Cherie Macchiusi- Deputy Chair – WA

Damien Carbon-WA

I am married with four great kids and a beautiful wife Rachael.   I grew up in East Fremantle in WA but after leaving school spent 2 years in the UK working in radio, I then spent the next 10 years working in Sydney media primarily on Triple and 2DayFm in the newsroom.  I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work on Olympics and gained great experience working during some tough times in NSW with bushfires, September 11 and many other events. I now live back in East Fremantle, work for the Fremantle Dockers, and love watching my kids Ben (11), Ally (6), Angel (3) and Holly (2) growing up before my eyes.   I find the most joy in life spending time with Rach and the kids.

I am extremely proud of the commitment and dedication my wife shows towards MOPS as the Fremantle MOPS co-ordinator and I wanted to support her as much as I could, so when the opportunity arose to become a part of the National MOPS board I jumped at it. The passion she shows for MOPS was so infectious that I found myself wanting to help and assist her in any way I could.

I think the thing that excites me the most about MOPS is the way it engages with mums in the community and gives them an opportunity to be lifted up and recognised, not just by other MOPS mums but by the great vision God has for them. Whatever their circumstances Mums are welcomed and helped, I know for some mums it’s the only break they get from a busy life.

That was the message from many MOPS Groups all over Australia, on April 20! We had 32 groups participate in this years Mothers on the March event, with lots of positive results. Not only did the MOPS Mums have a great time, strangers were touched, informed and inspired by our MOPS groups! That’s fantastic!

Western Australia takes out the “State Award” for most participating MOPS Groups, very closely followed by Queensland and then Victoria. For the first time since Mothers on the March started, every State had a participating MOPS group!

Check out some of these stories:

• Morwell in Eastern Victoria had 42 walkers and approximately 15-20 in the “support crew” who couldn’t walk but shared lunch all together at the end of the walk.
• Waterfront MOPS in Geelong, Victoria, are a brand new group who hadn’t even had a MOPS morning yet, but decided to use the event as an opportunity to promote their new MOPS Group. They had several walkers, plus a team cooking a BBQ for the conclusion. They sparked lots of interest from their community, and even had a sizeable donation from a stranger who just wanted to bless them!
• One group handed out flyers and balloons to people they passed, to raise awareness of their group.
• Many groups commented how fun and fabulously enjoyable their day was – a great bonding experience for their group!

Make sure you collect your sponsorship money from your participants, and send it through to MOPS Australia, so they can send you your reward vouchers! Money needs to be in to the MOPS Office by the 30^th of May.

Thanks to EVERYONE who participate in Mothers on the March 2013. A super special thanks, and pat on the back, to all event organisers – it can be a big job, and you have all done extremely well.

Check out some of the wonderful photos from this year’s event, and stay tuned for an even bigger, better and more exciting event in 2014!

Do we really know the person God has created us to be and;                                                       are we living true to that person?

That is, a person who knows and accepts their strengths and weaknesses, a person who does not pretend to be someone other than who they are.

Are we living AUTHENTICALLY?

As Christians we are not meant to compare ourselves with others in order to judge our self worth nor are we to use comparison as a guide for judging if we are where we are meant to be spiritually. Yet so many of us fall into the trap of comparing… We compare…

• the time we rise for our morning devotions,
• the number of Christian books we have read,
• ministry role titles,
• upfront ministry V those working behind the scenes

Last year, I read a book that lead me further along the path of freedom from such unhealthy comparison and further along the path of authenticity; ‘The me I want to be, becoming God’s best version of you’  by John Ortberg.

In a nutshell Ortberg says: “God designed you to be you. When your life is over, he will not ask you why you weren’t Moses or David or Esther” or Sherry Surratt CEO of MOPS International. (my adlib!)

God is not in the business of creating clones. He is not in the business of comparing you to any other person.

What God intends, is to transform you into the best YOU, you can be, the you he intended you to be when he first thought of you, knitting you together in your mother’s womb.

God’s transforming work will not turn you into a different person, a person with a different personality or gifts; He will simply make you Youier.

As you delve deeper into relationships this year, don’t waste the opportunity to become the person God designed you to be. Otherwise, the world will miss out on the gift you were meant to give.

Erma Mayes

If you can’t get your hands on lightweight Japanese paper, you can cover your wooden bangles with other papers or strips of fabric.

You can also go one step further and dress them up with braid, beads and buttons, and make the finished bangles as simple or as decorative as you like.

These unfinished wooden bangles are available from craft stores in various sizes and widths. But, as an alternative, you could try giving an old bangle a second life. Or buy a bunch from a second-hand shop and cover them instead.

