Merewether Mothers Union  have been busy during the COVID 19  lockdown, and completed 12 woollen rugs for Jenny’s Place .

The photo shows some of the knitters with the Reverend Sally Malfroy, who Blessed the rugs outside St. Augustine’s Church. She prayed especially for those who would receive them, that they would find warmth and comfort from them .

Jenny’s Place is a specialist, residential, and support  centre  for women and children experiencing Domestic and Family Violence or Homelessness in the Newcastle Area . There they receive, shelter,  referral to counselling,  Family Support and Legal Advice.

On arrival the women are given a bright knitted rug, made from woollen squares; when they leave they can take the rug home.

Anne Clarke

Phil Wiseman (L) and Elaine Richards (R) were presented with their 50 year membership by Denise Brown.

The presentation took place in President Lola Reinhart home.

On December 3rd we gathered to celebrate with Evelyn, her 60 years of service to the community through Mothers Union. We celebrated with Holy Communion during which our Mothers Union Newcastle President, Denise Brown presented Evelyn with her 60 year badge. The celebrations continued as we shared lunch and fellowship. Congratulations Evelyn

A lovely day in the Cathedral celebrating The Feast of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Our Presider and Preacher was The Venerable Arthur Copeman. He spoke of Mary and her willingness to obey Gods wishes to conceive and carry a baby which would be known as Jesus even though she had not been with man. Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

Our new Chaplain, Reverend Nicole Baldwin was commissioned.

The Banner parade was once again a joy and a beautiful site to admire going through the Cathedral.

Laurel Brook was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation from Kate Doran for her service as a Hospital Visitor.

We then had the pleasure of listening to The Very Reverend Katherine Bowyer. She spoke of her Christian journey and her journey and joys of becoming the Dean of the Cathedral. She is the first woman to be Dean, the first Novocastrian, the first to have studied here at Morpeth. Katherine said she had the best job and the most beautiful place to work.

Katherine  was thanked by Laurel Brook.

Dear Friends in AMUA,

South Sudanese Bishops’ wives and other representatives of Mothers Union in South Sudan met in Uganda a few weeks ago. This was a wonderful time of doing MULOA together and of breaking down tribal and language barriers. In a great demonstration of the power of prayer and of God’s mercy, women who were either suspicious of or openly hostile towards others in the group were able to listen to each other, to forgive hurts and to pray and praise God together. What a wonderful privilege it is to be able to share in such a powerful work of God, and to support our brothers and sisters in South Sudan as they continue to work at showing forth the unity that we share in Christ.

I am thrilled that I now have some photos and stories to share from these meetings. I hope they will be helpful as you encourage MU members to be generous in giving their prayerful and financial support of this project. AMUA has undertaken to send the amount requested by Mary Sumner House to cover the cost of this important gathering immediately, so members’ contributions will replenish our funds and enable us to continue to partner with Mothers Union in various parts of the world.

I hope these resources are a help to you.

With warmest greetings in Christ,

Christine

Widows, prisoners, military, orphans and people with disabilities were helped.  The change was the safe provision of food for widows by stopping looting by the military.  The Mothers union helped the military to come to know God and change their behaviour such as lying. Done this through a Bible verse approach.  John 17 V 17.  Food was provided and collected from different parishes. 700 chickens were sold which provided the money to give the capacity for members to make this change. Various challenges were encountered including bad politics, justice and peace.  While lack of frequent salaries/ money extended the time this change took to make.

Helped widows, the vulnerable and the sick.  The change was improved quality of life by provided them with soap, sugar clothes and praying with them.  This change was done by members through visits to those identified as needy.  “God said if you are blessed with resources you should give to the poor and those in need” This was resourced by creative income generation by members.  (Making and selling)  Hindrances, some members were reluctant, and lack of full cost.

