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Would you help Dave and Cathy to continue in student ministry with AFES?
Please consider:
- Giving financially
- Signing up for their prayer letters
- Sharing this with others who might want to support Dave and Cathy!
Stories arising from and in support of Dave and Cathy's gospel ministry to university students
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Geoff Lin's reflections
Sunday, March 1, 2015
Fei and Juliet's reflections
Being an international student and away from home is a scary feeling. But we (my wife and I) are very thankful for FOCUS (Adelaide), and especially having Dave and Cathy Walter in our lives while here in Adelaide. Dave and Cathy filled in the roles of being our family, friends and mentors easily in our lives and we learnt to adapt and enjoy being here in Adelaide through their help and support. FOCUS has grown so much under the capable leadership of Dave and Cathy and with a heavy heart, we bade our goodbyes to them. However, we know that God has a great plan for them in Brisbane and God knows their love and passion in working with international students. We know that they will be a tremendous blessing to the students there in Brisbane! Please continue to support Dave and Cathy's work, both in prayer and financially.Fei & Juliet.
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Would you help Dave and Cathy to continue in student ministry with AFES?
Please consider:
- Giving financially
- Signing up for their prayer letters
- Sharing this with others who might want to support Dave and Cathy!
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Jesse's reflections
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| I was in the Botanical garden in Melbourne |
My name is Xiaojie Yang, and I was called Jesse when I was in
Melbourne. Now I have finished my PhD course from The University of Western
Australia, under the help and guidance kindly offered by David & Cathy in
my life in Australia.
I met Dave and Cathy in Aug, 2007, when I had just arrived in
Australia for the first time to do my Master course in The University of
Melbourne. One of my roommates introduced me Cross Cultures, which is a
Christian group led by Dave & Cathy in Melbourne and running for students,
especially international students in Melbourne. At that time, I did not know
Jesus or Christian very well. I just would like to play indoor soccer with Dave
and other people since I am such a soccer fan. It is Dave & Cathy that
introduced me to join the Cross Cultures and participate in the Bible study
there. From then on, I would say I became to know Jesus and Christian little by
little.
I would never forget about those Thursday nights, in St. Jude's church, when I was talking and enjoying the food, reading and studying the Bible
with other friends from Cross Cultures. As a foreigner and international
student living alone in Melbourne at that moment, I understand that this is a
very precious opportunity for me to get closer to God and think about life from
Christians' perspective. Moreover, this activity also helped me to get relaxation
from the extremely stressful study. Therefore, Dave & Cathy are the first
people that I should appreciate for leading this activity.
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| Dave & Cathy in the farm of Dave's grand parents |
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| David showed me the bread cooked in a traditional way |
In the winter of 2008, as a guest invited by Dave & Cathy, I
visited Dave's grandparents' house and farm in the western part of Victoria. This
is my very first time to visit some village in Australia with local people and
thus one of my best memories in Melbourne. Dave & Cathy showed me the farm
and cows, as well as the house. They were friendly enough to treat me the
meals, with the self-cooked (in the traditional way) bread and the famous
Vegemite. That was the first time for me to know this strong-taste food. Due to
this tour, I became a person who has "visited" Victoria or Australia;
I became a person who has been "living" in Victoria or Australia for
a while. Without this tour, my life in Melbourne must be limited within the
range just including the university, my accommodation in Brunswick, and St.
Jude's church. I remembered that at the end of 2008, more friends from Cross
Cultures were invited to that house and farm by Dave & Cathy. I am sure
that they experienced a joyful and friendly trip.
In early 2009, I was trying to apply for PhD candidature after I
finished my Master. That was a frustrating period in my life. I was rejected by
numerous universities. Simultaneously, one of my close friends cheated me by
keeping a PhD candidature opportunity from me for himself. During this
difficult period, Dave & Cathy kept comforting and encouraging me. I have
never thought Dave, as a person originally from western countries, could
understand the meaning of friendship, loyalty, sorrow, and hate between Chinese
people. Amazingly, Dave understood my feeling and my thinking considerably
well. Dave & Cathy told me that even negative experience was arranged by
God with some positive purpose, because God love us as His children. After
that, my application for PhD candidature was accepted by The University of
Western Australia and, more than my expectation, with full scholarship. I
understood that this was also arranged by God and, if without Dave &
Cathy's comfort and encouragement, I would never see this arrangement. Dave
& Cathy saved my life from the dark night and helped me to see the sunshine
of the dawn.
