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DIRECTOR'S ANNUAL REPORT |
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for the Ministry Year January 2001 to December 2001 (presented at the CCG Ministries’ AGM, March 2002) As we look back and reflect on the year 2001, we are able to thank God, and His people, for the positive encouragement and support experienced throughout the year. The year 2001 was somewhat less spectacular than the year that preceded it. Much of the millennial madness of speculation and anticipation had dissipated by the end of 2000, though some would-be prophets attempted to rearrange their declared timetables. 2001 was therefore a steadier and quieter year, at least until September 11. The Islamic extremists terrorist attack in New York and Washington, USA, on September 11, 2001, has had wide repercussions around the world. Part of this has been a great deal of questions asked, and inquiries made, regarding Islam. The influx of many Muslims seeking refugee status and resettlement in Australia had already raised interest and curiosity regarding Islam. The issue of how Christians should relate to those of other faiths, and especially to Muslims, became even more pertinent and significant as a result of the terrorist attack and the added focus it brought on Islam. Through the resources and knowledge available, CCG Ministries has been able to contribute with truth, balance and sensitivity, and encourage clearer understandings. The events of the past year have helped us to realise that after 22 years in a work of outreach and service that some regard as controversial, there is clearly a continuing, and perhaps even greater, need for our Ministry. At the same time there have been many changing attitudes, including increased apathy, which indicate that the years ahead will be even more challenging than the past. OUR MINISTRY CENTRE Our Ministry Centre at 50 Carcoola Street, has continued to be a asset and a very useful facility. During the past year our Ministry Centre was used for counselling individuals; equipping and educating Christians and churches through seminars and classes; preparing and sending out information in pamphlets, our magazine TAKE A CLOSER LOOK, and other materials; conducting a regular Bible study group; providing and using our library and related resource facilities; operating and updating our website and Internet presence; dealing with telephone enquires and correspondence; general ongoing research; a number of second-hand book and garage sales. We continued to set up many second-hand books - especially Christian books - on permanent display, for perusal and purchase during weekdays throughout the year, in the enclosed garage area. We were not able to fully utilise the accommodation quarters during the past year, as David van Leen, our former live-in caretaker, had moved out to his own home. We regretfully found it necessary, during the year, to have one of our large white gum trees taken down. It was a beautiful tree outside the front of our seminar room and we would have liked to have had it remain - but it had begun causing structural damage to the verandah and could have caused considerable destruction if we hadn’t had it removed. In spite of medical problems and several set-backs, Eric Banfield, our honorary property manager, has continued maintenance work on our Centre building, the yard and gardens. We continue to be extremely grateful for all his hard work and consistent support. PERSONNEL During the 2001 ministry year CCG Ministries continued to be guided and led by our Board of Management. As in 2000, we were again led by Rob Furlong (Churches of Christ) as Chairman, and Ray Dorn (Brethren) as Vice-Chairman. Glynis Turpin (Baptist) continued as Board Secretary, Peter Emmens (Anglican) as Treasurer, myself (Adrian van Leen – Churches of Christ) as Director; and Board members were: Lorrie van Leen (Churches of Christ), George and Christine O'Neil (Churches of Christ) and Lester Sutton (Churches of Christ). Our Board members have continued to give practical leadership and guidance for the Ministry. Their support has been greatly appreciated by CCG Ministries Inc. staff and volunteers during 2001. At the end of July 2001 CCG Minstries’ Board member, and senior pastor at Scarborough Church of Christ, Lester Sutton, with several other ministers from across Australia, travelled to Africa at the invitation of the Baptist Convention of Kenya. Their brief was to conduct seminars dealing with church Leadership, an issue very much in demand. Once in Africa the team divided into groups of two and travelled to various locations, from Tanzania to Ethiopia, where they were based for the following four weeks. After leaving Africa the team met up in England where they spent a week studying Urban ministry in Manchester and Liverpool and debriefed in St Deniols residential library in Wales. The CCG Ministries volunteer team has continued to be vital to the effectiveness of the Ministry during the past year. Drawn from a