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1Thornleigh Hillcrest Uniting Church newsletter

The

Thornleigh HillcrestUniting Church Newsletter

October &November 2018

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2 Thornleigh Hillcrest Uniting Church newsletter

The Lord is my shepherd Based on Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. He lets me rest in fieldsof green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water. … Even if I gothrough the deepest darkness, I will not be afraid, Lord, for you are with me.Your shepherd's rod and staff protect me.

David wrote this psalm. A psalm is a song. It is the best known psalm, andthe most quoted psalm.To better understand the message with the image of a shepherd, a questionwe should ask first is ‘what does a shepherd do?’ Especially in the time ofa few thousand years ago somewhere in a very rural Palestine area.Basically, a good shepherd’s job is always ‘watching, tending, worrying, andcaring’ for each and every sheep in the flock’.There is a catch, however. The sheep must remain within the care of theirshepherd in order for the shepherd to professionally achieve his good jobdescription mentioned above. Otherwise, there is hardly a good shepherdwhich David tries to define in his Psalm. Therefore, the statement that ‘theLord is my shepherd’ can be paraphrased in this way: ‘The Lord is myShepherd as long as I remain within my shepherd’s care.’Like many promising passages in the bible, there are mutual involvementsbetween the shepherd God and his flock. In the case of this Psalm 23, we ashis sheep must make an ongoing effort to remain in his care, so that ourShepherd continues to ‘watch, tend, worry and care for us’ in the wildernessof this world.That would be a blessing, but it’s easier said than done since there appear tobe so many good, tempting shepherds around us. They all come and say“they care”. And quite often, we might be found to follow a wrong one,evenbefore we know it.We don’t have a clue what our future holds. We don’t even know what’sgoing to happen in 5 minutes. And for this very reason, we are actuallymarching off the map always. The political map. The economic map. Thetechnological map. The relationship map.However, our shepherd God will always lead us to green grass and quietpools of fresh water, and this is a very good news in this society where somany changes happen so quickly. Let us be always reminded. ‘The Lord isour shepherd and we have everything we need.’ Yes. God is our shepherdand we His flock.

Rev Hugh Park


October & November EVENTSThornleigh Hillcrest Uniting Church

Our regular activities are on page 14

Community PlaygroupA Community Playgroup has commenced meeting in our hall every Friday

from 10 am till 12 noon.The cost is $3 per family/ per week or $25 for a term.

Contacts: Yoonhee Park or Gill Mein.

MINGLES: Please see Weekly notices for full detailsSaturday 27th October Walk at Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Gardens .

Contact Sue WilcocksonSunday 24th November Christmas function: Contact Di Thom

Monthly Prayer Time. On the first Saturday of each month(6th October & 3rd November) in Rosie’s Room from 8.30 am to about 9.30am.An opportunity to pray for our church and people, our nation and the worldEnquiries: Hugh Park or David Richardson

Senior's Luncheon .WEDNESDAY 21st November 11.30am with aChristmas theme with entertainment provided by our favourites,Doug and Sue as "Silver and Gold."Hot roast dinner and dessert for $10 each. ALL WELCOME. Pleasecontact Gill Mein for more details.

Knitting, Conversation, Coffee and Craft Group

********************** CHANGE OF TIME *******************************This group will commence an evening get together on Wednesday17th October at 7 pm in Rosie’s room. We will also meet on Wednesdays31st October, 7th November & 21st November. Contact Heather Firth

CLUSTER GROUP Saturday 20th October 2.30 pm at Hornsby Uniting Church - aconcert with five local choirs, followed by a scrumptious afternoon tea ; cost $15concession. For details, see David Richardson.

HIGH TEA & MAKERS’ FAIR: Saturday 10th NovemberDoor proceeds to Frontier ServicesFor full details see the Weekly Newsletter.


Remember in your prayers

David Richardson, Brenda Geary, Bea Roache, the Tregenza family, ourMissionary families – the Wakefields and the Parkers, all SRE teachers - andthe Broken Hill Congregation

Thank you and appreciation from

Elaine Gow who wrote: Many thanks to my friends at THUC whowere kind enough to be thinking of me when I was in hospital recently.I am pleased to say that everything has worked out well and I wasable to return to church this month - now driving my own car!. Yourthoughts & prayers were much appreciated.

