IMPRINT Magazine - Rain Brings new life - SNSW Conference
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IMPRINT
Magazine
The Seventh-day Adventist Church in
South New South Wales
APRIL 2020
Rain Brings new life
The recovery begins across South New South Wales
From the President
Though we are living in unprecedent and challenging times,
they are not unexpected to those who trust in Jesus. Two
thousand years ago our Saviour reminded us that this world
is not our home, that there will be anguish and perplexity, that
people will fear for what is to come. As we see this world crack
under the pressure of millennia of sin and selfishness, Jesus
beckons “look up, for your salvation is near” (Luke 21:25-28).
And because we have this hope, we have no reason to worry
about anything, but instead pray about everything, telling God
what we need and thanking Him for what he has done. As we
do so, we can experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything
we can understand (Philippians 4:6-7).
Despite the disruption caused by the fires earlier in the year,
and now the COVID-19 temporary suspension of worship ser-
vices we can be encouraged by the tremendous opportunities Remains of Ron Corby senior’s home. The only
house in his street to be destroyed
this presents for us as a church. The church is not a building or
a program. The church is you, me, us, with Jesus at our centre
(1 Cor 12:27).
We have the privilege to do, to be, to experience church as Christians have for the last 2,000 years — in
homes, out in nature, in smaller groups, singing, praying, fellowshipping and reading the Word together. What
an incredible window to show the world that we are disciples of Jesus — as we exhibit love for one another
(John 13:34-35).
In addition, this crisis opens a rare door to minister to our community through individual care and
compassion to the vulnerable, the isolated, the struggling, and those lacking basics — If someone asks you for
a toilet paper roll, give them two (Matthew 5:38-42). Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching
the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them,
ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me’ (EGW, MH 143).
We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His
teaching in our past history (EGW, LS, 196). Like never before, our hope and faith in Jesus give us calm, peace
and joy, knowing that He will never leave us, nor forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5)
Pr. Cristian Copaceanu
President, SNSW Conference
For the latest news and updates, especially surrounding the impact COVID-19 is having on churches, please
visit our Facebook page at:
facebook.com/sdasnsw
IMPRINT
IMPRINT Magazine is a publication of Editor: Cristian Copaceanu Upcoming Imprint Edition
the Communication Department of the snswpresident@adventist.org.au June 2020
Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Content Deadline: May 22, 2020
South New South Wales Conference. Assist Editor/Design: Luke Ferry
Magazine For more information about news
lukeferry@adventist.org.au
March 2020 and upcoming events visit the South Cover Page:
Photo by Bryan Minear on
New South Wales Conference website
www.snsw.adventist.org.au Or contact us Unsplash
on: (02) 6249 6822. South New South Wales
SNSW Fire Recovery
Devastation in cobargo
Irene Ellem, exhausted, after a night of fighting fires Fencing working bee at Jade Corby’s property.
L-R Ron Peachey, Rex Hergenhan, Barry Hergen-
han, Jade Corby and Trevor Cole
New Year’s Eve delivered horrific fire storms to the Cobargo
area devastating the town and the farming area. Six homes of
church members, all part of one extended family, were amongst
those destroyed. Fires seemed to be an ever-present trouble
throughout our shire. Destroyed homes, lost family members,
burnt animals and heartache all around. As a community we’ve
seen devastation and also wonderful community bonding.
With the Evacuation Centre opened across the road from the
church we opened our doors for an overflow from the show-
ground pavillion, where the more than 2000 people were
crammed in. Our location became the opportunity to contribute
to the communty.
Our pastor, Dragan Kanazir, was kept busy in his official role
as a Chaplain at the centre and also with involvement in the
church activities.
Remains of Ron and Gloria Corby’s home
Several church members, who themselves had evacuated
because of the risk of fire to their homes and damage to their
property, came for shelter and joined to assist with the opera-
tion.
Under the leadership of Kyie Cullinan we worked with a roster
so we could sustain the routine for as long as the need lasted.