number of different churches and denominations, and having varying backgrounds in experience and work skills, our volunteers have been ready and willing to serve in a wide range of tasks. They have genuinely worked as a team to carry on the work of CCG Ministries Inc. Once again we must acknowledge our debt of gratitude for the greatly valued and deeply appreciated contributions of all our volunteers during 2001. On Monday 10th December, 2001, Staff, volunteers and CCG Ministries Board members came together for the annual pre-Christmas luncheon, held in our Banfield Seminar Room. All were presented with Certificates of Appreciation after the meal. The Year 2001 has been the International Year of the Volunteer and our Board Secretary, Glynis Turpin, obtained special IYV Appreciation Certificates for our volunteers and made up a little ‘Volunteer Survival Kit’ to go with the certificates. She gave a short speech on behalf of the Board before the certificates were presented. Our Director then presented all the other certificates.During 2001 our regular team of volunteers suffered some significant setbacks. Eric Banfield suffered a heart attack on January 9th and had heart bypass surgery on January 12th. Initially he came through the surgery reasonably well but after returning home he was discovered to have been seriously infected and had to return to intensive care. Kidney and liver function problems further complicated matters in his healing process. In August Eric Banfield underwent further surgery to correct a chest hernia and scarring that occurred following complications and follow-up surgery after his initial heart by-pass surgery early this year. Later in the year he had to return to hospital for additional surgery on his chest. In spite of these health set-backs he has been recovering reasonably and has since returned to a little bit of light yard work, and some computer work on our financial records. Sue Zambra has had a difficult year. Sue struggled with debilitating health problems plus her elderly mother’s frailty and leukaemia, then her death (in the Eastern States). Early in the year Sue found she was unable to continue her voluntary worker’s role at CCG Ministries. (PS. Though technically outside the dates formally covered by this report for 2001 we note that surgery in February 2002 to ease Sue’s problems has apparently not been overly successful. She continues to need our prayers.) The saddest news that affected us all at CCG Ministries, was the sudden death of one of our leading volunteers, Jim Fairbairn, on Wednesday 24th October. He and Nancy had been away on a short wedding anniversary trip about a month earlier, flying to Singapore and then cruising around Malaysia by ship. Jim and Nancy had returned to continue to assist us with the library - sorting, placing and recording book details on the computer - Jim had completed about 7 000 library entries on the computer, and wanted to work extra time to catch up on the remaining 3000-4500 books to be entered. Though not feeling well, he came into the office to put in a few extra hours on the Monday before his death. Jim and Nancy had also provided major help with all our Book and Garage Sale - in both setting up and manning the sales tables. We miss Jim - his cheerful smile, his encouraging greetings and comments, his willing participation in computer work and other tasks. We very much continue to appreciate Nancy’s ongoing involvement with our Ministry. Further sad news came when, in early November, another of our volunteers, Margery Renwick discovered that she had cancer on her thyroid. She had surgery but required further treatment. She left for Victoria to receive radium treatment for her cancer after Christmas (available more quickly for her in Victoria than WA). Margery and her husband Chris, have family in Victoria. We continue to pray for Margery and her healing. Throughout 2001 we continued to greatly appreciate the ongoing work and support of our other volunteers: Nancy Fairbairn, Mona Morey, Eve Morgan, and Mary Reid. During the year these volunteers were involved in a wide range of office and library related activities that contributed to the effectiveness of our Ministry. We have also appreciate special computer assistance given David Edwards (from WA Bible College) for assisting Jim with setting up, and ensuring the smooth functioning of our new computer library programme Our 2001 staff team continued to consist of my wife, Lorrie, and I working full-time; and Tracy Taylor involved in some part-time work. During the year Tracy returned to work regularly for us following time out looking after her sons, Mitchell and Aidan, as well as the renovation of, and move into, their own home. She has been involved in a variety of activities (from typing up articles to indexing the previous year’s TACLs to updating other information for our records and reference) - mostly on the computer. Lorrie van Leen has found it difficult, at times, to keep a balance between all ‘the hats she wears’ - with