What have you received from your mother, grandmothers and others who came before you?
By EmpowHer State Leader, Jenny Baxter
“I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” 2 Timothy 1:5 (NIV)
Legacy in motion
Paul’s words to Timothy always move me: I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice.
Have you noticed how faith passes through generations? A legacy of prayers, stories and belief often seems to carry through from parent to child. Or sometimes, it’s grandparent to grandchild. Timothy carried what both his grandmother and mother had given him.
Both of my grandmothers were women of faith. Like Timothy, I inherited something I never saw firsthand: a generational legacy. Sadly, one grandmother, Grandma Meadows, died before I was born. The other, my Gran, left us when I was only four. Yet, here I am today, a recipient of their legacy.
That’s one of the strange and wonderful things about legacy. It doesn’t require our presence to keep being transferred. Stories carry it; prayer carries it. A mother’s faith, held quietly over decades, passes something real to children who will one day pass it on themselves. I am living proof of that. And perhaps you are too.
A mother’s faith, held quietly over decades, passes something real to children who will one day pass it on themselves.
While I was unfamiliar with my own grandmothers, I did know Stephen’s. Grandma Baxter. Through her, I learned what a praying grandmother’s legacy looks like, up close.
The gift of being seen
A four-gen photo: Stephen, his Dad, Grandma and one of our girls.
Stephen tells me Grandma understood him better than anyone.
“When I was growing up,” he explains, “she would look into my eyes and ask how I was. And I just knew she saw me. Really saw me. It’s like she could see deep into my soul.”
To be truly seen by someone is a gift. It requires the other person to slow down, to set aside their own noise and to be genuinely curious about your interior world. Grandma Baxter gave that to Stephen. It was a consistent posture of love. Stephen still knows it. Decades on, Grandma’s affirmation of him still shapes who he is.
What are you leaving?
Even in her final years, when illness confined her to bed, her bones riddled with Paget’s disease, Grandma prayed faithfully for each grandchild. Stephen carries that legacy still, not just the prayers she prayed for him, but the way she saw him.
“Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall; a mother’s secret hope outlives them all.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes
That’s the legacy we leave to the next generation, whether or not we are mothers or grandmothers. It’s not just what we say or do. It’s also about those who follow us feeling seen, known, and prayed for.
As you think about the women behind you, those who prayed, who stayed, who quietly held faith through hard seasons, why not also turn to look forward? Consciously see the daughters, granddaughters and younger women who are watching you right now. Notice the boys and men in your life as well. Like Timothy, they are already inheriting something from you. It may not be something you announce or intend. It may simply be the way you see them.
That might be enough. In fact, it might be everything.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you welcomed little children into your presence. Help me welcome them into my life and prayers as well. Thank you that my prayers for the next generation can shape their futures long after I’m gone. May the legacy I leave be one of faithful, fervent prayer. A blessing that outlives me. Amen.
The Legacy You are Leaving is an excerpt from Courageous Womanhood*, by Jenny Baxter, EmpowHer* State Leader
Courageous Womanhood will soon be released by Jenny Baxter. It contains 28 reflections to inspire and encourage you. To receive Part One as a gift, head to Jenny’s website here: jennybaxter.com.au/courageous
* EmpowHer is the women’s ministry of Tasmanian Baptists
Hannah: Persistent Prayer in Pain is an excerpt from Courageous Womanhood*, by Jenny Baxter, EmpowHer** State Leader
1 Samuel 1:10-11 (NIV)
In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the LORD, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow … “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son … I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life …”
Hannah was persistent. For years she remained childless, yet she kept praying. This incident was the culmination of many temple visits and this time around, God answered. Samuel was born, becoming a major prophet of Israel.
I know Hannah’s pain. Not from childlessness but watching my beautiful daughter long for marriage. As she grew up, she could only imagine being a wife and mother. When her grandfather was diagnosed with terminal cancer, she asked him to write a letter for her wedding day, even with no potential husband in sight.
