Category Archives: Denomination

Bushfire relief efforts – Better Together

Thanks to the generosity of our Baptist Family, we are supporting our pastors and volunteers with bushfire recovery efforts through COVID-19 restrictions.

As part of the BUV Bushfire Recovery strategy, a partnership was formed between the BUV Hub, NewHope Baptist Church and Lakes Entrance Baptist Church. This allowed Lakes Entrance Baptist Church to immediately get local church member, William Florance, on the ground to assist those who had been affected by the fires. This ongoing partnership has allowed William to continue in the role where, months after the fires, he is still meeting people who are very much at ‘first base’ in the process of recovery. Add COVID-19 to this and the result is that many people are struggling with layers of trauma and complexity. Once again, thanks to the generosity of our Baptist Family, we are able to be in this for the long haul and to be able to continue supporting the pastors and volunteers who are out working with those who continue to be impacted by the events of the last few months. Here’s a video interview with William by Katrina Lambert (from NewHope BC).

The team at 

Bushfire relief efforts – Better Together

Thanks to the generosity of our Baptist Family, we are supporting our pastors and volunteers with bushfire recovery efforts through COVID-19 restrictions.

As part of the BUV Bushfire Recovery strategy, a partnership was formed between the BUV Hub, NewHope Baptist Church and Lakes Entrance Baptist Church. This allowed Lakes Entrance Baptist Church to immediately get local church member, William Florance, on the ground to assist those who had been affected by the fires. This ongoing partnership has allowed William to continue in the role where, months after the fires, he is still meeting people who are very much at ‘first base’ in the process of recovery. Add COVID-19 to this and the result is that many people are struggling with layers of trauma and complexity. Once again, thanks to the generosity of our Baptist Family, we are able to be in this for the long haul and to be able to continue supporting the pastors and volunteers who are out working with those who continue to be impacted by the events of the last few months. Here’s a video interview with William by Katrina Lambert (from NewHope BC).

The team at 

Source: BUV News

Creating Opportunities and Casting Hope

COACH (Creating Opportunities and Casting Hope) is a community-strengthening program that aims to empower individuals and families through one-to-one mentoring, breaking generational cycles of poverty and family breakdown.

COACH partners with not-for-profits and churches to train volunteer mentors and match them with individuals in need. Over 12 months, COACH participants meet with their mentors each week.

A COACH mentor is a friend with purpose, offering practical help and mentoring towards life goals. These goals include education, employment, training, improved mental health, reduction in addictive habits, financial management, housing, family cohesion, decrease in social isolation, and improved physical and emotional wellbeing. Mentoring is a way to bring out the best in people and help them make use of their own resources. It also promotes individual responsibility and builds community cohesion.

Simone met her mentor, Miranda, during a challenging time in her life. Simone has three special needs children, was homeless for the third time, and was going through a difficult relationship breakdown. Simone and Miranda started meeting fortnightly and now Miranda is only a phone call or email away. Simone appreciates that she can call her mentor just for a chat as well as in the hard times.

 Prior to joining COACH, Simone says she spent most of the day in bed and was struggling to cope with the stresses and pressure of everyday life. She also added that having special needs children has been “isolating and it’s been hard to maintain friendships”. The COACH program and her relationship with Miranda have enabled Simone to find hope. She is now debt free and working in a café which has been a great confidence boost for her. Simone says she calls it "hope, instead of COACH, as it’s a hope program.” 

Miranda shares that COACH exemplifies the things she is passionate about – giving time to build genuine friendships that are about growth, healing, and restoration. She sees COACH as a program that anyone can be involved in.

(COACH Network is operated by Crossway LifeCare in partnership with Mission Australia).

Source: BUV News

Creating Opportunities and Casting Hope

COACH (Creating Opportunities and Casting Hope) is a community-strengthening program that aims to empower individuals and families through one-to-one mentoring, breaking generational cycles of poverty and family breakdown.

COACH partners with not-for-profits and churches to train volunteer mentors and match them with individuals in need. Over 12 months, COACH participants meet with their mentors each week.

A COACH mentor is a friend with purpose, offering practical help and mentoring towards life goals. These goals include education, employment, training, improved mental health, reduction in addictive habits, financial management, housing, family cohesion, decrease in social isolation, and improved physical and emotional wellbeing. Mentoring is a way to bring out the best in people and help them make use of their own resources. It also promotes individual responsibility and builds community cohesion.

Click here to hear more from co-author of COACH, Mark Matthews, as he shares with us how a missional venture started in order to assist the poor and marginalised, has now grown into an incredible Empowered Faith Community which is now changing the lives of numbers of people on the Mornington Peninsula.

(COACH Network is operated by Crossway LifeCare in partnership with Mission Australia).

VIews from the Manse – A woman of noble character

A woman of noble character – Proverbs chapter. 31

Views from the Manse celebrates all women and men who have tirelessly and prayerfully supported their spouses in pastoral ministry through the years and, in the present. 

Proverbs 31 contains an acrostic and is a very unusual form of writing in scripture. It is based on the advice given to King Lemuel by his mother in Proverbs 31: 10 – 31.  Below is a modern paraphrase.  

Although this scripture speaks about women, as it was contextual to the day and age, all spouses, regardless of gender, should be included and celebrated for the role they play in partnering in ministry.

This relates to the first article published in the View From the Manse series.

A worthy woman, like wisdom is hard to find

          A woman who brings her husband good all the days of her life

          is beyond price and her husband will adore her.

Never skimping, she provides for her household well

          with scarlet wool and linen clothing.

Never one to slack,

          She rises early to bake fresh bread

          or pancakes for breakfast.

Passing up a good investment is not her style.

          She spots a good buy and pounces on it,

          then plants a vineyard and builds a winery

          to capitalise on her investment.

Her hands are strong.

          Her palms hold a spindle

          but she opens them to the poor

          and extends her hands to the wretched.

Everyone in her household is warm.

          All are dressed in beautiful clothes.

          All have warm Doonas on their beds.

Let her husband praise her

And her children bring her honour

No praise is too great for such a virtuous, God fearing woman.

A loving welcome goes a long way

Pastor Sam Farbod is a compassionate, patient, measured and thoughtful leader, pioneering a vital work in Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs. He and his wife Nicky and their daughter Negin arrived in Australia 14 years ago. At the time, Nicky was accepted as a PhD student at Melbourne University, while Sam was working in Engineering. Over the last fourteen years they have distributed Bibles and Christian materials and led Bible study groups for people of Muslim background. One such small group, with five people, was at NewHope Baptist Church. Later in 2013, Sam and his family felt a strong call to serve the Lord in an extended way and it was accompanied by an invitation from NewHope’s leadership to serve the growing Persian community. Today the congregation is mainly comprised of new migrants, refugees and asylum seekers – many of whom are suffering greatly in the current COVID-19 crisis and Australia’s subsequent economic climate.

Below is a compelling interview with Pastor Sam that reveals both the intensity of pastoral leadership and the incomparable joys of transformation. His recent in-depth studies help Australian Christians to understand their important role in living out their Christian faith and welcoming new arrivals into loving Christian communities.

Who are the people in your congregation?
Most of people in this congregation are refugees and asylum seekers who have fled Iran to come to Australia for different reasons. Some of them have fled Iran because of persecution. There are very harsh penalties for Muslims who choose to convert to other religions. Some of them have come to Australia because of their political and anti-government activities in Iran. Some of people have come to Australia in hope of freedom and also hope of better future for their families. The community consists of people from different age groups. However, the majority of people are young families, single men and women. 

Most of people in the Persian community are new migrants, refugees or asylum seekers, who are carrying profound emotional, spiritual and physical issues originating from their past. They are often afflicted by being away from their families and friends with the transitional changes they are experiencing being highly challenging. They have come to a new world, surrounded by people with a different culture, language, values and religions. These newcomers are also experiencing deep anxiety caused by uncertainty concerning their future, as well as for their children and loved ones whom they have left behind in their own countries.

