by Australian Christian women. Since September 2015

As 2017 draws to a close I wonder if you find yourself with a desire that you so dearly hoped would have come to pass this year. Yet, as you stand at the end of 2017 it still seems so far out of reach! How do we summon the courage and dare to keep believing even when hope begins to hurt? Maybe you’re in a place now where you have held onto hope for so long, hope for the right man to walk into your life, hope for that career you’ve dreamt of, or hope that one day you will find

The first Sunday of Advent we focused on HOPE. The second Sunday of Advent, commencing December 10, focuses us toward PEACE. This often is communicated in multiple ways. And discussion in these areas as to what kind of PEACE we are gifted with as disciples of Christ is vitally important as we seek to follow the "Prince of Peace". The first concept understood by followers of Jesus is personal peace. This idea to is understood in private individual categories. The sec

I read the books on spiritual disciplines and tried to learn from them – Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, other earlier great mystics, and more contemporary writers. Yet unaccountably, none of them mentioned the benefits of nail polish as an aid to spiritual disciplines!I discovered it accidentally. Some time ago I was quite sick and eventually diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. All of a sudden my life was full of people whom I had never needed before.I was seeing lots of my

“Redemption stories sing…” Sometime during my childhood I read a novel about a boy who survived as a pickpocket on the streets of London. He is adopted by a new family. He is bathed—his first bath. The account of this bath has always stuck with me. His clothing has never been removed—a wad of items worn web thin, layered like a decrepit pass the parcel. Trousers are pulled back like slices of ham. A colony of fleas requires massacring. And his skin, blackened by waste and imp

There’s been an interesting side effect to society’s changing perspective regarding women and leadership; many women are finding the need to reevaluate their perspectives on their own leadership call. Some are being forced to ask themselves the question: Who am I when the Lid is lifted? Like you, I’m fortunate to know a very large number of gifted and talented women. They’re strong, courageous, encouraging, visionary, and they’re all out for female empowerment. Some were brou

Tell us a little about yourself My name is Louisa I am 26 years old and I am married to Simon. I am currently working in university ministry in Sydney but next year I am heading to bible college to study a Masters of Divinity at SMBC. During my childhood I lived in the US for 10 years with my family but Australia has always been my true home. What's your favourite bible passage & why? My favourite bible passage is psalm 146 particularly verses 1-3. It has been a powerful ong

Tell us a little about yourself I grew up as a TCK in the Middle East before returning to Australia for university. After trying a few different things I completed a Bachelor of Theology in Melbourne, and spent some time back in the Middle East working with refugees. I am currently working at Scripture Union Victoria, in the team that overseas beach missions and summer camps. I spend the rest of my time working on my writing (I am currently getting my second book of poetry re

Tell us a little about yourself With my family, I worked in the Middle East for over two decades, in education (adult Arabic literacy, teacher training) - I still miss it. As an ethnographer, I did major research in adult literacy in Egypt, and on the women’s mosque movement in the Middle East. I currently teach people how to think theologically about and practically engage with other cultures, and other religions, particularly Islam. I’m based in the CMS training college, a

Tell us a little about yourself I'm an Ordained Minister with the Churches of Christ in South Australia and I also have experience and training in Community Development and Not-For-Profit Management. I'm currently working with Baptist Care SA as Senior Consultant for Church Community Development. I value working with vulnerable and marginalised people groups and have consulted with Churches and Charities both in Australia and internationally in this area. I think in this work

When you were little did you ever throw coins into a wishing well? As a little girl, I remember my Mum giving me coins to throw in any wishing well we would come across and I would close my eyes and make a wish – I would wish for what every little girl wishes for at some point – I would wish for a pony! But I never made my Mum buy pony food or a saddle after making my wish because I never actually expected it to come true. However, if my Mum promised me an ice cream when I go