When asked about his new role with Global Interaction Australia, Geoff Maddock prefers to offer an analogy rather than a title. He likens the role of State Director to that of connective tissue – connecting the movement of Victorian Baptist churches with international cross-cultural work. By extending the analogy, this is work that requires agility and connection – both of which have been forged in Geoff throughout his life.

‘Mission’ is Geoff’s passion and first love, and yet he is quick to admit that he wrestles with the term. Previous ideas about mission are being forced to adapt to the new world in which we find ourselves. With experts forecasting that most of the world’s populations will be living in cities by 2050, missional ideas limited to socio-economic groupings, or isolated geographies must be stretched and changed to adapt. “Mission is now from everywhere to everywhere. This definition frees us up to participate in mission wherever we are. There is no privileged location … As I step into this role with Global Interaction, I’m energised by the conviction that incarnational mission done well is the same across the street and across the world – two organisations but one missiology”

Having been brought up in Yackandandah, Victoria, Geoff moved to the USA to undertake his Masters in Intercultural Studies. However, his study was not limited to theological insights within classroom walls. In 1999, Geoff and his wife Sherry moved into an under-served African-American neighbourhood in Kentucky, while both still undertaking study. “We learned our missiology by doing it. The feedback of action and reflection in community fuelled a sharp learning curve.” Geoff realised that in his Kentucky neighbourhood, God was already present; already at work. The way neighbours loved one another, cared for their families and appreciated beauty were evidence of the presence of God in the community. “It is clear that God is close to the broken-hearted. There was also a lot of hurt [in the neighbourhood] because of the legacy of slavery. There were a lot of wounds still bleeding out.” For the Maddock family, at the heart of mission is being credible witnesses of shalom in the neighbourhood. “We should inhabit the kind of world that we tell people about – one of forgiveness, love, justice and welcome.”

After 18 years of loving and serving his neighbourhood, Geoff returned to Australia, bringing with him a lived-experience of mission that remains agile. His family moved from a community with an urban farm that fed the neighbours, to vertical living in Melbourne’s CBD, with no soil in sight. Their apartment building, owned by Collins St Baptist Church,  includes a ‘House of Hope’ which provides accommodation for asylum seekers at risk of homelessness. Geoff’s practice of mission across the world has been brought into Melbourne’s CBD, where mission is evidently from everywhere to everywhere.

It was not long before Geoff and his wife Sherry started a social enterprise, ‘Planted Places’, the first indoor garden in Melbourne’s CBD. Planted Places centres on closing the distance between people and plants. They have installed multiple gardens at Baptcare facilities where single men who are asylum seekers are housed. They have also been using The Green Room (Collins Street Baptist’s basement converted into an indoor garden) to connect with neighbours.

Geoff says, “Caring for even a small house plant transports us to our first human vocation – to tend and to keep. It restores us to the Creator’s design.” Those keeping plants in their homes are shown to benefit in many ways including improved mental health, lowered blood pressure and improved air quality.

During this COVID-19 crisis, Geoff and his wife Sherry continue to seek out people of peace in their neighbourhood. Without the clutter of one million people daily descending on the city, their neighbours are less obscured. However, the isolation experienced by many living in the city is a great challenge. Geoff and Sherry are currently in conversation with the City of Melbourne to identify people who are vulnerable in isolation – students, the single, older people and asylum seekers – and work out how to distribute plants to those cooped up.

Recently a collection of 75 easy-to-care-for indoor plants were distributed through Baptcare to the residences of people seeking asylum. Sherry says, “[The plants] did what we couldn’t, that is to become physically close companions in a time of isolation. Plants were received by families and children with joy. We heard reports of delight and ‘lit up faces.’ While also collecting weekly food supplies, men from Baptcare’s Sanctuary program were able to choose a plant and they did so with ‘great care.’ At this time of collective restriction and enforced isolation indoors, interior green space and plants as companions become essential. As essential as the clean air they bring.”

The current COVID-19 climate again calls Geoff and his family to adapt – to be agile and to connect with God and people. And in this mission, God is already present and at work. Geoff sees this presence in the forced Sabbath from busyness, which is creating conditions to hear God in a way that would otherwise be drowned out. “Part of what I see in Australia is that people are acknowledging how grateful they are to be here. Gratefulness is an antidote to anxiety. Gratitude opens the door to a generous God.”