office work, answering the telephone, working with and supervising the volunteers, being acting-secretary for the Board from time to time, generally helping the Director stay on track much of the time, being the Director’s secretary, wife, and being a mother, being an only daughter, having home responsibilities and more. Sometimes she really feels like she could do with a holiday - and she was grateful for being able to have one in November 2002. The day after I returned from Singapore and Myanmar (Burma), Lorrie and Debbie flew to Melbourne for a few days holiday. They had a relaxing and enjoyable trip. Lorrie has also continued to serve as an active Board member, stand-in minute secretary (in any absence of the Board Secretary), and ensured suppers and lunches were provided for Board meetings. Due to insufficient funds, Lorrie has continued to provide her services voluntarily with no remuneration. CCG Ministries continues to owe her a significant debt of gratitude. During late 2001 Lorrie was most encouraged by the participation and response to the Operation Christmas Child (shoe box gifts) which she helped to launch at our local church, the Nollamara Church of Christ. The project (of a shoe box full of small gift items for children) is run by Samaritan’s Purse, and is a practical and valuable way of bringing joy, along with the real meaning of the Christmas message, to children around the world. The collection of boxes was completed by the end of October and handed over to Samaritan’s Purse for distribution in time for Christmas. 2001 continued to be a busy and active a year for me as Director. At times the volume, plus some slowing down with age and health, seemed overwhelming - but there were many meaningful and productive highlights during 2001. One personal highlight related to health, and came towards the end of the year - while on the November Singapore-Myanmar (Burma) trip for 2001. All my life I have suffered stomach disorder and discomfort. All sorts of tests had been made but no cause or solution found. During my trip, by observation and the process of elimination, I discovered something I wish I had discovered many years ago - it seems I am allergic to, or have a resistance to wheat products and probably gluten (bread, wheat noodles etc). Since I have given up eating such products my health has been better than most of my life. in August 2001 I responded to the call of God and the strong vote of the congregation to return to the Eldership of our church, the Nollamara Church of Christ. This continues to be a challenging responsibility. Speaking commitments in 2001 continued to involve me in preparation, presentation, and travelling around Western Australia; a trip to Queensland; visiting Singapore [2x] and Myanmar (Burma). In November 2000, while in Myanmar, as Director, I was able to investigate the supposed story of the ‘Resurrected Buddhist Monk and his conversion to Christianity’. I had been able to interview numerous pastors and other Christian leaders in Myanmar, and ultimately the man behind the story himself, Burmese ‘Paul’. As a result of that investigation it would seem that the story was probably the result of a disturbed imagination of a man who was in need of help. The story had been published and promoted, in good faith, by Asian Minorities Outreach/Asia Harvest - and spread through the Internet and emails. After further follow-up research and some hard work, this sad story was covered in a detailed report, under the section: DON’T YOU BELIEVE IT! in the January/February 2001 issue of TAKE A CLOSER LOOK (TACL). After publishing our researched report in TACL we forwarded a copy to the AMO/Asia Harvest leadership. As a result of carefully considering our report Asia Harvest assured us that they ‘are just missionaries wanting to see God's kingdom grow in this part of the world, and not sensationalists who are trying to blow stories up out of proportion!’ Therefore they have decided: ‘to take the whole link off [their website], and we will not distribute the story any more by email.’ We were most encouraged by their positive response to our report, and thankful that we, through our research, were able to be of help to them and the Body of Christ in general in relation to this story. The May 2001, tragic death of a 31-year-old Perth mother of 5, related to the bizarre Word/Faith teachings of Carol Balizet and her Zion Home Birthing (introduced to Australia through the ABOVE RUBIES magazine and network), led to a considerable time involvement with family contact, phone calls, media relations, a great deal of research, writing, and finally publishing the story with a close scrutiny of Carol Balizet, ABOVE RUBIES, and Perth promoters of Balizet. A 3-part report: Is it Worth Dying…? For Carol Balizet and Her Bizarre Beliefs?, was published in TACL - Parts 1 and 2 in June/July and August/September issues, and part 3 to come out in January 2002. Other general research, investigation of new groups and issues, reading, and related library work and