Harvesting Transformation through Mushrooms: A Story of Change

Meet CC-Mean, a woman in Cambodia who decided to invest in mushrooms through our Sister Community Development Program, better known as our Thera Metrey Mushroom Cultivation project. This is her story.

“I got married when I was 19. Since we got married, our income came from rice farming. During the break time from farming my husband use to leave the house to do cutting woods in the forest in another province far from home. He stayed in that province for about a month or so then would come back home for few days then he would leave us again to cut the forest.”

“There was a time when my husband was cheated by the employer and he came home without any money received as payment for his forest work. He also felt unsafe in that situation because his work was illegal. When my husband was not around it was so difficult for me some time, I felt afraid and unsafe alone with our children. I have 3 sons and 1 daughter. Son is 27-year-old, single, he is a military. Daughter is 24-year-old, got married, have 3 children. Son 20-year-old, single, he is a farmer. Youngest son is 16, study in grade 10.”

“When my husband was away from home, I felt so worried. I was afraid of his safety or that he might get sick of malaria due to cutting down trees.”

“I started my first mushroom house in January 2017. I decided to invest in growing mushroom. It was just like taking a big step for my family. Our family was so worried we might end up losing our money if mushroom production is not good. However, my mushroom production has been running well since we had our first harvest. I started my second mushroom house in mid-2018. Now I have two mushroom houses.”

“Growing mushrooms can earn fast money. Our family can rely on this income to pay for our loan. My husband has stopped going to work in the forest outside our village. The money we earned from mushroom, we have used to buy more land for rice farming. We also have paid for the cost of drilling our own well so we have water at home and for our mushroom. I paid for our house renovation, paid for my son’s educational expenses, and all our daily expenses are covered by our sales from mushroom. Our plan is to keep extending more mushroom houses.

“We are happier now than before because my whole family can live together, my husband can work at home and no need to go to the forest.”

“Through this mushroom trade, I have seen that my community has changed a lot, people in my village can have better family livelihood, even non-mushroom grower can also earn money from selling raw materials. There are now more shops and small businesses in my village because people here can afford to buy more things or goods or foodstuff for their families.”

“People in our area have recently started to come back home from other provinces because they can now have work in our community and can earn money while being at their homes.”

“My biggest hope on this mushroom growing is having a market to sell and I can have reliable and regular income.’’

Growth- In the Christian maturity and confidence of our students, and in the ministry of the College. 
The theme of growth in this edition of WesWords is a prompt to speak about the development in spiritual maturity that we see within the men and women who join Kingsley classes each week.
We have an awesome team of trainers who pray for, support, and speak into the lives of Kingsley College students. As our students complete their study, discuss what they are learning in class, and put into practice the skills they have learned- they are growing as Christian leaders.
We can praise the Lord for His work within the college.
Looking ahead to 2020, we are excited at the college by the prospect of further Kingsley College trainers being added to the team. As a result, we will see a growth in the number of students- and through prayer- spiritual growth in their lives.

Kingsley College 70^th Anniversary
If you have not already, make sure that you watch the video celebrating 70 year of Kingsley College.
Go to kingsley.edu.au
The video has already been an encouragement to many churches, small groups and individuals. The interviews and testimonies give thanks to God for His Hand upon the college over 70 years- be encouraged by what God has done as you watch the video- and be praying for the future ministry of your college.

Kingsley College Update 2019
Each year the college mails out an edition of the Kingsley College Update (in addition to email news). Look out for this mailed supply of Updates for distribution within your local church.
Pastors and leaders- please include these Updates within your bulletin for your local church. Please make time within a Sunday service to pray for the work of the college, and to specifically ask that God would raise up further women and men for Christian ministry in 2020.

Graduations!
Each year we celebrate with many of our students a milestone in their lives as they complete an award. One of our recent graduates is Jazmine McClintock (Yeppoon).
Congratulations on completion of the Advanced Diploma Jazmine!
National conference in January 2020 will see more graduates receive their awards- and be encouraged to continue to follow God’s call on their lives.