David Richardson who wrote: A very sincere thank you to allwho prayed, phoned, sent cards and visited me during mytime in the SAN and afterwards. I am greatly blessed andgive thanks to God that the surgery was successful and that Iam recovering well.

David Firth looking after thefish.

Feeding time always gets agood response– both the fishand the children thoroughlyenjoyed it.

Image by Lee Lowe.


Campfire Yarns at ACU, StrathfieldSummary of report by Allan West

On 26 July, 2018, about forty of us gathered around fire in the middle of thecampus of Australian Catholic University, Strathfield to hear the story ofJeremy Donovan. Naomi Hudson gave the Acknowledgement of Countryand introduced Jeremy as a proud Aboriginal man who has overcome manyobstacles. These obstacles included being given up for adoption, becominga Ward of the State and being with 17 foster families. He had a turbulentyouth with several convictions and periods in detention. Despite all theseobstacles, Jeremy has become a talented musician, artist andrepresentative/spokesperson for indigenous peoples. At 16 he was able togain information about his biological family and went on to have a closerelationship with his grandfather. For further information seehttp://www.jeremydonovan.com.au/bio/Allan West

Samaritan’s Purse 2018

Once again, several boxes were filled with goodies for children at Christmas time.A huge vote of thanks to Wendy Clark , who has been the coordinator ofthis project for many years. Thanks also to Ann Reid for all the bears thatshe has knitted for this cause. I’m sure that many are still treasured, wellworn and loved. Jan W


INTERFAITH EVENT: Shabbat at Woollahra

Shabbat is the Jewish Sabbath, from sunset Friday to Sunset Saturday. Nineof us, including Jim Mein, accepted an invitation to attend a Shabbat Serviceand dinner at the Emanuel Synagogue, Woollahra, on Friday 17th August.This is probably the best attended Synagogue in Sydney – certainly the bestattended of the Reform Judaism tradition; they differ from the Orthodoxtradition in welcoming men and women to worship together and acceptingwomen as Rabbis. On this evening, there were two services held at thesame time, one more conservative, all in Hebrew. We attended, with about150 others, the more liberal service, led by Rabbi Jackie Ninio, with speakerRev. Bill Crews, UCA, Exodus Foundation. Emanuel has four Rabbis and aDirector of Communal Engagement, on staff. The premises had just beencompleted, built adjacent to the original Synagogue.

People greet each other – “Good Shabbas!” We sang in Hebrew from thetraditional Hymn Book, reading from back to front. We were accompanied bytwo Cantors on guitars, an electronic piano, a violin and a drum. There wereprayers of adoration and for others. Towards the end of the Service, therewas a time for the Mourner’s Kaddish; a list of about a hundred names ofdeceased relatives of members was read out in their honour with a prayer.Children were invited down the front and one boy, having his Bar Mitzvah(like First Communion) the following day, read from the Scriptures; theyshared bread/sweets and water at the front Table. For those having BarMitzvah, there was a cry – Mazel tov!

Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins acknowledged we were meeting on Gadigal Land ofthe Eora Nation and introduced Rev. Bill Crews. Bill was born in Englandand educated in Sydney and became an Electrical Engineer withAmalgamated Wireless Australasia (AWA); in 1969, he volunteered atWayside Chapel with those seeking drug rehabilitation where he worked withRev. Ted Noffs with those going through 12 Step Program in AlcoholicsAnonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. He recalls one night, while he was inthe coffee shop at Wayside, hearing a voice directing him to leave his joband work with the poor. He left AWA and began studies at UCA in 1983 andqualified as a Minister and was ordained at Ashfield in 1986. In 1989 heestablished the Exodus Foundation. He chose the name “Exodus” for thosewandering in the desert of need. They provide 800 meals daily at breakfastand lunch as well as two food vans in the Liverpool area and have never ranout of food. Counselling and other practical services are available.They still have literacy and numeracy support at Ashfield but don’taccommodate children there anymore. Government support is provided forthis work.


Bill’s work has continued to be involved with various Drug and AlcoholRecovery Groups. He has also set up a Literacy School in Darwin. Thiswork is separate from Exodus and is growing.

