Looking Back at the last half of 2021
Thanks for your prayer and continued support through 2021. Thanks to YOU I’ve been able to:
Prompt a Big Shift in our approach to December’s local National Training Event (NTE). With numbers from Launceston and Hobart looking low, during a staff meeting we were discussing what might need to change to make the event of most benefit to those students attending. They get excellent teaching and training throughout the year. But one thing that NTE does REALLY well every year when we gather in Canberra is introduce students to world missions possibilitites. My recommendation to shift focus away from the usual teaching and training and simply go all-in with Missions was received with excitement from all staff. My favourite activity the students did was read all the way through Acts in small groups. Powerful stuff.
Teach seminars at NTE on modern missionary activity in Germany and Western Europe, as wells as, The Hidden Heros of Missions: Local Women.
Recruit Fellowship Group Student Leaders for 2022. M was a first year student integral in bringing students together and stepped up in big ways to help facilitate a Fellowship Group last year. S is a 2nd year Med student and is eager to help bring Christian med students together to pray for their classmates and opportunities to share Jesus with them.
Train international students on how to introduce Australian/Western people to Jesus. I used InterVarsity USA’s training on the 5 Thresholds to explain the (often long) journey a person takes between first meeting a Christ-follower and becoming one themselves.
Launch a YouTube video campaign helping our students to express their faith in meaningful ways to their peers. The evangelistic philanthropic initiative approved funding for my work in producing and editing and promoting these videos. There are already two up on the YouTube channel.
Share resources and ideas with you in Christine: Behind the Scenes to benefit your own personal ministries.
Sitting on Q&A Panels alongside students, alumni and staff is one of my favourite parts about ministry. Here alumna, Damaris, is answering this question as a follower of Jesus who wants to use her life to bring both physical healing (as a doctor) and spiritual healing (as a follower of Jesus).
Goals for 2022
Teaching Three Workshops at Pre-Seasons Conference 2022 - Each year we put on a conference welcoming returning and new students to Uni Fellowship. To start the year off for these emerging adults, we do a series of workshops with first year students on 1. What Is Uni Fellowship and AFES? 2. What Is the Gospel? 3. Why You Should Join a Local Church. I’m delighted to lead these workshops this year.
Connect in Person with students whenever possible and in meaningful ways.
Give Space for emerging adults to figure out what if means for them to be an independent, adult follower of Jesus. Sometimes student leaders and staff of campus missions can be a bit too on-mission and forget that our new friends are still figuring out IF they want to follow Jesus and live for him. I’m committed to journeying with them and being a trusted person they can talk to and don’t have to worry that I’m just signing them up for the next big event or project or team. (The other staff and student leaders are on top of this, too. This is just a personal aspiration for me this year to be more in-tuned to this)
Learn how to help emerging adults read the Bible well, understand it and be able to explain it well. A month ago I was listening to a great podcast series on reading the Bible well and I became burdened by a desire to want this very thing for our students. My Bible college/Seminary Hermeneutics class was 16 years ago. So as a refresher I purchased a stack of books that were published recently that I’ve heard and seen recommended over and over by various people I look up to. Here’s to a year of learning!
If you would like to find out more about any of the above, send me a message any time. Or better yet we can meet up in person over a cuppa or chat on Zoom/Facetime, etc. Email: christine@ufcutas.org
I’d also love to visit with your church via video or in person to share about our work here in Tasmania.
Mel: 2022 Ministry Apprentice
It’s been two years since I first met, Mel. She knew she’d only be here for a semester, but took the opportunity to dive in head first and get involved with our local student mission. As a student in Germany, she was already acquainted with university student mission and was quick to make new friends and volunteer whenever she could. Covid then changed everything but she persisted in making meaningful relationships and grew in her confidence in sharing Jesus as she travelled around Tasmania with her housemates and friends, waiting for it be safe to return home to Germany.
Uni Fellowship staff extended the invitation to her to consider returning the following year to undergo two years of on-the-job ministry training. She gladly accepted and returned home to prepare and share the news with friends and family. As her trainer, I checked in with her monthly. We prayed together and planned together as I coached her through the process for inviting people to partner with her in this work in encouragement, prayer and finances. We learned a lot together about how difficult this process is for an international citizen. In many ways, I wish we could turn back time and try again taking advantage of other local, German missions partnerships that could make sending her more simple.
