We are Kachin, an ethnic group from Myanmar (Burma). Statistically 98 percent of Kachin are Christians in different denominations. The majority are Baptist and members of Kachin Baptist Convention in Myanmar. 

Melbourne Kachin Baptist members with Rev. Lalawk Gyung Hkawng 
(President, Kachin Baptist Convention, Burma) 7 February 2016

 The first Kachin migrants arrived in Victoria in 1997, subsequently further Kachin have arrived and call Australia their home. Currently there are around 150 Kachin living in Victoria. 

In the past Kachin Baptist did not worship as a congregation. Some went to combined fellowship services, Baptist churches and other Christian churches. Over the past two years the Kachin Baptist community has increased rapidly, this gave us a vision to establish a church and to develop spiritually with our community.

 The Kachin Baptist Church – Melbourne was established on September 20th, 2015 with a vision “to grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ.” – Ephesians 4:15 NIV. Further on to affiliate with Baptist Union of Victoria, aiming for mission and to expand the Kingdom of God.

 Since September 2015, we have had our Sunday services at the homes of our church members. Most Sundays are regularly worshipped at our pastor’s house. We have 37 members who are devoted followers of Christ. Occasionally we have visitors from other churches and also from overseas Kachin Baptist Churches. Because of our continuous progression, we are hoping for a suitable Church venue in the near future. 

Melbourne Kachin Baptist members with Rev. Dr. Hkalam Samson
(General Secretary, Kachin Baptist Convention, Burma) 9 January 2016

Kachin Baptist Church choir group

One of our aims and objectives is to be a full member of Baptist Union Victoria. The Baptist Union of Victoria’s website provided relevant information and resources that assisted us to better understanding of the organization, vision and mission. On April 5th, 2016 we contacted Baptist Union of Victoria in hope of receiving additional information about membership.  It was a great opportunity and blessing to receive a response from Rev. Meewon Yang (Multicultural Consultant). Kachin Baptist Co-Executive Members and Rev. Meewon met on April 16th, 2016. We are most grateful by her guidance and inclination to assist us. 

As a small community, we understand that it is a challenge to establish a Kachin Baptist Church. However, we believe that God is always with us. Our vision is from Him and He will fulfil His purpose for us. 

The Kachin Baptist Church Melbourne will be welcomed as a New Faith Community of our BUV at our October 2016 Delegates Dinner.  

Kachin Baptist fellowship camp in Sydney
31 December 2015 – 4 January 2016

Source: BUV News

By Boyung Lee. Louisville Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2013. xii+152 pp. $20.00 (paperback)

Reviewed by Darren Cronshaw

It is easy for local churches to measure growth in attendance, budget and programs, but more elusive to foster and measure growth in faith formation. It is even more challenging to evaluate how churches help people grow in communal awareness, intercultural intelligence and liberating reading of Scripture. It is easy to espouse a commitment to developing mature and globally-interested faith, but another thing to develop workable strategies for doing it in the complexities of congregational and seminary life.      

Thus I welcome Transforming Congregations through Community by Boyung Lee, the Associate Professor of Practical Theology, Education and Spiritual Formation at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California. Lee draws on her expertise as an Asian American postcolonial feminist religious educator and unpacks transformative academic perspectives on faith formation. I especially appreciated Lee exploring the work of Maria Harris (who argues churches do not have a curriculum, they are the curriculum) applying postcolonial hermeneutics to church Bible studies. The value of the book, however, lies not just in its academic breadth and depth, but its grounding in the realities of congregational life. Aptly subtitled Faith Formation from the Seminary to the Church, Lee explores the dynamics of faith formation in seminary and church teaching, and draws on seminary experience and academic research that serves church ministry contexts. 

In Part 1, Lee explores a Biblical call for communal faith. She boldly suggests that individualism is the fundamental problem in society as well as theological education and churches. In the growing popularity of small groups, she identifies the characteristics of “me-first” religion and a collectivism of Western individuals who merely share similar needs and interests. She advocates instead a pedagogical model of communal ministry. Lee suggests Western churches could learn from the communal patterns of other cultural groups, yet she is also critical of their tendency towards hierarchy and patriarchy. In reading about the Hebrew Bible’s ‘people of God’ and the New Testament’s ‘body of Christ’, she sees a liberating vision of community that rejects both radical individualism and oppressive group conformity.  

Part 2 presents a pedagogy of communal faith with a refreshingly high view of Christian religious education. Drawing on Maria Harris, Lee advocates moving from schooling that is classroom-focused to education that forms people holistically and occurs in everything we do – worship and mission as well as formal teaching. She unpacks how to see the whole of church life as curriculum; to identify the explicit, implicit and null curricula; and to include social transformation learning goals alongside other aspects of theological knowledge:

“Education is concerned with people’s whole being, and thus it is so much more than solely learning about new information and traditions in classrooms. Similarly, Christian education seeks to help people be in right relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and to incarnate that relationship in their lives, in addition to gaining biblical and theological knowledge … with the pursuit of justice, that is, how one practises justice and mercy and love.” (56-57)

Part 3 focuses on pedagogical praxis for communal faith formation with methods and examples from church life. Lee models using postcolonial biblical hermeneutics in accessible ways – paying attention to voices from the margins and identifying the influence of imperialism. She offers a ‘5 Rs model’ of reading Scripture that bridges the biblical world with our world and its issues – readying the ground, remembering, reflecting, reinterpreting and re-searching. She discusses vision-development that encourages church departments to move from fragmentation to synergising together. She advocates moving from multiculturalism to intercultural ministry with its ‘liberating interdependence’. My favourite chapter was about the Travelling Bible study where Lee led a church through a liberating reading of the Lord’s Prayer, connecting the biblical story and a world-embracing reading of the prayer with the congregation’s personal stories and life experiences. 

The book’s most valuable contribution may be to help lift the bar on Christian education and especially its liberating, intercultural and whole congregational potential. Each chapter concludes with exercises and discussion topics for small group application. But it is an especially valuable resource of academic and practical depth for congregational leaders or educators – from Sunday School teachers to seminary professors. 

Source: BUV News

Deb Ware, a member of Tanti/Jigsaw church plant on the Mornington Peninsula talks about the impact of “Pay it Forward”.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-THXfQtnfqo]

Source: BUV News

Made available for download and use in services or homegroups to encourage and inspire others.

We are hoping that it will become a regular pattern across our churches to record simple interviews on a smartphone whenever a person comes to faith or is baptised. In this way we celebrate new life together as a family of churches and the stories of faith encourage us all to renew our own story and grow in our confidence in sharing it.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP-UN1xosyo]

 A series of faith stories from NewHope Baptist Church are available on their website

Source: BUV News

Participants in our recent Ignite2016! Conference were blessed by the worship leading of our brothers and sisters from The Terminal Baptist Church. These gifted musicians have also recently led worship at BUV Equip and at our March Ordination Service. Here’s a piece of them leading us into the presence of God in worship at Ignite2016!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIj8A-u8_Lw]

Source: BUV News