Gather your supplies

• Japanese or lightweight paper – from art and craft stores such as Eckersley’s (you can usually find these papers in packs of various colours and patterns or you can purchase by the sheet)
• Unfinished 40mm-wide wooden bangles – from Spotlight or Lincraft (Shamrock Craft and MyBangle unfinished wooden bangles)
• Mod Podge Matte or Gloss – most craft stores like Spotlight (we used Gloss)

You’ll also need:

Ruler; 2 wooden skewers or chopsticks; small soft paintbrush; scissors; pencil

Instructions

Step 1

Cut paper into strips. To cover a 40mm-wide bangle, cut eighteen 80 x 20mm paper strips. To work out paper length for other bangles, measure width of bangle and add an extra 40mm (20mm fold-over for either side).

Step 2

Paint Mod Podge all over bangle, inside and out. Place strip on outside of bangle and wrap ends inside. Press and flatten paper over bangle. Apply Mod Podge all over paper, and on bangle to one side of strip in preparation for next strip.

Step 3

Lay second strip of paper, overlapping first by 5mm, and flatten over bangle, wrapping ends inside. Apply more glue and continue wrapping and gluing strips until entire bangle is covered.

Step 4

Paint both inside and outside surfaces with a generous coat of Mod Podge. Sit bangle on 2 parallel skewers or chopsticks and allow to dry. Once dry, apply a second generous coat (not really necessary though).

Source: Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens

Clinton Wardle- SA

I have been married to my wonderful wife Trish for 36 years. We have three sons, Matthew is married to Jo with 20 month old daughter Jazmia,whom we love to babysit; Nathan and his wife Natalie; and Aaron is pastor of Real Life Christian Community in Frankston.  He and his wife Kellie have Joshua, 4, and Sarina 2.

I am the Ministry Team Leader at the Modbury Church of Christ, in the NE of Adelaide, where we have been for 8 years. Trish is my Associate Minister, our worship coordinator, our MOPS mentor and Bible study leader.

For many years I have believed that MOPS is one of the greatest tools God can use to bring people who don’t know God into a relationship with Him. Trish and I saw the potential of MOPS impacting our community when we were ministering at the Hobart City Church of Christ and so started a group in our church. When we came to Modbury there were few children and young families and again commenced MOPS in an effort to bring young families into our church. Because of my strong support of MOPS, the minister at the Elizabeth Church of Christ, Lindsay Mayes, whose wife is state field director, dobbed me in to someone on the board and when I was invited to join the board I thought this was another way I could support the work of MOPS.

My vision for MOPS is to be one of the major works in this country that helps mums and their families hear and learn how to be better mums and parents and along the way to learn about God and his love for them.

Tell us a bit about how MOPS came to be at your church in Dalby?

Bec This was written for me recently by the lady who started MOPS in Dalby (Julie Inskip, the first Coordinator who was then followed by Camille Town, Vicki Law and then myself). “Our pastor became concerned about what we as a church had on offer for under 4s and their parents. We had had a thriving, close knit play group for many years but it was no longer well attended. He called a group of people together and we read and discussed The Purpose Driven Life together. As we did this we also prayed about this area of ministry and began to investigate what other churches did and what was happening in other groups. MOPS was only one of many things we looked at and at first it didn’t appeal to us, but as time went on we kept coming back to it and began to walk the journey of visiting other groups and becoming serious about a group in Dalby. We started a month of prayer to seek God’s will and became convinced of MOPS. We started with a small group who filled more than one position if we needed, but we were quickly joined by others who caught the vision.”

Roughly how many tables and Mums do you have in your MOPS group?

Bec We have increased to 7 tables of 8 ladies in 2013 so we have 56 ladies on the books: 18 from DPC, 12 from other churches and 26 not usually attending or not attending a church at all. And we have a waiting list of about 19 at the moment.

What are some of the challenges that MOPS Dalby faces?

Bec  Our biggest challenges would be taking care of the volume of children we get through the group and therefore the need for carers. With 56 mums on the books that equals a lot of children each week. I think we have been averaging 40-50 mums each week so numbers at MOPPETS are never light on.

The waiting list is definitely a challenge. A lot of us don’t even feel we can INVITE people – it’s hard to then tell them well there’s actually a waiting list of 15-20…

Dalby is changing a lot due to the mining boom and we have a lot of lonely ladies moving to town and having their husbands working long hours. Interestingly we are getting more ladies from Buddhist, Hindu and other such backgrounds. We have ladies from Japan, Mauritius, India, Sri Lanka, etc. Dalby is not the little country town it used to be, lots of changes.

What are some of the things that make MOPS Dalby work so well?

Bec  I believe MOPS Dalby was set up so well in the very beginning, so the ground work was done extremely thoroughly by Julie Inskip. We were speaking to Marg Sanders at Conference 2012 and she said she was involved in the set up as well and came out to visit and it was all done very much “by the book” which has led to such success. The group is very well supported and encouraged by our chartering church (Dalby Presbyterian Church) and the pastors believe in the ministry and help us out as much as possible. A lot of women from other churches are also involved so our leadership team reflects that, with members from up to 4-5 churches being represented. MOPS has a great name in the community (thus why we have the waiting list we do) and women love to come.

