Saturday, August 30, 2014

Zoe Hardy's reflections

Cathy is one of the first people I remember meeting in my first week on uni campus, her gentleness and genuine care was proof of the work a loving God was doing in her life. It was 1998 and I graduated in 2001. Throughout those four years and for several years afterwards, Cathy took many opportunities to encourage me to feel, think and know my faith, and more importantly, to know God. When we met, I was confused about trusting God's revelation of Himself in His Word. Cathy encouraged me to open my Bible and open my heart to the loving, just, merciful and holy God I met there. Knowing that Jesus loved me, I became intrinsically aware of the power of His Father and God's commitment to bringing sinful people to Himself and loving us generously. Questions were welcomed, doubts were tabled and judgement was left to God. Such tenderness shown then has helped me in many following years to seek to love with God's love, as He offers it, not to make it other than it is.

Whilst studying and latter doing a ministry traineeship, I was challenged by Dave's willingness to put everything on the line for Jesus' sake. To be careful that I trusted God, not people's opinion of Him, and to be sure that I "watched my life and doctrine closely". At the time, it was something a young Christian needed to hear, and now, it is something that someone who calls herself a Christian needs to remember. To know that God sees my thoughts and that my actions and words are a reflection of the God I claim to know. I am so grateful to God for His work through the Walters, to show me what selflessness looks like, and to encourage me to trust God with all I have and all that I am.

- Zoe Hardy (nee Cuthbertson), 1998-2001+

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Thursday, August 28, 2014

Wayne Schuller's reflections

At a critical stage in my life as a young adult I was in a Bible study group on campus at Melbourne Uni for the first two years of my degree. In my third year Dave trained me as an assistant leader and I began from that point to understand the joy of teaching God's Word to as many people as possible.

Also during my undergraduate years I was privileged to meet regularly with Dave 1-1 to read the Bible and talk about the gospel and its impact on my life. I received an enormous blessing and encouragement from this time. From Dave I received a hunger to teach the entire Scriptures to help everyone become wise for salvation through Christ Jesus.

I also had the opportunity to work part time with Dave on his staff team in 2000-2001. I learnt so much from Dave's faithful expositions on campus and his leadership modelling at this time. 

God, through Dave, was able to plant a passion for the gospel of grace in my heart. I am now a full-time pastor-teacher in a local church. I pray that God would continue to use Dave and Cathy to win not only new believers for Christ from among the nations, but to raise up many ministers of the Word and prayer.

 Wayne Schuller (1992-1996, 2000-2001)

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Monday, August 25, 2014

Cat's reflections

In 2000, when I first met Dave and Cathy at Summit, I wasn't a Christian. I'd opened the Bible once or twice (but closed it again quickly), had very little idea of who Jesus was and had never set foot inside a church. The community that Dave oversaw at MUCU was the most loving and welcoming group I'd ever encountered. Within 3 weeks I was a Christian, and I immersed myself in CU - joining every Bible study, training course and camp that I could find.

Fourteen years later, I've worked in IT, done a ministry traineeship at St Jude's, married Tim (an Anglican minister and now Principal of Bible College SA), have two kids and have done some theological education at Ridley. More importantly than any of that, I'm still a Christian and wanting to serve Jesus with my life, through more twists and turns than I'd ever anticipated back at uni.

The years I spent at CU were invaluable discipleship years. I can't think where else I could have had such intense exposure to opportunities to learn, grow, practice and see godly life modelled. Dave's teaching has been some of the most formation in my life - I've been struck in recent years (often in conversation with Dave and Cathy) how often Dave's words come to mind. I went from being biblically illiterate to having a solid working knowledge of the Bible in a couple of years. Even more than that, I came away from those years with a deep love of the Bible and of the God who is revealed in its pages. I was encouraged again and again to submit all of life to Jesus, my Lord. I learnt to appreciate some of the complexities of the Bible, and to be able to hold it's tensions together ("two things are true"). I saw sacrificial giving and service modelled repeated by Dave and Cathy.

One of the striking things that I recall from those years was the call to persevere in radical, passionate faith in Jesus, and to continue giving my whole life to him even when life throws up challenges or becomes too comfortable. Dave and Cathy often taught about how we'd encounter suffering and that it's hard to persevere as a Christian, but they modelled faithful service back then and continue to do so now.

I cannot thank God enough for those years, and the way they have set me up for a life of being God-centred, of using my gifts for him, of seeking joy, forgiveness, and above all, seeking Christ.

Cat Patrick (nee Harris), 2000-2003

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