Read Rise Online
Mobilising help and support ‘When Disaster Strikes’
Article by Wendy Rush. Tracey Butter was at home with her husband on Wednesday 25 November 2015 when a catastrophic bushfire threatened their property. Now referred to as ‘the Pinery fire’ the bushfire primarily affected the Lower Mid North and west Barossa Valley regions in South Australia. At least 86,000 hectares of scrub and farmland were devastated during the fires which burned from 25 November to 2 December 2015. 91 houses were destroyed or badly damaged and two people tragically lost their lives while another 90 people were...
read moreSanctuary Corner: An Oasis of Hope in Outback SA
In South Australia’s mid-north, a quiet revolution is happening as a result of the collaboration of a number of churches, and the care of individuals for those who are struggling. Article by Felicity Squires. Sanctuary Corner Café and Gifts is a small, unobtrusive store in the Ellen Centre carpark, so much so that the occasional customer will exclaim, “I didn’t even know this was here!” You could be forgiven for thinking that the advertising team needs to step it up if newcomers are still surprised at its existence after two years of...
read moreBringing Carols back into our neighbourhoods
By Astrid Priest. Christmas is wonderful, it is really wonder-full; a virgin mother, a baby born in a stable, shepherds hearing the news from angels and wise men travelling from afar to visit this new born King – this is how God makes something special. There is no wonder so many carols were written celebrating what happened that first Christmas. Christmas deserves to be celebrated for its real meaning. The gift of eternal hope wrapped in the tiny baby of Jesus. We should be singing this from the roof tops! Carols by Streetlight is an...
read moreLoving well: building life giving and life-long relationships
By Peter McHugh Raised a catholic, becoming an altar boy around the age of 9 or 10 and wanting to be a priest, my awareness of a spiritual world was present from an early age. As a teenager I embraced my hormones and discovered the opposite sex. Around this time I also discovered that my intellect was capable of challenging ideas I previously accepted without question. Increasingly “the church” seemed restrictive and irrelevant and so I abandoned the development of my spirituality and embraced the hedonistic lifestyle of the 70s. University...
read moreThe Power of Unity
Dr Graham Power, Executive Chairman of the Power Group of Companies, South Africa, talks to RISE about running an ethical business in a corrupt environment, his vision for his company and for his country, and the power of prayer. Article by Wendy Rush In 1983 Graham Power started Power Construction with one staff member and one vehicle. He never envisaged that the Power Group would one day employ nearly 2,000 people and become one of the largest privately owned civil engineering companies in Southern Africa. In those early days of small...
read moreWhen the Supermodel met the Designer
By Wendy Rush, with thanks to the City Bible Forum for their assistance. Tracy Trinita is the very definition of an exotic beauty. But when she was young, this Balinese beauty with Dayak and Brazilian blood thought she was an ugly duckling – or giraffe – as her Brazilian heritage meant she was much taller than her school friends. When Tracy won the Elite Model Look International 1995 competition she was not only the first Indonesian to do so, but at 14 years of age she was offered a glamorous life in New York as a highly paid fashion...
read moreLabelled for Life
By Chris Bowman Whether we like it or not, our labels shape how we see ourselves and how in turn the world sees us. When our labels tell us we are accepted, we belong and we have value – we will thrive. But what if your label reads: Prisoner’s Kid? What then? This is a question we at Second Chances SA ask all the time. What labels has society given to prisoner’s kids? And more importantly, what labels do they give themselves? The Labels They Carry The first time I visited the home of a prisoner’s kid (PK) – the eldest daughter was at home in...
read moreHeaven on Earth: crossing over into life beyond life
Wendy Rush interviews LifeWell Conference keynote speaker Sy Rogers about the conference theme ‘Heaven on Earth’. Many of us are brought up to believe in Heaven as a place that we go to when we die. How can we experience Heaven on Earth? SR: The Hebrew concept of Heaven is not so much a ‘place’, as it is a state of being: the word for Heaven means ‘Expansion’. Related to this, a proverb I really like sums up my perspective: ‘Your life on Earth is the womb of your eternity.’ That is: I began life in my...
read moreSA’s longest serving school Chaplain still passionate about serving his community
By Cathy Moore. Sam Thomson has been living in the Blackwood Hills area in South Australia his whole life. He was 6 years old when his mother passed away, and being the eldest of three, he helped bring up his younger brothers while his father was at work and supporting the family. Sam saw the wonders and intricacies of the natural world around him, the trees and animals, and enjoyed being outdoors. When confronted as a teenager by the claims of Jesus, Sam responded not out of a need to change his life, but it made sense to him to align...
read moreInequality and the power of imagining a different world
By Elenie Poulos. Original article written for Wesley Mission Brisbane for Anti-Poverty Week October 2015. Inequality is a growing problem in Australia. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening and it’s happening quickly. The latest report on inequality from the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), A Nation Divided, shows that the richest 10% of Australians hold 45% of all wealth (income plus property, shares, superannuation etc) while the bottom 40% hold only 5% of the wealth. To take another perspective, a person in the...
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