Decades unfolded and I kept praying, sometimes with tears of anguish! It was a blow when she reached her thirtieth birthday and she realised her life had gone on such a tangent.
By thirty-three, my girl was ready to give up. “I don’t think I can put myself out there anymore, Mum,” she said tearfully one day.
Then, I remembered: “There’s that letter for your wedding!”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” She paused. “Alright, I’ll give it one more try.”
Months later, she met “Mr Right” online. Within a year, she was engaged! Together, we read that letter from her grandfather, tears flowing, on her wedding day.
Remember: God hears every desperate prayer. Even decades-long ones.
Journal Prompts
Do you have unanswered prayers? Write them down, whether it is one or many. Read Matthew 7:7-8 slowly: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Now pray these words back to God, asking for Hannah’s persistent faith to keep praying, even when answers feel far away.
God’s answers to prayer come in three forms: ‘Yes,’ ‘Wait,’ or ‘No.’ Look at your list again. Which prayers might God be saying ‘Wait’ to, asking you to persist like Hannah? Which might be ‘No’, where you need to release control and trust his better plan? Ask for patience to wait and peace to let go. Read Luke 18:1-7
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus, I bring you my pain and anguish about [insert your prayer here]. I come before you again today, and affirm you do have my best interests at heart, as well as that of any person I am praying for. Today, I choose to trust you with the outcome of my long-held prayer and pain. I recognise I can pray and not give up. Amen.
*The Courageous Womanhood devotional will soon be released by Jenny Baxter. It contains 28 reflections to inspire and encourage you. To get hold of it, add your name to the list HERE >
** EmpowHer is the women’s ministry of Tasmanian Baptists
The October News featured the winners of this year’s Sparklit Australian Book Awards. In addition, the shortlisted books provide a feast of reading which are suitable as Christmas gifts, or your own summer reading. Here are some of them:
Shortlisted Australian Christian Books, 2023
Behind the Tears, Bruce Robinson, Green Hill Publishing Bruce Robinson doesn’t waste time wondering why we suffer, but swiftly moves to suggest ways and means of coping, enduring and even growing through experiences of suffering.
Bringing Forth Life, Jodie McIver, Youthworks Media A unique and moving meditation on the eternal significance of pregnancy, birth, and life with a newborn child. Written by a mother, midwife and theologian, this book is a practical guide through the journey of childbirth, including the discomforts, difficulties and occasional heartbreaks.
Disrupting Mercy, Matthew Clarke with Annabella Rossini-Clarke, Turning Teardrops into Joy What would happen if, like Zacchaeus, we allowed Jesus to change our hearts and turn us upside down? In Disrupting Mercy the Clarkes confront our anaemic understanding of God’s mercy and urge us to allow God’s extreme kindness and generosity to disrupt and transform our life and our world.
How to Find Yourself, Brian Rosner, Crossway Without discarding the importance of self-reflection, Rosner suggests that to truly find ourselves we need to look beyond ourselves to our relationships, our community, our history and, most fundamentally, God’s Word.
Imagination in an Age of Crisis, Jason Goroncy and Rod Pattenden, Pickwick Publications This carefully curated treasury of essays and creative works showcases the strength and diversity of the Christian imagination in Australia.
Practicing Peace, Michael Wood, Wipf and Stock In Practicing Peace, Michael Wood explores the centrality of peacemaking to Christian thinking, feeling and living. First, he anchors our pursuit of peace in a theology that declares that we are forgiven by God in Christ and free to forgive others.
Raising Tech-Healthy Humans, Daniel Sih, Spacemakers What to do about children and screens? Daniel Sih has written a positive and practical response to this pressing question.
Religious Freedom in a Secular Age, Michael Bird, Zondervan Reflective While secularism is routinely deplored by many Christians, Michael Bird makes a strong case for the secular state as the best way to ensure freedom of faith (and no faith) and to provide the optimal climate in which the church might thrive.
