* Conversations with Christian Women * Hosts: Tori Walker and Taryn Hayes chat to women from Australia and around the world about faith, life and ministry. Ordinary women trusting an extraordinary God makes for inspirational stories and great wisdom shared about all aspects of life as a Christian woman.
Episodes
Tuesday Jul 27, 2021
Tuesday Jul 27, 2021
EPISODE NOTES:
Host Tori Walker interviews Catherine Parks, who is one of the Contributors to the book “Beautifully Distinct”. Beautifully Distinct aims to help Christian women engage with our culture by being beautifully distinct.
***
Catherine Parks grew up with a love for reading biographies. Now she is the author of Empowered, Strong and Real: The Surprising Secret to Deeper Relationships as well as a contributing author to the book, Beautifully Distinct. She lives in Nashville, with her husband, and two children, where she attends a church and helps to lead the worship there.
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Wandering Bookseller: The Lydia Project Collection
SHOW SNIPPETS:
“What are the longings of the people around us?”
“In light of eternity, what does this matter?”
“That God was not casting me out, because I was struggling with faith and doubt in that moment was such an encouragement.”
Can't see clickable links? Copy and paste this into your browser: tlpcwcw.podbean.com
Thursday Jul 15, 2021
Thursday Jul 15, 2021
Host Tori Walker spends a morning with Catriona Pine on her Brisbane balcony chatting candidly about her faith, her friends, her love of stories, and her work with kids with complex special needs.
EPISODE NOTES:
Host Tori Walker spends a morning with Catriona Pine on her Brisbane balcony chatting candidly about her faith, her friends, her love of stories, and her work with kids with complex special needs.
***
Catriona is a beautiful, warm individual who uses her gifts to love her family, her church family, and the kids she works with. She works as a speech pathologist assisting kids with complex special needs to eat and communicate. She lives in Brisbane and is a member of Living Church.
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
SHOW SNIPPETS:
“You emotionally connect very well with stories.”
“I think it’s really important to make sure that that kid knows that you’re present and that you’re there.”
“These are beloved children.”
“Church has a lot of politics that I don’t want to get involved in and I think don’t want to mess relationships.”
“When you’re working with someone who’s, in the beginning, not giving a lot back because of a variety of reasons, turning up for them every week is really important.”
“The pressure to be a certain size is so prevalent.”
“Buy bigger jeans. I shouldn’t get sad, just buy bigger jeans.”
“I’m the biggest person in the class but I can do it.”
“Constant encouragement from everyone around you.”
Can't see clickable links? Copy and paste this into your browser: tlpcwcw.podbean.com
Wednesday Jun 30, 2021
Wednesday Jun 30, 2021
Alison Eloff has worked in ministry with women for 35 years in various capacities, including church planting, student ministry, curacy and ministry to women at St James Church in Cape Town. In this interview, Alison chats to Taryn about how God brought her to faith at the tender age of 11, when a friend persistently shared gospel tracts with her, despite Alison’s lack of interest or any kind of family interest in Christian things. She shares about working through coming from a broken home, why she chooses to minister to women, and much more. Alison’s years in ministry enables her to share much of her wisdom in clear and enlightening ways.
EPISODE NOTES:
Alison Eloff has worked in ministry with women for 35 years in various capacities, including church planting, student ministry, curacy and ministry to women at St James Church in Cape Town. In this interview, Alison chats to Taryn about how God brought her to faith at the tender age of 11, when a friend persistently shared gospel tracts with her, despite Alison’s lack of interest or any kind of family interest in Christian things. She shares about working through coming from a broken home, why she chooses to minister to women, and much more. Alison’s years in ministry enables her to share much of her wisdom in clear and enlightening ways.