use of the Internet, plus writing for various publications, editing and writing most of the articles for our magazine, TAKE A CLOSER LOOK, as well as numerous speaking and teaching commitments, were all part of my responsibilities during 2001. Preparation of information and materials; consultation with students and others; legal consultation; providing help and information for other organisations as well as churches, families and individuals; answering inquiries; counselling, and some other administrative work all continued to be additional aspects of my role and activities as Director continued into and throughout 2001. COUNSELLING AND INQUIRIES While we, and similar organisations to ours overseas, have noticed a decline in the overall volume of inquiries, we have continued to receive inquiries dealing with a wide range of personalities, practices, programmes and groups during 2001. Worldwide the Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - LDS) have continued to increase their activities - especially their PR efforts to present a Christian image of themselves, and their temple building programme. This has increased inquiries and interest about their activities and beliefs. Jehovah's Witnesses have become a focus, along with the Roman Catholic Church (predominantly), over accusations of child abuse cover-up. We have also continued to receive general inquiries and requests for help and information about other groups as different and diverse as Scientology, witchcraft, and in particular teenage witchcraft, and various extreme Christian fringe groups. Requests for help and information during the past year have again come from around Australia, Asia, and elsewhere. Many inquirers were referred to us by churches, friends and relatives who were aware of our Ministry, or who had themselves been previously helped by us, an increasing number of inquiries came through email - a growing number as the result of hitting our Internet website. Others were referred to us by the media, welfare agencies, consumer groups, government departments, police, lawyers, community advisory and library information services. Our Ministry has been listed as a resource by a number of organisations and government agencies. During early 2001 we were listed in the WA Education Department’s: HANDBOOK FOR PARENTS AND CAREGIVERS OF STUDENTS AT EDUCATIONAL RISK. As in previous years, we still continued to exchange information with other organisations and individuals around Australia, in Britain, and in the United States during 2001. In a number of cases some of these organisations, especially some of the overseas ones, also referred people to us. During 2001, again, as in previous years, new groups and issues (also known groups either not in our files or previously included within other groups/files), not all necessarily cultic in nature, have been brought to our attention, or had inquiries made about them, and new files, or sub files, opened for them. A number of these were legitimate Christian groups either newly commenced, or newly brought to our attention for good reasons, or simply because little was known about them. These include groups and issues such as: Andrews, Guy; Each year we endeavour to record and list the various groups about which we receive inquiries, and also the frequency of such inquiries. Sometimes the volume of inquiries and other pressures lead to failure to record details of all inquiries, but we are able to gain a fair approximation of the groups/issues, and the number of inquiries made - through personal visits, telephone calls, correspondence and email. The following indicative listing (actually a little short of the true total number of inquiries, and therefore not a complete and exhaustive listing) categorises groups/topics according to the approximate number of inquiries received: 1 - 10 Aboriginal Issues/Spirituality; 11-20 Carol Balizet/Home in Zion Ministries; 21-30 Mormonism; 70+ Cults - general. The preceding listing of groups, topics and people are indicative of the wide and diverse range of inquiries received by CCG Ministries. We emphasise that our listing does NOT mean that we consider or classify every group, topic or person mentioned as cultic, occultic or extreme. While the preceding listing shows something of the great diversity of inquiries received by CCG Ministries, it does not reveal the amount of time in dealing with inquiries - either initially when first received, or when we endeavour to find accurate information enabling us to give appropriate responses. A good number of these inquiries require research and investigation before we can give any helpful reply or pass on any information. In some instances we have not been able to respond as adequately as we might have liked, because we were unable to find out a great deal, if anything, about some groups, issues, practices or personalities. However, even in such instances a file is opened with the hope that perhaps at some later stage, we might be able to find and add important and helpful