The Future is Bivocational, Andrew Hamilton, Ark House Press Circumstance, then curiosity, drove Andrew Hamilton to consider alternative models of church leadership. What will sustainable ministry look like in an increasingly post-Christian society?
Hobart City Prayer
Church leaders from across Hobart gather to pray on the last Wednesday every month to come before God and seek His face. The leaders ask for a movement of God in the city of Hobart and beyond. They pray the city will be touched and changed by His power.
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
Matthew 7:7-8. NLT
Hobart City Prayer takes place in different churches around the city each month. The venue for the November prayer time is Hobart Baptist Church.
The next Hobart City Prayer is NEXT WEEK. 7.15am for a 7.30am start, Wed 29th November Hobart Baptist Church 282 Elizabeth St. Nth Hobart
This invitation can be shared with other church leaders to pray in faith for city of Hobart.
Please enjoy reading it, and learning more about the work of Fostering Hope. The newsletter also explains how you can support children growing up in care, and carers in your community.
They also just launched the Fostering Hope Family which is a great way for people to more formally support the work. Find out more here >
Being welcoming and inclusive to diverse families
Safe Church
Part 1: Single people
Here are some tips to help your church be a place where single people can grow in their faith and feel fully part of a church community. A single person may have never been married, be separated, divorced or widowed. 25% of Australian households are individuals who live alone.
Be mindful of your use of language, which might unintentionally exclude single people: For example, say “We are having church community picnic. Please invite all your loved ones” rather than “We are having church family picnic. Please invite your family”
Celebrate and pray for things important in the lives of single people. Such as completing year 12, completing a qualification, and buying a house. (Not only announcing engagements, marriages and pregnancies)
Acknowledge the joy and pain of special days, like Christmas, Mother’s Day, and anniversary of a partner’s passing away
Walk the World is a community building weekend of prayer and fun. It’s an invitation to get out and about in your local neighbourhood… and pray! Pray for your community and communities around the world. Pray for your church’s ministry and the ministry of our Baptist Mission Australia team members.
Watch the video . . .
Across the weekend of 10-12th November 2023, commit to praying as you walk, run, wheel, cycle, imagine or drive around your area. As you do, BMA teams in Africa, Asia and Australia will be praying for you too!
Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour.
Habakkuk 3: 17-18
The past few weeks have been incredibly challenging. We want to express our heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support in prayer, and I personally extend my thanks to each of you for sending encouraging messages. These messages from distant lands have been like cold water to a weary soul.
We continue to affirm that God is sovereign over the entire universe and holds the power to change the current situation. We earnestly pray for a miracle to stop the ongoing conflict, coupled with a cry of hope for a brighter future for all residents of Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Our churches have been holding continuous prayer meetings and in the midst of sorrow and anxiety, we are spreading the message of God’s love to those who are hurting.
Baptist church in Israel prays for the Middle East
Thank you for your friendship, and for your support for the ministry of the Association of Baptist Churches in Israel, so that we continue to empower, enhance and expand churches in the land where Jesus walked.
An invitation from New Mornings to you and members of your church community to attend the Families & Grief Seminar. This will take place on Saturday 2nd December at The Gnomon Room, The Wharf in Ulverstone.
As we serve our community in the area of mental health and wellbeing, one of our goals is to educate and support individuals walking the journey of grief, with educational events.
Our keynote speakers are experts in the field of grief and will cover:
* Types of grief experienced in families *Supporting a family.Especially after suicide * How young people experience grief
Baptist World Aid have activated a disaster appeal to respond to this unfolding crisis and enable local Christian Partners to provide urgent assistance to civilians affected by the conflict as soon as humanitarian corridors are open.
Together, we’re grieving the violence that is causing immeasurable suffering, and mourning with those whose loved ones have been killed or are being held captive. We’re distressed for the one million people who’ve been displaced, and all those innocent civilians living in fear across the region today.
Baptist World Aid request the help of the Baptist Family. Donations will enable local Christian Partners to provide urgent assistance to families affected by this conflict as soon as possible.
