Salt Podcast
Conversations with Amy
Join Amy Townsend as she takes you deeper into the lives of 'ordinary' people with heart warming, sometimes challenging and always extraordinary gospel stories.
We've teamed up with radio Hope 103.2 to deliver these seasons of SALT. Where possible, we'd love you to leave a review to help spread the word! (If you'd like to financially support the production of SALT we'd love to hear from you. Please email Bill Farrand, SMBC Chief Operating Officer, or phone 02 9747 4780.)
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Episodes
22 July 2024 Episode 118 - Journey to the dark side - Yakim
Demon possession ... spiritual powers ... the overcoming presence of evil.
In our Western world these are elements of Hollywood fantasies.
But this episode Amy introduces us to Yakim (not his real name), who has lived in a place where these are real experiences.
Join us on a journey that has taken one man and his family from Western enlightenment to Eastern mysticism.
Listen
15 July 2024 Episode 117 - Finding my fluffy blue mouthpiece - Miriam
This episode, Amy Townsend introduces us to Miriam Braithwaite, a woman whose idea of her best life was never leaving home.
For Miriam, family and the quiet life were everything.
But God's introduction to a fluffy, blue friend opened the door to an exciting new world.
Listen
8 July 2024 Episode 116 - The Prosperity Gospel - an African perspective - Tamie
What if there is more to the prosperity gospel than we think?
Amy's guest this episode is Tamie Davis. Tamie had a heart for mission from an early age, but after years of training and preparation what she found on the mission field was not what she expected.
Tamie shares with Amy how God used her time in Africa to change her heart and mind, just as much as she changed the hearts of others.
Listen
1 July 2024 Episode 115 - Diary of a mission kid - Lachlan
Mission kid or missionary?
Amy Townsend's guest this episode is Lachlan Field, and he had a foot in both worlds.
At age 9, Lachlan moved overseas with his family to share the gospel.
But was that his calling, or something he was called upon to do?
And how has he come to see mission work now?
Listen
24 June 2024 Episode 114 - Pornography: a woman’s story - Danica
Have you ever felt like you're fighting against yourself?
This episode Amy Townsend speaks to a woman whose struggle falls well outside society's expectations.
Today we meet Danica Vega and discuss pornography - a woman's story.
Listen
17 June 2024 Episode 113 - Make a joyful noise unto the Lord - Lachie
What were your childhood dreams growing up?
For Lachie Massey it was singing, music and composition - and those dreams started coming true, age six.
20 years on, the next step in Lachie's musical career is finding the harmony between faith, music, and the gospel.
Listen
10 June 2024 Episode 112 - Fatherhood almost killed me - Desmond
It's the return of Salt for its epic tenth season, and host Amy Townsend begins by introducing us to Desmond Chin.
Desmond had the ideal life, and starting a family was the ideal next step.
The birth of his son Jordan should have been one of the happiest moments of his life.
But instead, it led him to the brink of suicide.
Listen in as Amy explores the world of post-natal depression for men.
Listen
29 January 2024 Episode 111 - Behind the mic - Jenny
For the final episode of season 9, Amy interviews Salt's most familiar talent.
Over the past six years she has gathered and shared over one hundred stories of how God has been at work in and through His people.
She's brought salt and light to our everyday lives as listeners, and we are delighted that we can finally persuade her to sit on the other side of the microphone, ready to share her story.
It's with great pleasure that we introduce our listeners to Jenny Salt.
Listen
22 January 2024 Episode 110 - Single minded singleness - Karl
This episode Jenny Salt welcomes on board Karl Deenick.
At the tender age of 16, Karl made a decision not to marry but to dedicate his life to serving the Lord Jesus, whatever that looked like.
Closing that door opened another that led to a PhD on the strangest subject you'll ever encounter.
Listen
15 January 2024 Episode 109 - The storyteller and the saviour - Kristen
In this episode, Amy Townsend welcomes a woman whose fantasies highlight the facts about Jesus.
Kristen Young is a successful fiction author.
Kristen's tale is one of childhood dreams coming true for a little girl who loved stories.
But along the way, Kristen had to learn that what we read, watch and listen to shapes our lives for good and bad.
Ultimately, Kristen learned that a story is a pathway to God, not just for our heads but for our hearts.
