This is the story of “Ruth”, the name she called herself, being born Ruchel Dwajra Zylska, an Orthodox Jew. She always thought she was different and lived this out all her life. Her family lived in a mixed-race community and owned a general store where Ruth worked. She was closely watched by her parents and to get some “away” time, she and her sister would sneak out at night and meet boys. When she discovered …
The year 2020 has been challenging for everyone. In the midst of a great deal of stress and uncertainty, COVID restrictions meant that we had to stop gathering for weekly church services. This central expression of Christian community was suddenly cancelled. This could have been a disaster for the church, but God is good, and his faithful people have continued to find ways to share the Gospel and minister to each other despite the challenges. …
Curfews! Virtual house arrest! Families not able to visit each other even when they live in the same town! Schools closed! Churches closed! Most businesses shut down! I would never have expected to see these things happening in my lifetime, but we in Victoria have had to bear these restrictions for most of the year. The first lock-down from February to May was bearable, and we gradually got used to shopping once a week, speaking …
Over 60 ladies and a few men joined us at Rockingham/Mandurah Lutheran Church on Saturday 31 October 2020 for a Reformation style theme We are Women Serving Christ. Marj and Judith, from Esperance, were once again available with their Christian bookshop with lots of cards, Bibles, devotion books, Christmas nativity scenes, DVDs, and many more interesting items for sale. Everything was COVID SAFE with the usual hand sanitiser and Holy Communion wafers in patty …
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Zone Rally and Fellowship day 2020 was postponed till 2021, hoping, God willing, that next year will see a relaxing of restrictions. LWQ Retreat: 8–10 March 2019 held at James Bourne Centre, Highfields, was hosted by Brisbane South and Gold Coast with the theme: Bee-Coming More for Christ. It was a buzzing weekend with a beekeeper as the guest speaker, showing the intricate workings of the hives and selling the honey. …
ALL THINGS BEING NEW – Daily Renewal You are new in Christ! Yay! Set apart by God! Hooray! Now what? New as we are, we still live in the fallen flesh. We, the children of God, sin. So, who are the baptised in Christ? Are we just the new person? Are we an odd mix of the old and the new? We live in a broken world, and the old self (it’s still there) is continuously …
Hand Me Downs Our family was one of girls. My mum was one of two girls, and each of them had two daughters also. This meant lots of laughs and mischief when we all got together, but it also meant we could share clothes. I am the eldest, so the “good” dresses that were purchased for me at Christmas time, and for special occasions, inevitably found their way to my younger sister’s, and cousins’, closets. …
Lutheran Women of Australia (LWA) Mid-Term Council Meeting 27,28 October 2020 This not being a ‘typical’ year initiated a different way of hosting this mid-term meeting of representatives from across Australia. We met via Zoom, commencing at 12 noon EST to facilitate a respectable time for all to participate, noting a three-hour difference between western and eastern states. Led by our Spiritual Advisors, Pastor Ernie Kiss and Pastor Chris Raatz, our meeting sessions were covered …
I am a member of a little historic church at Witta, Qld, 10 kms from Maleny on the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. I join with the Glasshouse Mountains Fellowship. As we could not worship during the lockdown, and our chapel is on a main road, I decided to be a witness outside of our chapel. So, on Palm Sunday, the entry was flanked with palms. On Good Friday we draped a wooden cross in black and red. Early Sunday morning, …
Australian Lutheran College (ALC), Pastoral Ministry Students Assistance Fund The year 2020 has been challenging for us all. My position as Coordinator between the Lutheran Women of Australia (LWA) and the pastoral students, and their wives, has been no exception. In the past, I have contacted ALC and arranged a time with the principal, Pastor James Winderlich, to meet the students, introduce myself and explain the gifting of the Pastoral Ministry Students Assistance Fund. At the …
My office phone rang. It was “Karisol” (Garry Stoll, long-term faithful worker at Hermannsburg Mission, now retired in Adelaide). Garry was calling with a rather unexpected story: His seven-year-old great-niece Johanna Stoll had sent him a beautiful hand-written letter from the USA. She is growing up in a family of Christian missionaries and has developed a keen interest in “Uncle Garry’s” work with Aboriginal people. Johanna had been moved to support the sharing of the …
Dwell not on what has or might have been; learn through adversity. Focus on the present looking to God for his loving protection. He holds the future; commit it to him. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. Isaiah 65:17 (ESV) And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Revelation 21:5a Image: …