***
Through the persistence of a friend, Alison eventually agreed to read the growing pile of gospel tracts she had shoved under bed. That decision opened her eyes to the gospel and brought Alison to a trusting faith in Jesus at the young age of 11. Since then, God has led her through a lifetime of serving Him in various ministry roles, including partnering with her husband Mervyn in ministry from Bible college and church planting in Cape Town, curacy at St Helen’s, London, to student and family ministry in Stellenbosch, theological training and student work at George Whitefield College in Muizenberg and then again to church ministry at St James Church, Kenilworth in Cape Town. Together, Alison and Mervyn are parents to their two, now adult, daughters. And while gardening and sewing are among her favourite activities, seeing the 'light go on' when women study the Bible has been among her favourite ministry experiences of the last 35 years in working with women. Alison says that she always finds the Lord to be the faithful rock He promises to be in His word and that she loves sharing this reality with women.
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
SHOW SNIPPETS:
“She said to me, do you know of the Jesus you are meant to be learning about at Sunday School? I had no idea what she was talking about. It was a totally foreign idea … then she started feeding me a series of booklets.”
“She gave me one a week and I dutifully took the booklet and stuck it in a tin under my bed. … We eventually got to the end of the booklets and she asked me again “have you looked at the booklets”. I thought, the only way that I am going to get this woman off my back is if I actually read the booklets and then I can say in good conscience that I read them and give them back to her and that would then be the end of the story. And I read in them about the reality of the claims that God makes that he is actually King. He is the creator. He is the one who in authority. As an 11 year old, I have chose to live as though he has not existed and that in fact is treason and is deeply offensive to him and I need to do something about that and I thought, if he said it and he is God then I really am in big trouble if I don’t say something or do something about it.”
“I've got to make my peace with the fact that God will do what is right and He cares for them the way He cared for me and His plan for them may not have reached its completion yet.”
“Every place we have worked and lived we have just learned so much from the people we have been working with. And we keep learning. There is always more to learn.”
“Being in the ministry is an enormous privilege.”
“We are learning again that you’ve got to keep holding onto the basics.”
“Keeping the main thing the main thing is what we are learning again and again and again.”
“We are learning how to do better, to be honest, and there are some real growing pains.”
“I think it all comes back to really embracing the reality: if God is the creator and you look around the world at the extraordinary beauty and diversity - God got it right to have an extraordinary mix of everything … it’s beautiful and works so well.”
“I think that as human beings if we keep acknowledging God as our creator - if we are in a relationship with Him - we shouldn’t be scared by other people’s diversity or their opinions. At the end of the day, we are all working on our relationship with Jesus and are we all doing what we can to be as fruitful as we can for Him … altogether that should be creating a beautiful thing for Jesus. Maybe it’s too simplistic but it is one of the best ways that I can make sense of what we need to do.”
“For me that has meant picking up all the balls that I used to hold (and doing things smarter in the Covid context).”
“It’s not even in the same room as my skill set, it’s in a whole other building!”
“I think that is the privilege of being a part of God’s family - we do carry each other’s burdens.”
“I think we have not yet seen the kingdom stories that are going to come out of Covid.”
“We are both broken and sinful. The reality is our brokenness sometimes won’t be fixed. Ecclesiastes says that. So we limp along as broken people, but we are also sinful. God in his grace gives grace for one and deals with the sinfulness of the other.”
Can't see clickable links? Copy and paste this into your browser: tlpcwcw.podbean.com
Tuesday Jun 15, 2021
Tuesday Jun 15, 2021
Host Tori Walker catches up with singer-songwriter Tenielle Neda about people who have encouraged her in her faith, her latest album “What is My Hope?”, and the real story behind making beautiful music videos.
EPISODE NOTES:
Host Tori Walker catches up with singer-songwriter Tenielle Neda about people who have encouraged her in her faith, her latest album “What is My Hope?”, and the real story behind making beautiful music videos.
***
Tenielle drives big trains! She lives with her husband and two boys in the red sands of Karratha, WA. She loves pointing people to Jesus whether in word or song. Tenielle is a singer-songwriter who writes devotional music with the aim to point people's hearts and minds to Jesus, to encourage and bear witness to the world of his saving grace.
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
SHOW SNIPPETS:
“I had a few key people in my life that really loved me, and took me under their wing and discipled me and were super patient with me.”
