from the Editor's desk

 Welcome to this months edition of conXion, somehow it seems to be bigger!

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 5 :11

This is the key to the  invitation on page 11 ‘Gather & Connect’ an initiative of the Team. Throughout last year I wrote often about how brilliant women are when they meet, how so easily in no time at all they can share with each other intimate details of their lives, we do it well.

Well Gather & Connect is all about that, we would love for those of you who have a passion for reaching women where they are at, to consider putting aside Saturday 8 September and come and join with us in a time of table conversation. A time where we can encourage each other, share our ideas, dreams and visions for the work of the women in our churches.  There is no cost, a donation toward missions will be taken (and that’s of course optional).

Morning tea and lunch will be provided, we will share in a times of praise & worship, but mainly conversation, so you see all it will take is to jump into your car and come to Brisbane North Church of Christ to Gather & Connect.

Another event coming very soon will be the ‘Girls Getaway’ at Coolum 26  -  28 October. Our theme is ‘One Day at a Time’ guest speaker will be Carol Smith and  guest artist Bel Thomson nee Morrison.  A great time has been planned.

  

ConXion has managed to build up an amazing  group of gifted and talented women writers. Each of them has an incredible passion for encouraging and sharing with women through God. Last month I wrote:

‘conXion is about ordinary women, writing for ordinary women serving an

extraordinary God.’

Each one has a uniqueness and they share part of themselves every time they put pen to paper or maybe I should say these days, they sit in front of their computer and type to their hearts content.

Tolkien set out to entertain with his stories… his own children first, and then others. But in the telling, the stories grew into something far grander than anything he himself imagined when he began. That is always the best way.

The writer begins with a little more than a thread of an idea and the desire to follow it and see where it will go. But as he works at his creation, his labour becomes a sacrifice, of his time if nothing else (but most often, of much else besides). And if he is faithful to the High Quest, God I believe, accepts the sacrifice and enters into it in ways unforeseen by even the author himself.

Stephen R. Lawhead speaking of the  words of J. R. R. Tolkien

In His love

Andi

Why Me!

“WHY ME!”

I often thought that if I was a good person then only good things would happen to me and that is why when bad things happened, I cried the loudest! “Why did this have to happen to me? What did I do to deserve such a terrible thing?” I asked between tears. This is probably a familiar story in which we question the meaning of life and why certain things happen to us. It was only much later in life through a conversation with my mother when I learnt that the only constant that happened is that good and bad things eventually came to an end.

With that thought in mind, I relocated from Perth to Sydney city after graduating from my Bachelors of Information and Communication Technology. I was the proud holder of a degree after all the hard work from the past three years of study. The sky was now my limit!

After three months of an enthusiastic search for employment, I accepted my first job as a Help Desk Support Manager in information technology. It was a three month contract from October to December to assist the Engineers since it was a very busy period leading to festive season (Christmas).

Without any prior industry experience to manage a help desk, I worked to the best of my abilities. Every morning I woke up early, took two trains, a bus and a fair bit of walking to work. Each day I lost up to four hours in travel, to and from work but I always reminded myself that it was one foot through the door. I was building my resume and character. Eventually, this too would end and I would be able to afford a job closer to home. Regardless, I persevered in those months because I loved my job.

When the time came to renew my contract, I received a letter from the business owner that my contract would not be renewed, and two weeks’ pay in advance was processed for me as per employment termination terms. I was advised then that I was free to leave early as this was my last day of work. Thoughts of failure filled in my head; despite the bitterness wailing up in my heart, I thanked my  manager for the opportunity and did the longest walk to the bus stop; my feet heavily dragging underneath me.

As I waited for the bus, I looked up at the sky. I admit a part of me did feel like God had abandoned me for the world I had known had suddenly slowed down and the clouds moved steadily over me. In that moment I felt like I was the only one going through such a difficult experience. Being in a foreign land without family was difficult. My parents had sacrificed a lot to get me here; the last thing I wanted was to be the bearer of bad news. The words, “Mom and dad, I’ve lost my job!” would not dare escape my breath for fear of letting them down; so I thought.

I was alone and too far away from home to bother them with such news. I would not allow myself to break down either, not just yet. Instead, with the little money and hope I had left; I took the train to the city and found an internet café where I sat until sunset. I had applied for as many jobs as I could by the time the café was closing.