information to such files. This work, along with our general ongoing research, with the addition of information forwarded to us from around the world, keeps us adding to our large collection of files, and enables us to be better informed. There were times, during 2001, when we were encouraged to learn that our advice, and the information we shared with people during crisis intervention, had been helpful to them. One of our major aims is to assist and empower people to cope and more adequately deal with the situations brought about by cultic, and similar, involvement. Though our resources, and especially time, were sometimes stretched to the limit (and sometimes beyond), we endeavoured to help some find reconciliation, and others to discover a new faith and freedom from manipulation and controlling personalities and groups. THE WRITTEN WORD We were only able to publish five bi-monthly issues of our major magazine, TAKE A CLOSER LOOK, in 2001 - but we changed the format and presentation of TACL this past year, with a new front page logo and changed appearance and moving from a two-column to a three-column presentation. Some positive comments were received regarding the changes to the lay-out and appearance of the magazine - but most people expressed they were more interested in the content than the appearance. A number of people commended us on the overall content, as well as in regard to specific articles. There have been requests from individuals and churches to reprint some material from TACL during the year. Quite a number of busy people, especially pastors and church leaders have expressed that of all the materials they receive to read and think about, our magazine is one of the first that they read. During the year we were able to keep our supporters and prayer partners informed on Ministry issues through the publication of five separate issues of our supporters' news letter, PIM UPDATE. THE SPOKEN WORD Lectures, talks, sermons and seminars are part of the speaking commitments that continue to be a significant part of our Ministries’ preventative education programme. Most of these speaking engagements are carried out, by me as Director, at numerous venues - churches, youth groups, community groups, colleges and seminaries, high schools, and others - involving me in travelling around the Perth metropolitan area, W.A. country centres, and overseas in my teaching/speaking role. The following list of meeting venues does not indicate the full nature of the speaking engagements. Neither time (involved in travel or preparation, or actual speaking time) nor the topic, is listed. In some cases the actual speaking time was 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour, but in most cases 1 1/2 to 2 or even 3 hours was the actual presentation time. Some sessions may vary between 3-8 hours, possibly involving a whole morning or afternoon, or a whole day. Sometimes, colleges and schools want one or two period sessions, others want a series of all-morning or all-day lectures as part of special module or programme. Hence there is a variety of time involved at different colleges. The numbers given after some listed venues indicate the number of specific occasions (generally on different days) on which I spoke at that venue. The mention of the denomination and venue could include speaking at church services, study groups, men’s, women’s or youth groups. Unless otherwise indicated, groups mentioned are in Western Australia. While it is always a privilege to speak at various churches and groups there were several special highlights during 2001. These included: a series of meetings at the University of Queensland organised by University Chaplain, Cyril Muller and an associate, David Ward; participating, as one of the speakers (along with Haddon Robinson, Steve Schoof and Alan Catchpoole), at the Singapore Youth For Christ’s Bible Trail 2001 [The Real Adventure In Life] July 4-7; the sixth year of teaching and ministry in Myanmar (Burma) in helping and encouraging Christian pastors and leaders which included the opportunity of having lunch with the Archbishop of Myanmar during the Anglican Church’s bi-annual Provincial Conference. Archbishop Samuel is a very gracious man and will be a good leader for the Anglican Church in that country and sharing in my host’s daughter’s 24th birthday (just a dinner for friends and family). The opportunity of sharing with different individuals and Christian groups is an enriching experience and a privileged opportunity. Denomination/Church:- Anglican Holy Cross Anglican Church (Myanmar); Baptist East Fremantle Baptist Church; Gateway Baptist Church (Qld) [2x]; Kachin Baptist Church (Myanmar); Kenmore Baptist Church (Qld) [3x]; Mandalay Baptist Fellwoship (Myanmar); Maylands Baptist Church; Brethren Pasir Ris Mission Church (Sing) [2x]; Yio Chu Kang Chapel (Sing); Christian & Missionary Alliance Southern Districts Alliance Church [3x]; Churches of Christ Merredin Church of Christ; Rivervale Church of Christ; Southport Church of Christ (Qld) [2x]; Subiaco Church of Christ; Wembley Downs Church of Christ; Whitfords Church of Christ; Evangelical Free Church Bethany EFC (Sing) [2x]; Foursquare Churches Highway Foursquare Church, Beechboro; Lutheran St John’s Lutheran Church; Presbyterian Singapore Life Church (Sing) [2x]; Mt Horeb Bible Presbyterian Church (Sing) [2x]; Westminster Presbyterian All Nations Presbyterian Church; Maida Vale [5x]. Other:- Bago PALE (Pastors and Leaders) Conference (Myanmar) [4 days]; NAM Training Session for Conscious Living Expo; Pyin Oo Lwin PALE (Pastors and Leaders) Conference (Myanmar) [4 days]; Singapore Youth For Christ Bible Trail 2001 [The Real Adventure In Life] July 4-7 (Sing); WA Girls' Brigade Leaders' Conference; YWAM - Perth School of Evangelism [full week of morning sessions]; Educational:- Chinese Christian Seminary (Myanmar) [2x]; Lisu Theological Seminary (Myanmar); Riverview Church Bible College; St Mark’s Community School [2x]; St Stephen’s School [2x]; Trinity Theological College [3x]; University of Queensland (CIS) [2 all-day seminars, plus 1 evening programme]; Winthrop Baptist College; CCG Ministries Training Institute Courses:- WEDNESDAY EVENING STUDY GROUP: During the year we commenced an informal Bible study group on Wednesday evenings in the Banfield Seminar Room at our Ministry Centre, 50 Carcoola Street, Nollamara. This informal study programme was open to all - young adults to senior adults - church attenders and others. Throughout the year we explored Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. This will continue on in 2002. There was no formal charge (as with seminars) but a freewill donation was accepted for the evening. Supper was provided. The evenings commence at 7.30 pm and lasted for about 2 hours. 2001 FRIDAY FRIENDS: In the first part of 2001 we attempted to run several courses. One of these ran successfully for a number of weeks on the New Age Movement. Others were not as successful in gaining registrations. 2001 SATURDAY SEMINARS: How to Avoid being Conned** 28th April. This seminar had a reasonable attendance and went well with some active participation from those present. What Should Be the Christian Attitude to Other Faiths? Saturday 20th October. This seminar was so well attended that we actually had to turn people away on the day and give place to those who had registered beforehand. Participants provided input as well as gaining some helpful insights. Several other attempted seminars did not fare so well and had to be cancelled due to lack of registrations. RADIO TEACHING MINISTRY The Sonshine FM 98.5 series of 25-minutes teaching programmes, commenced in August 1999 continued throughout 2001. Topics covered through the year included: The Bible - Its Use and Misuse - as part of the series I discussed some of the alternative ‘revelations’ people have turned to - from the JW Bible version and there past used of occult related books to the Mormons’ various ‘scriptures or standard works’ to spiritist writings and supposed alien revelations to some discussion on ‘A Course In Miracles’, ‘The Celestine Prophecy’ and ‘Conversations with God’; The Bible and its development in the English language, up to and beyond, the famous King James version (Following this presentation on the development of the Bible on radio, I received an invitation to a special meeting at the Bible Society in Perth to hear John Harris and to see, first-hand, a variety of old Bibles - including an original of William Tyndale’s New Testament. It was quite an impressive collection on display - most having been brought over from the Bible Society’s Canberra headquarters.); LEST WE FORGET, a series on the extreme dangers of cultic groups leading to death - each programme concluded with a challenge for listeners to read John’s Gospel and the words of Christ focussing on LIFE and Light; two Christmas related programmes were produced focussing on the story and background to the well-known Christmas hymn: SILENT NIGHT, and on Australian Christmas songs. The year 2002 will see the start of several news series. MARKET PLACE EVANGELISM CCG Ministries, in partnership with Thornlie Churches of Christ, and with students from WA Bible College, was actively involved in market place evangelism at the major Perth New Age annual festival, the Conscious Living Expo. This past year it was held at the Claremont Showgrounds Exhibition Centre between Thursday to Sunday 18 - 21 October (10 am to 7 pm daily). CCG Ministries had purchased booth space at the Expo and was there as a Christian presence - an alternative to all the other alternatives! Our stand, number 48, was entitled Take a Closer Look. Our Chairman, Rob Furlong, also gave a public lecture on: ‘The Meaning of the Stars’ on the final lecture spot - 5.30 pm Sunday 21. In the previous year Rob gave a public lecture on ‘The Meaning of the Tarot’ - which gained some interesting response. Participants in our venture found it worthwhile and encouraging - and it was generally agreed that we should repeat our involvement