Some folk sought our assistance three times. This provided
the opportunity to become better aquainted. Some people just
needed some space away from the crowds. Breathing difficulties
were the reason for others. Space away from the noise and cha-
os was highly valued by a dementia patient and his carer. Senior
folk panicked by the threat to their homes just needed reassur-
ance. On the third stay some people just needed a space where
they could endeavour to negotiate the paperwork involved in an
effort to make some move towards progress. The interior of Bega Church while used for evacuees
We were able to use the ADRA identification with vests and
t-shirts bearing their logo.
To assist our church family at Cobargo the Bega church members have donated financially and churches
further afield in NSW, the ACT and Queensland have given specifically for them, too. This has been greatly appre-
ciated. Local members have spent a couple of Sundays working on fencing, both clean up and putting up, by way
of a gesture of support. The destruction has been terrible. The support helpful. Our God is bigger than all this. His
strength is our support through troubles.
March 2020 | IMPRINTmagazine 3
AdRA partners with Blazeaid
The Palmers Oakley fire destroyed 17,000 ha just days before
Christmas. Over 50 farms were affected with fencing, livestock,
national forest and eleven homes between Lithgow and Mudg-
ee destroyed. Nearly all fencing lost was uninsured along with
several homes.
Funding was requested by Mudgee church to assist local
church member David Leven provide full-time assistance to
BlazeAid, and organisation that helps rebuild fences and the
community.
David was made a works co-ordinator for over 20 volunteers.
His job was to visit the farms affected, scope out the works
required, organise logistics, materials and teams,
He stated, “BlazeAid asked us to take time to listen to
people’s stories and support them — which is just as important
as the work.”
After the first week, he reported “There are lots
of people in great need of help. Over half are not technology
literate and are finding it hard to apply for assistance.
An on-duty fireman managed to save houses
however his house was destroyed. He lost everything including
all identification creating an almost impossible task seeking
assistance from Centrelink.
On another farm, a motorbike engine melted,
fire destroyed the home and shed — but the tiny chook house
between them with three hens survived. The owner Pete told
David “they stopped laying eggs.” David was able to offer those
in need the $500 community grant. This was great help partic- Melted motor bike engine
ularly to those who had lost everything and needed something
to keep going.
The ADRA funding enabled David to work over forty hours each week sharing his expertise to help those
affected. This practical help is the best sermon, to be able to use the skills we have to help those who are in need.
The rebuilding continues with the Lithgow Church working together to help those who have lost their homes
from the Gospers Mountain fire.
Gospel Music Extravaganza
SNSW Homecoming Bushfire Appeal Concert. Full house at Albert Hall. Heavenly music and $12,000 raised to
support bushfire victims. Well done Patrick Opini and team for a wonderful evening
Item performed by the Harrison Samoan Group Singing group Mainly Men
4 March 2020 | IMPRINTmagazine
SNSW Fire Recovery
Batlow Shed Build
On Sunday March 1, 34 people from
Canberra National Church, Goulburn and
Local Batlow traveled to Stephanie Bailey’s
property in Batlow to build a shed. Stephanie
lost everything except the fireplace in the
fires that raged through Batlow just after New
Year. On the team were two builders, Dave
Allum and Hunter Ford who supervised the
build. The morning was spent putting up
the frame for the shed on concrete that had
been poured just a few days previously.
While the frames were being erected, a
smaller group of people lifted the fireplace
from the remains of the house and brought
it down to the new shed. They spent the
morning cleaning, painting and restoring the
fireplace to look like new.
After a short stop for lunch, it was all
hands on deck to install the colourbond
sheets to the frames and to put the roof, roll-
er door and installed the door to the shed.
By 5.30 the shed was almost complete with
just a few small sheets to put on around the
roller door. By 8.30 that night Stephanie had
a new shed to use.
Some of the team who help assemble the shed with Stephanie Bailey (Front)
March 2020 | IMPRINTmagazine 5
SNSW Fire Recovery
SNSW Youth lend a hand in Cobargo
January was a tough month for Australia but for the
people of Cobargo and the surrounding districts it could
go down as the toughest January they have ever seen. All
Australians watched on in disbelief as fires ravaged Cobar-
go and the surrounding countryside and wondered how
best they could help. This included young people who even
though they don’t have a lot of money to give, do have a lot
of energy and willingness to lend a hand. Now that the fires
have passed and the rain has come this is the perfect oppor-
tunity for young people to lend a hand.
