Our Stories

Weimin Zhang had no idea what a Christian was, nor what it meant to be a pastor, when she first came to Australia to study in 2005 – but fast forward to 2024 and she is set to be ordained along with 11 other pastors at the BUV’s Ordination Service in October.

Sydenham Baptist Church’s Children’s Youth and Young Adults Pastor, Georgia, took nearly 100 people to State Youth Games this year including competitors, leaders and cooks. She says the vibrant, supportive and openhearted culture is highly attractive to young people experiencing a Christian environment for the first time.

An hour of mentoring per week can make an enormous difference in the life of a vulnerable child – a fact that was celebrated at Mooroolbark Baptist Church (MBC) in July for their 20^th anniversary of Kids Hope Australia.

Several Baptist churches and members have been working alongside Foundation 61 to build and prepare the organisation’s latest addiction-treatment facility, House of Hope for women, which has recently opened in the Geelong region.

A blokes’ social group run by Phillip Island Baptist Church members is reducing loneliness and isolation by providing a sense of community amongst the locals as they explore Trades, Tools and Tricks together.

It seems isolation and loneliness has often been associated with those who suffer from mobility, or mental health issues, however over the last few years we have come to recognise that people can lose connections for many reasons.  Moving to a new area, changes in life circumstances and the dreaded Covid lockdowns have all impacted on people’s ability and motivation to form meaningful connections.

A roast dinner served to around 50 people in July was the icing on the cake following a term of weekly cooking sessions for young people at Bacchus Marsh Baptist Church.

Youth leader Dannii Cooper taught four simple dishes per week in a MasterChef-style competition that wove together practical life skills with faith lessons.

Renew Monte is run by several churches, three of which are Baptist. Four volunteer hosts per day spend time with those who come along. “The expectation is, you want people to be volunteering knowing that there’s very little they have to do, but they need to do it for a long time.” Just a simple space where people can share a hobby or a free hot drink can bring vital connections to combat loneliness.

A love for people, and a general habit of chatting with those who are homeless, prompted Croydon Hills Baptist Church member Ken Weller to join Maroondah Winter Shelter as a volunteer when it began in 2018.

Ken was drawn to the program’s goals of providing shelter, food and honour to the homeless in his local area, at a time of year when freezing temperatures can add to the discouraging circumstances in which people sometimes find themselves.

Every week, residents at Lionsbrae Aged Care in Ringwood East look forward to the smiles and antics of little children who attend an interactive musical playgroup at the facility, organised by New Community Church Ringwood (NCR).