This month, we are celebrating International Women's Day by featuring stories of courage and determination by ordinary women who are playing extraordinary roles within our Baptist community.

The blessings of diminished capacity, tiredness and God’s grace – Jess Groszek

The year was 2015. I had one child at home, one on the way and I was trying to do it all. I had been asked to help provide some pastoral care within a large organization where many were suddenly processing their redundancies. I sat with people who felt uncertain about the future, who last week felt things were on track in their lives, and suddenly were confused or angry or resigned to the shape of their future. I listened and provided what support I could. One person, despite the whirlwind of emotion, paused to ask me what I usually do for work. My response was straight to the point: “I have just been made redundant. And my husband has also been made redundant.” We sat together in empathy for one another’s situations.

Since Chris and I married in 2013, we have experienced together four redundancies, the birth of three children, four houses, two graduate degrees and seven jobs. God has moved us through disappointment to greater clarity over these years. But there have been days full of struggle, juggle and sheer frustration. I feel the pull of my passion and gifting to lead others within the community through my role as Campus Pastor in Surrey Hills with NewHope Baptist Church. But I also feel the desire to cherish and lead my little herd and make the most of every opportunity. At the heart of my struggle has been dealing daily with the lie that I can do it all.

The truth is that women can achieve in all areas of skill, capacity and diligence. However, this truth has become increasingly twisted. Firstly, we are told our ability is self-made; secondly, that each one of us can achieve in every area; and thirdly, that each one of us can achieve in every area in every season. I have fallen victim to the plethora of television experts teaching me how to do ordinary things on a grand scale. And I have been tempted to busy my life in all directions to gain acceptance in a fast-paced society. Undoing this lie in me has been akin to unknotting my daughter’s wild hair – a slow and painful process. It has been slow because I believed the lies for too long, and painful because I let my identity become entangled in it. But, through His grace, God has been slowly unwinding the lie – to the point where I can see more clearly the blessing of weakness, of reduced capacity and of tiredness.

Blessed with reduced capacity

Within the context of community I have found that my children have compounded the opportunities for connection and ministry. In their circles and interactions, they constantly invite me into relationships to the point where I always have the opportunity to be around others. Yet ironically, my capacity to make the most of these opportunities is frustratingly diminished. My brain is foggy, the time is short, the conversations out of my control – and, very often, cut short. In reality, conversations have never been in my control, but in this new season, I am aware that the moment could pass at any stage. I have learned that God is in control. In my leadership decisions, I seek to be present in the conversation, ready to listen and encourage where I can.   

Through practising leadership over many years, I have learnt that I love to achieve, make things happen and see things through. People come to me if they want to get things off the ground. Now with children, my time for outward-focused mission activity has diminished. I need to be more strategic about what I achieve. Having a list of tasks that are ticked off at the end of the day may fill my tank, but I am now asking myself, what should even make it onto the list in the first place? The result is that as I have sought to become more fruitful, my house has become messier. I find myself investing more in people, taking on formal mentoring roles, learning to listen and love others, and being less distracted by the tidiness of my house. I am learning to be comfortable with the house and enjoying transformation through deep relationships. My reduced capacity has helped me to undo the “I can do it all” lie.

Blessed with tiredness

Despite suffering from chronic fatigue well before having children, I have never known tiredness quite like I do now. I need forgiveness constantly as I stumble through the days. There have been many days where all I can think about is going to bed that night. I used to bemoan that I need more sleep than the average person. It is frustrating for an achiever to be rendered unconscious for an extra few hours per day. I began to resent the need for rest. But, a wise friend encouraged me to regard sleep as worship. It is the time of the day where I can say to God, “I can’t go on. I trust you to hold the world in your hands while I am out to it. I trust you to look after my child who has croup. I trust you to restore me as I sleep. I trust that you will give me enough grace for tomorrow’s feeble efforts.” It is a time to acknowledge my weakness and God’s providence. My tiredness is a blessing and reminds me to focus on the one who leads me beside still waters.  

Blessed with sufficient grace

Just last month my grandmother passed away, at the age of 96. A fond memory is a regular trip from the farm to town in the old Toyota. Without fail she played her favourite cassette. She would sing along, “One day at a time, Sweet Jesus! That’s all I ask of you!” As a child, I had no idea what it meant. “Each day always comes after the other. You never have two days at once. What does this song mean?” Now with the demands of regular adult life, I have come to understand why my grandmother sang with fervor. I slump into bed at the end of the day, with no reserves. I was granted enough energy for the day and plenty of grace for my failings. Now, I need His grace to get through another – with the demands of ministry and children and daily life. I have learned that I can’t do it all – or at least, not all at once. In fact, in my exhaustion and inability to go on, I can do nothing. God reminds me constantly that, ‘“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.’ (2 Corinthians 12:9).