From Yackandandah to Kentucky to Melbourne’s CBD, Geoff, along with his family, has needed to adapt to vastly different circumstances and surroundings. And yet the mission continues to be one that joins in where a loving God is already at work, while being a credible witness of shalom to the neighbourhood.

In announcing this new role, Geoff says, “I’m excited about the fact that God is already at work from Camberwell to Cambodia and from Traralgon to Thailand and we have the joyful opportunity to join in.”

To connect with Geoff Maddock, Global Interaction State Director (Vic and Tas), email: victas@globalinteraction.org.au

Source: BUV News

For many years Wodonga & District Baptist Church has been recording their sermons in both audio and video and making them available online. Since the COVID-19 meeting restrictions, Senior Pastor David Hodgens and team, like many other churches, have been pre-recording their worship services and the congregation is encouraged to watch at the usual service time on a Sunday. Small groups are meeting online and other expressions of contact include sms, email and phone calls during the week so that the church community remains connected to one another.

One concern has been for those who do not have internet access, particularly in relation to Sunday services. This is where the local Christian radio station comes in! Albury Wodonga’s own listener-supported Christian radio station, 98.5FM The Light, is now broadcasting Wodonga Baptist’s service each Sunday at 10.30am. “This is just one of the many stories where we have seen God’s hand at work. This is a hard time for everyone, however, we continue to be encouraged by the high level of engagement and the stories we hear on a regular basis. God has his plans. We may not know what they are, but we can see he is in control” said Church Administrator, Steve Stokes.

Source: BUV News

Paul Huglin has been the Senior Pastor at West Preston Baptist Church for the past nine months. He and his wife Apryl were attracted to the church as they knew it had a heart for its community. Paul has previously served at Diamond Valley Baptist as the Associate Pastor for many years, but most recently as a Community Pastor serving as Chaplain to the local Shopping Centre. Apryl works with Baptcare as Chaplain in the Sanctuary program supporting Asylum Seekers. Recently, and despite the Coronavirus restrictions, an opportunity to align the church and Sanctuary has emerged.

“Asylum seekers are the most vulnerable group of people in our community” says Apryl. “They are unable to work and therefore draw an income, but they also do not receive any subsidies from the government. Some of them have absolutely no income and somehow must support their families”.

With the food bank shortages that are currently being experienced, even this avenue of support has become scarce, however, West Preston Baptist has been able to open their own food bank and provide monthly cooked meals to residents of Houses of Hope/Sanctuary. Apryl has also sourced companies that have been willing to donate to this very needed charity. Wholesalers and restaurants are now giving, and another encouraging outcome of this initiative is how it has renewed the church’s connection with its local community. Members of the church are regularly volunteering to assist in this new and significant project.

For more information as to how your church may assist this most vulnerable group of people please contact:

sanctuary@baptcare.org.au

baptcare.org.au/sanctuary

Phone: 13 BAPTCARE (13 22 78)

Source: BUV News

Fifteen years ago, God called our family out of Crossway Baptist into the spiritually dry northern suburbs of Melbourne. We had all sensed the call of God in various ways, including our three teenage children who gave up great schooling and friendships in order to plant ‘Crossway North Baptist Church’ in Craigieburn.

However, we fell in love with the North of Melbourne and its people. We saw God grow a healthy, vibrant, family orientated church in an area with hard spiritual soil. In what felt like the blink of an eye  and with a change of venue and name to ‘North Church’, in 2017 our Church plant celebrated its 10^th Anniversary.  After this milestone, Brett and I started to pray about what God would have next for us; either to continue with the Church we loved, or to move into a wider place in the North. We prayed and waited for further instructions. God was moving all the chess pieces behind the scenes and what unfolded over the next few years was a wonderful work of His Spirit and Olivine at Donnybrook has become part of a new story.

Hume Anglican Grammar Donnybrook commenced in Olivine as the first building on the estate and wonderfully our eldest daughter became the very first teacher employed there. Later in 2018, our second daughter applied and received the position of front desk receptionist and Assistant Principal’s P.A. at the new campus for 2019.

To add to the family connection, I was asked to be a casual Teacher’s Assistant to help with settling the students into Term 1 and also had the privilege of getting to know the staff and students on their very first day. It was exciting to be at the new campus, despite all the dust, dirt, and kangaroos. I found I did not want to leave when my time was finished, as the community had become like family.

I continued to discover school families and staff who were going to be living on the estate and this piqued my curiosity as to what God might be doing. At the same time my husband Brett commenced work full-time at the B.U.V. in the Mission Catalyst Team. I became challenged by God to resign as North Church Office Manager and trust Him for new things.