I returned to my shared accommodation without speaking a word about my current employment situation to any of the house mates. I feared that if they knew my position, speculations about whether I would be able to afford the rent would begin to circulate.

It was in the confinement of my room that I had allowed myself a moment to actually let the feelings of disappointment overwhelm my senses completely. I felt like a failure more than anything. I felt like I had let my parents down. I felt like I had let myself down. But I only allowed myself to experience these human emotions after I had done something about my situation by applying for over fifty positions before the café closed for the day!

This happened over six years ago! Today, I can laugh about it; more importantly share with you. What I came to realize through this experience is that that good and bad things happen to all mankind – the value of any experience is what I choose to make of it.

In my novel Perception: Every woman’s diary to overcome her past, when the character Devine Miller had experienced an unpleasant event she came to the realization that “Was not the whole essence of living life about the sole purpose of experiencing it in its fullness; to experience it in its symmetry of both happiness and sadness? How pathetic to look back and see rejoicing occurred only when good things had come about. Surely I should have celebrated even when fate had befallen me for growth had been in the same fibre that entwined good and bad! Moreover, growth transpired more in bad than good”

 Kapesa Singogo Smith-Chatterjee

MCOM, BSc, HDA, A+, MCP, TSIA

BE SMART,
STAY BEAUTIFUL
AND NEVER STOP BELIEVING IN THE ALMIGHTY...

Prayer Page

‘A man was going down from Jerusalem… and he fell among robbers… leaving him half dead. Now by chance a Priest… likewise a Levite… passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan… had compassion… and took care of him… go and do likewise.’

By chance we meet many people in life who are in need. From among them we can find a neighbour, a person to whom we can show mercy, a person who needs love, care and understanding.

The person who is lonely, outcast, despised, rejected, worried, depressed, sorrowing or poor IS OUR NEIGHBOUR.

My children are fascinated by the ‘use by’ date that is stamped on everything we buy. It almost governs what they eat. They look at the ‘use by’ date before they check the price, weight or list of contents. And there is a rush to use the product BEFORE the ‘use by’ date.

Each of us has a ‘use by’ date stamped on us to. God does have a time of reckoning. ONLY HE KNOWS WHAT THE DATE IS, although sometimes we can guess.

We have to remember that one day our life on earth will run out, but we should not worry about when this will be. Let us rather consider how to use the life we have now, using each precious moment we have for the best. And let us ALWAYS be ready to give a good account of the faith and hope that is in us. (1Peter 3:15).

The Bible says the name BARNABUS means ‘son of encouragement’, most of us can recall ONE or more encouragers in our own lives… perhaps a parent, teacher or someone else who offered a reassuring word or helpful advice at a turning point.

Being an encourager lies at the very heart of Christianity. Paul commended early church members for their helpfulness. He urged them to ‘encourage one another, and help one another, just as you are doing’ (1Thess 5:11). How do we follow through with Paul’s admonition today?

Evelyn Colbran

Prayer Coordinator

_________________________________________________________________________________

Prayer & Praise Points:

· For the work of GMP in Vietnam

· Pray that we will continue to have religious freedom here & that RE continues in our schools & for those who teach RE & also SU and our Chaplains.

· Pray for the following churches within our movement

Browns Plains  -  Bundaberg Twyford St & Avenall Heights  -  Bundamba  -  Burleigh Heads

A Prayer to Treasure

  

  

Give clean hands, clean words and clean thoughts.

Help me to stand for the hard right against the easy wrong.

Save me from habits that harm.

Teach me to work as hard and play as fair, in Thy sight alone, as if all the world saw.

Forgive me when I am unkind; and help me to forgive those who are unkind to me.

Keep me ready to help others at some cost to myself.

Send me chances to do a little good work every  day and so grow more like Christ.

Amen

What’s That in Your Hand

My fire almost went out today. I wasn’t paying attention and the heat just dissipated. I had set it up correctly earlier in the afternoon, but it just didn’t have enough oxygen or fuel.  All that was left was a few charred logs and some embers, a few were red but most were black. The raging fire I had expected was all but lost. I didn’t have enough kindling to make a new fire so I threw the last little bits I had on, gave it a bit of a fan and …. Nothing. Oh well, that was all I had, I guess we aren’t having a fire tonight.

