I have always had a belief that God was real since I was 8 years old, and at 69 years , as I look back on my life I’m reminded of God leading me to where I am now - where He has lovingly given me the freedom to make my own choices throughout my life.

Growing up in a family of 11 children, I was the 9th, however quite lonely at times being between 2 older sisters & 2 younger brothers I spent lots of times on my own (reading or dreaming) . My parents had 5 children before WW2 & 5 after the war with one son passing away during the war years. They were prone to discipline us ‘in love’ - my father being the disciplinarian & my mother usually saying “your dad will deal with it” when he gets home from work - I only ever saw my father angry twice, both my parents were loving in nature.

Growing up in Scotland we were raised Presbyterian, I have fond memories of hearing stories of Jesus in Sunday school. This was where I began to question some of these stories & at 8 years old remember debating with my Sunday school teacher over what happens when I die. I really never got a clear understanding until much later.

The years that followed were caught up in school, study, then getting a job at 15. I still read a lot but, I had begun reading religious materials when I was about 14, the bible was however one book I was perplexed with & found I needed some guidance.

Therefore my journey into studying with different denominations began. I didn’t have the understanding of having a ‘personal relationship’ with God either but I had begun to pray & ask Him to help me to understand.

At the age of 17, I immigrated to Australia, putting my biblical studies on the back burner temporarily. I became busy learning to get to know this new land, getting my license & of course falling in love. I had my 19th birthday while in Melbourne Alfred hospital, having been involved in a severe car accident. I had so much time to think, as it was all I could do, unable to move while in ‘traction’ for 3 months. In this time ....... 3 weeks after the accident I had a ‘pulmonary embolism’ and, what some would say as a ‘near death’ experience - the angelic vision & voice I heard from the end of my bed in hospital telling me my time was ...not yet ! This had me thinking of God again.

 From then on all I knew then was specialists telling me I had a long road to recovery, slim possibility of ever having children, learning to walk again while in a rehabilitation hospital for a further 4 months. (& then taking 5 years to achieve without the use of support) in my heart I knew that there was a greater power I could tap into.

The next 3 years following my 7 & 1/2 months in hospital, I had married but had many hurdles to overcome physically. My crossroad/turning point was 4 years after my accident & after having had 4 miscarriages then my son Michael surviving only 8days - I was almost 23 & I was certainly in the lowest point of my life!

God found me there in my grief.

2 weeks after my son passed away, God gave me my first glimpse of HIMSELF.

My niece had got in touch with me, asking if I could drive her to the Geelong West town hall. A group of people were showing a 2hr feature film on the life of Martin Luther & the reformation on that Sunday afternoon, & her mum didn’t want to go. She was to do an essay at school on the same subject by reading a 5inch thick book, which would take too long to read - she said the film would be quicker!! I had never heard of this person Martin Luther, (thinking he was a speaker who was black) and when we tried to leave unobtrusively at the end - I was asked by a lovely girl on the door if I enjoyed the film? I said yes.... hesitated, but then told her I was aware she was part of a church group which, at that moment I wasn’t too concerned with, but I needed to ask her a question - “what does your church believe what happens when you die?”

I remembered being that 8 yr. old in Sunday school, remembering the story of heaven that I was told of & still needing to know from another person’s view so that maybe God could give me peace in my heart over the loss of my babies. This lovely girl seemed very nervous but very sweetly told me that we ‘sleep’ till Jesus comes to take us home to heaven. An example she gave was, “when you go to bed, you set the alarm for morning..... But do you know the exact time you fall asleep? You then sleep maybe 7-8 hrs. & then the alarm wakes you and you feel like you just went to sleep .... in a blink of an eye? - we believe death is like this, from the bible it says Jesus wakes you from your sleep” . She gave me a bible text to read John 3:16 on a flyer.

I was so stunned I went home with these words going through my head I needed to know more! I got my bible out & looked up the text.

This was the night I met Jesus..... God knew my loss & He took me to meet HIS SON at the cross & to tell me HE understood & at that very cross I understood for the first time how much God loved ME, when His son died for me I understood HIS loss for the first time. I understood then how much He was prepared to sacrifice for me.

I will be eternally grateful that He showed me His love through the cross.

My Faith & Ministry Journey,

Ministry has been a significant experience in my faith journey. From as far as I can remember in my Junior sabbath school years. Learning of God's amazing grace inspired me to do something bold for God in my life. I admired seeing young people teaching during Sabbath School at my home church in Auckland New Zealand. With aspiration I would whisper under my breath, ‘I could do something like that.’ I really enjoyed reading the Bible (Samoan version) and I wanted a broad knowledge of the Bible so I could share with others. A good friend of mine named Topeto, introduced me to reading the King James Bible. That’s where he lost me completely and my inspiration kind of went out the window.  