In this season of family life and the desire to make Jesus’ name known in Surrey Hills, I have been untangling myself from the lie that I once bought into. I can’t do it all. Actually, I can’t do anything. As a leader, I do not want to lead others into the lie, for them to feel the same frustration, struggle and juggle that I have had. God is the giver of grace for our family and ministry. I am grateful to be leading with limited capacity, with tiredness and with grace that is sufficient for today.

Jess Groszek is the Surrey Hills Campus Pastor with NewHope Baptist Church. She also serves as a Sports Chaplain at Surrey Park Swimming Club. Her day to day is filled with caring for three young children and trying to keep life simple in a complex world. 

Source: BUV News

This month, we are celebrating International Women's Day by featuring stories of courage and determination by ordinary women who are playing extraordinary roles within our Baptist community.

Finding one’s voice – Charlene Delos Santos

Charlene’s upbringing was not a typical one. Arriving in Australia at the age of six with her parents and younger sister, her Filipino heritage has largely shaped her family’s decisions and hopes. Her early experience of church, in a predominantly white youth group, was one of being on the fringe.

“It was hard being the only Asian person in my close group of friends.”

Charlene’s good humour, and affable smile belie the struggle for identity and finding her own voice in leadership in a culture where she does not fit the status quo. A life shaped by expectations from cultural heritage along with power structures pervading Western society are shared by many who call themselves second-generation Australian. For some, this tension can be overwhelming and destructive.

However, Charlene’s love for Jesus and desire to make him known has opened up a place for ushering in peace through right relationship with God and across cultural distinctives. Towards the end of the high school, Charlene had a strong encounter with God.

“During that time, I felt so loved by my father in heaven. I felt so surrounded and embraced by his love.”

Charlene was compelled to do what she could to share God’s love with others. As a student and with the support of Scripture Union (SU), she started a prayer group in school, and ran lunch time programs. “It was hard work, and at times really disappointing, but I felt Jesus was close.”

This foray into ministry leadership brought Charlene to a point of tension with traditional expectations of her migrant family. “Even though they were Christians, there was a lot of resistance to me seeking to be in ministry. As a child of migrant parents, they were worried about me not being financially secure or having a stable job. To compromise, I ended up doing a youth work degree at RMIT, rather than studying at Bible College.”

Upon graduation, Charlene accepted a position with SU in schools ministry and ran an internship program for culturally diverse leaders. After 11 years with SU, Charlene stepped out in faith, seeking God for a workplace where culture was celebrated and affirmed.

Through God’s sovereign hand, SURRENDER Conference sought her out and Charlene is now in her fifth year on the team. Her work with SURRENDER built connections with the BUV, where she is currently coordinating IGNITE, the BUV’s annual multicultural youth conference.

Reflecting on the conference, Charlene speaks with deep understanding,

“Many of the second-generation youth at IGNITE live every day with pressure from both sides – from their parents’ or church’s cultures and from western society”.

“When they gather at the IGNITE conference, they can breathe. They feel like they can be themselves. Many are building bonds with other youths outside their church and community because they understood each other.”

Charlene describes it as not knowing where one fits in, yet also trying to integrate multiple cultural identities.

“Because of my personal journey, I am passionate to engage with and support this next generation of culturally diverse leaders.”

Charlene is working closely with the team to provide focus on international leadership development for the IGNITE leaders and for connections to be maintained beyond the conference.

Being one of the few Asian women in ministry leadership today, Charlene dream of a diverse church with more multicultural leaders – particularly female leaders.

“There are many good women leaders serving in their church communities, but there are also limitations to areas in which they can lead, many barriers and missed opportunities. Currently, there are also few role models for young second-generation leaders to follow.”

Charlene is in the continual process of deepening her relationship with Jesus and learning her own voice in leadership. But she freely admits that finding her voice in leadership has been fraught at times. The majority of leaders in meetings represent traditional Western society, and subtly hold the power of opinion. ‘When I am in a meeting, I listen to these voices in the room more than others to gauge whether I am on the right track, rather than ask, “What is my voice? What do I think?"

Charlene laments the times she has not listened to her gut and has shaped and filtered her ideas to suit what the powerbrokers may want to hear. “There are other times where I live out of that sense of what God has called me to do and be. And other times when I should have listened to my gut, but I decided to go with what I thought success looked like. And it has hurt.”

The journey to finding her voice has required self-reflection, courage and persistence. She freely admits, “It’s a challenge I’m learning to overcome!”

Charlene Delos Santos is the Co-Director of Surrender Australia and the BUV Multicultural 2nd Generation Coordinator. 