At Ashfield, he has a memorial to the Tiananmen Square Protests of 1989.Each year, on the anniversary, people come there and to mark the 30th

anniversary and a marble Goddess of Democracy will be dedicated. On thepremises also is a statue to honour the Korean Comfort Women in Japanduring WW2. Bill has recently visited refugees in Calais. Closer to home, hisconcerns include the homeless of Sydney and the vast discrepancy ofwealth distribution throughout the world.

Bill stressed that it is vital to sit down and talk to people.Rabbi Jeffrey thanked Bill for his talk. Shabbat shalom!Allan West

https://www.exodusfoundation.org.au/about-exodus/bill-crews/

A very elegantfloral arrangementby Liz Newton on29th July. Thanks toLiz and to all whocontribute to ourworship with theflowers.


Visit to TIMOR LESTESeptember 2018 David Firth

Timor Leste is one of the poorest nations having been devastated by theIndonesian invasion and occupation between 1975 and 1999. Duringthat time, a vigorous resistance developed mainly by Fretlin forces. TheIndonesian military embarked on both an armed conflict with thoseforces and bloody reprisals against anyone believed to have beeninvolved in any way. As a result, a large part of a generation were wipedout. When the Indonesians departed they destroyed much of theinfrastructure built by them including schools, roads, etc.

My visit was as part of a small Rotary team who went to oversee a youthleadership program called RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award), heldeach year at this time. This project was commenced by my club(Pennant Hills) some 9 years ago. The week long live-in seminars for 18to 28 year olds, cater for 85 participants and 15 facilitators, the latterbeing past participants from previous years. These days the organisationof speakers and activities, and selection of participants, is done byindigenous young people so that we from Australia are only reallyinvolved in the financing of it. We have been fortunate in gaining majorsponsorship from the Woodside consortium in the amount of$US50,000! They are very supportive of the project but we are requiredto make application each year. You might wonder why the sponsorshipis in US dollars. Strangely, the currency in Timor Leste is US dollars,although they are using coins of value up to $2 minted as Timor Lestecoinage.

The thrust of these RYLA seminars is to develop leadership skills in theyounger generations so that they are prepared to lead their nation inyears to come when the current leadership of quite senior years handsover the reins. After 9 years, there are over 700 men and women whoare RYLA trained, and already taking senior positions in governmentdepartments and in NGOs, as well as in commercial organisations.

We were very impressed with the quality of the program run at RYLA. Itwould compare very favourably with RYLA programs in Australia. Theprogram is conducted largely in Tetun, the local language. Portuguese isalso widely used in Timor Leste . For many years of Timor Leste was


under Portuguese colonial rule. Indonesian is also spoken also, andEnglish is used to engage in trade.

To illustrate the way past participants have gained great jobopportunities, at the closing ceremony, the Australian Ambassador waspresent and spoke (in Tetun), with one of his senior staff present being apast RYLA participant.

All in all, it has been a real eye opener in experiencing life in a countrywhere jobs are so hard to get and the daily pay for 8 hours work may beas low as $1.50! As others who have been to developing countries willrecognise, it is sobering to see how happy the people are with so littlematerially.

From the period of the Portuguese colonisation, Roman Catholicism iswell represented with every town having a Catholic Church and school.Dili, the capital, has at least 4 cathedrals and the country has 3 bishops.From the period of the Indonesian occupation, there is a small Muslimpopulation although only one mosque survived after the Indonesianwithdrawal, as the rest were destroyed.

I have completed 2 weeks in Timor Leste, travelling to several regionalareas on roads often struggling to rate as roads, traffic with just a basicacknowledgement of road rules, and seeing some amazing scenery andmeeting some very friendly people. Hopefully, in the future, it willbecome a great tourist destination.David Firth

Congratulations to John Oh on his

successful application to ministry within the Uniting Church.We have all loved having you, Soyeong, Laura and Ryan asmembers of Thornleigh Hillcrest Congregation.

May God’s peace and blessings be with you and the family.


The Parker Family UpdateWe send greetings from Launceston as we join in our WEC AnnualConference (over 100 of us at Worldview College). Richard was able toshare his vision for Interns, which he has been given responsibility for. Thisis a very exciting development for us We will share more information withyou soon.Prayer requests:

� Praise that Jono’s NDIS funding been approved. We have a meetingsoon. This funding will assist with Occupational & Speech Therapy &other medical help.