in 2002. At the end of the Expo our stand was actually received the Most Creative Stand Award by the Expo organisers! (In 2001 we received a commendation and came close to the award.) RESOURCES AND SUPPORT The Library Our very extensive reference library remains one of the Ministry’s major resources. It is unique in the nature and volume of the collection. Our library is registered and listed with the National Library of Australia in Canberra. Further additions to the library were made during 2001, including both purchased and donated books. Nancy and Jim Fairbairn have been busy throughout the year sorting books, adding them to our computer data base, and shelving them. Well over 7,000 volumes had been entered onto the computer at the time of Jim’s death in late October. We still have thousands of shelved books to catalogue and enter onto the data base, and about a further thousand to sort and add to the system in addition to those already on the shelves. Article files have been sorted, thinned out and added to, as well as our periodical holdings. More will be added and worked on in 2002 and we will have to utilise the very top shelves of our shelving rows. Book and Garage Sales Our Second-Hand Book and Garage Sales have resulted in some extra finance for us; contact and involvement with more people; and provided opportunities for us to assist others in their ministry and service efforts, (by passing on extra books and magazines) including: We have supplied Readers Digest magazines and Australian Geographic magazines and similar materials to a Christian teacher from Tracy’s church (Bedford Baptist) who is teaching in China; we have also supplied books and National Geographic magazines for missionary families involved in home schooling in Thailand (through Mt Hawthorn Baptist Church); we have also passed on Bibles we receive to Christians in Africa. We have also contributed many boxes of books to Rotary International for distribution and use in the Philippines and the Solomon Islands. We have maintained availability of the second-hand books, especially the Christian books, between formal Book and Garage Sales. A number of people, from both metropolitan and country churches, have availed themselves of this and have picked up some excellent bargains. One customer (a young pastor) came after the formal booksale and purchased all our sorted pre-World War 2 Christian books (quite a few boxes of them) for the bargain price of $300. He liked some of the sermon and theological books of well known pastors and Christian leaders of the past. He discovered some real treasures. During the year some of our remaining Garage Sale items were taken, for sale at a carpark trash ‘n treasure market sales, by one of our long-term supporters, Mrs Jean Edwards. Getting up at the very early hour of 5 a.m. Jean would ensure that she had a good spot from which to sell items at the Friday and Saturday markets. Her efforts helped to continue some of the financial support through the items donated to our Book and Garage Sales. EQUIPMENT PROBLEMS 2001 was a year of computer problems and frustrations, and many hours of lost time and productivity. After all sorts of problems with our Internet Service Provider, including massive connecting delays (of up to ¾ hour to connect), changing the dial-up telephone number and giving everyone the wrong number (and not correcting the error for several days) and more, finally led us to change to a new ISP and we decided that they should host our domain name and website. The change over has also caused some difficulty with the redirections apparently not being accepted by the Telcos for several days (delaying our domain listing - and that of quite a few others). We thought we may have lost a couple of days of email - but it seems that this was not the case. It is possible that we lost a few days with our website being unavailable - partly because our webmaster in Malaysia, Pepper Lim, was unavailable to upload the site details to our new host. He later informed us he was regretfully unable to continue being our webmaster. This meant some extra learning and additional work for me to update, adapt and maintain our website throughout the year. We had some virus problems early in the year, but these were corrected, mainly by Allan Brown from 98.5 Sonshine FM. But there have been ongoing problems with hardware/software clashes, shortage of memory and other problems, in spite of updating some of the hardware. Basically our computers are outdated and have difficulty in being able to adequately serve our needs. We also had difficulty with our efforts to transfer library details from the old (now unusable) Tracker programme. It had details and entries of over 6,000 books, previously entered by Jim Fairbairn, and a number of other people before him. A variety of problems occurred with the Tracker programme - including the programme becoming corrupted and damaging some of the files. With the help of David Edwards, from WA Bible College, these problems were eventually