Similar to other new Christian communities, there are only a few mature Christian lay people, who can be supportive of leadership in serving this community. The need for pastoral care is considerable and is extremely time consuming. Furthermore, the biblical knowledge of members in the congregation is limited and given their previous religious and cultural values and conceptions, there is considerable scope and challenge in being able to further grow and develop these people. In addition, language barriers and cultural differences limit the English-speaking Christian leaders’ ability to provide effective support.

How is the Covid-19 pandemic affecting your congregation?
The current situation has intensively affected many Persian refugees and asylum seekers whom we are serving. Many of these people have lost their casual or part-time jobs and are in desperate need. Some of them had been supporting their families back in Iran by sending them a part of their income. By losing their jobs, they are no longer able to support their families (who were completely dependent on this) in Iran. 

The stress and pressure these people experience is affecting their mental wellbeing and emotional health. They are also affected by the news they hear from inside Iran and are worried about their families back there. Some of them have lost their family members, relatives, or friends, because of the widespread of the sickness inside Iran or have their family members affected by Covid-19.

How are needs being met?
These people are in need of receiving practical assistance, prayer, and counselling. We do our best to serve them in this distressing situation. In response, the church has continued providing food vouchers and food baskets (including Persian rice). In response to their emotional needs, I have tried to spend time with these families through phone calls, Skype and occasional home visits. These pastoral care activities have almost filled my time. There are professional counselling services available in NewHope Medical Centre, but unfortunately due to some cultural issues, people are often hesitated to get assistance from the centre.

However, I think, in the short term, we can assist these people not only by supporting them and giving them food vouchers but also by referring them to jobs which we may be aware of them in our workplace or somewhere else. Many of these people have lost whole or a part of their income and they are looking for a new job.

What has the experience of this journey into pastoral leadership been like?
Despite all challenges in serving people in this community, there have been always a great joy and encouragement for us when we see transformed lives. We see hopeless and weary people find hope in Jesus and this hope revives them and changes them. Through this journey with our Lord and His people, we have been greatly blessed by witnessing how the gracious Lord fills their lives with His assurance and hope.  We see how the Lord uses his faithful followers in the church community to welcome, love and serve these hopeless and weary strangers (Iranian refugees and asylum seekers) who step into their church. This is the biggest encouragement for us that we are also a part of God’s plan for reaching to this people and serving them.

You have recently completed a PhD. How did you decide on your thesis?
The topic: The love of God: shared experiences of Muslim-background Iranian Christians in their journey to seek refuge in Australia.

Serving the Muslim background Iranians (and non-Iranians) during past 14 years, it was interesting to me to see how God works in every individual’s life through different paths to bring them to his knowledge and eventually into a personal relationship with Him. I found the most common aspect of God which is reflected and emphasized in Muslim background believers’ testimonies and life stories is His unconditional love. God reveals himself to Muslims and gets their attention through different ways such as dreams, visions, miracles and His Word. But there is one unique and important aspect of God which is very attractive. It helps Muslims to continue learning about Him, change their previous beliefs and eventually believe in him. This aspect is the Love of God, which motivates them to continue the spiritual journey they have started. This observation motivated me to have my thesis in this topic and try to find out how Muslims make sense of the concept of Love of God in Christian faith and why it is so attractive for them. Is it a mere conceptual idea or it is a practical experience? The love of God often has been subject if many debates between Christian and Muslim scholars. I tried to find out is there any similarities between concept of the love of God in Islamic and Christian doctrines. Moreover, is “love of God” only a conceptual idea expressed in the Bible or it is a real and tangible reality experienced by people (Muslims) in their relationship with God revealed in the Bible? Did they experience the same when they lived as Muslim and worshipped Allah?

