January 2024
Big Plans for 2024
Christine and I are so thrilled to be living our best life here in Corio, the second most disadvantaged suburb in Victoria. We’ve been here over 4.5 years and seem to be building momentum. This year we plan to focus 90% of our work on engaging unchurched children with a small focus on unchurched adults and a small focus on strengthening Christian leaders. To do this, we will run the following programs:
Watch the Bus Stop Cafe VideoBus Stop Cafe will run every day at school pick up time offering hot or iced chocolates for $0.50 and coffees for $1. This will form a basis upon which others can come and build new ways of engaging the children and parents such as a computer to help migrant adults engage with services (kindly donated by the Lion’s Club), a sewing machine and sewing coach to help anyone interested to learn this valuable skill, table tennis for fun and engagement, pizza-making for a snack and to teach cooking skills to kids. There are many other ways Bus Stop Cafe can be extended to help bring people together in Jesus’ name.
Mainly play will run once a week as a playgroup for preschool children from many different ethnic backgrounds. Simone Bound will be leading and building this into a very effective ongoing ministry to sow seeds of love and faith for the next generation. Praise God for the grant from Viva Energy.
Pop Up Church will run the first Saturday of each month at Labuan Square, Norlane, a poor and rough part of town. Brave Christians come together from many different churches and sing, testify, teach, do drama, make friends and pray with the locals. This has been going for over two years and God can bring people there who wouldn’t normally go inside a church building to receive Jesus as Lord.
Warrior Church is a new project which will run once a month on the third Sunday evening. It has been in our house for three months, which is great, but we might move to Corio Christian Centre if we outgrow our house. Warrior Church focuses on developing leaders by teaching what’s required to become a strong and effective Christian who bears much fruit. We have a meal, discussion, worship (with drums!) and then small group prayer. Many of these behaviours are currently missing from Western church culture and we want to keep them alive.
Why this blog?
January was a quiet month with nothing to report, so I thought I’d share the ‘why’ of all this. The purpose of this monthly blog is to help those interested in evangelistic mission in Australia by sharing our own journey as husband and wife independently called from Melbourne to Corio, the second most disadvantaged suburb in Victoria. Christine and I bring a bunch of skills in teaching, marketing, publishing, videography, hospitality, property management, prayer, small group leading, music and management. We’re keen to bring the gospel to the locals as effectively as possible, with a special focus on children as they haven’t yet gone off the rails.
Sharing the struggles
Too often, Christian publishing is triumphalist, giving a false impression of the real story. I want to share the struggles with you and believe God guides the path of those who love Him. One of the recent struggles is feeling really hurt by other Christians who have rejected us and are saying bad things about us and knowing that I am, of course, partly to blame. Dealing with the hurt makes it harder to be enthusiastic about God’s joy with those we meet from day to day. So we are trying to find the joy of the Lord amidst the pain of being hurt. Kind of ironic, but nevertheless, part of the regular walk for Warriors for Christ. Part of the problem is that we are not trying to plant a church. We’re trying to sow gospel seeds of love with the children of our community, but because this is so unusual, many Christians find it too much to grasp and suspect our motives.
Don’t try anything new!
To finish up this month’s post, I wanted to flag an important shift in focus. As I’ve been praying at Avalon Sanctuary with my dog Tigger for the last few weeks, I’ve received a beautiful message from God, a dawning realisation that I shouldn’t try anything new for a while, but instead, should build what we already have. Apostolic, entrepreneurial people like me take comfort in starting new things. The energy is infectious, the belief is high, and the vision is clear. But what if you have already started several things which are indeed wonderful? The challenge will be to die to that entrepreneurial drive and instead be calmer, and focus on the present, the people I’m with and build a strong and healthy team. The grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence. Time to stay put and build! If new things are to be started, I’d best wait for another entrepreneur to come along and breathe them to life!
You can get involved
Giving – You can support Little Miracles Community by donating!
Account Name: Little Miracles Community Inc.
BSB: 633 000
ACC: 205 402 357
Praying – If you’re not on our Prayer Warrior Team, drop me a line and join: angus@littlemiraclescommunity.com.au
Volunteering – Come and make tea for mainly play, or help with the craft at Bus Stop Cafe! Lots of wonderful volunteer positions exist to love the locals in Jesus’ name.
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