Musician glorifies God

At the Emu Music Conference, singer/songwriter Tenielle Neda performed and ran a songwriting workshop.

From outback North West Australia, singer/songwriter Tenielle Neda puts scripture to song so that God is glorified and his Church is built up.

Tenielle recently moved from Karratha to Geraldton where she is part of the Cathedral congregation with her young family. She is a blessing to the Christian community, having produced a catalogue of songs that bring bible truths to bear on the heart and mind.

“Secular music is an expression of self. But in contrast, our motive for writing songs for the church is to bring glory to God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,” she said.

“God has given his people the beautiful gift of music and song and we use this to love, serve and build up the body of Christ.”  

Tenielle began in the popular music industry before studying at Trinity Theological College in Perth where her knowledge and love of the gospel grew. She points to Colossians 3:16 as motivation to write spirit-inspired songs. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”

Tenielle wrote a song King of Grace for the Geraldton Women’s Conference which focussed on talks from the book of John.

“It is my prayer this song will strengthen and encourage the faith of God’s people, and orient our hearts, minds and affections toward the triune God of grace!”

Her talent was recognised by The Gospel Coalition USA when she was one of six winners of their songwriting competition to celebrate TGC’s 20th Anniversary.  

She recently performed and conducted a songwriting workshop at the Word in Song  Music Conference in Perth, and toured America, performing in Texas, Virginia and Nashville.

Fly-in-fly-out solves chaplain drought

Port Hedland Seafarers Centre has adopted fly-in-fly-out work arrangements to ensure chaplains are available to care for seafarers 24/7.

The new set-up was proposed to overcome the challenge of finding ministry workers able to live and serve in Port Hedland permanently.

Bishop Darrell said he was grateful that Rev’d Mee Ping Lau and Rev’d Un Tay are available to serve for 10 or 12 weeks in Port Hedland followed by four weeks at home.

After 40 years in parish ministry, Mee Ping is loving the chaplain role where “sharing the gospel is the most important thing”, which he does in Chinese, English, and a bit of Korean, Malay and Indonesian.

“The seafarers know we are Christian so if we don’t talk about the gospel, that would be strange,” he said.

“People quietly come and speak with me and ask, ‘Can I have a Bible?’ ‘Can you tell me more about the Bible?’ ‘How can I be admitted to the Christian club?’”

The Chaplain role brings many opportunities to support the shipping community. Mee Ping conducted a memorial service on board ship for a seafarer who had died and was surprised to find that it had been recorded by the captain and posted on TikTok in China. He also holds a Bible study onshore for a small group of Chinese migrants.

Prompted by conversations with captains and seafarers who shared about the challenges of seafaring, Mee Ping developed a support resource. The brochure covers issues like burn-out, fatigue, art of communication, and ‘Your Word, my Comfort’ which includes a prayer seafarers can use. The brochure is available in English, Chinese or Korean.

Mee Ping says that life for seafarers can be challenging, with months away from family and loved ones. Seafarers appreciate the friendship and care they receive at the Seafarer Centre. He says that sharing the hope of eternal life, which comes through faith in Jesus, is a natural way to show love for seafarers.

“If the founder of this mission heard we weren’t talking about the gospel, he would wake up from his tomb, I think,” Mee Ping added.

Gifts fund locum ministry

Our tiny and remote Shark Bay parish was blessed by supporters Australia-wide recently, when Rev Stephen Shearsby was able to locum for one month.

About 100 supporters have joined The 200 Club, designed to boost financial sustainability of the Bishop’s ministry.

Stephen said he and Heather received extra support for their second stint in Shark Bay, thanks to the Bishop’s 200 Club, which funded extra airfares to reduce travel time.

“Getting to Perth is expensive and then we would have to find a car and make the nine hour drive to Shark Bay. Being able to fly made it heaps easier and gave us two extra days in the Parish,” Stephen said.

“This was our second visit and we were very encouraged. It felt like we just picked up where we left off and got to know each other better.”

Stephen preached a series on idolatry, inspired by Tim Keller’s book Counterfeit Gods, looking at Abraham, Isaiah and Jonah.

People responded by wrestling with the reality of what that meant in their own life; and what should be the focus of their heart, their time and their money.