What were some of the findings from your thesis?|
It was the participants’ contact and interaction with members of Australian churches, more specifically during the first months after their arrival in Australia: this greatly influenced their attachment to Christian communities and also contributed to their perceptions of the loving nature of God. The passionate and loving attitudes of Christians in taking care of the intensive emotional and physical needs of the participants, has profoundly contributed to shaping the participants’ views about the love of God in Christian faith. The godly characters of believers, their actions and deeds in serving others and their welcoming and receptive attitudes toward newcomers and strangers are commonly highlighted as reflective of God’s loving nature by this group of Iranians.

How do you hope the insights from your thesis will be used?
As the body of Christ, Christian communities could effectively contribute to the refugee and asylum seekers’ healing process. As we see, the community of believers plays a significant role in leading Muslim background Iranians to Christian faith. For Iranian new believers, God’s love is actualized in the loving attitudes and character of members of the Christian communities.

Are you thinking to share the findings of your study or your experience of serving Muslims with others who may be interested in or feel called to serve Muslims?
Yes, of course, God willing I would like to write a book based on my research. There are amazing stories about spiritual journeys of people in the community which is accompanied by their dangerous physical journey from Iran to Australia. The findings are astonishing; their views and perceptions about Christian faith and its communities are fresh and look at them from a different perspective.  

Moreover, I am trying to design and offer a series of classes for people who might be interested in serving Muslims. Australia is one of the main destinations for the Muslim refugee and asylum seekers. This provides us with a continuous opportunity to connect them, serve them, carry their burdens and share the God’s love with them. I believe there are many people who have heart to serve Muslims. We need to equip these people by helping them to understand Muslims, and answer their questions: How do Muslims see Christian faith? How they interpret our interaction with them? How do they make sense of our God and compare it with the idea of God which they used to carry for a long time in the past? Do all groups of Muslims have a common understanding of God (Allah)? We hope to initiate these classes soon and I would encourage our sisters and brothers in the Baptist family to join us.

 

Rev Dr Sam Farbod is the Pastor of the Persian community at NewHope Baptist Church. To contact Sam, please email sam.farbod@newhope.net.au or go to https://newhope.net.au/Persian/.

 

 

Source: BUV News

In Step with Jesus, with others and with God’s mission

On behalf of our Global Interaction state team and national office, thank you!  We’ve had a fantastic May Mission Month, highlighting and celebrating our cross-cultural workers as they join God’s mission throughout the world. We’re especially grateful for your partnership and encouragement during these difficult weeks and months. Baptist churches from across Victoria and Tasmania have hosted Zoom calls from Global Interaction cross-cultural workers, included our web resources in their online services, and checked in with people and projects they support from Mozambique to Cambodia, from Thailand to Yuendumu.

This year’s theme was centred on our commitment to remain in step with Jesus, in step with others, and in step with God’s mission. Acts 15 provided the framework and anchored our reflections on the challenge to keep faith, not religion, at the heart of our Christian witness. We were especially excited to release the beautifully produced short film, In Step, which narrates the story of three Yawo believers in Malawi and how God is using the Global Interaction team in that place.  If you missed out, go and check out In Step and explore the treasure trove of other excellent videos at our online resource hub –  https://www.globalinteraction.org.au/mmm.

As you can imagine, it was a different kind of May Mission Month. We sorely missed the joy of sharing, in person, the work of Global Interaction. However, our discussion tools, children resources and themed sermons were adapted and produced in a way that made them easy to incorporate into online church services.  We were also grateful for the technology that allowed our staff and cross-cultural workers to appear live in online church services. We provided over 40 videos to choose from including messages from State Baptist leaders and many of our cross-cultural workers who, despite COVID-19, remain in the places God has called them.  We also launched our podcast “Missioning” and will be adding more episodes throughout the year.

We appreciate your ongoing partnership throughout 2020 as we equip, send and support the remarkable people God calls for this specific, cross-cultural ministry.  Even though May has come and gone Global Interaction’s important work continues across the year and through time zones, so please check out our resources online and stay tuned to learn about  the ways God is at work around the world.