� Please pray for continual improvement for Richard, especially in hisdigestive system and cognitively. Pray that medical tests soon to beundertaken will aid in diagnosis and treatment.

� Pray for Lindsey who has been quite ill lately. Pray that medical testssoon with Infectious Disease Specialist will aid in diagnosis andtreatment.

� Pray for Andrew, that he will continue to enjoy school & hisfriendships

� Please pray for us in all our WEC responsibilitiesLots of love, The Parkers

Di Thom sported some very distinctive socks toillustrate her Kids Talk recently.


THUC PICNIC RETREAT DAY at GalstonUC on 18th August

Rev Dr Amelia Koh-Butler led themorning sessions on Building a ChristCommunity. Amelia showed severalexamples of how incorporatingtraditional practices into servicesmade it more meaningful andmemorable.

After lunch we enjoyed some morefrivolous moments

Thank you to all who made the day sosuccessful and to those who providedthe delicious food.

Guess who

A traditional mat from the Pacificregion is draped over people whilethey reflect and then it is foldedback.


Wakefield Family at the volcano near Rabaul in July

On our recent holiday inCentral Australia we visitedthe memorial at Alice Springsto Rev John Flynn. He wasa Presbyterian Minister who

founded the Australian Inland Mission (later Frontier Services) and a man ofgreat faith and vision. One of his aims was to create A Mantle of Safety overOutback Australia. He was the founder of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.We have now visited this area and Beltana in South Australia and one hasto marvel at the foresight, endurance and wisdom of people such as RevJohn Flynn.Check out an Australian $20 note: His image is on the back. Jan Williamson


Church ServicesOctober 2018

Sunday 7th 9.30am Rev Hugh Park Holy CommunionSunday 14th 9.30am Rev Hugh ParkSunday 21st 9.30am Rev Hugh ParkSunday 28th 9.30am Rev Hugh Park

November 2018

Sunday 4th 9.30am Rev Hugh Park Holy CommunionSunday 11th 9.30am Rev Hugh ParkSunday 18th 9.30am Rev Hugh ParkSunday 25th 9.30am Rev Hugh Park

December 2018Sunday 2nd 9.30am Rev Hugh Park Holy Communion

The first hospital in Central Australia was completed at Alice Springs in 1926.The AIM built 14 hospitals for inland Australia between 1912 and 1939 witheach staffed by two nursing sisters. Rev John Flynn was instrumental in thedesign of this hospital. The design included an effective passive coolingsystem, wide verandahs, electric lights and a sewerage system.: the last twofeatures were a first for an Alice Springs building. Jan W


Diary Dates 2018�� KYB (Know Your Bible) meets each Monday morning at 10am.

Please check Weekly Newsletter for venue.

�� Day Fellowship normally meets on the fourth Monday of the month at1 pm, and at other times for outings. 22nd October & 26th November

� Cluster Group normally meets on the third Saturday of the month.20th October

�� Mingles Group normally meets on the fourth Saturday of the month.27th October & 24th November

� Men’s Woodwork Group meets on Mondays at 9am at Jim’s home.

�� Knitting, Conversation, Coffee and Craft Wednesday 7pm 17th October,31st October, 7th November & 21st November

�� English Conversation Group meets every Thursday during school terms at9.30am– 11.30am in the Youth Room

� Singing Group meets every Tuesday at 8pm at the church.

� Prayer Group meets first Saturday of the month in Rosie’s Room8.30am to 9.30 am 6th October & 3rd November

� Quilt and Banner Group meets Mondays afternoon.

The Link Editor Jan Williamsonemail [email protected] Contributions for the December2018/January 2019issue should be submitted by Friday 23rd November2018.

Please note that ALL contributions (words, 420 or less, & images) must beoriginal. If a contribution is not your original work, the content must bereferenced and have copyright approval. If you wish to reproduceanother’s article then the author’s permission for publication is required.


EldersWednesday: 3rd October

Worship CommitteeMonday: 15thOctober

Church CouncilWednesday: 7th November

Congregational MeetingsSunday: 25th November (AGM)

Finance and Property:Wednesday: 24thOctober

Prayer Time6th October, 3rd November & 1st December.

Pastoral Care Committee 10th October.

Working BeesSaturday: 29th December

Seniors Luncheon21st November

High Tea10th November 2018

Christmas DayTuesday 25th December

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