“After I became a Christian I just naturally was writing songs about that faith journey and my faith.”
“I got all these really encouraging messages from people saying how much the songs had ministered to them and pointed their hearts to Jesus.”
“On this EP I really did contemplate a lot this idea of our hope in Christ and our future hope and that it’s secured because of the person and work of Jesus.”
PRAYER FOR...
Where I live, there are very few Christians and I work in an entirely secular and male-dominated workforce. I find the workplace difficult at times, but I pray I can be a light in that place and I do see it as an opportunity for me to bear witness to Christ in a place that is at times hostile to that. I was also a "secular artist" signed to Universal Records before I became a Christian/Christian artist. So please pray for my journey with faith and music.
Can't see clickable links? Copy and paste this into your browser: tlpcwcw.podbean.com
Sunday May 30, 2021
Sunday May 30, 2021
Positive peer pressure was a factor in Kim Bell’s coming to trust in Jesus for her salvation. Listen to Kim and Taryn chat about how Kim came to faith, her love for teaching children the Bible, and how God has shaped and grown the ministry that brought her and her husband, Rory, to England where they produce both print and online Sunday School teaching materials.
EPISODE NOTES:
Positive peer pressure was a factor in Kim Bell’s coming to trust in Jesus for her salvation. Listen to Kim and Taryn chat about how Kim came to faith; her love for teaching children the Bible and how God has shaped and grown the ministry that brought her and her husband, Rory, to England where they produce both print and online Sunday School teaching materials.
***
Kim Bell started trusting Jesus for her salvation when she was a teenager. Her love for teaching the Bible began shortly afterwards when she embarked on a theology degree at George Whitefield Bible College. Through student placement, she found herself teaching the Bible to toddlers and fell in love with littlies and with sharing God’s Word. It is fitting then that Kim now assists her husband, Rory, who runs TnT Ministries - an organisation that produces excellent Sunday School teaching materials both in print and online. Kim and Rory and their three children, Emma, Aidan and Nathan, live in the UK and are part of the Cornerstone Church family in Kingston Upon Thames.
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
George Whitefield Bible College
SHOW SNIPPETS:
“I love the Bible and love children and thought why not focus on this (children’s work) as a career move?”
“I loved every aspect of it. I loved building relationships with the kids. I loved teaching them the Bible. I loved everything about it.”
“As we left, I said to Rory, wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could do this full time? … a number of years later, they took us out for a meal (and asked us to take over their ministry).”
“Within a week, all those obstacles were gone.”
“I was trying to hold it together, you can’t fall apart with three little kids.”
“If it wasn’t clear that the Lord had led us here, I would definitely go home with you! … it was really hard!”
Can't see clickable links? Copy and paste this into your browser: tlpcwcw.podbean.com
Saturday May 15, 2021
Saturday May 15, 2021
Host Tori Walker chats via Zoom with Jo van der Avoort about mothering and ministry in times of pandemic lockdowns and distancing.
EPISODE NOTES:
Host Tori Walker chats via Zoom with Jo van der Avoort about mothering and ministry in times of pandemic lockdowns and distancing.
***
Jo moved to Durban, South Africa because of two men - Jesus and Ryan. Her studies are a heady mix of Medical Sciences, English Literature, Education, and Theology. She grew up taking the glittering beaches and waterways of Sydney for granted - though she’s very grateful that Durban also includes sea breezes. For the last 7 years she’s been figuring out how to live in a country where to be uni-lingual is unusual; how to be married; and how to treasure the cyclical and hidden task of parenting a three and a six year old.
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Daily Prayer App - available via App Store of Google Play Store (orange with graphic symbol of sunrise)
Praying from the scriptures (praising God, confessing sin, thanking God and asking God): from Prayer Chat Hebrews 1
SHOW SNIPPETS:
"The ministry I’m doing is loving two small people, and doing whatever I can (and feeling very frail and human as i do it), to teach them about God and his world and what it looks like to live in it."