Listen
8 January 2024 Episode 108 - Deepest, darkest France - Kelly
This episode Jenny Salt talks to a woman who took the good news to a country where the gospel has grown old and stale.
Kelly Landrigan grew up in a fibro house in working-class Sydney.
Her family went to church regularly, learning about rules to please God that she could never keep.
But hearing the gospel, and understanding grace, took her on a journey to deepest, darkest France.
Listen
2 January 2024 Episode 107 - Loving the red dirt - Alick
This episode Amy Townsend speaks to a man whose heart for the gospel sent him west.
Alick Arkapaw has a deep love of sport and has a 'tell it like it is' attitude.
His love for this great brown land - Australia - and the people who populate it, led him to take his young family to the bush.
There, he discovered the real spiritual needs of today’s man on the land.
Listen
26 December 2023 Episode 106 - Journey to murder, road to forgiveness - Tamar
Jenny's guest this episode is Tamar Pollard.
You won't have necessarily heard her name before, but if you were living in the UK in 1997 you would have seen photos of her family on the front page of every newspaper.
And the headlines would have included words like 'murder' and 'tragedy'.
Tamar's story is one that does include details of horrific circumstances.
But it's also a story of incredible faith and a journey of forgiveness that will take your breath away.
Listen
18 December 2023 Episode 105 - His call over your comfort - Jenny
This episode Amy Townsend talks to Jenny, someone who has left her Australian life behind to be a stranger in a foreign land.
We can't tell you her last name because Jenny is currently doing gospel work in an unreached part of the world where being a Christian is not a safe thing to be.
But there's a lot more to Jenny's story than her time on the mission field.
Today, we'll be talking about the challenges she faces every time she comes home.
Listen
11 December 2023 Episode 104 - Still a mother - Jackie
This episode Jenny Salt speaks to Jackie Gibson, a woman with a heart for mothers going through the hardest times.
Jackie has lived in the US and the UK both as a child and as an adult, and currently lives in Philadelphia with her husband and kids.
Jackie's journey as a mum has been a great joy, but also marked by deep sadness.
Her book, You Are Still A Mother, was written in the light of her experience and the hope that remains.
Listen
4 December 2023 Episode 103 - Planting churches, growing faith - Amy and Mikey
Today Amy Townsend brings us a first for the Salt podcast, interviewing not one but two guests - Amy and Mikey Nhieu.
Amy and Mikey grew up with very different backgrounds, but ten years ago they met and became a wonderful ministry couple.
They have a great story of what it looks like to serve God together.
But no-one really wants to think about what happens when our best efforts fail, or when a church plant doesn't go according to plan.
Listen
27 November 2023 Episode 102 - Jesus’ media man - Leigh
This episode Jenny Salt talks to one of Australia's most experienced media workers, Leigh Hatcher.
His name and voice may sound very familiar to many because he's had a career in television and radio that spans 50 years.
Leigh has interviewed a myriad of famous people and stood on the edge of nation-changing events.
But the event that changed him most took place one afternoon on a quiet beach.
Listen
20 November 2023 Episode 101 - A corporate conscience - Bill
This episode Amy Townsend talks to Bill Farrand, a man who has filled key corporate chairs for secular and Christian companies.
Bill grew up in a small town going to a small school. He didn't love hard work and wouldn't have described himself as particularly mature or ambitious.
And yet somehow he found himself to major positions of leadership and influence - and developing a corporate conscience along the way.
Listen
13 November 2023 Episode 100 - Dramatic Faith - Amy
Welcome to the start of Season 9 of Salt, and our 100th episode!
This time around Jenny Salt is speaking with Amy Townsend, a person whose path to God was literally a dramatic one.
Amy grew up loving to perform, dance and being involved in drama.
She loved musical theatre and everything involving a microphone and an audience.
But it was off-stage, seeing flatmates live for Jesus in very ordinary ways that took Amy in a very different direction.
Listen
10 July 2023 Episode 99 - The paramedic’s mate - Mal
This episode Jenny Salt talks to Mal York.
Mal seems like your typical minister, preaching and serving in the local church.
But what isn't so typical is what he's done on the side. That is, being a chaplain to ambulance services.
Standing beside paramedics serving the injured and the dying, and offering the hope of Christ in the most hopeless times.
Listen
