S3E4 - Anna is passionate about sharing Christ’s love and lordship over this world through creation care. She is on the cusp of going to Kenya for her first term on the mission field. Kenya is not an unfamiliar place; she grew up there watching and helping her missionary parents. So, she has seen firsthand the intersection between community poverty and environmental decline and is set to work with a local Christian ministry that seeks to educate and restore land and water resources. This is an amazing opportunity to point people to the Lord of creation and the eternal hope and care found in Him through meeting real and practical needs.

 Anna also speaks candidly about her transition back to Australia as a missionary kid and journey to working out her own identity and relationship with God. She is no stranger to feeling like an outsider and wondering what culture she fits into yet in God’s kindness he has shown her all the resources he has given her to reach others.

You can partner with Anna through prayer or financially - click here.

Find out more about how CMS can help your church partner in global mission by visiting cms.org.au and selecting your local branch. 

S3E3 - Today’s episode comes from a live interview that took place at Top End Global, a CMS SANT global mission conference in Darwin. We hear from Marlene and James, two Aboriginal teachers at Nungalinya College in Darwin, helping to equip and encourage Aboriginal Christian students to walk in faith and in God’s word.  

Marlene and James are a powerful witness to God’s work in Aboriginal communities. Hear them talk about the blessing and challenges of how they live as Christians in their own community and culture while also navigating white Australia.

Find out more about how CMS can help your church partner in global mission by visiting www.cms.org.au and selecting your local branch. 

S3E2 - God is already powerfully at work in Africa – after all Africa is currently the centre of global Christianity. The challenge for the African church is to match gospel growth with enough godly, faithful, and well-equipped leaders to disciple this generation and be prepared for the next. Mike and Karen Roe want to be part of this movement and do this by serving in theological education at George Whitefield College in South Africa. They have a heart to train and disciple leaders who love Jesus and are soundly rooted in God’s word.

Hear Mike share about being a theological lecturer in a multicultural college and Karen share about her passion for upskilling theological teachers in adult education. They are careful to point out that the African church doesn’t need the West, but we can ask God how He would have us serve with the skills and resources he has given us. This is humble and vulnerable mission.

You can partner with Mike and Karen through prayer or financially - click here.

Find out more about how CMS can help your church partner in global mission by visiting cms.org.au and selecting your local branch. 

S3E1 - Steven and Sandra Parsons have served in Japan for 26 years! They have a lot to share about their love for Japanese people and culture. Japan is one of the least reached people groups in the world: less than 0.5% identify as Christian, local churches are small, and it can take someone 10 years to decide to follow Jesus. It is in this context that Steven and Sandra have worked faithfully alongside Japanese Christians and other missionaries to develop local ministry and have seen the Holy Spirit at work.

Steven explores how from the outside Japan appears affluent, well-educated and has embraced many things from the West, but at its heart it is Eastern, and people yearn for meaning. Japanese people hold strong convictions about their Japanese identity and religious traditions (even if they don’t believe in them), and so, it seems to many that to follow Christ is to reject being Japanese. Yet young people are coming to Christ. Churches are developing their own cultural identity, worship, and programs to reach their friends and neighbours with the good news of Jesus. Sandra and Steven have learnt a lot about trusting God when growth is slow and how obedience to God’s calling gives us strength and conviction when obstacles have come their way.

You can partner with Sandra and Steven through prayer or financially - click here for more information. https://www.cms.org.au/missionaries/steven-and-sandra-parsons/

Find out more about how CMS can help your church partner in global mission by visiting cms.org.au and selecting your local branch.

S2E7 - In our final episode for season 2, we hear from outgoing CMS International Director, Peter Rodgers. Peter has had a heart for mission since he was a child; it has shaped his whole life. For the past 11 years Peter has served as the International Director of CMS Australia and prior to this he and his family were missionaries in Indonesia for 11 years. Peter brings to us his vast knowledge and experience of mission, and what it’s meant to help raise up and send CMS missionaries.

Hear what Peter has to say about:

• His own experience of being a missionary has shaped his pastoral heart
• How mission has changed and it's future
• Qualities CMS looks for in missionaries
• Holistic mission
• His wife, Marcelle's, faithful ministry and their future plans
• How we too can foster a heart for mission and see a world that knows Jesus

If you are interested in partnering with CMS by praying or giving click here. If you’re interested in mission please contact your local branch.

S2E5 - Earlier this year Gordon was diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer and prior to this he had suffered from anxiety and depression. He doesn’t see himself as an exception: he knows that suffering is common to everyone. However, his Christian hope allows him to experience the daily evidence of God’s grace and know that God has a plan for him and his family, even in the face of death. 