Baptist churches across Israel and the Palestinian territories, including Gaza Baptist Church, have requested fervent prayer for peace. ‘Let us follow paths of peacemaking that unequivocally reject terrorism or any acts that target civilians,’ the Baptist World Alliance said, in a statement on behalf of churches in the region, ‘Let us generously provide help and support with the compassion of Christ.’
Please join us in praying for peace, hope and security for the entire region, so all can enjoy fullness of life as he intends. We’re yearning for the day the prophet Isaiah spoke of when swords will be beaten into ploughshares. (Isaiah 4:1)
Hiroshima Survival
Original Documentary: Australian Veteran’s Incredible Story
Westbury Baptist have established mainly music in order to connect strategically with families in their local community.
Children and their parents enjoy songs and activities together. Parents and carers discover others in their community and form friendships.
Through the program, Westbury Baptist will have an opportunity to reveal Jesus through their interaction and engagement. Together, with the support of mainly ministries, they’ll be creating a joy-filled community of belonging.
First time free, then $5 per family. Ages 0-4 plus parents/carers.
Westbury Baptist Church, 53 Franklin Street, Westbury, TAS 7303
Doors open at 9:45 and music starts at 10am, followed by morning tea and play time.
Family and friends were warmly invited to attend the memorial service of Mal Garvin at 11:30am on Thursday 12th October at Citywide, 400 Cambridge Rd, Mornington.
READ: An article about the service on Thursday 12th October, including an overview of Mal’s life. WATCH: The entire service on YouTube.
Follower of Jesus, loved and loving husband of Jenny. Loved and loving father and father-in-law of Matt and Leeanne, Liz and David, Danni and Dan, Nathaniel and Renee. Proud and loved Papa of Maddi, Josh (and Jen), Dan, Sophie (and Mitch), Simeon, Anya, Zoe, Josuahm, Ollie, Bridie, Lilly and Tim. Friend and mentor to hundreds across the country and around the world.
An endorsed project of Australian Baptist Ministries, The Safer Space Toolkit is aimed at resourcing pastors and church leaders to address domestic abuse and build relationally healthy communities.
FIND OUT MORE: Preaching tools, training sessions, videos and user guide. WATCH the introductory video, below
This project started as a result of recognising domestic abuse resources were often available only by region, and there was a need to create a resource that could be accessed by any pastor anywhere, with access to the Internet.
The project working group is made up of Baptist women from around the country who have expertise in pastoral leadership, theology, teaching, domestic abuse and project management.
Compliance Reminder
Is your church ChildSafe?
The Safe Church deadline is fast approaching! 1st January 2024 is the date to meet all the Safe Church requirements, as set out by the Child and Youth Safe Organisations Act approved by parliament in May 2023.
Training has begun in every region of the state. If your church has not yet begun the process, you are encouraged to get onto it urgently.
As a refresher, you could read the article by Administrator Rodney Marshall which was published in June: Safe Churches Update >
Well done to all the teams who participated in the online quiz night on Saturday 2nd September. A big thank you from Crossover for joining in!
Crossover raised just over $1,100 from the night.
Special mention to the top 3 teams:
1. Knightsbridge Baptist Church SA 2. Richmond Baptist Church SA 3. Lifeway Devonport Tas
State Leaderboard:
South Australia/Northern Territory
Tasmania (Woohoo! Go Tasmania!)
Western Australia
Queensland
New South Wales/ACT
Victoria
Funeral Notice
Farewell Markus Sebastian
1963-2023
Friends and relatives were invited to attend the service to celebrate the life of Mr Markus Sebastian at Gateway Baptist Church 22 Wellington Street, Launceston on Friday 29th September 2023, commencing at 11 am.
The service was conducted by Rev. Michael Eleveld, St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, Launceston. This invitation was extended to those who knew Markus. He would have loved to see people he knew there.
Please also be in prayer for Stephanie Sebastian (SU Tas), daughter Charlie and son Michel.