“I believe idolatry is the greatest problem facing our world today. You could also call it sin, but essentially, it’s breaking the first commandment. We are putting something man made in place of where God should be; turning from the creator to the creation and giving this honour beyond what it deserves.”

After the sermon exploring the book of Jonah, one member commented: “I knew the bit about the whale and now I see the whole story!”

Shark Bay is a small and struggling parish. Stephen said he was reminded of the enormous resources that God puts into finding the lost sheep, the lost coin – finding the one which has gone astray.

“It is not economically smart but it’s God’s way. In his economy every person is precious.”

Matthew Gospel hits the stage

An engaging stage dramatisation of the gospel produced kingdom fruit in Geraldton.

Geraldton Anglican Cathedral member Eugenie Harris produced The Matthew Drama, a 90-minute retelling of the Gospel of Matthew with a cast of 15 local Christians.

“More than 200 people attended the two performances which happen as theatre-in-the-round so the audience is central to the action,” she said.

“The production, a Wycliffe Gospel Drama, presents the life, death and resurrection of Jesus so powerfully that audience members even weep.

“By God’s grace we had a very encouraging response to Jesus’ message."

One audience member commented, ‘I think I’ll start coming back to church.’  Another returned to a second performance in order to bring her children, and one man - invited by his neighbour - knew nothing about Matthew so in preparation decided to read the Gospel.

Please pray for God to continue to work in the hearts of all who witnessed The Matthew Drama.

Wycliffe directors also assist churches to present Gospel dramas of Luke and John. 

Seafarer ministry grows thanks to gifts

Christmas cards from Karratha Christians to seafarers helped open the way for our Chaplain to care for maritime crews.

Mission to Seafarer Chaplain Steve Combe has been asked to provide ship visiting services to LNG ships serving Woodside at the Dampier Port.

“This came about in part because of personal Christmas cards which many of us wrote to seafarers last year. This helped oil and gas giant Woodside to see just how much the Mission to Seafarers cares for people visiting our ports. It led Woodside to discussing chaplaincy opportunities.”

The cards - which have a simple, heart-felt message of thanks for the important work seafarers do, and a prayer for their safety - are warmly received.

Shipping companies expressed thanks to Steve and Dampier Seafarers Centre, including: "Your gesture has reminded us how deeply valued our work is, and it has brought a sense of joy and comfort to everyone onboard during this special season." 

Steve said ship visiting is a wonderful opportunity to support seafarers who are away from loved ones for months at a time and to share the good news of Jesus with them.

Seafarers loved the cards and gift bag from Dampier Seafarers Centre

Using 5Fs for outreach

A fireside testimony warmed the hearts of visitors 

The church in Karratha applied 5Fs to reach out to friends with the gospel during Hope25.

Rector Frank Nicol said they cranked up fire, food, films and faith on Fridays and invited friends along to hear stories about the power of God’s love.

Frank said the youth created a pop up outdoor cinema, with epic sound, comfy seats and pizza to watch My Girl and hear a cracking talk about the hope Jesus brings us in death.

The following weekend the church cooked up a great feed around a campfire and added a testimony to the mix.

“The highlight has to be the handful of friends who responded to invites and came along; one of those friends even came along to church the next day!  Many church members also said simply coming along was a great opportunity to keep getting to know each other which is important in a transient church.”

Please pray for people to respond to the call of Christ, that gospel seeds planted will be watered and God will bring growth in time.

Growing disciples in Shark Bay

Locum Stephen Shearsby and his wife Heather were encouraged by faithful Christians at Shark Bay 

World Heritage-listed area Shark Bay is a great place to glory in God’s creation, and to meet God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

Rev Stephen Shearsby and his wife Heather returned recently to minister for a month at the small church and found a keen bible study group.

“We were joined by a woman who was new to town. She brought a bible but was not familiar with it. We showed her where to find the index and how to find the passage by looking up the book and the verse.

“In church also we were careful to take is slowly so that people could find the passage in the bible for themselves and grow their understanding of God's word."

Please pray for this little group to continue to grow in love for Jesus and each other, and to share this love with the town’s 1000 residents.