Preaching however, was not my ideal. I considered it another step up from being a sabbath school teacher and at the time there were things in my life I was uncomfortable with. Public speaking was one of them and being a pastor was completely out of the picture. I contemplated various ways to witness and share my faith, for example with my friends at school or visiting people in hospital with my youth group. I was also inspired from listening to the Sabbath School Mission Story; learning about Missionaries sharing Jesus in other parts of the world.

From that point on, I was focused about what I wanted to do in life. In reality, having a good education would open doors for me and I guess that’s where I felt challenged. English was my second language and I struggled with comprehending it. Speaking English and understanding it were two different things. During my 20’s, I moved to Australia where I began a new chapter in my faith journey. I lost focus and I’d set my sight on other things. Regardless, I believe no matter how off track I went in life, God showed up numerous times to remind me of His plans for my life... “plans to prosper me, and not to harm me, plans to give me hope and a future,” Jeremiah 29:11. God also told me, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.” Psalms 32:8 

We all have scars in life one way or another. Physical scars, emotional or mental scars and each scar has a story from the different experiences we have encountered in our lives. I have caused scars on many people over the course of my life. I’m not proud of it and I certainly have regrets. I am not perfect and I have learnt from my many mistakes. I strive forward each day with a prayerful heart asking God to heal and forgive. By God’s grace may they find the true purpose of life and happiness in Jesus. May people sense the presence of God in their lives because only Him alone will we find peace and security.

In mid-1986 I had a bike accident that left me in a coma for almost a week. Months later from a slow recovery, I questioned my mum with curiosity about my bike accident. My mum explained that on the day I was taken to hospital I was put on life support. They were deeply worried. Even worse, it seemed there was no hope after the doctors explained that there was no chance of surviving. I felt the sadness in my mum's voice. I imagined the devastating experience they went through.  

My mum would often catch me glancing into the mirror looking at the scars and injuries from my bike accident. And with tears she would remind me that, ‘it is by God’s grace that you are alive.’ Still to this day those words ring true. Every time I see the scars on my body it constantly reminds me that I’m alive because of God’s saving grace. More than ever, I am reminded of the ultimate sacrifice, “Jesus was wounded for my transgressions, He was bruised for my iniquities… and by his stripes I am healed.” Isaiah 53:5

My wife and I were involved in our home church in Brisbane. My wife and I led the youth Sabbath school and both worked in the various ministries in our church. One Sabbath my wife passed me the Record and pointed at the information about an opportunity to study at Avondale and the government had a scheme that was too good to pass - HECS. As I read the Record it felt like God was calling me to ministry. With answered prayers I moved my family to Newcastle for Avondale.   

After graduating from Avondale Uni with a Bachelor of Ministry & Theology, I did 3 years of Bible Work at Northpoint Church under Pastor Loren’s guidance. As a Bible worker my job involved letterboxing, door knocking in the community, bible studies and preaching for a couple of times during the month. I was also involved with our Sunbury food bank where I met many different people from all walks of life which opened many opportunities to share Jesus.

After three years of Bible Work at Northpoint, I became a Youth Pastor at Ascot Vale church under the leadership of Pastor Ainsley. It was at Ascot Vale Church where I first experienced the joy of baptizing people I had studied the bible with. It was the greatest joy in my ministry to witness others accepting Jesus into their lives. Full credit to the Holy Spirit! I am indebted to Pr Ainsley, elders and the Ascot Vale Church family for the support they’ve shown me and my family during the two years we were there.    

I am currently doing my second year of Internship at Geelong Seventh-day Adventist Church. Geelong Church is a warm and caring community. I’m learning and growing as a disciple of Jesus to help disciple others. What impressed me in my first year is when our Senior Pastor Gavin introduced me to our senior elder George, 27 years of age. With much surprise my first impression was that Geelong church has a great future. Young people leading in various ministries is what makes a vibrant and growing church. It’s been a privilege to work with George. He's got a good heart for people and an amazing heart for God; like most of the adult youth at Geelong church. The Geelong adult youth ministry involves ‘Connect’ and doing life with community friends on a weekly basis. They have a love for Jesus and a desire for sharing Gods love with those who don’t know.

From my experience, prayer is vitally important in my faith journey and ministry, without it I would be completely powerless and lost. My family has played a huge part in my ministry and faith journey. I thank God for a loving wife who prays for me. I’m grateful to be where I am today and for the support and prayers of many people in my life. I am doing the best I can by applying the knowledge and tools I gained from studying at Avondale College. Most importantly, I have a love for God and for people and the desire in sharing my faith with others. 

~ Tau P.

