It is 1922 in post-revolutionary Russia as a Bolshevik tribunal finds an unrepentant Count Alexander Rostov guilty of treasonous writing and corruption. He is sentenced to indefinite house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel in Moscow near the Kremlin. Despite his cramped living conditions in a tiny attic room, he remains in good spirits and eventually finds fulfilling and creative ways to fill his time. Although the hotel, at first, seems an oasis at …
Immanuel Women’s Fellowship, Woden Valley, meets each month for Bible Study, fellowship and business. We have been blessed to have Pastor (now Bishop of LCA NSW District) Robert Bartholomaeus, lead most of our studies, usually those from Lutheran Women. For the past seven years, Pastor Robert researched and prepared ahead of time to make sure we gained maximum benefit from the material presented by the various Bible Study writers. We will miss his participation in …
Across the planet, some things in life don’t change. A young man marries a young lady. Dreams and future hopes shared! They have a child. He leaves her. Many young women and their parents know the heartache, the hurt and the broken dreams in this story. This is magnified when you are a young woman in a male dominated culture with little work, no welfare and one child.
Our small but enthusiastic group of ladies continues to meet on the second Tuesday of the month, usually around the kitchen table at different members’ homes. Our focus is the Bible study from the Lutheran Women, ably led by our new graduate pastor, Matthew Edgecomb, who we warmly welcomed at the beginning of the year. He has fitted in well and soon learned that we easily get side-tracked during our studies. Our annual luncheon in …
As the years roll by, so our numbers are decreasing with people entering nursing homes or passing on to their heavenly home. We currently have seven members attending our meetings. One of our members, who is 98 years old, was one of the original members of the Guild. For the last six months we have been able to study the Lutheran Women Bible Studies amongst ourselves, as we have not had a pastor to lead …
When I was a child someone wrote the following verse in my autograph book that has stuck with me throughout my life. It’s all very well to be pleasant when everything goes like a song; but the one that’s worthwhile is the one that can smile when everything goes just wrong. OK! We need to be realistic! We cannot hope to go about with a constant smile on our faces. It is impossible to be …
At the end of June, around 30 ladies from Central Australia journeyed to Ti Tree, 200km north of Alice Springs, for our annual Women’s Aboriginal Languages Bible Study Camp. The Languages represented included Anmatyerr, Arrarnta, English, Luritja, Pitjantjatjara, and Warlpiri. Our camp is supported each year by Finke River Mission (FRM) as well as by Lutheran Women of Australia. Some people organised their own transport; others travelled on a bus kindly driven by Pastor Neville …
Theme: Who is in the Kingdom of God? We are! It seems that Vic/Tas does things a little differently from other States! In addition to the State Convention and the various Zone Rallies, for over 50 years now, the LWV has hosted multiple retreats around the state every year. Of our six retreats, Vic/Tas hold four one-day retreats rotating through our Metro, Western, Wimmera, Northern and Gippsland Zones. These are bookended by two weekend retreats …
Bethlehem Ladies Fellowship, Wagga Wagga, continues to hold regular meetings with Bible Study, hymn singing and other business. Recently, we hosted our annual coffee morning at the church, and it was a huge success. Pastor Stuart Kleinig spoke during the morning about his recent trip to Germany as part of the “Mission Eine Welt” (Mission One World) Summer School which encouraged focus on conflict/resolution issues, and inter-religion tolerance. Pastor Stuart also reported on the thoroughly …
Thinking of the events of our life – I am in awe of God’s power and glory and perfect timing. He has revealed himself to us, our family, in an amazing way. Being a Christian all my life we ask, in our prayers, that God would protect, guide, and keep us. When he does that in a way that we can’t mistake his presence and power, we feel very blessed and humble together. We all …
“In everything give thanks” Study 1: What to give thanks for Psalm 136 is a call to give thanks to the LORD, the God of heaven who is greater than all ‘gods’ and ‘lords’, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Verse 1 of this psalm is often used as a prayer of thanks after mealtime. Most of the psalm spells out how the Lord has demonstrated his steadfast love. Read verses …
“Longer the dry spell, bigger the rain” My salt-of-the-earth “Poppa” made this comment as we chatted about the barren brown land that is becoming the Darling Downs, Queensland. My grandfather is an umpteenth generation farmer with hands as rough as his heart is tender and God-fearing. Living on the land, he’s learned its rhythms. I can remember being hushed fiercely at the dinner table as a child when the weather segment appeared on an otherwise …