all vulnerable to it, especially in times of uncertainty”.
Recognising that financial stress isn’t just about the dollars and cents, CAP has released a free Financial Wellbeing Scale to help people improve their understanding and measurement of all the different elements that make up their financial wellbeing.
For more information on CAP, including how to donate your time and become a money mentor, or to make a tax-deductible donation to support the work of CAP, visit: https://capaust.org
Read ReCharge
August/September ReCharge 2022
Disaster Strikes Floods in Pakistan – Baptist World Aid
Around the Churches News and events statewide
Ministry Profile Ben Cochrane, Somerset
From Andrew Turner of Crossover Census Overview
Stand Sunday 2022 Make a stand for foster carers ~ During September
Church Profile Claremont Baptist
From the MLT Achieving Lasting Social Change
Love Beyond our Backyard Three generations of generosity in Wynyard
ReCharge NEWS September 2022
ReCharge NEWS August 2022