You can direct Debit straight into our loan account (details in the newsletter) or place your donation in the offering, marking it for the miracle offering. If you have not prepared for this year why not start giving regularly now in preparation for next year.

I know I was going to share on my mission trip but that will need to wait as I know you will be blessed by hearing what God has done and doing through this amazing lady.

Michelle’s story…..

Up From Despair

I was born in one of the most congested, crowded places, in the center—okay, the slums—of Manila. With both of my parents jobless, and two younger brothers to provide for, our family could not even afford our own shack. We were forced to live with relatives—seventeen of us staying in a very small shanty.

Food was scarce for us. My mom was forced to beg for food from friends and relatives. Every day outside our shack there would be lots of violence, neighbors fighting in the street. Shirtless men sat drinking alcohol all day, while bored women gambled, oblivious of their naked little children running around and playing in the filthy canals full of raw sewage.

But even worse in that slum was the rampant drug abuse. Like many others, my father was a drug addict himself. Even as a young girl, I knew that my life was hopeless, my future uncertain. I loved my father and thought he was a good man. But one of my earliest memories was waking up one morning to a lot of yelling and fighting inside our house. I heard my relatives cursing my father, accusing him of stealing their valuables in order to buy drugs. My world was shattered as my father was thrown out.

Life only got worse after that. In this pressure cooker of poverty and overcrowding, words flew that were far from kind. I felt so worthless, so vulnerable , that I was nothing and had no future.

The first glimmer of hope came at age six, when my aunt brought me to Calvary Foursquare Church, which had a Compassion Project. From the moment I stepped inside, I knew my life would change. The first thing they taught me in that place was that Jesus loved me. It was a simple but life-changing thought that would affect my whole destiny.

I learned how to pray, to talk to God. I read the Bible. My first-ever Bible was given to me by my Compassion sponsor. It was very precious to me, because I learned through the Scriptures that God was my Father, and I was His precious child. He was a Father to fatherless children like me.
I also felt that great love of my heavenly Father through my loving sponsors’ letters from a world away. Their letters gave me so much encouragement. I remember in the winter of 1995 that they sent me a picture of themselves sitting on a park bench surrounded by snow. I had never seen such a sight. They sent me letters telling me, “Our dear Michelle, you are very beautiful in our eyes. You are very precious to us. We love you. We are praying for you.”

Their words touched the very depth of my heart and soul. God used them in healing my broken self-image and destroyed self-worth. Every time I received their letters, I knew I was loved, I was important, and I was valued. I had a bright future ahead of me in the hands of my loving heavenly Father, who said in Jeremiah 29:11, “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Michelle did indeed have a future. She blossomed, pursued her dreams, and eventually completed a degree in communication arts from one of best universities in the Philippines. She became the Marketing Director of Trumpets, the first-ever theater gospel in Asia. In May 2011, she earned a master’s degree from Moody Theological Seminary (Moody Bible Institute) in Chicago, graduating summa cum laude. She is now a traveling speaker on behalf of children and women at risk.

Michelle has gone back to her roots, using her education and spirit to rescue women trapped the cycle of poverty and exploitation. She founded MADE IN HOPE in 2011, to empower women and children who have been rescued from the global sex trade to break the cycle of exploitation and secure their freedom by providing education, sustainable livelihood opportunities, and care in the healing process. MADE IN HOPE also advocates for the still enslaved, increasing global awareness and mobilizing support. Our mission is founded in the love of Jesus, who, we believe, has a plan for each of us, giving us all a future MADE IN HOPE.

She is also “paying it forward” in other ways, sponsoring two Compassion children on her own. Andrew, from the Philippines, and Samira from Burkina Faso.

She tells her story joyfully now and always includes this line: “I remember Papa Wess telling me, ‘Michelle, you may have been born in poverty, but poverty was not born in you!’”

This is just one of more than two million children worldwide who have graduated from Compassion’s sponsorship over the past sixty years. They’ve all discovered, in one way or another, the amazing power of love.

Over 15 million people worldwide have now attended an Alpha course, an opportunity to explore the meaning of life, running in tens of thousands of churches of all denominations across the world. Alpha is an opportunity for anyone to explore the Christian faith in a relaxed setting over ten thought-provoking weekly sessions, with a day or weekend away.

Want to come? Simply fill in the form below

This was all after we had arrived halfway through the graduates procession, which we ended up being told to join and found ourselves on the stage front and centre! We became honored guests, just like most places we go, very humbling really.