Australian Christian Book Awards 2023
The Australian Christian Literature Awards encourage Christian writing and publishing that helps people discover Jesus in a way that is authentic and culturally meaningful. The SparkLit Awards recognise and encourage excellence in Australian Christian writing and publishing.
Held recently in Melbourne, the awards revealed some amazing writers along with their books. Check out the shortlisted books as well, because they also produced some gems. (Maybe there’s some Christmas shopping in the wind today?)
WINNER! Australian Christian Book of the Year 2023
Biblical Critical Theory:How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Cultureby Christopher Watkin A philosopher uses the Bible to analyse and interpret contemporary Western culture.
WINNER! Australian Christian Teen Writer 2023
Caleb MacLaren from Victoria won the 2023 Australian Christian Teen Writer Award with his screenplay The Journey.
In a modern twist on the Noah’s Ark story, this script follows four companions as they navigate an empty world devastated by an alien attack.
Fostering Hope
Mentoring Program in Hobart
The next Fostering Hope training day is in Hobart on Saturday, October 14.
Fostering Hope are a community organisation whose work comes from 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. Tasmanian Baptists partner with Fostering Hope partner to provide foster care to Tasmanian children.
Through their Mentoring Program, Fostering Hope seeks to provide a “friend with purpose” for kids in care.
If you are looking for a way to live out your faith in caring for those in need, you can make a difference for a child in care. Please get in touch to talk about how to be equipped with training, connected with a child, and provided with ongoing support as you mentor. With just a few hours a month, you can significantly impact the life of a child in care for the better.
National Baptism Week will be an opportunity for churches, youth groups, small groups and ministries across Australia to celebrate, explore and offer baptism. Check out the short explainer video and Ideas Guide, as well as baptism resources on our new Baptism Hub. Joining in is very simple – no need to register or report back – you can use Baptism Week in your own way.
Tas Baptist’s Mission Director, Stephen Baxter, has had some time out to ponder and reflect from a distance. It’s amazing what a trip beyond Tasmania’s shores can do to shift your perspective!
We are well and truly into 2023. Kids are back at school, church programs get underway, and life returns to its familiar rhythm. Jenny and I have just returned from a time in Spain to be with our daughter, Alice, and son-in-law, AJ, on the birth of their daughter, Koa.
Alice, AJ and Koa, Christmas 2022
Spain, like Australia, is very secular. This got me wondering what God thinks about all these people going about their lives, without giving much thought to the deep and essential questions of life. The question was heightened by the fact that Alice and AJ are in Spain working with others in bring the good news of Jesus to Spaniards.
My thinking has remained with me as I return to Tasmania.
THE CHURCH: From Spain, to Tasmania, to Marrawah!
Last Sunday I was with the Marrawah church as they celebrated their final church service. It was a day of celebration and sadness. As I looked at the pictures of the past, spoke with people, and heard their shared memories, it was clear that over the years God has been at work in special ways.
But times change, and the church as it was, is no longer viable. Marrawah is a little picture of the church in Australia and Spain. It is no longer the centre of our communities like it was. However, that does not mean it is the end of the church. Rather, it is the end of a certain form of church that worked well for a season, and needs to adjust for a changing world.
Because the world keeps changing, the church needs to be constantly renewing itself
Stephen Baxter
God has given everything needed through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. But because the world keeps changing, the church needs to be constantly renewing itself. As Germain theologian Helmut Thielicke put it,
The gospel must be preached afresh and told in new ways to each generation, since every generation has its own unique questions. The gospel must constantly be forwarded to a new address, because the recipient is repeatedly changing his place of address.
Fresh wind, B L O W
On the day of Pentecost God did a new thing and the church was born. Whenever we celebrate that day, it is a reminder of the need for constant renewal. A quick survey of church history reveals just that. The Holy Spirit is at work renewing the church from age to age, enabling and equipping it to be the church of its particular age. May it be so here in Tasmania.