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| I was in The University of Melbourne |
When I said goodbye to Cross Cultures and Melbourne in 2009, Dave
gave me a farewell interview in St. Jude's church in front of all the Cross
Cultures friends. I felt warm when I heard Dave & Cathy sharing their
memory about me in Cross Cultures and Melbourne. As one of thousands
international students in Cross Cultures, I am fortunately enough to become
Dave & Cathy's friend and memorized by them. Also, I would definitely
remember Cross Cultures, as well as Dave & Cathy and their help, as a key
element of my life in Melbourne.
After I started my PhD candidature in Perth from the end of 2009,
I heard that Dave & Cathy moved to Adelaide to run FOCUS in The University
of Flinders. Since living in different cities, the communication between Dave
& Cathy and me became less and less. I have not seen them again since the
farewell interview in 2009. But we do care about each other by leaving messages
on Facebook. Thanks to Dave & Cathy again, I joined the activity of
Unichurch International in Perth to keep my step following Jesus.
Last year, I finished my PhD course in The University of Western
Australia. At the same time, I heard that Dave & Cathy moved to Brisbane to
run new groups and activities for Jesus. I admire Dave & Cathy so because they
are brave enough to pass their achievement, such as Cross Cultures in Melbourne
and the FOCUS group in Adelaide, to others and then create a new one from the
very beginning. They take all the difficulties by themselves and leave the
easier tasks to others. Therefore, I would say Dave & Cathy are the
greatest Christians doing the greatest ministry in Australia. I am so sorry to
hear that the financial support for them is not enough at this stage. Dave
& Cathy's help and encouragement to students, especially international
students, are more than vital in terms of not only following Jesus but also
daily life!
Jesse Xiaojie Yang
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Would you help Dave and Cathy to continue in student ministry with AFES?
Please consider:
- Giving financially
- Signing up for their prayer letters
- Sharing this with others who might want to support Dave and Cathy!
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Glen Macrae's reflections
I can’t speak to highly of Dave and Cathy’s example of love for Jesus and love for university students.
After a few years involved in Christian Union at Melbourne University as a student I went on to do a traineeship in 2004-05 while Dave was Senior Staff worker. At the time I was one of a small team of staff that benefited from Dave’s leadership.
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| Glen and Anna Macrae |
God used my time in Dave’s team to deeply shape in me a Gospel focused & thoroughly biblical word view which I have drawn from ever since in my Christian walk and leadership. His personal example of loving students and so sharing the message of the Gospel with them was exemplary and he infused the team with the same passion creating an evangelistic dynamic. Dave made great investments in Christian students and upcoming leaders in the form of one-one mentoring, which has provided me a model for one-one discipleship ever since. As a team leader Dave was so helpful in the way he gathered us together and invested in our hearts and minds, facilitated team relationships, as well as giving due attention to the nuts and bolts of ministry. In this way Dave imitated Jesus who did the same thing as he gathered his disciples for mission.
As an Anglican Minister working in the Diocese of Melbourne I continually draw on what God implanted in me as an AFES trainee under Dave’s leadership. The leadership values that I caught and made my own - teaching the bible in order to promote a biblical world view, promoting an evangelistic dynamic, team leading, one-one work - are values that I have carried with me ever since and expect to hold on to for a lifetime of ministry.
Glen Macrae
Associate Minister Ormond Anglican Church
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Would you help Dave and Cathy to continue in student ministry with AFES?
Please consider:
- Giving a financial gift
- Signing up for their prayer letters
- Sharing this with others who might want to support Dave and Cathy!
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
Support update for Dave and Cathy
After two months of this blog operating, 22 stories of Dave and Cathy's ministry and 3500+ pageviews, we're pleased to say that Dave and Cathy no longer have a deficit with AFES! Please thank God for the generosity he's shown through you all.
This blog will remain active, and shift towards more occasional stories arising from Dave and Cathy's recent ministry. In the near future, this will provide space for stories from Dave and Cathy's ministry to international students, and we anticipate presenting stories from their new Brisbane ministry before too long.
This means that Dave and Cathy are now in a much stronger financial position, however they will still not be paid for the full amount of work they are doing. Their monthly combined support target is $10,700, most of which goes towards paying Dave for 5 days and Cathy for 3 days (although they usually work more than these official amounts). Their regular support is currently around $2,667 below the target, and so they won't be fully paid until they have pledges or ongoing support to reach this amount. Please pray for Dave and Cathy as they turn their attention from the crisis of the deficit, to the ongoing work of inviting people to be invested in this ministry to students.
This blog will remain active, and shift towards more occasional stories arising from Dave and Cathy's recent ministry. In the near future, this will provide space for stories from Dave and Cathy's ministry to international students, and we anticipate presenting stories from their new Brisbane ministry before too long.
