From the Field

Back to Blog

Empathy Matters

Empathy: the power of identifying oneself mentally with (and so fully comprehending) a person or object of contemplation – Oxford English Reference Dictionary One of the most regrettable and despicable aspects of colonialism is the imposition by force of the coloniser’s will upon the subjugated masses: “We know best because we are more intelligent, powerful and technologically more advanced than you — which of course means we can deal with you more efficiently if you dare resist…” De...

A Short History of BETEL

The Betel ministry began as an attempt in the early 1980s to plant a church in a large suburban area of Madrid, Spain, known as San Blas. As a tiny multi-cultural missionary team we envisaged a church planted amongst people to whom the Holy Spirit was guiding us were the local heroin addicts! Initially baulking at the idea, we took the baby steps towards helping two addicts to enter a small Christian rehabilitation centre in the north of Spain. This deeply challenged our whole concept of church-...

Tech Advances

Last month I attended a staff meeting with colleagues in the Philippines. That may not seem like a big deal — staff meetings happen every week after all! But this one was different — it was a global staff meeting, attended by SIL staff from around the world, and it was broadcast from the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Just a few years ago that PNG staff were regularly absent from Asia-Pacific IT conference calls because their internet was unstable. The SIL centre now has internet strong...

Radical Transformations with a Firm Foundation

When we started serving the Lord 62 years ago, our ministry was vastly different than it is today. Over the years, we have seen many changes that have influenced what we do and how we do it. Politics, revolutions, government regulations, travel methods, technology, spiritual awakenings, Christian culture, and many other influences have all brought radical changes. It has been a transformative journey adjusting to the changing times and circumstances. The foundational message and biblical princip...

The Journey Thus Far

I arrived in Africa the day before my 21st birthday; fresh out of university, brimming with optimism and fervour and with only a 23kg suitcase (and as much carry-on as I had been able to cram in my little backpack) to my name. I had (with, in fairness, just the slightest bit of trepidation) turned down a coveted job-offer from Education Queensland after my teaching degree was completed, traded my life savings for a plane ticket, and fulfilled all the requisite requirements for joining OM (Operat...

Relationships Matter

Godly integrity forms the solid basis and the binding strength of the core of mission work: relationships. Ultimately Christians want non-believers to have the same eternal life-giving and life-changing relationship that they themselves have with God, so it is critical for believers to display, reflect and encourage such a relationship with their family, friends, co-workers and community members. The behaviour expressed through their diverse relationships, accompanied by positive and negative ef...

A Big Change

It has been twelve years since I first moved to this field. I know that’s only a fraction of the time other missionaries have been at it, but still, it’s long enough to have been able to experience change on various levels: changes in policies, changes in government, changes in staff, changes in culture, changes in my status, changes in my theology, changes in my person… On moving to France as a single man to work at Camp des Cimes, my ministry was straightforward: camp ministry, which inv...

Serving Him

In today’s ravaged and ever-changing society, one’s heart is encouraged in knowing that our Lord and Saviour is the same yesterday, today and forever. Sadly, disturbing characteristics of the last days are even evident amongst us, the Lord’s people — lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof; more concerned for one’s own interests than that of others; choked with cares of this life. In today’s ravaged and ever-changing s...

TESOL

Today I visited a new Christian school in Lubumbashi. Funded by Australians, this venture has the vision to provide quality French education from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12. We chatted over broad issues and, since I am now in my fourth year of administering a different Christian school, I realised how much I have learnt in that time. As my friends were showing me the top floor of the new Primary school building site, we could see down over the wall of the property onto the neighbouring area th...

Changes Over The Years In The Brazilian Ministry

Throughout the 55 years of Gary's service in Brazil, and Louise and Gary’s 51 years serving the Lord together as a couple, there have been many changes in the ministry. Our initial goal was to plant churches in a city where there was 1,031,554 population — not counting the metropolitan area, which makes it over 3,656,000 — as there was no Brethren Assembly in Campinas (and in the little town of Sousas, only one assembly founded by Louise's parents in 1949). After having planted Jardim Sant...

From Brazil to Portugal

Leiria Castle has been overlooking Leiria since 1142 when Dom Afonso Henrique built it to define a line of defence against Arab invaders. This began the major push that expelled the Moors after 400 years of unwelcome presence. Henrique became the first king of Portugal and Leiria Castle became an important part of Portuguese history and culture. With the march of time, both the castle and the culture have seen much change, and the castle’s role today is mainly that of a tourist attraction and ...

Integrity Matters

1. FIDELITY & DEPENDABILITY Integrity: moral uprightness; honesty – Oxford English Reference DictionaryWhen his master saw that the LORD was with [Joseph] and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favour in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. – Ge 39:5 What a whirlwind ride for Joseph. After nearly being killed but instead sold as a slave by green-eyed brothers, Josep...

Running The Race In Zambia

Life is certainly a race, and believe me, it doesn’t appear to be slowing down as we approach the finishing line. To God be the glory, for this is our joy, hope and strength. It is unimaginable to think the roads are that good I can go to town and not hit a pothole, and over half the road to the farm is good tar. The powers that be are looking at Chingola becoming a city, and it certainly is blessed by having well-made roads, with four-lane solar street lights beside many of them. In saying th...