Returning home, this is my prayer for Tasmanian Baptists, and I encourage it to be yours too: that God would blow a fresh movement of the Holy Spirit through us, that we might be vibrant churches with a revitalised theology finely attuned by the Holy Spirit to the changing needs of a changing world.
Let me encourage you to join me in praying this prayer.
Stephen Baxter, Senior Pastor
Stephen Baxter Mission Director Tasmanian Baptists
Women from more than 100 countries will gather around the first week of November for World Day of Prayer. This event was launched by the Baptist World Alliance Women over sixty years ago after World War II had shattered unity between the nations. Once again, this need is as desperate as ever, especially for the many Baptist women in Ukraine and Russia.
Here in Tasmania, two regional events are planned for Saturday 22nd October.
NORTHWEST: 10am, 22nd October at Ulverstone Baptist.
Many Papuan women will walk up to three days through the jungle so they can be part of the World Day of Prayer.
What’s the World Day of Prayer?
The World Day of Prayer sets aside a time in which women and men pray for their global sisters. The Prayer Guide lists prayer requests from all over the globe, requesting God’s intervention over issues of domestic violence, human trafficking, armed conflict, and areas devastated by natural disasters.
Here in the Pacific region, many will gather to be part of this global movement. Over a thousand will gather in Papua, with many women walking up to three days through the jungle so they can be part of the World Day of Prayer.
Yet, others will gather in churches and homes in Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, PNG, Vanuatu, and Tonga. The Pacific Island have the highest rates of domestic violence in the world so the need for prayer is desperate.
L to R: Women pray for our world; Sewing machines, Vanuatu; Day of Prayer 2021; Gardening project, Fiji.
Financial Support
As part of the gathering, women will bring a monetary gift which will be used to finance the work of Baptist World Alliance Women, and also our regional branch, Baptist Women of the Pacific. International projects supported by the Baptist World Alliance Women include a women’s outreach in Iraq, a safe shelter for women in Jamaica, and nurses aid training in Myanmar.
Within our own region, offerings have funded a gardening project which enabled Fijian women to feed their family and community during Covid-19. Purchased sewing machines for women in Vanuatu, and funded literacy programmes for women in the highlands of PNG.
What do you do when the answers don’t seem to be coming?
While my life flashed before my eyes, I sat in the Spanish winter sunshine, nervously waiting for the bride, our Alice, to be given away.
Well, it wasn’t my life exactly. It was pieces of Alice’s life I’d kept close in my heart. Moments I had participated in, helped with, and cried over.
The memories flickered through my mind like precious flowers, once fresh but now pressed, faded and time-worn.
FLASH: Her traumatic assisted delivery, after an almost-C-section.
FLASH: The trip to Canada before she could even crawl.
FLASH: Sitting in piano lessons, piano lessons, piano lessons.
FLASH: Tears over a nasty gravel graze, her first week on a bike.
FLASH: Her first grown-up hairdo, Grade Six graduation night.
FLASH: Torn, watching her lag at the back of a pack of high-schoolgirls, convinced she was born to lead.
FLASH: Goodbyes on the bus, leaving home for Victoria, little knowing she was really on her way to France, via Sydney and Japan!
The memories flickered through my mind like precious flowers, once fresh but now pressed, faded and time-worn. Compressed into short minutes.
And the prayers. Especially, I remembered the prayers. So many for this very moment. This day, when she would promise: To have and to hold from this day forward.
Praying for Alice – and the switch
Prayer is a commitment I made to my children as each was born. I pray for them all, regularly.
As well, I committed to pray for each one’s life-partner as both halves were forming and founding, maturing and mellowing, living and learning. What better time to sow into their lives until the two became one? Granted, I didn’t know who those partners would be. But God did.
For well over three decades, I prayed for Alice, and her as-yet unknown husband. Where was he? What had happened to him? My hope wore out.
Only a year ago, Alice had given up. But during one Zoom call, from somewhere deep down, I found the words to encourage her to keep believing he would materialise. Tearily, she’d agreed. But only when remembering the letter her close-to-death grandfather had written 13 years ago, for opening on this very day.