Within a couple of weeks, the chess pieces started coming together. Gayle Hill, Head of the BUV Mission Catalyst Team, approached me about a place-making position. She was seeking a candidate for Olivine Donnybrook and believed Brett and I would be a wonderful choice. This was timely and God-inspired as both Brett and I believed this was what God had been preparing us for. It would involve moving to the estate and living there as place-makers, loving, and committed to cultivating a flourishing community. As followers of Jesus and committed to the vision of the BUV to see both flourishing churches and flourishing communities this became my ‘ah ha’ moment!! With Brett’s role at the BUV, our partnership with Derek Bradshaw from Now and Not yet Cafe, a great relationship with the Mirvac developers and our families’ roles at Hume Anglican Grammar Donnybrook, it seemed as if everything was coming together.

So, what does this look like now for us? Brett and I are building a house at Olivine Donnybrook and will be moving there later this year. Olivine will be home to around 7,000 people. I will take on the role of ‘place-maker’ for the Estate and Brett will contribute with his skills, gifts, and passions and to also develop a community of faith. Mirvac are building a Café at the entrance to the Estate that will be run by the Now and Not Yet Café team, with a Café Manager also living in the Estate. Both these roles will sit under the Baptist Union of Victoria’s Grassroots Placemakers. There will be an adjoining Community Centre that I will be managing which is included as part of my community work. What does a pacemaker do? Our new tag line at Grassroots Place-makers is ‘Cultivating Flourishing Communities’. That is our role and our goal at Olivine, our community: Cultivating a physically, emotionally, mentally, socially and spiritually flourishing community!! We have a wonderful model in Aintree for this visionary work with Jonathan Ingram and his team. Please pray for us as we continue to see God leading and guiding us in this new endeavour.

Michelle Mitchell
Community Placemaker

Source: BUV News

In response to JobKeeper, the following are some queries raised by churches:
 

1.  Exempt Benefits can form part of the $1,500?
Churches should treat their Exempt Benefits like normal. If your church has to top-up to $1,500 per fortnight and the normal practice is 50% taxable and 50% Exempt Benefits, then the split should be $750/$750. The church does not have to pay superannuation on the additional amount, above normal Stipend.
 

2.  ‘One in, all in’ principle: Once an employer decides to participate in the JobKeeper scheme and their eligible employees have agreed to be nominated by the employer, the employer must ensure that all of these eligible employees are covered by their participation in the scheme. This includes all eligible employees who are undertaking work for the employer or have been stood down. The employer cannot select which eligible employees will participate in the scheme.
 

3.  Single Touch Payroll (STP) is the means by which eligible employees are reported to the ATO.  If you use STP software and have not processed a pay run after flagging your eligible employees, you may need to process a nil pay run and do a STP submission (ensuring that no leave entitlements are accrued with this) so that these employees are reported to the ATO
 

4.  The Cash Flow Boost does not get included in the GST Turnover calculation
 

5.  Dedicated Bank Hotlines:  Treasurer (Josh Frydenberg) spoke with the ‘Big 4’ banks and they have agreed to establish dedicated Hotlines for employers to call in relation to accessing bridging finance.   Bank Hotline numbers are:

• Westpac – 1300 731 073
• NAB – 1800 562 533 (1800 JOBKEEPER)
• CBA – 13 26 07
• ANZ – 1800 571 123

Also, BFS is actively supporting all partner churches through COVID-19 and we would encourage you to contact Jeremy Peet on 0409 862 178 for any assistance.

6.  Monthly Reporting One of the requirements of the JobKeeper scheme is the monthly declaration of your entity’s prior month turnover, as well as the projected turnover for the next month. The ATO have made clear that these figures are not for the purposes of determining your eligibility for JobKeeper, but rather an indication of how your business is progressing. Once qualified, it goes for entire duration of the scheme.

As part of this reporting process, you will also be asked to confirm the number of employees that JobKeeper is being claimed for.

The monthly reporting form is now available through the Business Portal, and should be lodged as soon as possible.

Calendar of important dates coming up (For the first two JobKeeper fortnights)

For more specific and up to date information on how to Enrol, Identify and Declare, and key dates, please see https://www.ato.gov.au/General/JobKeeper-Payment/JobKeeper-guides/

Source: BUV News

The Baptist pastors who are out working in the Bushfire affected regions are amazing people.  Not only did they adjust their whole lives to take on assisting the local communities impacted by the bushfires, they have now had to swing back around to adjust their whole lives to keeping their own local congregations connected and inspired during the COVID-19 crisis. Amazing. Just when things were starting to show signs of life again the communities in these regions have taken another economic and social hit. Because of this, our role in staying involved and remaining connected into the future is even more critical.