Succession planning also helps, so always looking around to see who you can train up to take over leadership positions in the future.

Retreats are key in Dalby MOPS. We hold ours mid-year as a refresher and encourager to leaders.

We love attending conference and encouraging the whole team to go.

PRAYER is big! We pray fortnightly, so on off-MOPS Tuesdays the whole steering team meets for prayer followed by planning for the coming MOPS morning, plus going over how we are all doing and praying for mums etc. Confidentiality is key too.

Thanks so much to Bec for your insights into the unique role that MOPS plays in Dalby.

In 2012, we had 34 groups participate in Mothers on the March – can we make it to 50 groups walking this year??!! It’s not too late to register YOUR group. Just contact the MOPS office on (03) 5339 6234 or email info@mops.org.au.

Which State will have the most groups participating in 2013? Victoria and Western Australia are level pegging right now, with 6 groups registered. This is followed by Queensland with 4 groups, Tasmania with 3 groups, New South Wales with 1 group and South Australia yet to register a group. Come on…we can do this!

Remember, your walk can be as simple or elaborate as you like. You could simply gather the Mums from your MOPS group, meet somewhere and walk to coffee shop – don’t forget to wear your T-Shirts though, and share information about MOPS to anyone who looks interested as you walk past, or whilst sipping your well-earned coffee at the end of your walk!

One Victorian group, have a walk with varying distances around the town lake – 2km, 4km and 6km (with a bus collecting participants and returning them to the start/finish). There are 3 MOPS groups in the area, so all 3 groups participate together! As well as participants raising money before the day, they conclude their walk with a sausage sizzle, which assists in the fundraising.

Whatever your idea, make sure you promote it with your MOPS Mums, but also in your community. Why not approach the local newspaper to do a story on MOPS and the Mothers on the March event – it doesn’t hurt to ask, and you never know…..your group’s event might just appear in the newspaper! Several groups last year received wonderful articles in their local paper.

Whether you are just commencing your planning, or organising the finishing touches on your grand event – keep going! Every group that walks creates a greater opportunity for more people to discover MOPS.

Let’s do it!

Juelz Sanders 

The sense of ridiculous got to me immediately… She was so cut up about missing out on a specimen jar (unused, I add again).  “Hopey!  Really!  I can’t tell you the things that Grandpa has given you.  Even when you are all grown-up you will still be discovering the things that Grandpa has given you. Please don’t worry about the specimen jar.”

Then I went for a jog.  And got to thinking.  Am I asking (begging even) God for a specimen jar of my own?  Is he looking at me in bewilderment saying “Oh my little child.  If you only knew what I have given you!  We will be well into eternity before you stop discovering the things that I have given you.”

How much more fun would it be to start looking for the magnificent things that we have been given and to rest in knowing that the God of the universe loves us than to sit around begging for a specimen jar.

My eye was drawn to a particular photo of someone I thought looked vaguely familiar, but was unable to identify.  It was the face of a despairing, defeated, deeply troubled and lost soul, but there was something recognisable about the features.  “I feel I know this person,” I commented, but I don’t know how?  She looked and laughed and said; “That’s me.”

The rest of the evening was spent discussing the transformation from the person in the photo to the person in my lounge room.  Sally was truly a new creation in Christ and the transformation that happened on the inside was radiantly evident on the outside.

When John Newton fell to his knees on the deck of his slave ship and prayed for his life during a furious storm that threatened to sink his ship, God heard his heart’s plea to save him from the raging seas.  To his credit he never forgot God’s salvation.  He returned to England, abandoned the slave trade and spent the rest of his life trying to right the wrongs he had done, encouraging others to do the same.  The abolition of the African slave trade is largely attributed him through his influence on William Wilberforce.

I wonder if John Newton’s inner transformation was as evident on the outside as Sally’s?  The words of his much-loved hymn are still as popular, relevant and life changing today as when they were written.

Amazing Grace how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me

I was once was lost, but now I’m found

Was, blind but now I see.

When we celebrate Easter we remember why Jesus went to the cross. We do not have the power to change ourselves from the inside out, but we can fall on our knees like Sally and John, and experience a death to our old way of life and a resurrection into a new one.

That’s why Christ died and why he now lives.

Have a blessed Easter.

Marg Sanders

Managing Director

What’s the Board About?!

The Board of MOPS Australia meets four times a year to oversee the organisation and make sure that its activities are not only consistent with the MOPS purpose, but also promote growth of groups and the valuable women within them. It consists of nine members, men and women from around Australia who have a variety of skills and importantly a passion for taking the love of Jesus into the lives and homes of MOPS mums.

WHO are we and HOW did we get here??

Let me introduce you to the Board as they answer three basic questions about themselves:

Who is in your family and what do you do?

Describe how you came to be on the Board and what your vision is for MOPS Australia?

What inspires you?