It’s hard to believe it was only 10 months since I’d switched up my praying. Inspired by the story of Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis 24, I stopped asking for a husband. Instead, I audaciously asked for Alice to be the answer to someone else’s prayer.
The most unexpected answer
And here he was. My soon to be son-in-law, AJ. Arthur Jnr. Standing with the minister, patiently waiting for Alice. He was everything I had hoped for, and nothing like I expected.
I didn’t know he would be Nigerian-American. Or that he would live in Spain. Or that Alice would move to France, and now Spain, to join him for their new future. How little I knew!
But those qualities. They were everything I had prayed for. Faithful. Caring. Believing. Strong. Determined. Loving. Kind.
Her moment had come. That prayer from her birth, now answered before my very eyes. God’s magnificent answer.
And then came Alice on her Dad’s arm! Jessica’s Theme melodically bringing an undeniably Aussie flavour, and tears to my eyes. She was ready. In love. Looking gorgeous and dewy-eyed. Having waited all those years.
Here was the culmination of a lifetime of prayer. Pinching myself this was all real, I was so aware it was a moment I will savour forever, that morning in the wintry Spanish sunshine. It was an ending and a beginning. The old and the new. The faded and the fresh.
My prayers for Alice and her future husband, are now complete. Thank you God!
But, you know, there is more to come. From here on, I pray for Alice and her newfound family.
Alice and AJ
Alice’s life in pictures
Alice at 2
Alice at 4
Alice at 10, our family complete
Alice at 12, in Grade 6
Alice at 14
Alice at 17
Alice at 24
Alice at 29
Alice at 32
Nigerian ceremony
It is done! Time to celebrate. Alice at 34.
This story was first published inHEARTLANDS Summer 21-22. This is the quarterly e-mail news for EmpowHer, an activity of Tasmanian Baptist Women.
To find out about EmpowHer events and activities for women in Tasmania, please subscribe to Heartlands!
Wednesday 24th November, Hotel Grand Chancellor Hobart
This year’s Tasmanian Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast brought together like-minded people from across Tasmania to pray for our State, our leaders, parliamentarians, businesses, schools, communities, and community organisations; our families, youth, and children.
Over 400 people attended this, the 16th annual Tasmanian Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast. It was attended by Church and business leaders, aid agency representatives, and many other Christians from across the state.
A record number of State and Federal politicians attended, 26 out of a possible 40. This included the Premier Peter Gutwein, the Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff, and Leader of the Opposition Bec White. Jacquie Petrusma MP welcomed all as the Parliamentary Host.
Tasmania’s Young People
Prof. Patrick Parkinson
The breakfast was chaired by Stephen Baxter (Tas Baptist Mission Director), who oversees the TPPB organising committee. The newly formed Calvin School Choir, pictured below, performed for those gathered.
Prof. Patrick Parkinson, the speaker at the recent Tasmanian Baptist Annual Assembly, gave an overview of some of his achievements. He spoke about the care and nurture of young people in Tasmania, and presented some concerning statistics. Having suffered childhood abuse, and his current blended family, he spoke into those numbers with heart-warming vulnerability and authority.
Framing
As usual, Stephen Baxter gave a very insightful framing to begin the morning. It is reproduced here for you . . .
Let me take a moment to explain why I believe we are here.
We gather in the name and spirit of Jesus to pray for our state and its people. From the oldest to the youngest, those doing well and those not so well, those who lead and those who serve.
Across this room we are a rich and diverse tapestry of culture, experience, outlook and belief, believers and non-believers alike. We do life together on this magnificent island, Tasmania – lutruwita. We are wrapped in the world’s purest air, graced with magnificent forests and magical lakes, lined with epic coastlines and surrounded by crystal clear water. It is a slice of heaven. We are truly blessed.