Right from the moment the fires were threatening Corryong, Pastor Graeme van Brummelen was on the ground helping.  He and David Hodgens (Wodonga Baptist Church) played a significant role in running the evacuation centre. Immediately after the fires had cleared, Graeme was out gathering information from locals on what the immediate needs were.  Recognising the need that many had for some basic items, combined with the need the local shops had for business, getting a local voucher system up and running was a great start and this has been continuing through to this time.

Just before the COVID-19 lockdowns occurred, I took Chris Piper (our Bushfire Recovery Advisor) for a visit (as we also did to Gippsland, reported previously) and we spent a couple of days with Graeme.  The attached video highlights some of the activity from that trip but also talks about the long-term needs that are part of the recovery process.

We were privileged to visit some of those who had been affected – some didn’t mind being photographed or named, but for most the pain was still too raw to even ask.  However, what was abundantly clear was how much Graeme was being appreciated in the community.  His ability to connect as a pastor but also as a local (Graeme himself lost property and livestock as a result of the fires) has allowed people to feel safe talking to him about their pain and loss, but also about various options on how to take any next steps toward recovery.

We visited two couples who had each lost two houses. One of these couples had subsequently spent a couple of months living in a tent inside a shed that had been saved. Both couples (as well as others we met) spoke about how much they had appreciated engaging with Graeme and how important it was to have someone to talk to during this time. It was amazing to me how long we were at each place.  People obviously just wanted to be able to talk to those they knew would care.  Pictured here is one couple with Graeme as he hands them a Voucher Package.

All this activity has been made possible by the generosity of the Baptist Family in Victoria. In addition to the Voucher Packages, Graeme has been talking with local farmers about their current needs and the overwhelming response has been for assistance in buying seed (and some fodder) at this critical seasonal moment.  The fires not only burnt off all the grass but then the heavy rains that followed washed away a lot of the top soil (see the video). In this district, these funds have played a vital role in helping farmers with the next season in their farming calendar, without which would have undoubtedly led to ongoing losses as a result of the fires. There are of course numerous Scriptural references to planting seed and Graeme himself feels that this is significant at this time. Many of those who have received this gift share with him about what it has meant to receive it, but also many share about his personal support is playing such a significant role during this time.

Once again, Baptist Family, thanks for your support. Wherever Graeme gets a chance to talk he makes it clear that it is you who have made this support possible. Please continue to pray for Graeme and the other pastors in Gippsland (Michael Carlisle, Geoff Pegler, as well as all those working hard with them) who are not only working at continuing this great work, but also working at dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thanks again for all your support. God bless.

Peace and Hope in these times,

Andrew Naylor
BUV Partnership Development Pastor

Source: BUV News

As Baptist Pastors of the BUV, we are probably the first in the history of our Churches to lock the doors and tell people to keep away! We have all had to quickly to reinvent Church life with social distancing, closed Churches and online worship services. But the Gospel of Jesus has not been stifled at NBBC
or many of our other Churches.

1. ZOOM BIBLE STUDY – This term we started online ZOOM bible study groups based around the motto “For such a time as this” from Esther chapter 4. We chose 10 passages from the Bible that we felt God speaking directly into this time battling COVID19. We have found that we now have more people “attending” growth groups than we did before the crisis.

2. DAILY DEVOTIONS – In our network of congregation we have over 250 contacts reaching over 400 people on email. Each morning pastor Graeme sends out an encouraging devotion to comfort, strengthen and inspire our people in the Lord. These emails are being forwarded by our congregation to all quarters including work colleagues, families and locations to many parts of the world.

3. KIDS CHURCH ONLINE – We have a very inventive Kids Church team headed by Albert & Betty Wong who have sought new ways to help the children and parents continue in discipleship and growth during this time. This includes a regular section in the Sunday YouTube service, emailed Kids Church teaching activities, video presentations from some of our teachers and an Easter
competition for the children. The children were asked to present a craft or video depicting the true meaning of Easter. The entrants were amazing and a powerful demonstration of Easter. One of the vision goals of the Kids Church has been for parents, children and the Church to be partnering together and this event was one of the best examples of this cooperation yet!

Source: BUV News