I’m 28 years alive, live in Victoria AUS, my daily paid adventure is climbing trees (Arborist) but I love everything adventurous in the outdoors, being in nature and appreciating the wonders of what God has made always inspires me. I’m a deep thinker and enjoy a good conversation about all things life, I like to write and to wrestle with ideas. The most defining thing about me is my faith in a loving God. I’m passionate about understanding people and sharing Jesus in ways that people understand.

Like for so many of us, life unfolds through a series of difficulties and heartaches and my faith was built out of the challenges I faced. My parents’ marriage was increasingly conflicted as my father faced a battle with mental health, the entire process to divorce was mirage of stress, brokenness and hurt, as one of the eldest kids and being the older son I carried a lot of the weight on my shoulders, trying to mediate and keep the peace. There was almost an entire year I barely slept, as soon as it was dark I could hear voices, sounds of people breaking in, my only peace was to wear ear muffs, leave every light on and play classical music all night. Somewhere in the midst of this I remember a brighter time when things seemed on the up, Dad was home more and there was less conflict, then an accident on the farm that I was directly involved in left one of my younger sisters an amputee, the ensuing stresses was hard on everyone and was the end of my parents’ marriage.

I used to lie on the floor for hours listening to music or audio stories, as soon as I could read proper books I would pour through biographies and life stories, anything on adventure or people facing challenges, I wanted to know more about life and great people past who had lived it well.

One dark day after telling God “I just don’t want to fight this battle any more” but at the same time being finally sure that if there was any justice I’d sunk far too low and failed far too many times. I must be cut off, I must now surely be “on Satan’s side”? Yet as I thought about that for a moment I realised how much I still wanted to do good things and live an upright life. Firmly believing that all good things come from God, I started to reason, ‘how could I have fallen too far and yet still want victory?’ It was a life changing moment of realisation, the futility of evil and the goodness of God. A God who loved me that much and who would stay beside me through my lowest. The fact that there was still a desire in me to do right and live free was evidence of His continuing presence. It is the presence of God and His grace in the journey, in the right now, which makes the victory possible! His grace and presence is not something we must journey towards. His grace is the reason there is a journey at all.

I learned that if we going to win the battles we fight inside of ourselves there has to be a moment we call a truce, where a white flag is flown and we meet our enemies face to face. God’s grace is that white flag, the space of no condemnation where we can unpack our fears, shame, doubts, questions, insecurities and failures (big and small), a secure relationship where we can know love and learn to live in its freedoms.

God calls us to show up and face the hard things, but there are no conversations I cannot have with God, no parts of myself I need be afraid to uncover or understand. To know God is both to have your weaknesses revealed and to know the grace that empowers growth and transformation.

God is the constant in all things in my life. Since that moment as a teenager there have been many amazing times but also some very difficult. In recent times I have experienced tremendous loss and heartache in ways I hadn’t imagined, let more tears fall than all my life before. But through it all, Gods presence, provision and promises have made a way. There is something about the Christian worldview that gives real meaning to both our suffering and our joy.

The greatest challenges bring the greatest potential for growth. In all the hard things we face there’s a way to let God transform it for good. God has been in all the days before, He’s with me today and I trust Him for every tomorrow.

~ George S.

Travelling solo has never stopped me from doing the things I wanted to do and to set off on a day of hiking by myself was nothing new. I was in Spain, surrounded by beautiful mountains, so it was only natural that I desired to go exploring. With my backpack full of food and water and hike directions printed off from the internet, I set out.

The track wasn’t well marked at all, but after a bit of a detour I found the path leading up to the top of the mountain named ‘Cielo’ (which translates to ‘heaven’ in English). As I climbed higher, the views became even more stunning until at one point I crested a ridge and the coast on the other side of the mountains opened up before me. It made me stop in my tracks and stare in wonder. However, there was still a way to go to reach the top, so I kept on hiking.  

I had set off around 9am and had only seen five people since then and it was now early afternoon. So far, I had had a lovely day in the mountains by myself. I kept walking even though I didn’t know how much further I had to go, but was also becoming conscious of the time. I had set 2pm as my turn around time so that I would have enough time to get down off the mountain and back to the bus stop before dark.  

Around 1:30pm I passed a couple that were descending and they told me that the top was only about 1km away. So, on I went. As I had climbed higher, the terrain had changed and I was now hiking over loose rocks and scree, no trees or clear path, just sporadic faded blue paint spots marking the track. Hiking in this type of terrain freaks me out a bit as it is so slippery and very easy to lose the track if you don’t pay close attention.  

By now my mind was screaming at me to turn around for three reasons: 

1. The time – it was now 2pm.
2. The terrain – I didn’t feel confident. 
3. The fact that no one knew I was there. When I had pulled my phone out at the beginning of my hike to tell my mum I was going hiking for the day, I had no reception and I hadn’t encountered any patches of reception throughout the day.  