The event was full of ceremony and done with amazing amount of importance, graduation from everything from kinder onwards is celebrated with great enthusiasm here in the Philippines.

The guest speaker was Aris Ballesteros, Annie’s brother, who is a regional manager of a national company who graduated from the same school. It hit me once again what an impact that compassion is having in families. While Aris was not sponsored himself, Annie was which allowed Aris to go to school and college because his mother had to only cover the cost of one child. So whoever was sponsoring Annie was actually allowing another child to become a college graduate and later a regional manager, who can sow back into the local community.

One of the highlights was an amazing speech by the valedictorian, another 11 year old girl. I will show some of the video in church. This was an truly wonderfully insightful speech that a uni student would have been proud to give, all done without note. Even as she cried as she thanked parents, se was able to continue and give some wonderful words of insight and encouragement.

It is such a privilege to see the work of compassion and the churches, they truly are doing life changing work. If you are a sponsor, know that what you are doing is changing lives and families forever! Never forget this, sponsorship works. Today I saw 6 sponsor children finish elementary school, they have opportunities before them that they may not have had.

Well done sponsors! Keep up the good work

To see the compassion children again, Geremi and Winnie is such a joy, I have seen them four times now and they come and give me such a hug it makes you cry. Their mothers too are so grateful for our visit and the little help we can give them while we are here. We took them shopping for groceries and a big bag of rice as well as few treats for the kids from the toy department. It was Winnie’s brothers 4th birthday on the day, so it was a bit special also. We all ended up at Jolibee’s (like McDonalds) were we had a snack. Then said good bye to Winnie and drove to Geremi’s fathers farm some 30 min away, he was going to drop out of the project until he heard that Rochelle was coming to visit four years ago. He now travels into the compassion project most weeks, his mother cooks and sells things each day to raise money so they can afford the jeepney cost.

Everywhere we go we meet compassion children or graduates from the compassion program. To see the difference sponsorship makes first hand is amazing. To hear stories from teachers, policemen, etc… Who were sponsored is so heart warming, you wonder where they would have been without compassion. Sponsorship works!! One common sad message we hear is that some never hear from their sponsors, letters make a big difference even once they have graduated you can keep in touch with them, it’s a lifelong bond really, they all know the name of their sponsor and where they are from, they are so appreciative of the help their sponsor give them.

The time we have had withe leaders and the churches is also a blessing, the people here are so grateful of any help and support. To visit them is saying to them that we care about them. Everywhere we go we are treated like special guests, give welcome rosettes and of course snacks!

If you are from Sale Baptist, then you should consider two things, sponsor a child and or come with us in November. It looks like we will be doing some exciting ministry while here as well as some very practice ministry like painting and cleaning no excuses get on board and allow God to move you in an amazing way as you come to this wonderful part of the world

Yesterday we had a meeting the Pastors and Directors to plan this week and also our trip in November. This week we will visit all the churches at share in many events, preaching, training, encouraging leaders and staff. Rod will be looking at sound systems and helping them to get the best sound they can, also Lynne will be taking a session with staff and government school teachers at one of the churches.

Our planning for November went well, with options including eye and dental clinics, training sessions, outreach rallies and working bees (painting and cleaning) at the churches. It should be a great trip and quite a busy one. If you are from our church then start praying about joining us, we need plenty of people to add to the mix already coming.

I will update shortly about my time with two compassion children and their families what a blessing!

Cheers

The ministry among the Bagio children is such a needy work, the four teachers who now are all graduates from bible college do an amazing work. They put in many hours and make a difference in the lives of the children and the families. Mayet does such a good job supporting them and ensuring they have ongoing support when she is not in the country. I believe this work among the poor and forgotten people is close to the heart of God.

The work in the Arakan Valley has so much potential. The Southern Baptist Association has asked me to head up a training program there for existing and new Pastors. They have such an opportunity to plant churches but have few leaders/Pastors. This is definitely an exciting opportunity to visit the Valley on a yearly basis and train Pastors. This will require much prayer to discern Gods will in this area.

While in the valley, some of our group where told they were the first white people to visit the school. This was quite amazing to hear and reflect on. Pastor Efren drove from the valley to Davao on our last night just to invite me back and vision the idea of training Pastors. He shared how our trip there had encouraged the group and how my message on unity had set in motion new co-operation among churches of the valley. They are so keen to see the gospel presented and the people are so open to receive it.