Regarding practical ministry during a pandemic: “Realising I’m not allowed to do any of those things, but I can pray for them, and I have to trust that that is the most meaningful thing I can do for them.”
"God is not a list of truths - he has called me into a relationship with him. And I’m actually allowed to relate to him as someone who meets me in the depths of my being rather than someone who gives me correct things to think about life and who I am."
Five Books to read along with Tori and Taryn at The Lydia Project: Conversations with Christian Women
- Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy by Mark Vroegop
- Beautifully Distinct edited by Trillia Newbell
- In His Image by Jen Wilkin
- Growing Together by Melissa Kruger
- Need to Know by Gary Millar
Head to The Wandering Bookseller for a 15% discount on any of our book club books.
Can't see clickable links? Copy and paste this into your browser: tlpcwcw.podbean.com
Monday May 10, 2021
Monday May 10, 2021
The Lydia Project's first book club episode is here! Listen in as Tori chats to Mark Vroegop - author of our first book club book, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy - about the devastating loss of his daughter to stillbirth and how he came to learn to embrace the grace of lament.
In the book, Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament, Mark explains how lament is how you live between the poles of a hard life and trusting God’s goodness.
Lament is how we bring our sorrow to God—but it is a neglected dimension of the Christian life for many Christians today. We need to recover the practice of honest spiritual struggle that gives us permission to vocalize our pain and wrestle with our sorrow. Lament avoids trite answers and quick solutions, progressively moving us toward deeper worship and trust.
Exploring how the Bible—through the psalms of lament and the book of Lamentations—gives voice to our pain, this book invites us to grieve, struggle, and tap into the rich reservoir of grace and mercy God offers in the darkest moments of our lives.
Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy is available online or in bookstores worldwide. In Australia, a 15% discount is available for all Lydia Project Book Club books through The Wandering Bookseller. Simply use the discount code LYDIA15 at the checkout.
Bio:
Mark Vroegop is the lead pastor of College Park Church in Indianapolis and the author of Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament, the ECPA 2020 Christian Book of the Year, and Weep with Me: How Lament Opens a Door for Racial Reconciliation. He’s married to Sarah, and they have four children and a daughter-in-law.
Friday Apr 30, 2021
Friday Apr 30, 2021
Katie and her family have been living in Eastern Europe for nearly ten years as cross-cultural gospel workers. In her chat with Tori Walker, she shares about life in a different culture, the different types of work that she and her husband have been involved in, as well as the ins and outs of being on a possibly extended home assignment.
EPISODE NOTES:
Katie and her family have been living in Eastern Europe for nearly ten years as cross-cultural gospel workers. In her chat with Tori Walker, she shares about life in a different culture, the different types of work that she and her husband have been involved in, as well as the ins and outs of being on a possibly extended home assignment.
***
Katie loves Jesus and loves walking with people through the ups and downs of life . She has lived in a culture different to her own for over ten years, with the hope of sharing Jesus with the people of that culture. She and her husband have 2 girls.
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
“None Greater: The undomesticated attributes of God” - by Matthew Barrett
SHOW SNIPPETS:
“When I did make that decision to turn back to Christ, I did want to be all in.”
“I had bit of an idea in my mind that in order to do mission you had to sort of be something or have certain type of skill or profession, which I don’t now believe necessarily to be the case.”
“A lot of overseas workers find home assignment quite stressful.”
Things to pray for Cross-Cultural Workers on (possibly Covid-related extended) Home Assignment
- For the stress of home assignment to not be too great (stress from busyness, oddness, speaking etc)
- For wisdom of how much to say to a particular group
- That their specific and individual needs are met in home assignment (whether that be rest, spiritual encouragement, financial support)
- For good connection with supporters and with God
Can't see clickable links? Copy and paste this into your browser: tlpcwcw.podbean.com
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Tuesday Apr 27, 2021
Do you ever find yourself wanting to read more edifying books that will help you grow in your Christian walk, but not quite getting around to it? Life is busy and sometimes good intentions get, well, as dusty as that book on the nightstand!