Thanks so much for caring for Dave and Cathy, and for the students that they minister to - by visiting this blog, reading stories, receiving their newsletters, praying and giving financially. Dave and Cathy have felt quite overwhelmed by the support that has flooded in, and the encouragement they've received in their work. They feel in a much stronger position to be heading to Queensland for the next phase of their strategic student ministry.
Would you like to partner with them ongoingly in their Queensland ministry? You can partner in prayer by signing up to receive their prayer letters and you can give financial support through AFES.
Monday, November 3, 2014
Bryn's reflections
I studied BSci (Hons) from 1999 - 2002 at Melbourne University and at the end of my third year I became a Christian. Although I was committed to following Jesus I still had a lot of questions to explore during my Honours year (2002). I found that reading the bible often generated even more questions, especially as I encountered passages that either contradicted my world view, or my picture of what I thought Christians believed about God.
What a privilege it was, then, to meet with Dave on a weekly basis in the Union Building to go through my list of questions. Each week I had a new list based on what I had read from the bible and on previous conversations, and whenever we met I was amazed at the way he could answer every one of my questions in a logical and methodical fashion. I am convinced that having a weekly mentoring session with Dave is one of the reasons that I was able to grow as a Christian and 12 years later continue to trust that the bible reveals to us a true picture of God.
My wife and I got to know Cathy later on and have been blessed with the wisdom of both of them as they have helped us think about what a good marriage looks like. We look to them as role models of how we can live our lives as a blessing to all those around us.
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Would you help Dave and Cathy to continue in student ministry with AFES?
Please consider:
- Giving a one-off gift to help send Dave and Cathy to Queensland debt-free*
- Signing up for their regular newsletters so that you can pray and keep in touch with them
- Sharing this with others who might help Dave and Cathy go to Queensland debt-free
* Or even better, become a regular supporter!
Friday, October 24, 2014
Jon and Kara Thorne's reflections
Humidity. Crazy motorbikes. Amazing smells.
Children playing in the streets. A scene far removed from the quiet hallways of
Melbourne University and attending Christian Union (CU) main meetings. Yet
amazingly these scenes are linked. How? In both places, we needed Jesus and
were challenged to deepen our Christian faith. What we learnt 18 years earlier
in CU, has continued to sustain, anchor and protect us in the streaming, and
steaming, streets of South East Asia, living amongst a people group whose faith
disagrees with our core beliefs.
We both, Jon & Kara, studied at
Melbourne University from 1995 to 2000 and met at Christian Union. Together we
were involved in leading Science Faculty Bible study groups. At that time David
was a senior staff worker and teacher and Cathy a mentor for Kara.
So 14 years later we find ourselves serving
in South East Asia with our four children in a country that is predominantly of
a different faith. We have now lived here 2.5 years. Kara is a fulltime mother,
part-time homeschooler of four children (ages between 9yrs to 16yrs) and a
‘taxi’ driver. Jon has started a business as a way to
connect and support local people as well as to support the local church.
Dave and Cathy Walter were a key part, 18
years earlier, of us being in South East Asia. How you may ask? Cathy and Dave
built us up in understanding so many truths about Jesus, on how to apply these
truths into our daily life and were patient with us as we asked many questions.
We were not treated with scorn or seen as doubters but were given room to
mature and be shown how to study and digest the scriptures. Cathy & David
walked through so many of our life transitions with us at University (ie
marriage, children). BUT it did not stop there. Over the next 15 years they continued
to input into our lives as our family grew in number, studying at theological
college, through Jon’s cancer, when wrestling through the decision of
ministering overseas as a family and then visiting us in our new home in
South-East Asia.
Living in South East- Asia has bought many
hardships, and even evil, into our lives. Our abilities, our good works, our
knowledge, our feelings, our relationships, familiar cultural cues did not sustain
us. But our Christian faith has! We knew that truth comes from the Word of God
alone and the dependence on this truth was even more real when we moved to
another country. We had to trust in Jesus & not in ourselves.
In each (and more) of these places &
situations, they were willing to talk of spiritual things, share of themselves
and speak the truth in love to us. We knew of their prayerfulness for, and
over, our family when apart (even by state boundaries) and it moulded the way
they conversed with us when we were together.
Our prayer is that they can continue to be
mentors and friends to many other people like us, from many nations. Dave and
Cathy have been an invaluable influence on our lives and many others like us.
We pray that they are able to bless many more lives in the future through their
work with university students from all around the world.
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Would you help Dave and Cathy to continue in student ministry with AFES?
Please consider:
- Giving a one-off gift to help send Dave and Cathy to Queensland debt-free*
- Signing up for their regular newsletters so that you can pray and keep in touch with them
- Sharing this with others who might help Dave and Cathy go to Queensland debt-free
* Or even better, become a regular supporter!
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