Kevin Brown
College Principal

Imagine living in a small village on the Southeast coast of Africa. You work in the fields every day, and you have to walk 3 miles from your house to get clean drinking water. One day out of nowhere gusting winds and flash floods begin, and you have to climb up into a tree and stay there for days to survive. You pray the tree you are resting on does not fall like many trees around you. Once the storm calms, you go to where your house once stood, but all that is left is a pile of debris. You go to get water from the well you always used, and you learn from another local that people who were drinking from that well were getting sick and dying of cholera. You are trying to have hope, but everything seems hopeless. This story was one told by many when the World Hope International relief team landed in Mozambique.

In mid-March, Mozambique was hit by cyclone Idai, causing devastation for the people destroying their houses, fields, and livelihoods. World Hope International had the opportunity to partner with three other organizations, Amazon, Katadyn, and Airlink, to bring relief to the people in Mozambique. Without relief from organizations and people around the world, disasters like cyclone Idai would be even more ruinous.

The task was daunting and the first impressions of the storm left the team saddened by the devastation. Joseph Phillippe, who grew up internationally and acted as a translator speaking Portuguese, described what they saw when they first arrived in Beira. He said, “I have personally seen the devastation done by tornados here in the US- this looked like tornado damage times 100. Everywhere you looked, houses, buildings, infrastructure, vegetation, were completely destroyed.”

Because in the case of a catastrophe like that, one of the greatest needs is to supply water, the cyclone destroys the existing water systems and contaminates even wells and that kind of thing. So immediately, there’s a huge danger of waterborne diseases, such as cholera.Having a resource like a connection with institutions that are able to supply the filters, gives just an immediate connection that was a great help in this case, as is in many other similar cases.”

Eric Jacobs, a retired fireman, was trained by World Hope to demonstrate to the villagers how to use the water filters. Eric believed they did not just provide water filters but also hope.He saw the hope in the resiliency of the people, noting, “they’ve always had what I saw was the ability to rebuild and start, new. As the days went on, you could see that life was coming back into the city and went from roads being blocked to the life of the city coming back. And one night, they had a big festival, and that was the first time that ever happened since the storm.”

The unique skills each individual brought to the team allowed for the trip to bring hopeto those who were in a hopeless situation. Partnerships are so important when it comes to providing relief after disasters.

Kingsley College- The 70^thAnniversary of Equipping Men and Women for Ministry
2019 marks a milestone in the life of the college. We can celebrate God’s blessing and work within the life of the college over 70 years of training.

The vision of a Wesleyan Methodist Bible College in Australia led to the first classes under the leadership of Kingsley Ridgway in 1949. We can thank God that men and women are still receiving training with a Wesleyan ethos in 2019. Thanks be to God!

An excellent 30-minute film that captures just a few of the early stories of Kingsley College is available on the College website. Enjoy the video yourself, and then share it with your home group and church. Go to http://kingsley.edu.au/Click on “Watch Film.”

The annual Kingsley College Update will focus on the 70^thAnniversary, with an Update in print (and pdf) available to all churches at District conference 2019.

Kingsley Community Training Centres
As a college, we connect in students to study at our two campuses (Mackenzie and Broadmeadows) and our training centres- in person and via web conference. Each week there are classes running that are providing excellent training that is both academically rigorous and practical. We have students who connect from overseas via web conference, as well as from across the country.
We are also able to offer training for international students who come to Australia on a student visa.
They are welcomed to the Broadmeadows campus for a full-time study program.
This is our Introduction to the Old Testament class at Townsville- with Lyndell Hall as trainer.

We Balance Both Spiritual Development and Ministry Formation
One subject running at the moment is an Advanced Diploma unit, Principles of Prayer. Our dual aim in all subjects is particularly evident in this one; that of encouraging the spiritual maturity of our students, while providing them with ministry training that will enable them to serve and lead well. This photo is of the Principles of Prayer class, with Susan Lee as trainer.
Please continue to pray for each Kingsley College student, asking that God will form and shape them into His image and equip them for service. Pray too that God will call many more women and men into study with the college- and then a lifetime of service for Him.

Kingsley College delivers training under the auspices of Unity College Australia RTO 6330 and CRICOS Code 02160A.