Members discovered that a family was in need when the mother ran to them after being tested positive for HIV going home and encountering a violent husband after she asked him to be tested. Through visiting the family over a couple of months and becoming friends, members were able to overcome attitudes and stigma from the community and the man’s family to encourage the man to eventually get tested. He did go with his 3 sons who all tested positive.  Members were able to help get the family access to anti virals which has increased their health.  The family also have increased quality of life as members help with the woman is feeling weak with daily activities.

5 young Mother Union members from a village facing poverty were helped. They were helped with increasing their food cultivation and improving their health.  This was done by trainings and organising the woman into groups for fellowship.  The change was increased quality of life, sustainability of livelihoods, honesty was brought to the community and the ladies now respect themselves and their community.

Members identified a blind man and his wife who needed help.  Mothers Union did this by helping care for their son with the local church leader.  Sourcing and providing accommodation.

Members decided to help a community change for the better via micro finance.  This was done by meeting with those that were identified as needing help.  Organising into groups, providing the initial loan and proving training on savings.  The change was a better quality of life, independence, financial stability and a reduction in the poverty level of those identified. Struggles included a lack of commitment and initial capital.

Now we are mixing, we are getting to know each other

It is a miracle that you can bring all these women together from all different parts of SS.

1. a lady lost her sister during the workshop, she shared during the ‘sharing circle’ activity and her whole family group prayed for her and comforted her.
2. In the same group, a woman from Rumbek has been caring for 30 orphans. When she left she was worried who would provide food for them as she did not have enough money to leave. She shared with her family group during the sharing circle and in the afternoon, a man had arrived with money to buy food to feed the children. Again, this was related to the power of their family group’s prayers.
3. The sharing circles help me to see I am not the only one suffering, others have burdens.
4. After sharing burdens with our sisters, I realised God would relieve our burdens
5. We were able to lay our burdens down so we are free.
6. I was able to share whatever was burdening me with each and every member of my group.
7. This sharing helped me a lot because I carried this heavy burden in my heart all this time. When I shared with him, I feel light.
8. I thought I was on my own with these burdens. When sharing, I realised we are together.
9. We need to be careful as we as the Mothers Union are the salt.
10. If you have faith you will bring those who have darkness out.
11. Mothers Union should be light to the people.  Light exposes the light of Jesus to people.
12. If we are not attentive to outside Mothers Union people will not come in.  People come to Mothers Union when we are attentive.
13. Let us be light then God will use us.
14. When you have light, you do good things and that brings people to you.
15. We are excited because we are gaining knowledge.
16. Team from Mary Sumner love us! They want to make a friendship with us.  They help us communicate.
17. God has given us people to show us the way in Akot Diocese.
18. The power of prayer is strong.
19. We go from home to home to strengthen the Mothers Union.

Was held at the Holy Family Anglican Church Belmont North on Friday 8th March.

Reverend Nicole open the meeting with prayer.

Certificates of Appreciation for retired hospital visitors were presented by Denise Brown on behalf of Father Roger Zohrab to Barbara Wattus, Margot Pleash and Jacqui Sorby,  in recognition for their Pastoral Ministry over many years at John Hunter Hospital. Certificates will be presented to Laurel Brook and Carole Harvey at a later date.

We then had the privilege of hearing our New Chaplain’s Christian journey. A summary below:

Journey of faith, walk with God

It is a privilege to be the Chaplain for Mothers Union in the Diocese of Newcastle, and to share this part of our faith journey and walk with God with you. This is a new role for me, but many of us already know something of each other through other ministries … Cursillo, GFS, parish and Diocesan life. It is good to be here with you.

I thought I would share with you some of the experiences and relationships which have both formed and informed me, creating me to be who I am today. My Poppy was a great storyteller. He told us “stories” as young children about the value of friendship, working hard, helping others, trust and love. He taught us Christian values without putting them into religious terms. I was one of the older grandchildren, and I remember being allowed to read his The Bible Story books when I was in primary school. I don’t think I ever read them all because I love the pictures and the story, so each time I would begin at the beginning again. After my grandfather died, my aunt found and bought a set of the books and I still have them.

