Celebrating a new beginning
Langham Partnership Australia is delighted to welcome our new Chairperson, Jill McGilvray. Jill replaces our former Chairperson, Trevor Cork. We are glad that he continues to make his experience and knowledge of Langham available to the Australian Committee.
Jill is well known for her work as practitioner, lecturer and author in the field of pastoral care, with particular skills in working with children affected by grief and trauma. In demand as a speaker and trainer, Jill has helped people across Australia and internationally understand how to show God’s love and compassion “with skin on”.
Langham Partnership International is a worldwide organisation that deeply values people – as individuals and collectively as the family of God. So it is no surprise that Jill was asked to represent Australia on the Langham Partnership International Council (LPIC), nor that she quickly formed excellent working relationships – and friendships – with LPIC members from every country represented, as well as with the LPI senior staff. In recognition of her valuable contribution and skills Jill has now been elected as incoming Chairperson of LPIC, commencing in October this year. In the meantime, she is leading the LPIC subcommittee responsible for planning the transition and selection of a new International Director, to follow Mark Hunt.
In a recent email to the Leadership Team, the International Ministries Director, Rev. Dr Chris Wright expressed the feelings of many when he wrote “First thing to say is how much I appreciate Jill – she is really a Godsend at this moment, and I am very glad she will be taking the LPIC Chair later this year. She has such love and respect for all of us, and … has a deep awareness of the past and the needs for the future”.
The public face of Langham Partnership is the crucial and strategic work happening in over 80 countries – and rightly so. And yet this work could not continue without the careful, prayerful and skilled leadership and governance of the LPIC at a global level, and locally through the LPA Committee. Please join with me in thankfulness for the faithful service of our Committee, and in prayer and rejoicing for the service of Jill as the new Chairperson of both LPA and (soon) LPIC.
Langham Partnership Australia Chair Jill McGilvray
Gillean Smiley, CEO, Langham Partnership Australia
Please join us in prayer for…
PREACHING
- Pray for our Preaching Movement Coordinators around the world. Praise God for the faithfulness they show in leading the work in the many movements around the world and for their investment in the Word of God being preached faithfully, relevantly and clearly.
- Pray also for those currently developing Preaching resources.
- Pray as well for Preaching training happening in the Solomon Islands in early March – for safe travel and good health for everyone involved and that all who participate will put into practice what they learn.
Upcoming Langham Preaching Events
Where countries are considered sensitive re: security, the region is mentioned rather than the country.
Please pray for safe travel and good health for the facilitators and participants, pray that all have the commitment to learning.
- 9-15 February – West Africa, Romanian diaspora in Dublin and Milan (2 events), Spain, Benin (2)
- 16-22 February – Cambodia, Myanmar, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Peru
- 23-29 February – Guyana, Jamaica
- 1-7 March – West Africa, Middle East, Myanmar (2), Liberia, Peru, Benin, Romania, Spain
- 8-14 March – Tanzania (2), Hungary, Guyana, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Romania (2)
SCHOLARS
- Pray for Egyptian Scholar George Bishai and his family in Alexandria. George has not been well and has deferred work on his PhD for six months.
- Pray for Fanos Tsegaye (Ethiopian) as she studies in Scotland and Karuna Sharma (Nepali) as she studies in England.
- Pray also for a Scholar from Myanmar hoping to come to Australia to study.
LITERATURE
- Pray for all those involved in ongoing work on a number of One Volume Commentary projects, including: Slavik Bible Commentary translations, Central Asian Bible Commentary, Central Eastern European Bible Commentary, ABC Amharic translation, South Asia Bible Commentary translations into Tamil, Urdu, Hindi, Bangla and Malayalam, Latin American Bible Commentary – Portuguese translation.
Far-reaching Impact
Like a pebble tossed into a pond, it is inspiring to reflect on the impact that one book, one well delivered sermon, or one theologically trained leader can have, not just in an immediate sense, but rippling out in multiple and frequently surprising ways. These stories are just some examples of the impact that God’s word is having around the globe…