Peace and Grace,

Geoff Maddock
State Director VIC/TAS
Global Interaction

Source: BUV News

A loving welcome goes a long way

Pastor Sam Farbod is a compassionate, patient, measured and thoughtful leader, pioneering a vital work in Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs. He and his wife Nicky and their daughter Negin arrived in Australia 14 years ago. At the time, Nicky was accepted as a PhD student at Melbourne University, while Sam was working in Engineering. Over the last fourteen years they have distributed Bibles and Christian materials and led Bible study groups for people of Muslim background. One such small group, with five people, was at NewHope Baptist Church. Later in 2013, Sam and his family felt a strong call to serve the Lord in an extended way and it was accompanied by an invitation from NewHope’s leadership to serve the growing Persian community. Today the congregation is mainly comprised of new migrants, refugees and asylum seekers – many of whom are suffering greatly in the current COVID-19 crisis and Australia’s subsequent economic climate.

Below is a compelling interview with Pastor Sam that reveals both the intensity of pastoral leadership and the incomparable joys of transformation. His recent in-depth studies help Australian Christians to understand their important role in living out their Christian faith and welcoming new arrivals into loving Christian communities.

Who are the people in your congregation?
Most of the people in this congregation are refugees and asylum seekers who have fled Iran to come to Australia for different reasons. Some of them have fled Iran because of persecution. There are very harsh penalties for Muslims who choose to convert to other religions. Some of them have come to Australia because of their political and anti-government activities in Iran. Some of the people have come to Australia in hope of freedom and also hope of better future for their families. The community consists of people from different age groups. However, the majority of people are young families, single men and women. 

Most of the people in the Persian community are new migrants, refugees or asylum seekers, who are carrying profound emotional, spiritual and physical issues originating from their past. They are often afflicted by being away from their families and friends with the transitional changes they are experiencing being highly challenging. They have come to a new world, surrounded by people with a different culture, language, values and religions. These newcomers are also experiencing deep anxiety caused by uncertainty concerning their future, as well as for their children and loved ones whom they have left behind in their own countries.

Similar to other new Christian communities, there are only a few mature Christian lay people, who can be supportive of leadership in serving this community. The need for pastoral care is considerable and is extremely time consuming. Furthermore, the biblical knowledge of members in the congregation is limited and given their previous religious and cultural values and conceptions, there is considerable scope and challenge in being able to further grow and develop these people. In addition, language barriers and cultural differences limit the English-speaking Christian leaders’ ability to provide effective support.

How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting your congregation?
The current situation has intensively affected many Persian refugees and asylum seekers whom we are serving. Many of these people have lost their casual or part-time jobs and are in desperate need. Some of them had been supporting their families back in Iran by sending them a part of their income. By losing their jobs, they are no longer able to support their families (who were completely dependent on this) in Iran. 

The stress and pressure these people experience is affecting their mental wellbeing and emotional health. They are also affected by the news they hear from inside Iran and are worried about their families back there. Some of them have lost their family members, relatives, or friends, because of the widespread of sickness inside Iran or have their family members affected by COVID-19.

How are needs being met?
These people are in need of receiving practical assistance, prayer, and counselling. We do our best to serve them in this distressing situation. In response, the church has continued providing food vouchers and food baskets (including Persian rice). In response to their emotional needs, I have tried to spend time with these families through phone calls, Skype and occasional home visits. These pastoral care activities have almost filled my time. There are professional counselling services available in NewHope Medical Centre, but unfortunately due to some cultural issues, people are often hesitated to get assistance from the centre.

However, I think, in the short term, we can assist these people not only by supporting them and giving them food vouchers but also by referring them to jobs which we may be aware of them in our workplace or somewhere else. Many of these people have lost whole or a part of their income and they are looking for a new job.