In December, after much prayer and sensing God moving her in an exciting direction, Mel took a job in northern Germany as a child psychologist in the same village where her parents work as local missionaries. This is not the end of her ministry apprenticeship journey, however. During 2022, Mel will be working and continuing her work recruiting ministry partners so that she can return to Hobart to train with us here.
Please pray for Mel. It’s currently winter and the work of recruiting is long and sometimes discouraging. Praise God that he has provided good work near family and an opportunity to be freed up one day a week to continue her support-raising.
Gospel Giving
Please prayerfully consider partnering with my mission on campus to proclaim Jesus and raise up the next leaders of the church and world mission.
Your contribution to my ministry covers
my pay,
personal and family living expenses,
ministry work expenses,
and professional development, etc.
Monthly Target: $3598 (2.5 days per week)
Current Regular Giving: $3259
Family
We have become a foster fail! After fostering ten cats through Ten Lives Cat Centre, on Christmas Eve, our tenth foster, Puffin who came to us as a little freightened kitten, joined our family. All four of us think she’s the best.
Olivia begins high school next week. She’s a mixture of nervous and excited. A coping strategy she’s had from a very young age is to be organised and plan ahead. Any time new information dripped down to us about her new school, she added it to a document on our computer and slowly built up a to-do list and info booklet. She’s in a class with her two besties and is looking forward to trying new things (especially art classes) and meeting new people.
Ella loved performing in The Lion King Jr musical production alongside her new friends at Musical Theatre. This year they’ll be performing Into the Woods, a musical with a wide range of fairy tale characters all converging into one story. After a year of getting her feet wet, she’s ready to take on a role this year and is looking forward to auditions.
Mike and I have become members of St. Johns Presbyterian Church and have joined different ministry teams. Mike serves on the welcoming team and brings all of his marketing experience to helping a new person’s first experience at St. Johns be a good one. I’ve leapt into doing some kids talks during the service and always enjoy doing the public Bible reading. There was an older woman who did the public reading a few months ago and I could have sat there and listened to her just keep going. She was so clear and conveyed the meaning of the text through her voice and presentation in such compelling ways. I hope to emulate her in my own readings.
Giving Back to You
Sharing resources is my way of giving back to you and supporting your own relationship with Jesus and your church family and your own ministry. All links have been shared in Christine: Behind the Scenes. Join us in the group to discuss how the content might affect our lives and gospel work.
[Listen] Paradigm: This Bible Project podcast series helps listeners understand the ins and outs of reading the Bible. Is it a devotional guide to life? Is it a reference book? Who put it together? Do I read it alone or with others? They explore some main pillars to set up readers for a lifetime of learning and delighting in God’s Word.
[Download] The Bible Project App: Speaking of Bible Project, they just launched an app with all of their video content and a learning experience that connects what you’re reading in the Bible with different skills to learn along the way. It’s excellent! Even if you’re just looking for a solid Bible app to use for daily reading.
[Watch] Psalm 63: Caitlin Carnaby, a music graduate, and a number of our students from the last two years have created this music video based on a psalm. It’s beautiful. (see below video)
[Read] Why Do We Assume Western Theology Is Superior? : “The song ‘Waymaker’ became a bit of an anthem for 2020, bringing hope in a global pandemic and becoming a prayer for breakthrough as the US grappled with racial violence. It’s an African song, penned and sung by Nigerian worship superstar Sinach. In 2020, it was African theology that people found they needed.”
[Read] Our Go-To Questions for Scripture Engagement: “This is reading for discipleship: someone can immediately begin interacting with Jesus and/or God regardless of their background or religious identity. It’s an approach that can be used by anyone with anyone who is interested.”
[Watch] The King Jesus Gospel: This is a gospel explanation snippet from Scot McKight’s book, The King Jesus Gospel published by Zondervan.
Upcoming Speaking Events
Bookings for speaking at your church, ministry, school or event are open for 2021 via Video or In Person.
Please contact me at christine@ufcutas.org to discuss your event.
15-18 February: Pre-Season Conference: First Year Workshops
