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
3 July 2023 Episode 98 - Faith under fire - David
Jenny's guest today is David.
For security reasons, we're not going to share his last name, but we can say that David grew up in a ministry family living on military bases.
He also found himself donning a khaki uniform and having the unique responsibility of helping soldiers, sailors, airmen and women learn what it means to have faith under fire.
Listen
26 June 2023 Episode 97 - All things work for good - Dave
Tambourines, cows and the urban poor - interested?
This episode Jenny's guest is Dave Adams.
For as long as Dave can remember, he had a heart for mission and a plan to go out into the world with the gospel.
He did do that, but not exactly as he had thought.
And along the way he came to understand the words, "God works in all things for the good of His people."
Listen
19 June 2023 Episode 96 - Preparing for death - Simone
This episode Jenny welcomes Simone Hargreaves.
Simone had dedicated her career to seeking justice, and as a managing partner in a law practise, she helps people prepare for the end of their lives.
That means navigating the complicated process of estate planning and guardianship.
In short, her normal day is dealing with what could be someone's hardest day.
Listen
12 June 2023 Episode 95 - A Bridge to Mission - Ben
Jenny's guest in this episode is Ben Powell, a man whose life you could say is like a jigsaw puzzle that God has put together.
Ben has been a secular youth worker, a youth minister in a church, and has lived and served in a place where people haven't even heard the name Jesus.
And he's now combining those experiences to equip young people to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.
Listen
5 June 2023 Episode 94 - Bringing Forth Life - Jodie
This episode Jenny chats with a woman who has watched scores of little ones take their first breaths.
Jodie McIver is a wife, a mum, a midwife and more recently the author of a new book called Bringing Forth Life which celebrates pregnancy and birth.
As a Christian, she not only highlights the beauty of childbearing, but the way it parallels God's life-giving work in our own lives.
Listen
29 May 2023 Episode 93 - For the love of God - Don
Jenny Salt's guest this week is Don Carson - some would say a living legend, although he would be unlikely to go there. But Don is a renowned speaker, scholar, academic and author who has had a profound influence on generations of Christians. He’s had a hand in more than 60 books on various parts of the Bible and preached on any Gospel passage you'd care to name.
We’re thrilled to have him on the show from his home in Chicago, USA.
Listen
22 May 2023 Episode 92 - Public Christianity - Greg
This episode Jenny Salt speaks to media mastermind, Greg Clarke.
Greg has spent thirty years exploring the connections between Christianity and culture.
Greg has led university centres, ground-breaking media companies and top-tier charities. And what he’s striven to do is his desire to see Christianity communicated in every public context.
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15 May 2023 Episode 91 - Loving sick kids - Kim
This episode Jenny Salt sits down with paediatrician and child advocate, Dr Kim Oates, the former CEO of the Children's Hospital at Westmead.
Kim is a doctor, academic, writer, husband, father, grandfather and a Christian.
It's hard to summarise all that Kim has done over the years but what shines brightest is that God has used a heart well-designed for working with children so that, in all types of pain, these little ones had someone who was ready to listen.
Listen
8 May 2023 Episode 90 - The missionary mindset - Steph
Tune in as Jenny Salt introduces you to missionary psychologist Steph Schwarz.
From a young age, Steph had her eyes and heart set on the mission field.
She and her family did end up going to Africa but not as she expected.
As a psychologist, she helped others stay on the mission field, and in the process learned how to face trials with resilience.
Listen
1 May 2023 Episode 89 - Broadway angels - Marcus
Get ready for a journey of wonder and spiritual encouragement as Jenny Salt introduces you to musical producer Marcus Cheong.
Have you ever wondered what a Broadway producer does? Or how you even become one?
Marcus Cheong has written and produced musicals that have been performed in one of the most iconic cities in the world.
How did he get there? And what did God teach him through resounding choruses, and the saddest of songs?
Listen
24 April 2023 Episode 88 - Exchanging many gods for one - Sashi
This episode Jenny Salt introduces us to Sashi Grayndler.
Sashi grew up in a Hindu household, knowing what it was like to have life ordered by many gods.
But through a process of abandonment that stretched over many years she came to find the one God who would never leave.
Listen
17 April 2023 Episode 87 - Music and grief - Liv
Kicking off Salt Season 8, Jenny introduces us to singer-songwriter Liv Chapman.
You may have seen Liv's name at the end of the song PowerPoint for many of the congregational songs you sing in church.
She's a song writer, musician, church leader and also one who has experienced the devastating loss of a close family member.
But that loss has informed her music, drawing her and those who listen closer to a God who grieves with us.
You can find out all about Liv's work by visiting Emu Music.
Listen
2 January 2023 Episode 86 - A psychologist on life - Lyn
Join Jenny as she speaks to psychologist Lyn Worsley for the final episode of Season 7.
Lyn is a senior clinical psychologist whose life has been filled with teachable moments.
A little nurse for her father; a comforter for grieving families; a psychologist committed to building resilience.
Lyn can give an insight into all of them, and especially where we need to build ourselves up today.
Listen
26 December 2022 Episode 85 - Fashionable Christianity - Jules
Jenny Salt's guest in this episode is fashionista, Jules Cole.
Jules has been a fashion designer for more than forty years - teaching, working and writing about fashion.
But what does that mean from the perspective of the Christian faith?
What do faith and fashion have to do with each other? Join Jenny to find out.
Listen
19 December 2022 Episode 84 - Fighting for faith - Pete
Jenny's guest today is Australian Defence Force chaplain Pete Ritchie.
Pete has a long association with the military and rescue services
Years spent in the navy and as a spiritual mentor to the men and women of the armed forces have brought him into close contact with many people facing the reality of death.
But he shares there's hope in Jesus for even the messiest of times.
Listen
12 December 2022 Episode 83 - After the monsoons - Naomi
This episode Jenny introduces us to missionary and author, Naomi Reed.
Naomi has penned ten books, but never saw herself as a writer.
First and foremost she was a physiotherapist, and that trade took her to the heights of the world and hundreds of faith stories.
Listen
5 December 2022 Episode 82 - The church of hard knocks - Wayne
This episode Jenny crosses to the wrong side of the tracks to meet Wayne Pickford.
Wayne is the minister of what many might call 'the church of hard knocks', with unemployment, poverty, domestic violence and lots of colourful characters all part of its community.
But overriding all these social issues is the beauty of lives transformed by the gospel of grace.
Listen
28 November 2022 Episode 81 - If Spring could sing - Jerrah
Jenny Salt has the pleasure of introducing her listeners to a very creative young man, Jerrah Patston.
If you were to imagine a ray of sunshine embodied as a person, Jerrah is your man.
Jerrah lives with autism and intellectual impairment. He's also a composer, community musician, a valued member of his local church and, all up, a fun guy to be with.
Listen
21 November 2022 Episode 80 - Helping victims of violence - Leonie
Meet Leonie Menzies, a woman whose childhood stretched across multiple cultures and continents, who uses her hard-won lessons to help a whole new generation of children.
Leonie's early childhood was spent in the beauty of the French Alps, and the noisy hustle and bustle of Niger and Nigeria.
It was also marked by a series of hellos and goodbyes, and a grief and loss that actually resulted in her becoming a person of hope - hope which she now offers to those whose lives seem hopeless.
Listen
14 November 2022 Episode 79 - Getting to the heart of things - David
Jenny does a deep dive into the life of David Whalley, a Christian man who knows what it feels like to hold a beating heart in his hands.
David began his life as a hyperactive child when medicine barely understood what that was.
Who would have thought that, as an adult, he would embark on a medical career that would lead him to navigate the pathways of the human heart?
Listen