On Sunday the 8th of March a group of volunteers,
mostly young people met in Cobargo to help some of the
locals who had lost fencing during the fires. Young people
came from as far away as Griffith, Yass and Canberra to
offer assistance and combined with a few locals there was
a group of 16 people in all. They assisted 3 different people
by pulling down burned fencing on their properties so new Pulling down burnt fencing
fencing could be erected. By the end of the day more than
1km of fence had been demolished with the wire rolled up
and the remaining posts stacked aside.
Bega church member and local project co-ordinator Rex Hergenhan said, “All of the property owners would like
to pass on their heartfelt thanks to the young people who gave of their time and worked hard to pull down the
burned fencing.”
A special thanks also goes out to the Bega church who rallied together and supplied lunch to the volunteers on
the day.
There is still plenty of work to be done after the fires so keep your eye out for the next service project that the
Youth Department will be co-ordinating. This time we would like to try and put up some fencing. However whatev-
er the local needs we will try to meet them as best we can.
Thanking Fire Volunteers
Ten of the children from Nowra Church together
with five adults were welcomed at a special visit to
the Cross Roads Rural Fire Station in Jervis Bay on
the 28 January 2020.
The children had drawn thank you notes and
pictures to present to the brave fire fighters who
have spent weeks defending the safety of resi-
dents and protecting property on the South Coast
of NSW. Sadly lives and hundreds of homes were
lost, however thousands more were saved thanks
to the courage and dedication of hundreds of local
fire brigade volunteers. The children enjoyed the
talks given by the fire fighters, the colouring in at
the big desk but even more than that — the
opportunity to sit in the big red fire truck and to
learn how to use the fire hoses that were attached. Arden in the driver’s seat
A thank you card from church members and a
prayer of thanks was given for everyone who so bravely helped to save so many in our NSW country communities.
Since then our many prayer sessions for rain have been answered and we are rejoicing in so much needed
rainfall to replenish our dry and burnt landscapes.
6 March 2020 | IMPRINTmagazine
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From the General Secretary
Three months of 2020 have literally raced past, consumed with bush fires in January, a hailstorm in February
(ACT mainly) followed by rain, and now a pandemic circling the globe. As Adventists, these events should not be
surprising, yet the intensity and proximity to each other has been, in some cases, stressful and tiring. Through
these events to date, the South NSW Conference has continued to be blessed, and everyone here in the office is
working hard to support and encourage our members to the best of our abilities.
In November the South NSW Board of Directors
recommended to the Australian Union Conference that
Jameson (Jay) Pulelisi (Dubbo) advance to Stage Two of his
Internship and that Florian Fulga (Orange & Parkes) and
Toby Clare (Wodonga) advance from Stage Two of their
Internship to a Ministerial Licence. I’m pleased to report
that all three recommendations were accepted by the
AUS Exec Committee at its Year End meeting in November
2019. We look forward to Jay, Florian & Toby continuing to
build and grow in their ministry.
You will have heard about the Church Structure Review,
that the AUC is conducting which is looking at how we as
a Church in Australia is operating and what can be done
better to ensure the Mission of the Church achieves its ob-
jective, that is growing the Church for eternity. Due to the
current pandemic, the review is on hold, until such time
as face to face forums with church members can recom- Jackie Hankinson (Right) with Gaylene Drinkall
mence.
It is with sadness that AAV is losing part of the team,
Steve & Jackie Hankinson. Steve has been working at AAV
for the past year as the Maintenance & Grounds Supervi-
sor, and Jackie has been working casually in various roles,
and they have decided to relocate back to the Central
Coast. Steve bought a host of skills to the role that have
been put to great use around AAV, and Jackie was a great
support to the cleaning team. We wish them much of
God’s blessing as they commence a new chapter on the
Central Coast.
Considering the many things that are happening
around us, I was reflecting on when Moses was handing
over leadership of the Israelites to Joshua, and giving
instructions to them, where he reminded the Israelites in,
Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous, do not be
afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God
goes with you, He will never leave you nor forsake you,”
(NIV).
May we continue to put our faith and trust in God.