Source: BUV News

Source: BUV News

By Rev Dr John Sampson

J. D. came from Tasmania after being baptised in the Hobart Tabernacle in 1933. As a young man he served in pastorates at Deloraine and Yolla before being called to the ministry and entering the Victorian Baptist Theological College. He graduated in 1942.

After college he served in South Hobart 1943/4, and as an Interim in Hobart in 1945 before going to Devonport 1946. In 1949 he took up a position at North Adelaide and he stayed here until 1958.

He then accepted the position of secretary of the Australian Baptist Missionary Society where he served until 1983, leading the mission through the difficult transition from a colonial world to a post-colonial world. It was he who developed the policy that saw the mission aim to develop an indigenous church and get out as soon as possible, rather than continue with the colonial model where you build a local church dependent on outside leadership.

In 1984 he joined the team at North Balwyn and remained here until 1992 after which he completed his life’s work with a number of Interim ministries until the year 2000.

In all this time he remained single and I wondered how much this influenced the opportunities open to him?

We all recognise that Jesus never married but seem very hesitant to appoint people who follow his example and deliberately remain single.

Surely we do not believe that a single person is incapable of maintaining a house or cooking a meal. If we really valued them we could support them by providing home help or a housekeeper. This was suggested in a letter to the South Australian Baptist paper Truth & Progress in 1893 in a letter that bemoaned the state of affairs in which the churches are deprived of the services of a minister’s wife. To quote ‘How is it possible for her to go among the people, visit the sick and attend the various meetings of the Church when her whole time has to be given to domestic duties because she cannot afford to keep a help’.

But real life is far more complicated than this simple argument.

For example Jesus was not a lone itinerant preacher. He lived in a community made up of the disciples. Devoted men & women, who shared his life. Also when he sent his disciples out they went in pairs. So to follow biblical precedent perhaps we should look again at communal living. The Community of the Transfiguration comes to mind, but others with fewer resources may well find a share house fits the bill.

And then I discovered that JD did not live alone. He lived with his sister Leslie who maintained the house and cared for him for the whole of his time in Melbourne.

When I sent a draft of this article to the Rev. Tony Cupit he pointed out that there are many other examples of single ministers who have done great work in the BUV. To quote him;

‘Clarrie Edwards had some long and successful ministries, for example Boronia and Nth Balwyn,

 Peter Arnold ministered in churches before marrying Yvonne.  

And there have been a number of unmarried female ministers; e.g.,

Jill Manton after Peter’s death,
Marion Welford,
Marita Munro (though not in a congregation),
Sue McDonald. etc, etc’.

We could add to this the list of Deaconesses from the 1950’s as they were all expected to remain single and celibate while they served in the churches or the mission field.

Note why did Baptists only expect the deaconesses to be single and celibate while serving the church while the Roman Catholics expect both men and women to be single and celibate?   

Footnote:
If you would like more info on JD we have a good introduction to his work in his article ‘Twenty Five Years in the Australian Baptist Missionary Society’[1]. If you would like a hard copy please contact me. As treasurer of the Victorian Baptist Historical Society I can provide you with one for $20 plus postage or I could send you a digital copy for free via my email.

JD was a character and there was far more to him than you will ever find in one article but at least we have a good starting point. However there are so many others whose lives need to be celebrated.  

So please choose a subject, arrange some interviews & do a bit of research. Then pull out your laptop and start typing.

If you submit your work as an essay to the Victorian Baptist Historical Society’s Essay competition you could even earn yourself with a nice little bundle of cash for Christmas!

Source: BUV News

Bairnsdale Baptist Church have been working hard since the fires hit. Youth leader, Geoff Freiberg, has been leading teams clearing up some of the properties that were devastated by the fires. He has also been co-ordinating efforts to determine the other immediate needs. The physical needs are varied. Some have lost everything, many have lost fences (livestock are wandering), others have had all their electrical goods destroyed by power surges, and the list goes on. Where possible the church team assign a case officer to work with each family to work through the needs, look at the place of insurance, as well as the place of government funding and other agency contributions. This means they are able to co-ordinate their efforts with other agencies such as Blaze Aid and Rotary, thereby determining how their help is best utilized where the needs are unable to be met in other ways.

However, it is the generous, caring and servant-oriented spirit in which it is being done that contributes to the deep and lasting impact as people deal with the emotional and mental anguish that is a significant part of the trauma in these times.

These stories of help and assistance are your stories. Thanks to the extraordinary generosity of our Baptist family, the local church communities are able to serve in ways that would otherwise not be possible. 

"We just want to say thank you so much to our BUV family. With the bushfire relief funds being provided we feel hugely empowered to help our community recover from these terrible fires.   It is such a privilege to be able to be God’s hands and feet in such practical ways in service to those impacted by the recent fires.  We can’t thank you enough." – Geoff

Source: BUV News