I had walked away from the fireplace into the kitchen when I heard “Mum, Look!!!”. All of a sudden my fireplace was ablaze with flames. And as we watched, and warmed ourselves by its heat, we discovered that the extra burst of flames provided by the sticks was enough to re-ignite the logs and my fire has been burning hot ever since. So hot, that I had to take my hand away when taking this photo because it was burning me!

  

  

Who would have thought that my little handful of sticks could have contributed to this blaze. In fact, without my little sticks, the fire would definitely have gone out.

Sometimes you might look at what's in your hand and think that it isn’t much at all. In terms of a fire, maybe your little bundle of sticks wouldn’t even last a minute. You might look at others who seem to have great big logs and feel like throwing your sticks away. But can I ask you to have a look again at what is in your hand.

 Your words, your acts of service, your time, your touch, your gifts. 

Some encouragement for a friend. Helping a stranger. Washing the dishes. Buying a gift. Shouting a coffee. Simply asking “what can I do to help?”.

You never know what effect your input will have in stoking someone's fire. You might not notice when someone is being snuffed out, laden down with cares. You cant see when there's not enough fuel for them to keep going as they had been.

My fire has most definitely been stoked by each of those things recently. Words of encouragement from a friend. A stranger taking time out to help. Someone washing the dishes for me. A coffee when I really needed one. A meal paid for. A wonderful offer of “I’d like to help, what can I do?”

Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou for throwing your sticks in and stoking my fire. I know you didn’t think it was much, but to me each was like a breath of fresh air, like adding fuel to the fire so I can keep doing what I do.

So look again at what's in your hand. They might look like twigs to you, but when given to someone else, they could fan into flame something magnificent, which warms many more with its continuing fire.

Donna                                                                                                                                                            

You can read more at www.bundymum.blogspot.com   -  Donna’s blog ‘Thirsty’

The Race of Life

“Go!” The whistle blew and off they went. Legs flying, batons held tight, little bodies running. “Come on.” cried parents and teachers cheering from the sideline followed by desperate pleas, “Don’t stop. Keep going!” as little ones slowed down to wait for their friends. “Don’t look back.” accompanied energetic arm waving and finger pointing as grinning faces enjoyed the crowd as they passed and looked out for mum and dad. “Run!” a simple word shouted with such gusto and emotion that it evoked a burst of energy and etched a tiny smile on the face of the hearer spurring them to run with all their might toward the finish line.

Oh! What a day!  What a wonderful, exhausting day!  The Carnival finished, I went home and collapsed into the outstretched arms of my recliner and enjoyed a well-earned ‘Nanna nap’! 

Jesus tells us we are to “run with patience the race that is set before us looking unto Him, the author and finisher of our faith.” Hebrews 12: 1b-2a.

  Our race of life leads us along many paths of joy, sorrow, uncertainty and absolute conviction. Along the way it is good to have friends cheering us, celebrating triumphs and sharing our tears.  Best of all, our greatest friend, our Lord Jesus is there cheering us on.  He is our biggest fan, ever enthusiastic as we strive to do the Father’s will.  Jesus runs the race with us.  The moment we’re saved He says, “Go!” As we run, He’s there cheering “Come on.” When we face life’s challenges and heartbreaks, Jesus pleads with our hearts, “Don’t stop. Keep going!” and when the world looks so tempting its Jesus’ gentle, loving voice that encourages us saying, “Don’t look back.”  He’s always there telling us to “Run!” 

Do you listen for His small, quiet voice speaking to your heart through the Holy Spirit; do you heed those scriptures that ‘jump’ out at you or roll over and over in your mind?  They will give you direction in your thinking to make wise decisions.  Are you running with all your might towards the finish line and Christ’s open arms?  It’s a great race and you will be, without a shadow of a doubt, a winner!

So hang in there and keep on running.

Debi Stone

Debi and her husband, Scott live in Bundaberg.  Debi teaches at the local Christian College. She has a passion for writing and enjoys sharing those things the Lord places upon her heart.

Vietnam reflections

My first impressions when arriving in Vietnam were of heat, humidity, and the chaos and noise of motorbikes everywhere!