Calvin Drinkall
SNSW General Secretary
Steve Hankinson
8 March 2020 | IMPRINTmagazine
SNSWConference
SNSW Conference
Welcome to South New South Wales
Young
In 2019, we launched a Mission to the Country initiative
inviting individuals and families to move to the country as
tent-maker missionaries. We are excited to have our first
missionary family arrive with Darren and Rebecca Cheers
relocating to Young.
They come to us from Ballina where they have most
recently been involved in leading a successful church
plant. As they support the Young church and engage in
outreach, Darren will continue working as a paramedic
while Rebecca will be establishing a legal practice in the
area.
The Cheers family
Tumut/Tumbarumba & Corryong Region
We are pleased to welcome Dion, Leone and their lovely
children to our conference in 2020 as they minister in the Tumut,
Tumbarumba and Corryong region.
Dion has a powerful testimony of how God has transformed
his life and comes with experience in social and youth work.
While finishing his theology degree at Avondale, Dion also served
as Bible Worker involved with the Bay Community Church, a
church that has reached many people for the kingdom through
its food pantry ministry.
The Tully family
Griffith
Pr. Matthew Vrancic, Sanja and the family are a
welcome addition to our SNSW team joining to
minister in Griffith.
Matthew has served in Victoria over the last 7
years in the Sunraysia and Gippsland regions
and has a passion for evangelism and health,
always exploring new ways to connect with
and reach the community for the sake of the
Gospel.
The Vrancic family
March 2020 | IMPRINTmagazine 9
SNSW Conference Pastoral Team 2020
CHURCH SENIOR PASTOR ASSOCIATE PASTOR
Albury Tony Moala Andrew McCrostie, Toby Clare
Bathurst Raymon Paletua
Bega Dragan Kanazir
Bowral Owen Ellis
Broken Hill Adam Tonkin
Canberra National Justin Lawman Akhil Ashtaputre
Cobargo Company Dragan Kanazir
Cootamundra Tharren Hutchinson
Corryong Company Dion Tully
Cowra Raymon Paletua
Dubbo Jameson Pulelisi
Goulburn Owen Ellis
Griffith Matthew Vrancic
Harrison Samoan Group Ben Kosmeier
Lithgow James Toogood
Mandurama Raymon Paletua
Milton-Ulladulla Company Bogdan Petrovic
Moruya Dragan Kanazir
Mudgee James Toogood
Narrandera Adam Tonkin
Narromine Benjamin Galindo
Nowra Bogdan Petrovic
Oberon James Toogood
Orange Florian Fulga
Parkes Florian Fulga
Queanbeyan Community Company Ben Kosmeier
South Canberra Andrew Layland
Southern Illawarra Bogdan Petrovic
Temora Tharren Hutchinson
Tumbarumba Dion Tully
Tumut Dion Tully
Wagga Wagga Tharren Hutchinson
Wallaga Lake Company Dragan Kanazir
Wodonga English Toby Clare
Wodonga Slavic Tony Moala
Yoogali Company Adam Tonkin
Young Darren & Rebecca Cheers
10 March 2020 | IMPRINTmagazineSNSW Conference
award for excellence
We would like to congratulate our very own Bree Hills, principal at CCS, for winning Telstra’s 2020 Public Sector
& Academia Business Woman of the year Award (ACT).
“I’m passionate about educating the young minds of tomorrow and creating an environment that not only pro-
motes great academia but also the values of acceptance, perseverance, respect, faith, grit, service and optimism.”
As Principal of Canberra Christian School, Bree Hills is making a positive impact through education and is
influencing and shaping the lives of tomorrow’s leaders.
Thankyou
We would like to express our sincere appreciation and thanks
to Julie Nagle for her departmental work with ATSIM and sup-
port for the Wallaga Lake Company over the last 5 years. Julie
has been instrumental in furthering Indigenous ministry in this
conference and has done so with passion, enthusiasm and excel-
lence.
Julie will be missed from our ministry team but we’re glad that
together with Roger and the children they will continue to be a
part of our SNSW church family as she pursues a career in educa-
tion. Thank you Julie for your tireless ministry, care and support
Julie Nagle
for our pastors, churches and community in SNSW.