Listen to Gordon talk about how he lives a life without regret, how his suffering shapes ministry and how he is passionate about keeping lines of communication open with missionaries so we can learn to cross cultures in our own backyard.

Read Checkpoint online or you can subscribe to receive a posted copy by contacting your local branch.

Read Gordon Cheng's blog.

Don’t forget to register for your local branch’s summer conference.

Find out more about how CMS can help your church partner in global mission by visiting cms.org.au and selecting your local branch. 

S2E4 – M’s love for Jesus and his engineering skills have led him all the way to majority Muslim South Asia to serve in clean water and sanitation projects (along with his wife, K, and two children). After training, preparing, going and language learning M was excited to join a locally led team to bring clean water to surrounding villages. Only his welcome wasn’t as warm as he anticipated leaving him emotionally devastated. Find out about the power of prayer that took M from the floor his apartment sobbing to gaining the trust and building life-giving relationships with his colleagues.

He will challenge us to consider how vital prayer partnership is to building community and care while isolated on the mission field. While unpredictability can be disheartening, “God’s faithfulness in responding to and answering prayers” has given M and his family the encouragement needed to keep going.

You can partner with M – partner in prayer by signing up to receive his partnership updates here. If you are also in a position to partner financially, please click here.

Find out more about how CMS can help your church partner in global mission by visiting cms.org.au and selecting your local branch.

S2E3 - Did you listen to Episode 2 yet? If the answer is no, then that’s the first thing you should do after reading this sentence! Because this episode is the second half of a great interview with Maggie about her work in Southeast Asia helping girls back on their feet after they’ve been rescued from exploitation.

Once you’re back you’ll be all set to fully appreciate another reference to the “purloined” Bible.

You can’t help but finish this episode feeling both hopeful and challenged. Hopeful that Maggie’s organization is making a real difference as they care for the girls who are referred to them. It’s a holistic, long-term kind of care where girls are supported to get back on their feet after some awful circumstances and begin to dream about the future and rebuild their lives again. The hope is not only for an earthly transformation but also an eternal one as Maggie, along with other Christians in her workplace, are making Jesus known and making God’s Word available.

You might also feel challenged as Maggie puts forward the question that prompted her steps into overseas mission (listen in to find out what that question is!). You might also consider how you can be involved in supporting mission; whether it’s in praying, giving, caring, or going. As Maggie points out, “We can’t do everything … but we can do something.” What will your something be?

On that note, you can partner with Maggie – partner in prayer by signing up to receive her partnership updates here.

If you are also in a position to partner financially, please click here.

Find out more about how CMS can help your church partner in global mission by visiting cms.org.au and selecting your local branch.

S2E2 - In this episode, you’ll meet Maggie. She’ll tell you she’s nothing special – but by the end of this episode, you’ll probably disagree. You’ll hear Maggie’s faith story – which includes a “purloined” Bible, a trip to an Indian Ashram and an unexpected connection between Hong Kong and Adelaide, find out how many countries she has visited, and hear about the great need for the work she is doing in South East Asia, to rescue girls from exploitation and trafficking.

While this episode covers content that can be confronting and uncomfortable, it is an important one. Please take care of yourself; don’t hesitate to reach out if you need to talk. You can always call Lifeline (13 11 14) or speak to a trusted friend. The situation may feel hopeless but take heart: the fight against exploitation is being taken seriously by governments and many not-for-profit organisations, including where Maggie is working.

Stay tuned for Episode Three …

You can partner with Maggie – partner in prayer by signing up to receive her partnership updates here.

If you are also in a position to partner financially, please click here.

Find out more about how CMS can help your church partner in global mission by visiting cms.org.au and selecting your local branch.

S2E1 - Whilst CMS and other mission agencies are committed to global mission and equipped to send and support workers in locations overseas, it is the Church that inherits Jesus’ commissioning of the Disciples’ to go to the nations. The sending of missionaries is a responsibility that sits with all Christians, and our leaders. 

So how can local churches deepen their involvement and focus on global mission? What does that look like on the ground? How might a local pastor help their congregation participate in global mission?  

To help think through these questions, we’ve spoken to a church pastor who is passionate about global mission - Chris Jolliffe. Chris is the pastor at Trinity Church Aldgate, in the Adelaide Hills. In this episode, Chris talks about his church’s recent focus on global mission through their series on the book of Acts, and shares practical gems about connecting with and caring for gospel workers (including swimming with cuttlefish!! Okay, maybe that’s just Chris …).  

Find out more about how CMS can help your church partner in global mission by visiting cms.org.au and selecting your local branch.