Yet, our lives, public and private, could be better. Perhaps, more than ever, we are rightly aware of the wrongs of the past, sensitive to racism and injustice, and conscious of the need to care for our environment. But the same time we are distracted by fear and anger. It shapes our lives.
A damaging polarisation is at work. We see it in the rage and resentment that prioritises victimhood and grievance over community and resilience. We see it in the violence – verbal, written and physical – that seeks to silence the opinions of others. The result sadly, is division, conflict, and animosity, even between good people. And it solves little.
At the same time, we are losing the art of forgiveness. We dredge up things from someone’s past suggesting it defines them today – conveniently forgetting each of us is more than the worst we have done.
Some advocate the removal of faith from the public square. They do so unaware that true faith nurtures confession, repentance, and the potential for redemption and restoration. If we are to overcome the significant challenges we face, I am convinced we need to include faith.
As a spiritual leader I appreciate you might be sceptical. I am deeply aware the Church, in its various forms, has let our community down in so many ways. I know I speak for many when I say I’m sorry.
Churches are not exempt from the need for confession and repentance. We are always learning and relearning how to follow Jesus. His execution by the authorities of the day, which included the religious, was a brutal form of cancel culture. They did not like what he said so they silenced an innocent man.
We all can learn from his response. It was not resentment or rage, but a cry, “Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing”. We all need forgiveness. The resurrection of Jesus reveals God is willing to give it.
Love, acceptance and forgiveness. It’s what holds our lives and families, our communities and our future together. Every day, inconspicuously and unheralded, thousands of Tasmanians just ‘do it’. They don’t seek wealth, power, or fame, but quietly do what needs to be done: lending a hand, sharing a meal, volunteering at emergencies, caring for the forgotten, and courageously standing for what they believe.
It’s spiritual. It is what lights and sustains the fires of excitement, passion, vision and sacrifice.
It is the spiritual that will help us learn afresh how to respect one another, how to engage in civil dialogue, and how put aside our differences for the sake of the common good.
That’s why we come to pray.
Stephen Baxter, Tasmanian Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast 2021
Calvin Choir sing
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Every November, Baptists from all over the planet come together to pray for women, and support them financially.
From cities far and wide across the world, women and men join the World Day of Prayer. They pray from Cameroon, to Cambodia, to Croatia, and Canberra. They unite in one cry for women: “Lord, help the women of the world, sisters facing persecution, civil war, natural disaster, and poverty.”
Reunite women . . .
. . . Who live in desperate times
Colombian Women at a Day of Prayer event
The World Day of Prayer began in 1948, in response to the devastation and division created by WWII. To facilitate healing, the Baptist women of Europe organised the first Day of Prayer, aiming to reunite Baptists alienated by war.
The movement gathered momentum, and now Baptists globally gather in groups of five, 20 and 100s. They represent over 200 Baptist women organizations, and pray in more than 80 languages. They unite in prayer under the banner of Baptist World Alliance Women (BWAW). This is a global collective representing Baptist women from 145 countries. They have networks and projects across the world, but this is the one day they focus on the most important activity of all: PRAYER!
Just like the devastation of WWII, our world is once again in a global crisis with the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, there are Baptist women bravely giving free medical care amid the coup in Myanmar; leaders dealing with devastation caused by earthquake in Haiti; Baptist sisters volunteering as midwives in remote villages in PNG; and yet others providing a 24-hour helpline for women feeling distressed by unplanned pregnancy in Argentina.
Inspire HOPE
Leading prayer in Nigeria
Being a light to the world is integral to the call of BWAW. Consequently, as part of the Day of Prayer, an offering finances the ministry and support global projects. This year’s financial gifts will support a frog farm in Thailand, sewing clubs in Vanuatu, a library in Cameroon and a resource kit addressing mental health issues in the Philippines.
These projects will inspire hope and enable women to flourish.
You are invited to be part of this day. Why not gather a group to pray, and let the voices of Tasmania join the global movement?
Elissa Macpherson President, Baptist Women of the Pacific Contact Elissa for more information and support. (president@bwpacific.org)