Fast forward a few years and I am 16 years old. I am going on the adventure of a lifetime … I am off to Basile, Louisiana as an exchange student for a year. One of my first memories of my host mom was her telling me that I would be going to Catechism lessons with the three boys each week and to church with the family. I didn’t even know what Catechism lessons were! I was there to experience life in a new way, so was happy to do whatever it was that was normal for the family that were mine for the year. I made lots of friendships and it was in that year that I felt at home in church for the first time. This was a memory that I would recognise many years later. We went to St Augustine’s Catholic Church, and because I knew nothing about church, I copied everything that Miss Carol (my host mom) did. When she knelt, so did I … when she made the sign of the cross, so did I … when she went to Communion, so did I. Many of the things that I still do today are things that Miss Carol did when we went to church together. The church was very involved in the local high school. There were two churches in town, and together they sponsored Sing Out which was a high school theatre company that had us travelling and performing all over south west Louisiana. We were part of a telethon and did two hour shows for all sorts of events. Basile was and still is a small town, so we all knew each other, we all took extra-curricular activities together and we made friendships that have lasted, despite the distance between us. I graduated high school with my class and still keep in contact with those I was closest to.

After returning to Australia, life went back to what was familiar here. None of my friends went to church, so I joined a youth group, but it wasn’t the same. I completed my HSC and an Associate Diploma, then married and had children. The importance of being part of a faith community was lost for a long time. I did get married in Church and both of my girls were baptised as infants … I knew it was important, but I couldn’t put the words around why … I just knew it was something that I wanted for my girls.

In a time of crisis, I walked back into a church and then there was that memory … I was “home.” I recognised that memory, that feeling … and have been a part of the church since then. I was asked if I was interested in going to a Cursillo. I was seeking, even if I didn’t know it then, and I went. My sponsors, Kim and Peter, drove two hours to Morpeth, which is where I had moved to, so that they could drive me two minutes down the road … and look after my girls while I was at my Cursillo. It was at my Cursillo that I finally began to really listen to God promptings and decided that I would follow where I felt I was being led by God … and here I am!!

I completed my Bachelor of Theology while I worked full time … and during that time I was lay director of Women’s Cursillo 44 … and in the same year I was able to go to the Holy Land as part of my university studies. We spent 19 days in Jordan and Israel, helping to excavate at Bethsaida where we had the great privilege of unearthing ruins, especially finding a doorway and entry into someone’s home. It was an amazing experience to be in the Holy Land; to float in rafts down the very shallow Jordan; to worship God at St Luke’s Anglican Church Haifa with an Anglican Arab community, singing both in Arabic and English; to swim in the Mediterranean Sea and Lake Tiberias; to wander the grounds and gardens of Mt Beatitudes; to look over the Promised Land from Mt Nebo; to explore Petra and look over toward The Monastery after climbing 899 steps.

I cannot imagine doing anything different than what I am doing at this time in my life. I look forward to all that we will share together, the way God will use us to bring His light and love into the places where we are, and to walking this part of our faith journeys with you.

Every blessing

Nicole

Current and previous members of our branch together with visiting members from Morpeth East Maitland, Maitland, Nelson Bay, Morpeth, Mt Vincent, Williamtown/Medowie/Malabula and Mothers Union Executive helped to celebrate our 100th birthday on Tuesday 28th May.

We shared morning tea on arrival followed by a Eucharist led by Fr Steve Niland. Mothers Union Diocesan Chaplain, Reverend Nicole preached – sharing the story of a ‘well travelled’ Mothers Union badge which was recently passed on to her.

Our President Lorraine read our branch history, Glenda and Jacqui from the Windale MUGS led us in a version of ‘Jesus loves me’ with extra verses…there is so much talent in Mothers Union.

There was a display of memorabilia. We then had lunch and birthday cake made and decorated by Wilma McNeill.

We had hoped to have Branch Life Member, Joyce Wood, cut the cake but Joyce wasn’t able to be with us.

It was a very enjoyable day and we thank everyone who came and helped to make it a memorable day for Raymond Terrace Mothers Union.