Changing Times

When I think about how things have changed with the times, it is helpful for me to anchor the conversation in what hasn’t changed: God’s faithfulness, His amazing love and grace, and the everlasting and timeless gospel of Jesus Christ. Even as the world changes, global events unfold, and society at large openly rejects biblical values, God continues to transform lives, families and communities through the hope found in Jesus Christ. He is the unchanging and unmovable rock in whom we find sal...

Changes Over The Years

(and there have been many!) We are living in a world of constant change. It is hard to keep up with the pace at which things are changing. Sadly, many of the changes are not in keeping with Christian ethics or Biblical standards and values, but there are changes which are inevitable. One advantage of being an octogenarian is having many decades over which to reminisce and note changes I’ve experienced. My first ‘missionary journey’ was to the Philippines in 1961, having completed two years...

Hands At Work In South Africa

In Exodus 17, we read of the Amalekites coming out to fight the Israelites. As the battle began, Moses made his way up the mountain with his staff. In verse 11, we are told that ‘whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.’ Eventually Moses became weary. So we are told that Aaron held up one arm and Hur the other ‘so his hands were steady until the going down of the sun’ (v12b). This story, and the image of Aaron and Hur function...

Field Matters

In 2019 we are focussing on-field ministry updates from some of AMT’s Christian workers. We will celebrate their successes and praise God for the progress in their ministries — translations completed, people saved, new software developed. We will be challenged by their setbacks and disappointments, and pray that God will grant them the wisdom, strength, and patience they need to overcome obstacles — resistance from those of different beliefs, visa and other administrative delays, sickness ...

Landing At Long Tebangan

It is an unremarkable entry in my Pilot’s Logbook. November 29th 1963, Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer, VR-WAY, from Long Akah to Long Tebangan, Passengers Maria and Ubong, Flight time 10 minutes. But I will never forget that flight as long as I live. It would be the closest I ever went to having an accident, without ‘bending metal’ or ‘scratching’ a passenger. Joan and I, with Jo-Ann, Elizabeth and baby Penelope, had left Wasua in PNG on 8 December 1962, Max Flavel flying us down to Daru in the...

Grace Enough!

The noise, shouts and angry voices alerted me to the fact that I was walking into a volatile situation, but I was totally unprepared for the raw emotions that played out in front of me. To this day, I do not know what was the cause, but ’Esther’ and ‘Valerie’ were going at each other in what seemed like a fight to the death. Their faces and eyes betrayed the white hot anger and deep unending pain they were feeling. The ‘Chéf de Quartier’ walked in to adjudicate as hair was pulled ti...

Different Seasons

My Mum was a great story teller. She would sit us down and tell us stories of missionaries, read us missionary biographies, and tell us about orphans. I should mention that I grew up in Saudi Arabia. We didn’t have Kids church and my Mum was our Sunday school teacher, so her ‘Kids church’ curriculum included a lot of stories. As a child I was always so captivated that people would give up so much to live in a country that was not their own, and serve or help transform lives or even a commu...

The Human Condition

It was definitely a stand-off. Zac was nine months old, barely walking, and his finger was poised over the VCR eject button. “Don’t press it again, Zac,” I warned. Zac stared at me and moved his digit a fraction closer to the button. “Don’t —” I began, but was interrupted by a sudden wild flurry of desperate activity as Zac pressed the eject button as quickly as his stubby index could, before I took him away from further temptation. Almost nine years later, Christina was in another...

Lord, What On Earth Are You Doing?

I found 2 Co 4:7-10 to be so apt a description of the issues we faced in the Benabena work (except that we never experienced persecution) that I decided to use it as headings in this article. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed… In 1992 we started culture/language learning in the village of Katagu. But after a couple of years, Wendy came down with chronic fatigue syndrome and had to pull out, which left me to struggle on. By 1995 I came to a grinding halt. I was told by the cons...

What on Earth is God Doing?

Have you ever wondered, with all the changes going on around you, what is God doing? You are not alone! At our Women2Women about Mission Day in Brisbane on 16 June 2018, six missionaries shared their own experiences of change, reflecting on God’s words to His prophet in Isaiah 43:18-19: ‘…Do not dwell on the past… See, I am doing a new thing...’ Luba Yeoh opened the breadth of Scripture to us, tracing the way that God mysteriously worked in the past, as He does now, to bring about chan...

Broken Pieces

As a young believer, I had the habit of writing in the front of my Bible any sayings I came across which I felt would be of help to my spiritual growth. One of the many was “God only uses Broken Vessels, but He must have all the pieces”. At first glance it seems a contradictory statement, and certainly not true to our natural way of thinking, but we have learnt from experience that it’s true. We came home the other day to find the rope on our macramé basket had rotted, letting the lovely ...

Great Expectations

Most believers want to produce spiritual fruit, whether in full-time ministry or not. We seek to serve the Lord with faithfulness and joy, wherever we are, either at home or abroad. Conversely, we are all in a battle against the flesh, the world and the devil, which are constantly opposed to our spiritual growth and service, our Christian testimony, and our daily walk. In addition to these elements associated with our Christian life, there’s an added element for a full-time worker called the e...