My design for our upcoming LIVE video series showcasing the stories of staff, students, alumni and local gospel workers influenced by our campus mission.
1/2 Year in Review
Thanks to your prayer and continued support through such a crazy first half to 2020. Thanks to YOU I’ve been able to:
Create online social groups for our students based on their area of study
Design new artwork as we moved online
Deliver 2 online training modules to help our student leaders learn to effectively connect with our students and contacts as we move online. View our training videos.
Oversee and Coach my team of Fellowship Group leaders on delivering engaging online groups focusing on time management and communication as they gather to strategically pray for the non-Christian peers through to our campus misson and global mission and study God’s Word together.
2 Facebook LIVE videos: One on Christian Symbols in Art throughout history and another on my birthday sharing a bit of my story and pathway to ministry. View our Facebook videos.
Taught and uploaded 4 Bible teaching videos on topics relevant to Covid and Current Events. View our videos.
Hosted 2 online book clubs for those interested in discussing a Christian memoir and a book on discipleship for men and women.
Share resources and ideas with you in Christine: Behind the Scenes to benefit your own personal ministries.
Co-Laborers in the Gospel Project
I’m really excited by this project I began in January. I’ve been researching historical accounts of women working alongside men together for the gospel of Jesus. This personal study has been complemented by some very encouraging conversations with colleagues, local and national ministry leaders and theology students here and overseas. If you want to be kept up-to-date with these discussions, join Christine: Behind the Scenes.
Book Club
On 31 August, 7:45pm, join me and other ministry supporters like yourself as we discuss David deSilva’s latest in the A Week in the Life IVP series.
deSilva has placed his narrative at the end of the first century and follows the lives of various Christians of different ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. While the historical context of Ephesus is helpful in reading and understanding John’s gospels (he was most likely writing them while based in Ephesus), John’s letters, Paul’s letters to Ephesus and to Timothy (a pastor there), deSilva especially wants us to understand how current events were understood and how the book of Revelation was written for these people.
To read along and join in, please head to Christine: Behind the Scenes and find the Facebook Room (like Zoom) we will use in August for our live discussion.
Meet a Team Member
Josh Hughes joined my ministry team as a Fellowship Group leader for science students at the beginning of the year. Last year he worked as a ministry trainee at his local church and has jumped feet first into owning our campus mission. He describes himself as an introvert but the way he LOVES being around people makes us all think that he may not fully understand his own self-diagnosis. LOL
When the COVID-19 restrictions began to loosen up we put out an invitation for our student leaders to join staff in person for the first time in lock down for our weekly team meetings … he was the ONLY student leader to show up.
The week before he invited all the science students of Uni Fellowship to join him at a local beach for a day of social-distancing hanging out. Many came and even drove from longish distances to enjoy each other in person over 3-4 HOURS.
During the lockdown he’s been reading Tim Keller’s book on Prayer, one of the books I gave my students (with your financial help) at the beginning of the year. He’s said that the first half gave him a really helpful foundation and he really enjoyed the digging deep into the prayer practices of various historical church leaders. In particular, he found using the structure of the Lord’s Prayer the most useful edition to his private prayer practice.
Thank you financial partners for investing in Josh’s leadership and growth as a Christian.
Gospel Giving
Financial Partnership Report: January - June 2020
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: $3450 (2.5 days per week)
Current Pay: $2760 (2 days per week)
June Regular Giving: $2618
June One Off Gifts: $700
Current Partnership Need: $832/month
Are you possibly one of the below?
1 new person giving $150/month
4 new people giving $100/month
5 new people giving $50/month
2 new people giving $25/month
Once I reach the 2.5 days target ... the next will be to reach 3 days a week. At that point, I can begin training ministry apprentices.
To do that, I will need your help to bring in friends that you know are passionate about supporting missions and women in ministry.
Family
COVID-19 lockdown for us meant LEGO and lots of it.
My girls have been given several sets over the years. We have a lot to play with. So during the lockdown we took it as an opportunity to organise all the broken down sets so we can build and play with them.
This all coincided with Mike, me and Olivia and Ella enjoying watching the second season of Lego Masters Australia together … we had to re-watch Season 1, too, of course.
We also made a chalk obstacle course that turned out to be brutal on my thighs but absolutely a breeze for Ella (age 9). Before everything locked down we also rescued eleven stray kitties from our neighbourhood and surrendered them to our local cat shelter. We hope they found good homes.
Olivia (11) also honed her stop-animations skills and created a video of the intro to the show Bluey. Her video was scene by their social media people and they shared it and her video went viral.
We also made a mashup dance video using glowsticks. You have to watch it. So fun!
As you can see we kept busy and had fun together. (Yes, the girls coloured their hair Teal)
In the evenings we’ve been watching Bible Project videos together as a family and we started reading the book Empowered about women in church history who live courageously for Jesus.
Thank you for praying for me, Mike and the girls.
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.
The Most Important Book on Ministry I’ve Read: "Gospel-centered and trauma-informed, written by someone whose wisdom comes from decades of experience in the trenches of suffering, relationship with Christ, professional psychological care, and rich study of the Scriptures." A review by Eric Shumacher
Purity Matters Commercial: In the Christine: Behind the Scenes group we had a discussion on the use videos like this to teach a biblical sexual ethic than honours God. Most found it unhelpful. What do you think?
Do You Still Struggle to Discern God’s WIll?: God is always more concerned with the decision maker than he is with the decision itself. Video by Jen WIlkin
Faith and Mental Health: “Much of what I learned about faith while growing up emphasized the importance of intellectual certainty, unwavering confidence in God, and cheery evangelical fervor — things that were impossible for me to maintain with any consistency. I had no examples of faith as a clouded way of unknowing.”
Let Bible Reading Get Back to Basics: “When it comes to Bible reading, avoid overcomplicating the recipe. Rediscover basic literacy skills and read with renewed attention. Simple tools, employed faithfully, yield all manner of goodness.”
30 Tips and Tricks for Hosting a Successful Online Event: “Virtual events are a fun, effective way to reach people all over the world. Creating an online event takes strategic thinking, proper planning, and precise marketing — but with these tips, you’ll be well on your way to success.”
Upcoming Speaking Events
Bookings for speaking at your church, ministry, school or event are open for 2020 via Video or In Person.
Please contact me at christine@ufcutas.org to discuss your event.
10 July: Engage Online (Elective - Dating)
10 July: Engage Online (Elective - Is Jesus the Only Way to God?)
16 July: Humans of Uni Fellowship (Featuring me LIVE on Zoom)
2021 March: Tasmanian Women’s Bible Conference (Sermon: Equipping Women to Teach God’s Word)
