It was another successful Ignite Multicultural Youth and Young Adult Conference at Syndal Baptist Church, thanks to all the youth and young adults who attended the conference and making it a memorable 3rd year of Ignite.

Stepping out of the Toyota Camry onto the floor where I took my last step from last year’s Ignite conference, I was feeling nervous as I heard all the chattering of excitement coming out of the Syndal Baptist Church building. Just like last year, we came a bit late again as we have made a long journey from the west but without feeling tired everyone in our youth group felt very energetic and were looking forward to having a good time with everyone and ready to connect with the living God.

Representing small church like Lautu-chin Baptist Church with 20 youth and young adult including myself and senior pastor at the Ignite conference was unreal because it felt like we have made a second journey to a completely different world where we have the freedom to speak English, communicate with different people, witness the different styles of worship from other youth, and more importantly listening to an encouragement by different keynote speakers.

For me personally without the Ignite conference entering my life, I would be lost in identifying who I truly am in Christ and what is my purpose in this world. For the past two years of attending the Ignite conference had led me to a course, which I’ve never heard of, called “Vetamorphus” (Cert III in Christian Ministry). Doing Veta this year from a government school is something I’ve never thought of doing because what’s the point when my school does not even recognise the subject as a Vet? But for some reason I felt the need to do the subject in order to keep my faith on track when I am struggling in my last years of secondary school and I thought to myself, does it really matter if it counts towards my ATAR or not? Does it not depend on how I am in relation to God? So here I was this year at the Ignite conference helping out as a facilitator in the small group as part of my minor ministry placement for my Vetamorphus.

This year Ignite was even better than last years because we had different youth groups showcasing their amazing given talent by God for his glory including some people from our youth group who performed breakdancing. We also had the privilege to witness and hear Vee and Josh (Hip Hop duo) perform different types of songs including their own written one! We were also very encouraged by different messages from different keynote speakers as they have shared their experiences with God making it enjoyable for us to listen.
Even though we had the absence of the Gangnam Baptist Church (from Korea) this year, God works to make it a lot better than expected.

Once again we can’t leave out the food as we had some delicious food prepared for us by the Westgate, Werribee and Bentleigh Baptist Churches. I would like to take the opportunity to thank them for their amazing contribution.

Last but not least, I want to thank the following individuals and groups; Meewon, Charlene, Melissa, the ignite committee, the BUV and the keynote speakers for making this event possible. And on behalf of all the youth and young adults who attended the conference, we want to say Thank you for making us feel part of something that is out of our comfort zone. Thank you for making it every year so people like us have something to look forward to.

My God bless Ignite conference and all of you who attended.
I hope to see you all next year.
LET’S MAKE IT EVEN BETTER!!

Source: BUV News

Baptcare Chief Executive Graham Dangerfield today announced the appointment of Robina Bradley as incoming Chair of the BoardWelcoming Ms Bradley to the position, Mr Dangerfield noted the extensive experience she will bring to this role.

“Robina has served on the Baptcare Board since July 2012 and has a deep understanding and commitment to the organisation. She has been a member of Baptcare’s Quality and Clinical Governance committee, Chair of the Policy Committee and holds a number of qualifications including Bachelor of Applied Science and Master of Business Administration.

“She has vast knowledge in the health sector. She is currently the General Manager of the Bundoora campus of Northern Health and has previously served as Director on the Doutta Galla Health Service Board (now Co Health).

“She is also actively involved at Essendon Baptist Church and has served in leadership roles within the church, making her a perfect fit for this position within our organisation.”

“We are thrilled to welcome her to the role of Chair and we look forward to her playing an integral part in Baptcare’s growth moving forward”.

Baptcare thanked retiring Chairman Philip Curtis for his commitment and hard work during his tenure.

“Mr Curtis leaves a legacy of exceptionally wise leadership, governance, vision and stewardship resulting in an organisation with a strong future.”