solved, and we have appreciated the voluntary help of all those ready to assist us with some of our problems. IN THE NEWS/MEDIA During the early part of the year the Mormons were very busy with propaganda related to the opening of their Temple. Most of our Board members, as well as Lorrie and I, were able to go over the temple prior to its dedication. We prepared and sent some material passed on to the media in relation to the Temple, but this was generally NOT used by the media to present some alternative information to the Mormon propaganda. The exception was an article on some of our concerns about Mormonism (from our media release on Mormonism and our TAKE A CLOSER LOOK magazine) written by Editor Jane Ewers-Verge in Eastern Suburbs Reporter on Tue. 29th May. With the tragic death of a young Perth mother as a result of following the teachings of Carol Balizet and her Zion Home Birthing, we were able to help the family cope with the media interest and arranged for interviews to be conducted at our Ministry centre. The West Australian did a fair and thorough story - both sensible and sensitive to those involved. The Sunday Times had a reasonable, but much briefer coverage. TV Channels 7 & 9 - through their respective ‘Today Tonight’ and ‘A Current Affair’ programmes ran their stories on Tues. 15th May. Adrian also had a live interview with Pieta O Shaunessy on Curtin Radio 927 - on cults in general. On Tuesday 15th May. On the following Monday (21st) he had a live radio interview with Howard Sattler (in Sydney) on Radio 2SM. The interview went for about 10 minutes and dealt with Mormon Fundamentalists and Polygamy, as well as Mormon temple ceremonies and polygamy in heaven. OTHER In CCG Ministries’ name Lorrie and I began a bread run, collecting bread and related foods from a bakery in Karrinyup on Tuesday and Friday evenings. This was distributed to volunteers, and needy families at the Nollamara and Kingsley Churches of Christ, the Aboriginal Evangelical Church in Balga, some students and young people at Mt Hawthorn Baptist Church, and a migrant refugee family. We have regarded this as a practical part of our Ministry and a way of helping some of our volunteers and others. FINANCIAL & RELATED MATTERS 2001 was not an easy year financially. We saw the effects of the GST and general economic downturn and uncertainty, which affected and reduced some of our regular financial support. Yet as the year progressed there was some rallying of support and all our obligations were met. Special loan money for the general account remained in reserve and were neither drawn on, nor repaid - but repayments will commence in 2002. We have been able to maintain payment commitments on our Building Fund loans, and were able to reduce the capital from one of the loans. We are thankful to God and his people for the practical support received through the year enabling us to continue to serve him through CCG Ministries. We look forward with anticipation to the challenges and potential that faces us as we enter into the year 2002. THE FUTURE The year 2002 will bring some real faith challenges and some exciting possibilities. I believe a priority for 2002 will be building up our volunteer and staff team as we look forward and plan ministry growth. even more highlights in outreach and development. We will be looking at improving overall workload distribution for staff and volunteers and ways of streamlining some of what we do, in order to improve our efficiency and effectiveness. The coming year will see a greater promotion of our Ministry and its resources and facilities, and an increased use of those facilities, especially our reference library. A major target for 2002 will be the replacement of computers, and the addition of other technology tools to improve our communications and equipping of Christians and others at our own centre and through churches and community groups. This will require a considerable amount of additional funding for the year. While we will be trying to increase our outreach and teaching activities through courses, classes and meetings at our Centre, as well as in colleges and schools, churches and community groups, we will also seek to be more pro-active with market place evangelism, our involvement with the Conscious Living Expos, and responding to events and news whenever appropriate and helpful. We will also continue our teaching and equipping ministry in Singapore and Myanmar [Burma] in 2002, and as much as possible, we will continue involvement in supporting, and encouraging others to support, Grace Home, an orphanage in Myanmar with centres at Yangon, Bago and Toungoo. With gratitude we acknowledge God’s faithfulness throughout 2001, and again thank God’s people for their support and encouragement. We look forward to 2002 and all it will hold for us, with confident hope and assurance as we move forward in God’s will and power. W.A. van Leen, Director.
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Copyright © CCG Ministries - W.A. van Leen,
Director.
