Audacity to Hope
As I listened to the aspirations of local church leaders who engaged in missional dialogue with other Baptist leaders from across South Australia, I gained a sense that our Lord is seeking to reveal to us new ways to ‘be salt’ and ‘shed light’ into lives, families and communities.
Late last year, State Executive Minister Mike Mills and I co-hosted a ‘Collaborative Missional Communities’ forum when Pastors and leaders from 23 Baptist Churches actively entered into bold discussions with Baptist Care SA leaders. We entered into a process of discernment around how, by working more closely together, our Baptist Movement can increase our collective impact in South Australian communities as we seek to be an authentic expression of the Gospel, particularly amongst those who are struggling and vulnerable.
Through the grace of God and with the servant heart of Jesus, working with and on behalf of the Baptist Churches of SA, Baptist Care SA has the audacity to hope that:
• Vulnerable children and young people will have every opportunity to flourish
• Struggling families will be strengthened so that they can provide nurturing homes that launch people into each day with renewed hope
• Communities will recognise, celebrate and be empowered to sustain the strength of cohesion that our nation has witnessed during the recent catastrophic bushfires.
In 2020, Baptist Care SA accepts the challenge with and on behalf of the Baptist Movement in SA to support the healing and restoration of thousands of people who are living in despair and languishing under layers of adversity that are beyond their control.
Accordingly, driven by the audacity to hope that lives can be transformed, we are actively pursuing bold, life-changing initiatives this year including:
• ‘Sanctuary in the City’ – Please pray with us as we seek to cast a fresh and compelling vision for the development of our ageing WestCare Centre. This place of sanctuary in the heart of Adelaide provides a safe, welcoming and supportive place for thousands of homeless and vulnerable people every year. Aboriginal people have been accessing the safety, support and sense of community in this sanctuary for over 100 years
• Homeless Respite Centre – A barrier-breaking pilot program, developed in conjunction with the Royal Adelaide Hospital, providing 10 safe and supported beds for the recuperation of people who would otherwise have been homeless when discharged from the RAH onto our city streets. Commencing in mid-January, this new service is an inspiring forerunner to the development of a larger and more comprehensive Health and Wellbeing Centre over the next few years
• Housing Pathways Strategy – We will be work closely this year with local churches, Federal and State Government and other partners to increase access to appropriate, stable and affordable accommodation for people living on low incomes
• Collaborative Missional Communities – We will be seeking to engage with small clusters of Baptist churches this year to co-develop initiatives that support the transition pathways of disadvantaged people in local communities.
How can you partner with us in these exciting initiatives?
• Become a missional project partner for the Homeless Respite Centre by providing financial support (approx $50k is required)
• Have you thought about supporting the work of Baptist Care SA by making a gift in your will?
• Please pray with our Board, Executive and staff that our Lord would move ahead of us to bless the lives of vulnerable people.
