Utilising the wonderful lawn out the front of St. Stephen’s, which is situated right on High St. in the middle of Penrith, the team has been helping the church this week to reach out to young families. Thursday and Friday mornings saw the arrival of jumping castles, craft, and puppets before the backdrop of the historic 175-year-old church, as we sought to connect with preschoolers and their parents.
While the kids learned about Easter through craft and puppetry, and braved the bouncy floors of a Shrek-themed inflatable castle, team members chatting with their parents over coffee. A Pakistani woman, new to Australia in the last year, brought her little boy along. She approached one of our team members, and asked: ‘What’s Easter?’ The question gave rise to a two-hour conversation about who Jesus is, life in Australia, and why someone would study at Bible college. She is interested in the church’s ESL classes, but needs to work out childcare arrangements. Praise God for the opportunity to meet her, and that the church may be able to help smooth the way for her to join an ESL class.
A single mum also had an hours-long conversation about life and faith, while we also met mothers whose daughters had heard about St. Stephen’s children’s events and so came along. One woman was reluctant to come back to a church after hard relational experiences in a previous one. Pray for each of these people that they might find St. Stephen’s to be a welcoming place, and that St. Stephen’s might have wisdom to know how to follow them up well.
Read more . . .