Congratulations to Some Kingsley Graduates
Every semester, more students graduate from our four awards. Three of those graduates were able to celebrate and be recognized for their achievement at the Pastor’s conference.
Congratulations Nathan Bell, Scott Lucas and Scott Griffith!
Two of our hard-working Kingsley Community Trainers, Gordon Kuss and Mal Moses, presented the awards and affirmed their support for these students.
For both Scott Lucas and Scott Griffith, this was an especially exciting achievement – the completion of their Graduate Certificate of Christian Ministry and Theology – the final award toward their ordination.
This was a milestone for these pastors, and an exciting moment for the college as we see students complete all expectations toward ordination.
If you see these three men (or other graduates) in your travels- please congratulate them!

Change of Staff at the Melbourne Campus
Many of you will have come to know and appreciate Paulini Torovugalei at the College office in Melbourne. Unfortunately for us, Paulini has moved back to Fiji for work. We wish Paulini God’s very best.
Gemma Brown was already working part-time at the college in the library and giving student support. She graciously stepped up to learn from Paulini and is now the administrative assistant at the Melbourne campus. Gemma has very big shoes to fill, but we are sure that she will be a blessing to the college students and trainers through her work.

What does it mean to empower the vulnerable?

Building on the principle of “leaving no one behind” the UN General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015, which includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Achim Steiner, Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), stated at the Global Disability Summit in London, Summer 2018, that, “To realize the promise of the 2030 Agenda – and its core pledge to leave no one behind – it is essential that all peoples, particularly those facing discrimination and exclusion, have access and voice and can participate equally in every aspect of life.”

The SDGs specifically include and reference disability and persons with disabilities. “This is a matter of justice, and equal opportunity, as well as economic growth,” Steiner continued.

The 2030 Agenda declares that “People who are vulnerable must be empowered. Those whose needs are reflected in the Agenda include all children, youth, persons with disabilities (of whom more than 80 per cent live in poverty).”

At World Hope International (WHI), we believe that empowerment includes providing access to opportunity as well as reaffirming faith in the dignity and worth of every human person.

We believe that sometimes, empowerment looks like enabling: enabling those living with disabilities to develop fine motor skills so they can sit up, stand, walk, run, hold a pencil, write, command their place in society and not be left behind. 

Our Enable the Children (ETC) program in Sierra Leone is a multi-faceted project that provides home-based therapy for children living with disabilities in Freetown, promotes an understanding of disability issues within local communities and family units, and mobilizes support for people living with disability – a vulnerable group that actually consists of one billion people worldwide, or 15% of the world’s population, according to the World Bank.

The ETC program is directed by Anna Vines, a Physiotherapist from the UK who won a Point of Light Award from Prime Minister Theresa May and co-authored the Trauma Orthopaedics chapters in The Concise Guide to Physiotherapy – Volume 1: Assessment and Volume 2: Treatment by Tim Ainslie.

Every year, ETC celebrates not only the children in the program, but their families and caregivers as well, hosting a beach day outing in partnership with many other organizations and companies. This year, the event was held on February 16 and the Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Gender, and Children’s Affairs; the President for the Sierra Leonean Union for Disability Issues; the Chairman for the Pastors Union in the east part of Freetown; the Chairman for the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities in Sierra Leone; and the President for the Union for the Blind in Sierra Leone all provided remarks that encouraged families and caregivers and emphasized seriously addressing the stigmatizing of or discriminating against people living with disabilities.

Click the graphic below to see 5 SDG Goals that disability is included in: 

At the Global Disability Summit last summer, Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed observed that women and girls living with disabilities suffer the “double discrimination” of sex and disability, and Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) pointed out that children with disabilities living through conflict or disaster also face a double disadvantage as, in addition to dangers of violence, hunger, or security, they have to deal with “lack of mobility because of shattered infrastructure, difficulty fleeing harm and the prejudices that keep them from accessing the urgent assistance they need.”

The time to work alongside communities and leaders to enable children with disabilities is now.

Moving forward, ETC is hoping to build rehabilitation services for children with disabilities in Freetown and across Sierra Leone. “We would like to empower families and communities to love and accept children with disabilities, helping them to achieve their full potential,” Anna Vines shared. “We would like to see community leaders advocating for the rights of children with disabilities and seeing them as a valuable part of the society.”

World Hope International