Thank you for your prayers while in Davao

Rod, Lynne and myself are now traveling to Loaog to meet up the our partner churches and share with them, I will keep you posted.

On Sunday we spent the morning at the Joyful Church with Pastor George which was a blessing to worship with fellow believers here in Davao city. Their enthusiasm in worship was inspiring. I was privileged to be able to preach in both morning and evening services. At the morning services many came forward for prayer after the message. Their eagerness to follow God is always and encouragement.

During the afternoon we took some children from Kids Aglow ministry to the shops, bought them lunch and then some clothes and shoes. These are wonderful children who are so impacted by the ministry of this program. Spending time with the staff of Kids Aglow has been great, to see their love for the children is rewarding. They are so committed to sharing with these children and their families.

On Monday we rose early and headed off at 4.45am to the Arakan Valley. This is a very remote valley where Pastor Efron had invited us to come and share for the day. We were not quite sure what to expect or what we would be doing for the day. After driving for about 11/2 hours we left the taxi and got into two 4×4 vehicles as the valley road was extremely rough and hilly. About 15 minutes into our trip we found ourselves at the first school where the whole school, about 45 students. We were introduced and then I was invited to share a message, I had about ten minutes warning of this and was not quite sure what I should say. The principal was a Christian and I was able to share a brief encouragement to staff and students. We then got back in vehicles for the next 35 minute drive, Rod travelled in the back this time on a wooden plank and bounced his way through the valley.

Upon arrival into the valley we were ushered into the Mayors office and welcomed to the area, then it was off to the church for the regional conference of Southern Baptist convention. I was the guest preacher for the first two sessions, during the second sessions the others went off in two groups to share at other schools. It was a great day and such a joy to share with churches in such a remote area. It was quite hot and the building was open at each side to allow air through, but still very hot inside.

On our trip on the way out of the valley I sat in the back of the ute with 5 cousins and their “uncle”. These girls were such an encouragement to see how they sang worship songs as we bounced along and showed me their valley with such pride. They were beautiful girls who were so interested in us and wanted to know more and learn from us, but also share their life with us too. I will always consider them as my friends, this is what I love about the Filipino people they are so welcoming.

My backside is still recovering from this trip in the back of the ute

We are off to a graduation service now for the bible college students at Joyful Church.

Today we will be in Enjoy Church, sharing in the morning and evening church services. The afternoon will be spent with the sponsor children buying them clothes and shoes. Tomorrow is a big day leaving here at 5am to travel up the Arakan Valley where I will be speaking at a conference of about 15 churches and others will be going into schools to share. This is the most dangerous part of the trip and we would appreciate your prayers. The Pastor has assured us it is safe however this is a very remote area, some 4 hours drive from davao and much of the trip is in 4 wheel drive only. It will be a long day.

I will post updates in the coming days. Thanks for your support and prayers

Our understanding can be really weak sometimes, usually assuming the worst.
Rest in the confidence and boast in the promise of Christ your Salvation, who saved you from condemnation.

Keep trusting Jesus. What have you got to lose?

Blessings-a-many.

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2012/03/how-could-dis-happun/

IGNITE YOUTH is all about Jesus. There is nothing more important than knowing Jesus. In everything we do we aim to make Jesus famous and point people towards him. All that we do is because of Him and is for Him. Our prayer and desire is that you would come to know Him as your own Saviour and Leader.

WHO IS JESUS?

Jesus is God who became man some 2,000 years ago. Jesus was born in Bethlehem and he lived on earth just over 30 years. He was a carpenter, but he was so much more than that. He lived a sinless life, he was tempted, he knew pain and sorrow, he was beaten and ultimately killed even though he did no wrong. This was all a part of God’s amazing plan to save you.

Philippians 2:6-11 Christ was truly God. But he did not try to remain equal with God. Instead he gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us. Christ was humble. He obeyed God and even died on a cross. Then God gave Christ the highest place and honored his name above all others. So at the name of Jesus everyone will bow down, those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And to the glory of God the Father everyone will openly agree, ”Jesus Christ is Lord!”

JESUS RESCUES

The name Jesus means God rescues or God saves. God created the earth and everything in it, he created humans and he created you. He created all things for his purpose and he created people for relationship with Himself. From the start of creation we see that people turn their backs to God and live their own way. This is what sin is. Sin is more than just doing naughty or wrong things, sin is living for yourself and not living for God.