However visiting “Bright Solutions” was like stepping into an oasis of peace. It was not simply the absence of horns, engines and moving chaos; it was being somewhere where women were happy to work, and where the peace of God seemed to rest. We had the opportunity to watch the work and to interview the women. It was lovely to hear:

“I love the company because it creates jobs for the poor”

“It helps me in learning new skills”
”What we learn is very inspiring”

  We also had the opportunity to meet with John and Lan Dean. They have been involved with building adequate housing for a formerly nomadic people group who have been ordered to settle in an area. They have been involved in drilling over 60 wells for safe water supply, and have set up toilets and water supplies for schools that have lacked both. They are beginning a project that will involve training 500 women in rubber tapping and 200 in rearing chickens, as well as with further building and sanitation work. We were able to hear Lan’s story of coming to faith, and were inspired by the peace and joy on her face as she shared about the Lord’s work in her life.

  

Finally, we were also able to share with Pastor T about her work with the church in Vietnam. Despite the many difficulties she has faced in life and ministry, her face was all lit up with the joy and the love of the Lord as she shared her life story. (I have not included her photo for security reasons)

 

 The impressions I take away from Vietnam are of faces: Fiona Brier’s animation as she shares each morning, the women working together at “Bright Solutions”, John and Lan Dean sharing their stories, the evident presence of God shining through the face of Pastor T. I feel I have been blessed beyond measure to meet these amazing people, and that God has sown something precious in my heart as a result. I would certainly encourage others considering visiting Vietnam to contact the GMP office, and find out whether they might be able to make some personal connections with Churches of Christ representatives in Vietnam. I am reminded of Paul’s heart as he wrote to the church in Rome: (Romans 1: 11 – 12 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.) I have certainly been deeply encouraged by the faith of these Christian leaders in Vietnam.

Janet Woodlock 

I work for Churches of Christ Vic/Tas in women's ministry and leadership coaching. I blog (occasionally!) at http://secret-womens-space.blogspot.com/ have two silly fluffy little dogs, two adorable boys and (mercifully) only one adorable husband.

PATTERNS… IN HIS PATTERN

Humility… Thinking of patterns and humility I thought of Jesus and his humility in his pattern of life all those years ago…

My teaching is not my own. It comes from Him who sent me…

John 7: 16

Jesus didn’t seek glory for himself, and he didn’t teach his own ideas, Jesus did only what the Father commanded as he sought to bring glory to God.  He followed God’s pattern for His life as short as it was.

In His teachings He taught how to live a humble life. As creatures created by God we should strive to glorify God and praise him in our everyday pattern of life.  As we continue along life’s journey we may as individuals see or experience different creations but there are none greater than God’s creations…

  

Reflecting on this and thinking of other patterns and the gift of creativity I thought of my eldest daughter who is a beautiful knitter. Living outside Wollongong in NSW where it is very cold, up in the mountains she spends a great deal of her time knitting sometimes working from a pattern but most times making up her own. She has made me very eye catching garments and even a knitted bedspread!! And each time I wear these pieces so many people stop and ask me about them… “What beautiful patterns, so much work and colouring.”

  

The finished product has done nothing worthy of praise it is simply one of my daughters creations. Each time I wear these garments that are admired I give thanks to God for the gift of creativity that He has bestowed on her, and so it is with us, in the pattern of life, God created us… He made each of us differently. Any praise we receive should go to Him.

Humility is for us to acknowledge that anything good comes from God.

For me, I have learnt to have more humility this year than last year; I have learnt to have more patience in the dark and trying times.

In the New Testament ‘humility’ is shown to be personal dependence on God and respect for other people.

We need to show humility, as we interact with people who may come into our lives as we travel through the pattern of our lives.

Elaine Hales

Walking with Farmers - Emotions

  Keep Your girth straps tight

They were mustering cattle on the property near the highway when the accident happened. They were near the end of a long hard morning and just doing the last few. The girth strap was loose on the saddle and needed another hole to be able to tighten it up on this horse, as it wasn’t the usual saddle. Dad was going to go back to the shed and get what was needed but decided to leave it and finish the job. He was heading a few weaners (young cattle taken off mothers when they are old enough) when a loud noise from a semi spooked them and as the horse turned to stop them the girth strap slipped and dumped Dad on to a piece of log, on his lower back which resulted in (4) fractured vertebrae and (2) bulged discs. The result is extreme pain for a long time and no work. It also requires heaps of patience. The treatment is medication and time. This also means he will be limited for the rest of his life. He made a decision to risk the strap and get home for lunch. Lunch didn’t happen that day for Dad.