March 2020 | IMPRINTmagazine 11MAKE A DIFFERENCE
for eternity
Join
LITERATURE MINISTRY
Person to Person Students Workshops Pop-up Stalls
Get out there and meet Join a student Literature Facilitate a workshop or Pop-up book stores allow
people where they’re at. Evangelism camp event book-party where books you to meet people in a
Whether you want with likeminded young and other media will be variety of neutral venues
to earn an income or people and students. on display for people to including school events,
distribute free literature browse and purchase. health expos, shopping
as a volunteer, anyone centres and local fairs.
can get involved!
Find out more
like LITERATURE MINISTRY WWW visit LITERATURE.ADVENTISTCHURCH.COMBeyond Reasonable Doubt
Written by Natalia Melville
When faced with decisions in your life, do you follow your heart or your head?
Whether we realize it or not Facts verses Feelings, that is, thinking with our heads or with our hearts, impacts all
our decision-making — from what we should have for lunch, to what we should do for work.
I’ve found in my own life that following God can sometimes cause a similar conundrum. I’ve been convicted
that Jesus is real and present in my life, but when asked for proof and “evidence” that God is real, how can just my
faith and belief be enough?
I’m not the only one to have felt this small crisis of faith when asked for hard facts to “prove Jesus,” it’s evidently
an age-old issue that many before me have had to contend with. The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 wrote an
encouraging letter to a church in Corinth who were questioning the story and asking for proof that Jesus had
indeed been resurrected from the dead after being crucified.
Do you sometimes wonder if there’s enough evidence to believe and justifiably prove a risen Christ? Renowned
American Scholar Dr Darrell Bock shares that there are over 14000 independent historical manuscripts confirm-
ing the story of Jesus as told in the New Testament! By comparison, the history and account of Roman conqueror
Julius Caesar, comes down to a total of just 10 reliable manuscripts.
God has empowered people to write the story of Jesus, encouraged through His Spirit for people throughout
the centuries to read and study the story of Jesus for themselves and provided opportunity for the Good News to
be shared far and wide. With the weight of historical evidence of Jesus’ work and life, evidence that is accepted
and supported by Christian, non-Christian scholars and historians alike we can be boldly confident that our heads
and hearts can finally agree! Fact and feeling in unanimous agreeance!
Be sure to subscribe to Waymaker.TV and watch this month’s fascinating What Do You Think episode
entitled Unanimous, a short video presentation where you will hear some of the best scholars of today offer their
thoughts, opinions and research on the evidence that Jesus Christ did in fact rise from the dead and is our risen
Saviour.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Natalia Melville is a freelance artist and writer with a Bachelor’s degree in Film and TV Production. A lover of Jesus, her family,
and haystacks, she believes in doing everything in order to reach young people for Jesus. Natalia is passionate about social
justice and environmental issues, and believes we are all called to “seek justice and love mercy.”
March 2020 | IMPRINTmagazine 13Converge
Praise and worship Guest speaker Michael Kelly Morning boot camp
Strong wind and rain wasn’t enough to stop more than 300 Australian youth and young adults attending
“Converge,” an Australia-wide Adventist youth camp run at Stuarts Point Convention Centre (New South Wales)
over the weekend of February 7-10.
Organised by the Australian Union Conference, the event—featuring evening worships, inspiring talks, workshops,
beach visits, fun activities and great food—was back by popular demand for the fifth consecutive year.
“The young adults were so resilient [despite the rain]” said AUC youth director Pastor Jeffrey Parker. “They came
to every meeting and there wasn’t one complaint. They even made a slip and slide!”
Pastor of Mount Rubidoux Adventist Church in California (USA), Michael Kelly, was the guest speaker for the
weekend, preaching on topics relevant to contemporary youth culture including busyness, empathy and vulnera-
bility, shame and guilt in relationships, and missional living.
A small group were also present from South NSW Conference — many of whom helped out by making pizza in
the café after the night meetings. Although it was quite a long drive for people to get there, the new friendships,
challenging talks and great community made it all worthwhile.