What has the experience of this journey into pastoral leadership been like?
Despite all challenges in serving people in this community, there have been always a great joy and encouragement for us when we see transformed lives. We see hopeless and weary people find hope in Jesus and this hope revives them and changes them. Through this journey with our Lord and His people, we have been greatly blessed by witnessing how the gracious Lord fills their lives with His assurance and hope.  We see how the Lord uses his faithful followers in the church community to welcome, love and serve these hopeless and weary strangers (Iranian refugees and asylum seekers) who step into their church. This is the biggest encouragement for us that we are also a part of God’s plan for reaching to this people and serving them.

You have recently completed a PhD. How did you decide on your thesis?
The topic: The love of God: shared experiences of Muslim-background Iranian Christians in their journey to seek refuge in Australia.

Serving the Muslim background Iranians (and non-Iranians) during past 14 years, it was interesting to me to see how God works in every individual’s life through different paths to bring them to his knowledge and eventually into a personal relationship with Him. I found the most common aspect of God which is reflected and emphasized in Muslim background believers’ testimonies and life stories is His unconditional love. God reveals himself to Muslims and gets their attention through different ways such as dreams, visions, miracles and His Word. But there is one unique and important aspect of God which is very attractive. It helps Muslims to continue learning about Him, change their previous beliefs and eventually believe in him. This aspect is the Love of God, which motivates them to continue the spiritual journey they have started. This observation motivated me to have my thesis in this topic and try to find out how Muslims make sense of the concept of Love of God in Christian faith and why it is so attractive for them. Is it a mere conceptual idea or it is a practical experience? The love of God often has been subject if many debates between Christian and Muslim scholars. I tried to find out is there any similarities between concept of the love of God in Islamic and Christian doctrines. Moreover, is “love of God” only a conceptual idea expressed in the Bible or it is a real and tangible reality experienced by people (Muslims) in their relationship with God revealed in the Bible? Did they experience the same when they lived as Muslim and worshipped Allah?

What were some of the findings from your thesis?
It was the participants’ contact and interaction with members of Australian churches, more specifically during the first months after their arrival in Australia: this greatly influenced their attachment to Christian communities and also contributed to their perceptions of the loving nature of God. The passionate and loving attitudes of Christians in taking care of the intensive emotional and physical needs of the participants, has profoundly contributed to shaping the participants’ views about the love of God in Christian faith. The godly characters of believers, their actions and deeds in serving others and their welcoming and receptive attitudes toward newcomers and strangers are commonly highlighted as reflective of God’s loving nature by this group of Iranians.

How do you hope the insights from your thesis will be used?
As the body of Christ, Christian communities could effectively contribute to the refugee and asylum seekers’ healing process. As we see, the community of believers plays a significant role in leading Muslim background Iranians to Christian faith. For Iranian new believers, God’s love is actualized in the loving attitudes and character of members of the Christian communities.

Are you thinking to share the findings of your study or your experience of serving Muslims with others who may be interested in or feel called to serve Muslims?
Yes, of course, God willing I would like to write a book based on my research. There are amazing stories about spiritual journeys of people in the community which is accompanied by their dangerous physical journey from Iran to Australia. The findings are astonishing; their views and perceptions about Christian faith and its communities are fresh and look at them from a different perspective.  

Moreover, I am trying to design and offer a series of classes for people who might be interested in serving Muslims. Australia is one of the main destinations for the Muslim refugee and asylum seekers. This provides us with a continuous opportunity to connect them, serve them, carry their burdens and share the God’s love with them. I believe there are many people who have heart to serve Muslims. We need to equip these people by helping them to understand Muslims, and answer their questions: How do Muslims see Christian faith? How they interpret our interaction with them? How do they make sense of our God and compare it with the idea of God which they used to carry for a long time in the past? Do all groups of Muslims have a common understanding of God (Allah)? We hope to initiate these classes soon and I would encourage our sisters and brothers in the Baptist family to join us.

 

Rev Dr Sam Farbod is the Pastor of the Persian community at NewHope Baptist Church. To contact Sam, please email sam.farbod@newhope.net.au or go to https://newhope.net.au/Persian/.