Missions 2020
Ps John & Ps Anne Iuliano
When Jesus taught the disciples to pray the Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:9-13) He taught them the first thing they are to pray for is the coming of God’s Kingdom to their world: “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
As God Lovers - people who have renounced the Kingdom of Darkness and become Children of the King - our first commitment needs to be the Kingdom of God. Jesus told us to SEEK FIRST the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. (Matt 6:33) At LifeSource, we are committed to seeing God’s Kingdom extended and we are inviting you on the journey with us.
This year our Missions Vision theme is extending God’s Kingdom by “BUILDING KINGDOM CHURCHES” both overseas and in Australia. Over the last 22 years we have mainly focussed on church planting overseas but less so in Australia. Our overseas involvement will continue, but we plan to add a new dimension of activity in Australia and more specifically in Sydney.
By the year 2030 we hope to see 50 LifeSource Churches in Australia. At the moment we have another LifeSource church in Fairfield which is seeing people saved and helped in tangible ways. We have several members from our congregation who have indicated to me they are willing to be trained for church planting.
Everything begins with a vision, a plan, a strategy and commitment from people wanting to see this vision realised. I believe that God will not only raise church planters but also church financiers. God is raising a group of people in our church who are called to “Finance the Kingdom of God”. When God gives a church a vision, He ensures they will be resourced to fulfil that vision.
Besides building Kingdom Churches in Australia, we are still called to build Kingdom Churches overseas. Our focus on Cambodia has so far resulted in the digging of 50 wells, building a toilet block for a school (previously without sanitation) and financing the planting of 51 churches. This year we have plans to continue building sanitation blocks and wells, and plant another 25 churches in Cambodia.
We will continue our involvement with the Metamorphic International Church Planting push. By supporting Lindsay and Julie Clarke, this year we will be connected to church planting in Nepal, Pakistan, Uganda, Burundi, Morocco, South Sudan and Myanmar.
Other regions LifeSource supports are: church planting in the Philippines with Steve and Helen Blake; church planting in Hungary with our own Gustav and Helena Pagac; Arab World Media with Kathy, church planting in North Africa and the Middle East with Yousef and Cathy and feeding AIDS orphans in Africa with Emma Baxter. The Welch family will be returning to Peru building radio towers and enabling unreached people to hear the Gospel. I will continue -travelling to teach pastors about Church Health. These seminars enable pastors to get a clearer vision of a Kingdom Church. This year, God willing, I will be going to Slovakia, Italy, Uganda, Burundi and Romania. LifeSource is investing into the lives of scores of pastors and many new churches.
The amazing thing is this - by giving financially to our Missions Vision, you are partnering with us to extend the Kingdom of God in Australia and all over the world.
Anne and I have made Missions a priority in our lives because we believe that when all is said and done, what we do to extend the Kingdom of God is what will last the test of time. Everything else is fleeting, God’s Kingdom is eternal. Pray and seek the mind of God in regards to what you are willing to do to extend the Kingdom of God in Australia and all over the world.
Ps Helen Rogers, Missions Pastor
Ps Helen Rogers
In 2020, a large part of our Missions Vision is to work closely with Metamorphic International, planting churches around the world, and in Australia.
Last year Ps. John travelled to Cambodia, Nepal, Hungary and Uganda, to train new Church Planters on the importance of and how to achieve Church Health. These visits have a great impact on young and emerging Church Planters. We anticipate Ps. John will travel and teach again this year. Last year we planted twenty five churches in Cambodia each costing $3,000. Our goal is to plant another twenty five churches there this year (donations are Tax Deductible!)
The “Coffee 4 Water” initiative has enabled LifeSource to fund the digging of fifty wells in Cambodia. We receive many stories of thankfulness from the villages telling us how their lives are changed, most especially the dramatic reduction of sick children which was due to drinking unclean water. Keep on drinking that coffee because this year our emphasis is directed towards the building of SwashEs (School Wash Education Project) in schools. This is a three step project: The building of a toilet block with 4 cubicles, three wash basins and the installation of a water tank. Teachers each receive a clay filter pot to provide children with clean drinking water through the day. Finally, a curriculum designed to provide ongoing education and training to the teachers and students regarding Sanitation and Hygiene is implemented.
Each SwashE Project is $6000 and does not include the associated well. Last year our 26Plus Team built the first SwashE in Cambodia, and now the time is right to build more. Thank you for drinking coffee!
It was an exciting day on 13th February when Emma Baxter left to volunteer with “Hands at Work.” Emma’s work will be to care for and provide two meals per day for orphaned children in a village in South Africa. AIDs is the greatest orphan maker of our time, and it continues to ravage sub-Saharan Africa, a region of an estimated fifteen million orphans. Only Jesus and His Church can love and care for so many precious little ones and LifeSource has put up its hands to support Emma in her work there. Hands at Work guarantees two meals and three if funds are available – we at LifeSource are going to make sure those children get three meals each day! Thank you for making this possible. We also hope to organise a Short Term Missions team to visit Emma in the future.
Our heart for the new decade is to plant churches across Sydney and with Fairfield LifeSource Church now established, we are ready to plant others. It is an exciting new area God is calling us too.