In addition to worships, activities and workshops were held throughout the weekend, including morning fitness
sessions, waterskiing, a slip-and-slide, indoor board games and visits to the beach. Workshops, including one
on missional living presented by Dr Nick Kross, and another on creativity in church life led by Glonaida Quiapon,
member of Dandenong Filipino-Australian Seventh-day Adventist Church (Victoria), were very positively received.
It was also great to see many young people making commitments to follow and serve Jesus throughout the
weekend as well.
Planning for Converge in 2021 has already begun, and I would like to invite youth from all across the South
NSW Conference to put the dates of February 12-15 in their calendar, and plan a road trip to Converge 2021.
Stay up to date with upcoming
new and events.
Follow us on Facebook
@snswyouth
snswyouth.adventist.org.au
14 March 2020 | IMPRINTmagazineSNSW Youth
Pathfinder INvestitures
Narrandera Pathfinder Club Wagga Pathfinder Club Tumut Pathfinder Club
Pathfinder and Adventurer investitures are a highlight of the Pathfinder year. They
celebrate the hard work that individuals and leaders have put in through the year and are
a time for churches and families to gather together and encourage young people as they
develop spiritually, socially and physically.
Congratulations to all the Pathfinders who received recognition for their efforts at
investitures across the Conference in 2019. All of the registered clubs across the Conference
conducted an investiture service in 2019 with every investiture attended by either a Path-
finder district director or the youth director. There was a total of 8 pathfinder clubs function-
ing in South NSW in 2019 and the clubs were;
- Narromine - Tumut
- Central Tablelands - Canberra
- Wagga Wagga - Nowra
- Albury - Narrandera Narrandera Pathfinders
Combined these clubs had 167 pathfinders and 96 staff. Club staff and district directors marching
have also been involved in formal training with many completing short courses through
Avondale College in 2019. A big thank you to all the club staff and the district directors who give selflessly of their
time and energy to disciple young people for the kingdom of heaven.
Adventurers is growing in popularity across Australia and also in South NSW. In 2019 there were 8 clubs with a
total of 178 adventurers and 38 staff. The location of the clubs are;
- Orange - Albury
- Canberra - Nowra
- Narromine - Wagga
- Bathurst - Narrandera
Already on 2020 there has been one new club launch and it is great to see local churches taking an interest in
their young people and using the resources of Adventurers to disciple their children. Even if your church does not
have young people, Pathfinders and Adventurers can be a great way to engage with the community.
If you are considering starting a Pathfinder or Adventurer club or you would like some more information,
please contact the youth director who would be more than willing to offer assistance in launching a new club.
March 2020 | IMPRINTmagazine 15Broken Hill
Thankyou Frank Pollard
Broken Hill church is blessed to have Frank Pollard as a member. Frank
has a disability caused by a brain aneurism years ago which paralysed one
side of his body. He travels around on a mobility scooter. He tells us there
were 20 years of his life when he was never sober. But he found Christ and
is one of His most faithful disciples.
Frank is our chief ‘sower’ of seeds. Over the past few years he has letter
boxed the complete city of Broken Hill (9,000 homes) not once, but twice,
almost single-handedly. He pays for the tracts himself and has also bought
and distributed boxes of ‘The Path to Life’ (Steps to Christ).
Recently Frank extended his ministry Australia-wide. He has sent
through Australia Post unaddressed envelopes to every post office box in
the country. These contain 4 leaflets — one on health, Bible study guide
applications and Glow tracts, most of which Frank has paid for. As Frank
has the use of only one hand, Broken Hill church members have had an
enjoyable time filling the envelopes at weekly church lunches and will be
sad to see the project completed.
Frank also takes pride in keeping the church grounds clear of leaves and
rubbish for Sabbath services, a task made more difficult by his disability,
and also by the high winds and dust storms Broken Hill has been experi-
encing. Frank Pollard
Although Frank would, by his own admission, never make the ‘best
dressed’ list and very rarely smiles, his slow, dry wit is appreciated by all.
Thank you, Frank, for your faithfulness.
16 March 2020 | IMPRINTmagazineChurches
NOwra
Baptism
Sabbath morning on March 7 dawned with grey sky and
showers. However this did not dampen the enthusiasm and
prayers of the members of the Southern Illawarra and Nowra
churches as they prepared for the baptism of two of their
youth.