But as I was deliberating I saw the top of a silver cross just ahead and above me. I knew this marked the end of the hike and the top of the mountain. The end was now in sight. So, against my better judgment, I pushed on and within ten minutes I reached the summit. To say the views were breath-taking is probably an understatement. I felt so accomplished having reached the top. And I was thankful that despite the grey clouds coming in, it was still clear enough to take in the spectacular views down to the coast.  

After soaking in the views for twenty minutes, I started my descent at 2:30pm, making my way from one blue paint mark to the next as I scrambled over the rocks. I thought I was following the track well, but suddenly I couldn’t see any more blue paint marks before or behind me. I didn’t stress too much about this as it looked like I was still on the track and I was sure I would see more paint marks soon. Besides, if I did try to back track to make sure, I thought that could disorient me as no matter what direction I looked in, all I saw was rocks. So, with a prayer, I kept on, following what looked to be the path down.  

Soon I encountered a big section of loose small rocks; rocks that slide down the mountain in a cascade when I touched them. To go back would mean potentially getting further off track and ending up stuck at the top with nothing but rocks and grey clouds. But to continue going down meant I had to go through this section of super slippery rocks. I also had the thought that if I slipped here and hurt myself no one would know that I was in trouble and no one would even know to look for me, let alone where to look for me. At this point I began to panic.  

I sat down on the ground and prayed. After a few minutes, I felt calmer and could think clearer. I looked beyond the section of loose rocks and saw what looked like a track a little ahead of me, once I got through this section of slippery rocks and over the next ridge. I decided to aim for that and check it out. I’m not even embarrassed to admit that I then proceeded to slide down the mountainside on my bottom for the next few minutes until I made it through the section of loose rocks. Upon reaching the other side and starting off through the scrub that began from this point, I was excited to see a pile of rocks and then another further on. Better still, they were heading in the direction that I wanted to go and looked to be making for what I was hoping was the track.  

Once I intersected the track, I turned to my left, towards the coast, and started to head down the mountain relieved that I had made my way back to the path. I reached to my backpack pocket and grabbed my second water bottle, ready for a big drink of water after the stressful situation. But I quickly spat my first mouthful back out as it tasted like dishwashing water. I thought I had rinsed my bottle thoroughly after washing it the night before, but evidently I had left the tiniest bit of soap and after been jiggled in my pack all day, my water was now soapy. I still had a couple of mouthfuls in my first bottle, so I would just have to ration it.

I’d only be walking for about five minutes when doubts began to creep into my mind. Sure, the track was headed in the right direction, but it seemed different from the track I had ascended on. Telling myself that it was unlikely that yet another thing was going wrong in my day, I continued. Another five minutes on and now I was certain – this was a different track.  

Cue my second panic attack. Again, I paused and prayed. Once I had calmed down I started to think through my options. Going back was not an option; if I did end up getting stuck out in here for the night, I wanted to be among the trees for shelter. I still had some snacks, soapy water, and I had a warm jacket. But just giving up and setting up camp was not my first option. There was still no phone reception but I was high enough up the mountain to get a good look at the area, so I again looked to the bigger picture.

I was confident of the direction I needed to go, down and towards the coast. This track seemed to at least be heading in the direction I wanted to go and it looked like further on, down in the valley, it came close to or joined a road. I felt like the best option was to continue along this track, even though I had no precise idea where it would lead me.  

After some time, the track I was on intersected another track. I actually said aloud in frustration, “You’ve got to be kidding me!” But knowing I needed to keep heading down and towards the coast, I turned to my left and kept going. A little while later, the track came out on the road I had seen from above. Again, I turned left and kept walking, hoping for the best. After walking on the road for about 8oom I came across a familiar sight, the picnic area I had stumbled upon in my little detour when trying to find the track up in the morning. Tears of relief and joy filled my eyes – for the first time in almost three hours I knew where I was and that I was going to be ok. I so badly wanted to sit down and rest, but there was only one hour of daylight left and I still had a 5km walk to the bus stop.  

The next morning as I watched the sun rise over the sea I read Psalm 91 which talks about God’s presence with us in times of trouble and it felt extremely real to me. This was exactly what I had experienced the previous day. I had felt God’s calming presence with me in my time of trouble and I believe that He gave me wisdom to safely get off the mountain. No one else in the entire world had known where I was or that I was in trouble. But God did and He helped me. I am confident that no matter what the future holds for me or where I go, I will never be beyond God’s reach or care. I know He will continue to be close to me all the days of my life.  

~ Melissa A.

Slav's story was featured on Adventist World Radio, follow the link to read his story on their webpage: awr.org/story/australian-man-chooses-baptism-over-alcohol