As I was thinking about this, I thought of putting on the ‘whole armour of God’ and to guard yourselves against the enemy  -  satan. We need to have ourselves prepared at all times for whatever may occur (as much as we are able) and follow God’s instructions in His word  -  the bible says keep our girth straps tight and in place so we don’t fall into temptation and take the easy way out, which can result in us being hurt both physically and spiritually. By reading your Bible and daily readings / devotions we will be able to learn how to equip ourselves for our daily walk.

‘I am very very careful never to compromise with the people around me and I do not follow their evil ways.’

Exodus 34:12 (TLB)

Thought: Shortcuts in the Christian life don’t pay

Wishing you all abundant blessings!

Priscilla Gaston

“Love Unfailing Women’s Conference”

Bundaberg Church of Christ

 “Love Unfailing Women’s Conference”

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”  Hebrews 10:25

Sam was invited to attend Twyford Street Church of Christ’s Women’s Conference and rocked up along with 125 other ladies from 6 denominations and from towns from Caboolture to Rockhampton. She attends Coral Coast Baptist Church and had this to share about our special day…

“The whole day was filled with a real sense of God’s presence and I believe this was evident not only in the speakers but also in the worship and even over that delicious piece of cake at morning tea.  It was amazing for me to be in a place where there didn’t seem to be any judgement or criticism going on, but instead just a real sense of acceptance of all those women who walked through the door – regardless of where they came from.  I didn’t feel overwhelmed or “lost” like I quite often do when I’m out of my comfort zone, but I felt a real sense of peace and acceptance.  This was evidenced as soon as I sat down actually.  A lovely lady (Mrs Howard) came up to me and even though I’d never met her before, she wrapped me up in a huge hug like a grandma would give her granddaughter.  It was real, and I felt this overwhelming love just pouring out of her.  God’s love.  And wasn’t that what the entire day was about?  Unfailing Love.

Krysalus

The worship team “Krysalus” was outstanding!  Renee, Carolyn and Ludeen did such a good job and amazingly enough, some of the songs they led us in were songs that I had been specifically asking God for that week.  God is so good!   Every bit of their time with us was so wonderful.  It’s so good worshiping our Creator when you have such amazing women leading the way. 

Pam Hine was so real, it made it a pleasure to sit and listen to what she had to say.  Her offering of a flower to each of us representative of God’s love was so powerful and beautiful.  Her explanation of how we are God’s beloved was something that I haven’t heard a great deal about but it makes absolute sense.  Looking around the room while she was speaking, everyone was captivated.  I could see that God really used her to penetrate deep into people’s hearts.

 Donna was also great to listen to.  Here is a woman who is not afraid to reveal her true self to anyone.  It’s because of this that God uses her so amazingly. I really believe that because she has no walls up - no “pretend” Donna - that God’s love is able to just pour through her and out to everyone who has the privilege of knowing and hearing her speak.  Her love of God is evident in all that she says and does.

Having Claire Hazzard and Rebecca Devlin come to sing for us was a bonus!!  These are 2 really beautiful women who God is also using to speak out to the world in a way that we can all relate to.

The fact that we had more than we could eat the entire day (I’m sure I put on at least 5kg’s!!!) on top of all of this amazing music, fellowship, worship and teaching was just the cherry on the top.  It was great to see an entire church family getting behind such an amazing opportunity to reach out to the community to show God’s love.  The people (men included!!) who waited on us did such an awesome job and it was an absolute blessing to not have to worry about a single thing for the whole day. The food (breakfast, lunch & dinner!) was incredible and I know everyone was so thankful to have been blessed in such an amazing way.

We all left with a renewed sense of God’s love in our lives and will definitely be there again next year with a bunch more people that didn’t know about it this year but are DYING to come next year.  I think Twyford St Church of Christ might have started something huge!!!  So thank you Church of Christ for being sensitive to “hearing” the voice of God and for “doing” what He has called your church to do.”

Sam Thun

Sam is a volunteer chaplain at Bundaberg Christian College and has a heart to reach young people who have lost their way. She has a great husband and two beautiful boys and loves to see God working in peoples lives. You can read more from Sam at www.samanthathun.blogspot.com.au