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Reaching out via Media

Thanks to your support and partnership, people are responding to your Messages of Hope every day. More than 52,000 people responded in 2020 – more than 1000 a week. Messages of Hope shares real stories of the hope Jesus Christ offers us all. These stories reach out, engage, and nurture people, including daughters Sonya and Ripley who are caring for their mum and dad: Sonya: Good on you, my dad is doing the same with my mum. To love somebody makes you strong. Don’t let go ❤ Ripley: I know …

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Saudi Sojourn (Part One)

My introduction to life in a Muslim country My husband, Robert, is involved in medical research and had made two shorter visits to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I had not previously accompanied him, but as this was to be a three month stay with the possibility of ongoing collaborations, we decided I should accompany Robert. Since our visit, Saudi Arabia has opened for tourism, and from 2019 people from 49 countries have been encouraged to visit and compromises have been made – meaning that female tourists no longer have …

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The Strength of Gentleness

Closing Devotion at LWSA-NT Convention, May 2021 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. John 7:37-39 (NIV) As I reflect on the theme of The Strength of Gentleness, I can’t go past our location for today in …

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A Final Report from your Lutheran Women of Australia Executive

Three years ago, we were elected as your executive and took over from the LWA executive from Queensland. They had done a wonderful job leading the women’s guilds and fellowships throughout Australia.

The following is a brief rundown of our activities over the past triennium. At present, your LWA Executive consists of five members from Victoria and two Spiritual Counsellors who have been overseeing the activities of the State committees and organising the Convention that was due to be held at the end of September this year.

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As I see it … Karen Bryce

In quietness and confidence shall be your strength. Isaiah 30:15 (NKJV) When asked to write my reflection on this topic I wondered why they would ask me to do this. There are so many women I have met in the Lutheran Women family whom I admire tremendously. They are all out there serving their sisters in Christ with love and passion. Most of my working life I worked with my husband in a retail and service business, and this gave me an insight into what is required to be successful …

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A woman sits atop some red rock formations many metres in the air. She sits in contemplation of the view. From Central Australia.

On the Cover … October/November 2021 print edition

She sits atop the rock. Still, calm, Feeling the warmth of it beneath her. Just the rock – quiet, immovable, Keeping her safe, confident in her position. Free to survey all around. Jesus, you are my rock and my fortress In trusting you I find my quiet, my confidence, my strength, my peace. This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength. Isaiah 30:15 (NIV) ___ Rock formations, Central Australia. From the editor’s …

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Looking back… looking forward

Do you have a “let down” feeling as the days of our eagerly awaited, but necessarily cancelled, Lutheran Women of Australia (LWA) Triennial Convention approach? Here are some snippets from the Convention held just 40 years ago on 23,24 September 1981 at St Paul’s Lutheran Church in Toowoomba, Queensland. The theme for convention was “Aflame for Christ”. A report on the convention observed: “Toowoomba in springtime is aflame with brilliant colours of flowering trees, shrubs and gardens”. Another said: “Toowoomba, city of gardens and churches… decked out for the Carnival …

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Concentrate on God’s Way

There is an ‘ought-ness’ about life that troubles the reflective mind. He or she senses that we ought to be happier than we are, better than we are, wiser, more alive. We ought to be thinner, kinder, more peaceful, more controlled; and most thoughtful people have occasional, late-at-night presentiments that we ought to consider our finiteness.  As Sappho, the poet, said: ‘Not even God Himself can do what cannot be; and surely as starry night follows rosy-armed Dawn and brings us darkness unto the ends of the earth, Death tracks …

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A terracotta pot filled with pink and purple hyacinths in full bloom

Hyacinths for the Soul

“Never mind about the expense, dear. An evening out would be good for all the family. After all, you NEVER have a meal at a restaurant.” “You don’t think that it would be an extravagance Auntie Mae?” “Memories are worth more than money, my dear. Even in these hard times money is less important than people’s feelings. And remember about the pot of hyacinths?” The pot of hyacinths! It was one of Auntie Mae’s favourite stories. Her gentle face would glow as she recounted it. She read, once, of a …

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“We’ve come a long way, baby …”

A popular commercial in the 1960s used these words to publicise the advancement of women’s rights. An article in Lutheran Women 40 years ago, stated that women’s quest for equal rights “has impacted every part of our existence from things as frivolous as fashion to areas as serious as laws”. Some interesting facts quoted included: “In 1925, a woman’s work week totalled between 42 and 49 hours. Today [1981], with women having entered the work force with men, her work week totals between 66 and 75 hours.” Among other things listed in the article …

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On the cover – June/July 2021

Getting ready – suitable clothing, comfortable shoes, food, road maps, making sure we have all we need for the journey. Getting ready for what we may encounter. Getting ready for when our Bridegroom comes to welcome us to his wedding feast. Getting ready. Do we have our lamps trimmed and burning and ready with extra oil to light the way, always prepared no matter what day or hour he arrives? Matthew 25:1–13 Anzac Bridge, Horsham, VicPhoto: Ayesha Sedgman

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