Romans 3:23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

As well as living for ourselves the standard that God does set for us to live up to is at an impossible level. There is no way we could ever keep all of the rules and commands that are written in the Bible. This is bad news for us. Especially bad because the penalty for sin is death; eternal separation from God, from people and from everything that is good.

Romans 6:23 The payment for sin is death. But God gives us the free gift of life forever in Christ Jesus our Lord

This is where Jesus steps in. God knew that we could never save ourselves. He knew we would fail and fall short of his standard. So he sent his prize, his only Son. Jesus came from heaven and lived a perfect life, he was killed for something he never did. God put all of our guilt, sin and shame on him. God poured his wrath out on Jesus instead of us. Jesus was our substitute – he rescued us. Because of this amazing gift and show of love we can now have a relationship with God again!

Romans 4:5 But you cannot make God accept you because of something you do. God accepts sinners only because they have faith in him

No longer is it up to us to perform to a certain standard, instead we need to put our faith in Jesus and what he has done. We can talk to God and walk with him and be confident he loves, accepts and approves of us because Jesus was the perfect substitute.

ACCEPT JESUS

You can accept Jesus into your life right now! If after reading this, maybe talking with some friends or hearing a message at a church service you feel like you want to give your heart to Jesus you can pray and ask and he will come in. You won’t necessarily have a light shine down on you. You may not feel any different at all after praying this prayer, but if you believe in your heart that Jesus died for you and you want to give him your life you can be sure that you are saved.

John 3:16 For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

If you want to accept Jesus you can pray a prayer like this:

Dear God, I know I am not good enough on my own to be accepted by you and I don’t deserve your gift. I am guilty of living my own way and I need your forgiveness. Thank you for sending Jesus to die in my place. I give you my life and want to live your way from now on. Please help me to live for you. Amen.

If you have just prayed this prayer we would love to hear from you so we can help you in this new journey. You can either send us an email (youth@sbc.org.au) from the contact us page or call us on 03 5143 2727. We would love to see you at youth on friday night or church on a Sunday if you aren’t already coming along. We would also love to give you a Bible if you don’t have your own copy. Whatever you do make sure you tell someone about this decision you have made. We aren’t created to live in isolation, rather in a community. That is what church is all about, living for Jesus together.

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2012/02/jesus/

Maybe a pineapple, panther, polar bear, priest, pogo stick, phone, pig, pavement, pea, picture, phaser, prickle, paw, panda… you perceive the picture… please pass this page to people… phanks.

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2012/02/p-party/

You will either be a Pirate or a Ninja, come this friday night to find out!

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2012/02/tribe/

See you there!

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2012/02/iron-and-clay-this-sunday/

See you at 6pm, don’t be late!

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2012/02/water-fight-night/

Welcome back to the website after a few months of inactivity.

Hoping you all had brilliant Christmases and Happy New Years and what-not.
So after a few months I got a bit sick of seeing Russell Crowes face on this webpage.
So I have a plan…
If we all post awesome inspiring things, we can be rid of Russell’s face!
You: “Good idea, Tom!”
Me: “Yes. I am.”
You: “That doesn’t make sense, but I love you anyway!”

So the general idea is, talk to Lauren, Brad or myself about enquiring an account and you could be awesome like me.

Face it, you know you’re jealous, I know you’re jealous, so see either three of us. Envy isn’t a good thing.

Just get onto it

Looking forward to the changes and growth of our ministry this year!

Blessings-a-many,

Tom.

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2012/01/well-yeah/

We hope you can join us THIS friday (Jan 6th) for the first of our HOT SUMMER NIGHTS!

Come from 6:30pm for dinner, either from the Cafe, or you can bring your meat and cook yourself on the provided BBQ.
There will be some games and sports going until dusk when the movie ‘Despicable Me’ will begin. Bring a rug or your favourite chair, bring your friends and family too!
Any questions please call 5143-2727.

Check out the details for each event below, hope you can come!

The Sale Baptist Church offers an exciting internship program custom designed to train and equip you for ministry. Interns study and minister at Sale Baptist Church up to three days a week.

2012 Internship Applications NOW OPEN! Please see the following documents:

Youth Internship Information 2012

Application

Covenant 2012

1. Who are Gladiators?
According to IMDB Russell Crowe is/was a Gladiator. (Incase you don’t know, IMDB also known as the Internet Movie DataBase and it (obviously) tells you about movies…)
2. What are Gladiators?
Wikipedia informed me that a Gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals
3. When were Gladiators?
1st century BCE, 2nd century CE and the 4th century CE. I wonder what happened to the 3rd?
And for those of you who don’t know what CE means, it means ‘Common Era’ here is the Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CE
4. Where are Gladiators?
Ancient Rome/Roman Empire and all that Jazz.
5. Why are there Gladiators?
To entertain the King/Queen or Important people.