If that is you, you're not alone. In fact, Tori found that she was needing just that little extra motivation to include more good Christian books in her reading this year. Books that can challenge us, grow us and point us to Christ. And so, The Lydia Project Book Club edition was born!
In this episode, Tori and Taryn introduce the book club: where it began, what books are planned for the year, where to source them, how a Book Club podcast will look (spoiler alert: the first one is an author interview that Tori can't wait to share with us all on May 10th) and, most importantly, how YOU the listener can join along with us.
Mentioned in the episode are our sponsors, The Wandering Bookseller. They have generously agreed to a special Lydia Project 15% discount on all 5 of the book club books! This is a fantastic savings!
The books for this year include:
- Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy by Mark Vroegop - this one focuses on what Christian lament looks like. It's especially helpful for those who have experienced loss or pain of any kind as they seek God in the midst of heartache.
- Beautifully Distinct edited by Trillia Newbell - featuring many well-respected thoughtful Christian women writers and teachers, Beautifully Distinct speaks to what it looks like to be in Christian community with one another
- In His Image by Jen Wilkin - Jen explores 10 ways that God calls us to reflect on his character. It's deeply challenging and a wonderful way to consider how we are called to live like Christ.
- Growing Together by Melissa Krueger - this book acts as a springboard for mentoring discussions between older and younger women, setting the biblical basis for mentoring from Titus 2. It includes a guide for women to use when meeting together.
- Need to Know by Gary Millar - Whether you are a new Christian, need of a refresher, or have been around church for years but things have only just clicked into place for you, this inspiring and practical book will give you the essentials—what you really need to know if you’re going to follow Jesus.
All these books can be found at The Wandering Bookseller or any physical or online bookstore that stocks Christian books. If listening to books is more along the lines of what you enjoy doing, many of these books can be found on Audible or Scribd*.
Scribd is a subscription-based library of audiobooks, ebooks and much more. For a small monthly fee, subscribers have access to limitless audiobooks within their library. Use this (affiliate) link to try it out - the first month is free.
Thursday Apr 15, 2021
Thursday Apr 15, 2021
Not all cross-cultural workers can be where they want to be in this COVID-era. Host Tori Walker chats with “Polly” about what it’s like living in limbo with her family, and what we can pray for her and other missionaries/cross-cultural workers like her at the moment.
EPISODE NOTES:
Not all cross-cultural workers can be where they want to be in this COVID-era. Host Tori Walker chats with “Polly” about what it’s like living in limbo with her family, and what we can pray for her and other missionaries/cross-cultural workers like her at the moment.
***
Polly is a cross-cultural worker, who lives and works in the Silk Road. She is the wife to a teacher and a mother to two boys. One of her favourite things to do is to spend time walking in nature and/or to spend time with her family. At the moment, her favourite bible verses are Romans 8:1 and 2 Timothy 1:7. She says that they remind her of the freedom she has in Christ especially from her own fears and lies.
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
Bible Verses - Romans 8:1-2
SHOW SNIPPETS:
“I think that the really big that happened during uni was a trust and a faith in the Bible and it’s reliability and that it’s something that I can stand on and something that I can really get to know Jesus through.”
“Sometimes the M-word (missionary) carries a bit of baggage with it.”
“Do I want to willingly take my family into that?”
“It’s not so much what I’m doing as where do I belong?”
“I can let things be in my head quite nicely, but it doesn’t sink into my heart.”
What can you pray for for cross-cultural workers who are not in their chosen country?
- For Workers:
- Wisdom, clarity and trust in the heightened level of vagueness about the future
- Housing provision for the whole time back in home country
- Finances and work while back in home country
- Wisdom around who and how to spend time with
- Thanking God for his faithfulness
- For our kids to feel settled
- For the people group that we are loving overseas - for them to cope with difficult restrictions and infections and that the seeds of conversations had in the past will bear fruit
- For the organisations making big decisions at the moment around staff.
Can't see clickable links? Copy and paste this into your browser: tlpcwcw.podbean.com