Mr Curtis will step down from the Baptcare Board and will continue as the Chairman of the Baptcare Affordable Housing Board.

About Robina Bradley

Robina is currently the General Manager of the Bundoora campus of Northern Health. She has served as Director on the Doutta Galla Health Service Board (now Co Health), supporting the merger of five independent community health services into one entity. Robina served in the role of Treasurer, and contributed to the organisation with innovative thinking and a commitment to improving the way services are delivered for patients and staff. She is also actively involved at Essendon Baptist Church and has held a number of positions, including being the current Chair of the Church Council. She has served in leadership roles within the church including in the youth and children’s ministries, the merger committee that resulted in the current Essendon Baptist Community Church, and pastoral search committees.

Baptcare is a purpose driven and faith based organisation working across Victoria and Tasmania, providing care to the community for more than 70 years.

Source: BUV News

At Ignite17 we gathered 450-500 youth and young adults from our CALD churches across Victoria, and with some interstate visitors. We recognise that young people of diverse cultural backgrounds will lead the Church into the future and Ignite is a space where we are investing in them!

This is our 3rd Ignite Conference, and over the years we have built up a committee and network of emerging leaders from our CALD churches. They have invested their time over many meetings and planning for the Ignite Conference.

Hearing from dynamic and engaging speakers stimulated deep conversations on identity and faith and following Jesus, whilst having opportunities for fun, and making friends from other churches – even dancing together!

We heard from Mark Yettica-Paulson, an Indigenous Baptist and director of Recognise movement, who spoke on shining your light in the world; Carolyn Francis, Pastor at Collins St Baptist Church, who helped us explore faith as building up our communities; and Sam Chan, 2nd Gen pastor from Adelaide, spoke on #MADYOLO (Make a Difference, You Only Live Once) – check out the summary of his talk below.

Sam spoke about #MADYOLO and that every generation needs to find a way forward for themselves.

He used three examples of different generations. Firstly, he grew up in the 90s, a time when there was video tapes, cassette tapes, walkmans, film cameras… things that are almost unrecognisable to today’s generation (the millennials) growing up with their social media.

Secondly, the bible talks about a number of 2nd Gen and 1.5 Gen – great leaders who found a way forward. Moses and Esther were both 2nd Gen. Daniel and Joseph were 1.5 Gen. The bible also has 2 main models of leadership.

The rise and fall of leadership – which can been seen through the judges; and

Succession leadership – which can been seen through King Saul, David and Solomon

The third example is the 1st Gen. Sam’s parents came to Australia in the 70s as students. Australia was a different place then, (the white Australia policy was cancelled in 1973) there was no China town in Adelaide until the 1980s so even finding rice and soya sauce was a challenging task. Sam’s parents were settling in a foreign land where the language, culture and way of life was a daily challenge. They couldn’t afford much communication or travel back to their home country and had no family support or financial aid. In amongst all these difficulties, they came to know Jesus through campus ministry, got married and Sam’s brother was the first 2nd Gen baby born into an Asian Migrant Church in Adelaide. They were in the pioneering congregation of the first Asian Migrant Church in Adelaide. Sam’s dad was a deacon for 20 years and his mother was a Sunday School teacher and cooked lots of food. They spent much time, effort and money serving in the church and were involved in with the weekly running of the church as well as camps, picnics, choir, hospitality and helping other migrants like the Vietnamese, Cambodians and East Timorese to settle. Sam’s parents helped to find a way forward for their generation, as have many of the first generation in migrant churches in Victoria.

These migrant churches are where us as 2nd Gen are born and grow up. We have watched our 1st Gen leaders build the church. Now is the time. Like Esther in the bible, a 2nd Gen, she came to royalty for such a time as this. Can we 1.5 and 2nd Gen learn from the 1st gen and continue building the church for our generation and the next?

Every generation needs to find a way forward for themselves.

Let us Make A Difference because You Only Live Once!

Source: BUV News