An Urgency for the Gospel
From the moment Jo became a Christian at university, she was convicted of the urgency of the gospel.
“Coming from a Roman Catholic family, I was very aware of how extraordinary and undeserved God’s grace is. It still makes me pause in wonder. That there is nothing I bring, my hands are empty. Yet in his beautiful love, he saved me, from beginning to end.”
“I was challenged from the beginning of my Christian life – through hearing missionaries particularly – to give my life in service to Jesus. Whether that’s overseas or in Australia, to go where there are great needs and few gospel resources. As Paul says in Romans 15:20 “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known.””
“I was challenged from the beginning of my Christian life – through hearing missionaries particularly – to give my life in service to Jesus.”
For 11 years Jo and her husband Mike served with CMS in South Asia, running leadership training, church planting and discipleship initiatives for the Muslim background Christian community. They returned unexpectedly to Australia where Jo has continued her heart for the lost, serving in church leadership roles, and now as a Senior Consultant at Reach Australia.
“At Reach Australia, I’m still looking to the fields and not the barns. I want to consistently lift my eyes to consider the 23 million people in Australia without a saving knowledge of the God who moved heaven and earth so that they can be reconciled to him.”
Preparation for Ministry at SMBC
Jo and Mike studied their Master of Divinity at SMBC as they explored where God was leading them.
“I absolutely loved my time at SMBC. It was a place where both of us could really thrive, a place where our passion to take the gospel out to the world was nurtured and fanned into flame.”
“SMBC is a place where God’s love and concern for the whole world is lived and breathed. We heard regularly from missionaries – not just the standard photos and presentation – but behind the scenes about what gospel ministry was really like. Honest, vulnerable but also challenging and inspiring.
“Cross-cultural work was consistently on the agenda – in the classroom, but also in our conversations, with the missionaries on campus, and in our college prayers.”
“SMBC is a place where God’s love and concern for the whole world is lived and breathed.”
Jo found like-minded friends, who were heading towards overseas cross-cultural mission, and Australian church ministry. Her heart was stirred to serve amongst Muslims, after being challenged by the lack of people serving amongst the Muslim world.
“We found friends who left college to serve in Austria, the Middle East, Central Asia, and South East Asia – all with different mission agencies. We were on a journey together – thinking through what we were learning and how it would apply to cross-cultural ministry. We were praying for each other as we were working out where we could serve, what type of work, and with which agency.
“SMBC doesn’t only send missionaries, but sends out cross-culturally minded, gospel passionate workers to serve in a wide range of ministries across Australia. That environment of both groups, rubbing shoulders, in class and conversation together, really works. It made a place where we were learning from each other, encouraging, inspiring and challenging each other.”
An Unexpected Return
Sometimes ministry pathways change unexpectedly. Jo and her husband were forced to wrestle with an unplanned return to Australia.
“Often those in global mission work talk about the ‘call’ to mission. Mike and I were specifically challenged about the needs of the Muslim world. It potentially becomes problematic, when you are no longer able to serve in that location – whether it’s a cancelled visa, or older kids needing education, or (in our case) needing to return for health reasons. What happens to that ‘call’ then?
“As we returned to Australia, it was a tough transition, trying to imagine what God might want us to do next. We’d been planning to serve in South Asia for all our lives; we didn’t have a plan B.”
Jo found her footing in one simple truth.
“I realised this is all mission – serving in Australia, serving overseas. It is taking the good news “to Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”
“I realised this is all mission – serving in Australia, serving overseas. It is taking the good news “to Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
“It’s not one calling and then another. It is all God’s call (Matt 28:18-20). It’s all one gospel, one mission.”
A Church Aligned for Mission
Now working for Reach Australia, Jo leads training for healthy church teams, building towards one simple goal: is this church sharing the gospel to make and mature disciples in ever-increasing number?
“For Reach Australia, mission is all about gospel urgency. The brevity of this life, the reality of heaven and hell, living in light of Christ’s return.
“This means aligning everything towards the goal of making and maturing disciples. From the senior pastor, to alignment of resources and activities, to creating a culture where people actively share Jesus and support people who do that.
“If everything in a church is well aligned, every part spurs one another on. A climate where people become Christians in our midst, where our gospel convictions spur us to action and sharpen each other, where we pray for the whole world to know Jesus – this all shapes our practice, our character, and our concern for the lost.”
Churches across the Reach Australia network are seeing a resurgence of local mission and evangelism.
In their recent Network Learning Survey, established churches saw on average 6% growth through conversions every year. This outstanding trend may only be for a season, as normal healthy growth is between 3–5%, but it also shows how God is at work across the country.
“Being active in the Great Commission doesn’t just mean financially supporting missionaries. It means being a missionary where we are – sharing Jesus wherever we go, praying for our friends and family, all with the purpose and the confident hope that God will bring people from death to life as we do that.”
“A healthy church needs both local and global mission to be happening, where everyone is involved, where we are working to see God’s kingdom increase, and where the two feed into one another.”
“A healthy church needs both local and global mission to be happening, where everyone is involved, where we are working to see God’s kingdom increase, and where the two feed into one another.”
“Imagine if we treated Australia as a mission field. Imagine if our global mission partners on home assignment ran workshops in cross-cultural mission in the language and ethnic communities around our local church.
“I’ve seen this done in the UK and it was excellent – the local church sent missionaries, but also sent congregation members to be trained in language and cultural skills, so they could return to their church more equipped for local mission.”
“Every church needs to be intentional about raising up and sending out workers for the harvest field – both in Australia and overseas.
“Many churches are keen to send and support when someone steps up – but don’t have a plan to tap people on the shoulder, to make leadership development part of the bread and butter of church life and the body of Christ. That rubbing shoulders and inspiring each other in local and global mission doesn’t just need to happen at Bible college, it can happen in our leadership development.
“What if our churches were raising up and sending out church planters for Australia, as well as partners for global mission work?”
The Need for Church Planting in Australia
Church planting remains a critical focus for Reach Australia. They’ve seen 165 new churches planted, and are praying that God will plant 135 more over the next four years.
“Recently I was on a church consult with an inner city church. Within a 10 minute drive of the church are 290,000 people. If they reached only 1% of those people, that would require them to run 13 church services on a Sunday. 13 services! And that’s just to reach 1% of their community.”
“We often allow what we can see, or the size of our church building, or our current number of leaders – to set the limits and focus for our ministry, rather than the vast harvest field our church is sitting amongst.”
Currently the Reach Australia network is also seeing 6–7% conversion growth in church plants – new churches reach new people!
And it’s not just about the numbers.
“Each person is precious. Each one is a brother, sister, family member, a neighbour, or a work colleague – each one is an incredible story of God’s grace and mercy.”
“Each person is precious. Each one is a brother, sister, family member, a neighbour, or a work colleague – each one is an incredible story of God’s grace and mercy.”
One example of a recent church plant is Orange Evangelical Church City, launched last November. They have already had 2 faith commitments during launch weeks, and 5 seekers attended a recent LIFE series. They have already outgrown their meeting space, and are looking for a new location. New people walking through the doors are who they prayed for: unchurched and de-churched, not transfers from other churches.
Seeing God at work across Australia and the world gives us a bigger perspective.
“How is your own church going? Are local and global mission firing each other up? Is there a culture of everyone actively being involved in sharing Jesus, as well as supporting partners who do that work?”
“We need bigger prayers, bigger plans, bigger priorities that reflect our big God and his heart for all people to be saved.”