This is Russell Crowe as a gladiator:

So I can’t promise you that we will actually look like this at IGNITEyouth, or that we will try to kill each other for your entertainment. But one thing I can promise you is that you WILL NOT regret coming along to IGNITEyouth tonight, because it is going to be a blast!!!

So I know that you are now cancelling all other plans to make sure that you will be here at 6pm at the Church.

Keep Smiling : )
Ange

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2011/11/gladiator-night/

If you want to serve on the day please fill in the form below and someone will be in touch with you shortly!

This

or

fun times like this.

1. Our rides don’t break – this may be because we don’t have any rides…

2. It won’t cost you $15 to get in!

3. You can see the fireworks from here – FREE FIREWORKS!!

4. Cheaper food. $1 for chips instead of $10

5. The Show doesn’t even have the giant drop this year. We don’t have it either – but we never said we would.

6. You can eat cake here not just look at it.

7. We have good music and super cool games.

8. You don’t have to wait in line for half an hour.

9. Youth leaders are way cooler than carnies (and have all our teeth.)

10. We have Jesus!!

 So where are you going to be tonight? At the show waiting in line, spending money and getting yelled at by carnies? Or here with us being awesome??

See you tonight at 6 for youth, or at 8 for Ignition.

Stay classy IGNITEyouth

Tots love you bebs.

Lauren and Alison. Xx.

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2011/10/ten-reasons-why-igniteyouth-is-better-than-sale-show/

• Holy Spirit
• Bible commentaries
• Internet – www.blueletterbible.org
• Your pastor or small group leaders

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2011/10/term-4-2/

Jesus Christ made some crazy claims about himself, one of them is found in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” Can we really trust this? We are going to look at this and so much more… Make sure you don’t miss any youth or ignition this term!

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2011/10/the-meaning-of-life-________/

What did Jesus mean when he said some be my disciple? What does that even mean? How are we supposed to follow Him when we can’t even see him? What does he look like? What does he smell like? What was his favourite food? What does he even want with us, with you… with me? _________ Summer Camp 2012 is going to answer this and more, it is going to be full of fun, sunshine, tenting, swatting mosquitoes, canoeing, eating awesome food and so much more. If you consider yourself as a part of IGNITEyouth you simply can’t miss this camp… everyone will be talking about it and you don’t want to be the person who missed out! Get yourself there no matter what!

More details and Registration HERE!

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2011/10/summer-camp-2012/

We are going to explore the universe… but mainly focus on the meaning of life and you!

Our NEW format of is coming into play as of WEEK ONE (that’s the first week back of school)… IGNITION is every friday at 8pm, so rock up for youth at 6pm, ready for ignition at 8pm!

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2011/10/coming-this-term/

We are going to explore the universe… but mainly focus on the meaning of life and you!

Our NEW format of is coming into play as of WEEK ONE (that’s the first week back of school)… IGNITION is every friday at 8pm, so rock up for youth at 6pm, ready for ignition at 8pm!

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2011/10/coming-this-term/

BUT

Your mum and Dad are probably thinking some thing like this ‘(Insert your first and middle name here) you need to clean your room and pack your bag before you go anywhere!’
What’s that I hear you ask? What do you need to bring? Well let me tell you..

Bible
Note book
Pen
3 to 4 changes of clothes. (Boys that is a minimum of 3 please wear clean clothes every day – Girls you don’t need 9 changes 6 at the most)
1 change of clothes you can get dirty in
A sturdy pair of shoes
Bible – so I did that by accident but feel free to bring 2
Sleeping bag/ bedding
At least one teddy bear
Bible – ok so I did that on purpose but 3 is ok
Toiletries – this means toothbrushes, soap, DEODORANT, shampoo and toe nail clippers.
A phone charger, because I know you couldn’t live without your phone.

So what are you waiting for go clean your room and when your mum asks why tell her it’s a present from me.

Stay classy IGNITEyouth.
Lauren Xx

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2011/09/clean-your-room-and-pack-your-bag/

Camp forms are available at youth or from church on Thursday night or Sunday night! at only $80 it’s a steal..

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Article source: http://ithasstarted.com/2011/09/encounter-camp/