Two young men, Jonathon Martinez, a Year 7 high school
student in Nowra, and Dinuk Kumarage, from Shellharbour
who attended the Southern Illawarra Church, had completed
Bible Studies with Pastor Bogdan Petrovic and wanted to make
their commitment to Jesus Christ through baptism.
Dinuk completed his Higher School Certificate in 2019 and
has since left for Melbourne where he will be commencing his
University studies in Biomedical Science.
Prayers for fine weather had been heard by a loving God
and the clouds parted for blue skies during the Sabbath after-
noon baptism at Greenfield Beach in the beautiful Jervis Bay
area.
We pray that God will continue to be with them as they
grow further in their knowledge and love for Him.
L to R: Jonathon Martinez, Pr Bogdan Petrovic &
Dinuk Kumarage
Community Christmas
Nowra Church again participated in
setting up a gazebo alongside other or-
ganisations for a community Christmas in
the park event in East Nowra on a very hot
summer’s day in December.
Some of our free giveaways included:
fruit, watermelon slices, homemade cookies,
cold drinks, Signs of the Times magazines
and children’s Christmas presents.
There was a prayer Jar — for prayer
requests and a Nativity scene — so we could
explain the reason for the season.
We received requests from local residents
for free monthly Signs of the Times maga-
zines and expressions of interest for various Nowra Church at the community christmas event
upcoming events such as healthy eating/
lifestyle programs.
We also set up an extra tent next to our stall with chairs provided so that residents could have a chance to sit
down in the shade, have a cold drink and a slice of watermelon.
At the same time we were then able to have a friendly chat, explain where our church was and the times of our
services/childrens programs etc. This is a great way to meet the people in our community in a relaxed and infor-
mative way. We were able to assure them that our church members would be praying for each of the prayer
Requests they wrote out and placed in our prayer Jar.
March 2020 | IMPRINTmagazine 17Singles Jindabyne Snow
5-8 June 2020
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nse
WITH
COVID-19. WE WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING WITH OUR
UPCOMING EVENTS
R
SNSW Single Adventist Ministries
invites all Aussie & Kiwi Singles EMAIL snswsinglesministries@adventist.org.au
Pr. Warwick Sawyer presents “The God Shaped egister https://snsw.adventist.org.au/events/#singles
Heart”. Enjoy friendships, activities, fun & snow! online from 21 February. Applications close 21 May at 11:59pm
18 March 2020 | IMPRINTmagazineSingle Adventist Ministries
Stuarts Point Summer beach Camp
The Australia Day long weekend saw 36 singles
from across South New South Wales, North New South
Wales, Greater Sydney, Victoria and South Queensland
come to Stuarts Point to enjoy a time of spiritual renewal,
fellowship and friendship.
Pastor Graham Stewart of Taree, Forster and Tuncurry
churches was our guest speaker. The theme for the week-
end was “Connection.” Graham’s presentations were appre-
ciated by all. A big thank you to music team who did a great
job leading out in worship.
Activities over the weekend included walking on the
beach, swimming, sightseeing, enjoying getting to know
new people and of course great meals together. Discussion
time Sabbath afternoon and the evening concert items
were contributed by attendees and enjoyed by all.
A special dinner was served on Sunday to celebrate
Australia Day. The dinner included pies & chips with salads Stuarts Point Summer Beach Camp attendees
and pavalova for dessert.
After dinner the group discussed upcoming events such as the Snow Camp and the end of year AUC Singles
Conference. Singles leaders were discussed to get more people involved with regular events. Overall a great
weekend was had by all.
SNSW Regional Meetings
Singles Ministries Activity Plans
BEGA | 1st August
Sunday 2nd Morning Group Activity if interest
BOWRAL | 22nd August
Group Dinner, locally for those interested
CANBERRA | 11th - 13th September
Bunk Cabins Fri 11 - Sun 13 Sunday Floriade or Tulip Tops Group Activity
BATHURST | 17th October
Local Stay over Fri 16 - Sun 18th Group Activity Sunday Morning
If you have any questions about any of these events please contact:
Christine Sosnovsky
E: snswsinglesministries@adventist.org.au
March 2020 | IMPRINTmagazine 19FREE
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