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Latest What's Happening at Rhema FM 99.7 Newcastle(also see community service announcements - 'click here') CHINA: ABORTED BABY CRIES BEFORE CREMATION
Reggie Littlejohn, expert on China’s One Child Policy and President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, alerts the media that crematorium workers in Guangdong Province found an infant crying in a “medical waste” receptacle on its way to being cremated, reports Xinhua, China’s official news agency. The crematorium workers immediately sent the infant back to the hospital. Later that day, the hospital sent the infant back to the crematorium, dead. The hospital offered no explanation of the cause of death. Earlier
this year, Xinhua reported that 21 bodies of fetuses and babies were
found discarded in a river in East China. Xinhua News stated, “the
bodies may have been dumped by cleaners from local hospitals after
abortions and induced labor. Such dead bodies are treated as ‘medical
waste’ by hospitals.” Meanwhile, the China Daily News glibly reports that China is celebrating International Children’s Day in grand style this week. Children attending the Shanghai Expo, for example, are being treated to treasure hunts, limbo competitions, face painting and brass band concerts. As the Chinese Communist Party propagandizes its official celebration of International Children’s Day, let us not forget the appalling truth: 400 million children – mostly girls were “prevented” by China’s coercive One Child Policy. Let us also not forget how this policy is enforced through forced abortion, forced sterilization and at times, infanticide. China’s One Child Policy is enforced through measures up to and including:
These practices have led to unintended consequences such as:
Because these practices are “part either of a government policy or of a wide practice of atrocities tolerated or condoned by a government,” Ms. Littlejohn believes they fall within the definition of a “crime against humanity.” Note: Here is a link to the news article mentioned: Aborted Baby Cries Before Cremation http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2010/201005/20100514/article_437014.htm#ixzz0oCWJCqrl ------------------------------------------------------- New CEO for Compassion Australia The Compassion Australia Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Tim Hanna as the organisation’s new Chief Executive Office. Dr Hanna, long-standing senior pastor, former Compassion national director and former CEO of Willow Creek Australia, will take the chair on June 15. Board Chairman John Bond said Dr Hanna, with his extensive experience, proven strategic capabilities and broad understanding of global poverty and the global Church, would aptly steer Compassion into its next season of ministry with passion, integrity and purpose.“Tim celebrates our wonderful past and the solid foundation laid by those who have gone before him, but he also looks to the future as we aim to bring greater awareness of God’s heart for the poor to all Australians, ensuring the issues of poverty and injustice are at the forefront of hearts and minds,” Dr Bond said. Tim is highly regarded in churches and organisations across the nation and brings with him a depth of experience, strategic capability and sound credentials, not to mention his deep-found faith in Christ and overwhelming compassion for children and those in poverty.”Current Compassion Australia CEO Paul O’Rourke leaves the post after more than a decade of impressive leadership, to further his study and to pursue wider advocacy for children through speaking, writing and teaching. Mr O’Rourke first joined Compassion as a communications manager from a career in print media and has been in the position of CEO since July 2001.Mr O’Rourke said Compassion was a strategic and influential ministry that had and would continue to impact generations and transform nations. “It has been a privilege and pleasure to lead Compassion through what has been a blessed season of growth and favour. Compassion is in a strong and healthy position because of the faithfulness and generosity of sponsors and donors and the commitment and support of the Australia Church, the dedication and skills of our staff and the wise governance of our board,” he said.An apology from Bishop Michael Malone to the community In a public statement issued this weekend, Catholic Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle, Michael Malone, has apologised unequivocally for the “great pain, the shame and the terrible damage experienced by so many” as a result of sexual abuse by church personnel. In his statement, Bishop Michael addresses individuals who have suffered abuse, their families and friends, the diocesan community, and the people of the Newcastle, Hunter and Manning communities. This is not the first time Bishop Michael has publicly apologised, but in this detailed statement, also available in video format, he admits mistakes were made in the way sexual abuse was handled and outlines response strategies and systems introduced by the diocese since the Australian Catholic Church’s Towards Healing protocols were established in 1996.
Bishop Michael acknowledges the “litany of revelations about the Catholic Church, including our own diocese”. He says, “When people read, hear and see these stories, questions arise and uncertainty grows. How was it allowed to happen? Did the church put perpetrators before victims? Is the church still covering up? Has anything really changed?”
Bishop Michael continues: “As these questions are asked, our church and indeed our whole society, continue to struggle with the issues of child sexual assault. As more stories emerge I again want to articulate my regret for past hurts and failures”. Bishop Michael states that he was ill prepared, as was the whole diocese, for what he inherited in 1995. “There is no doubt that our diocese was unprepared to deal with the complexity of child sexual assault and the acts of fundamental betrayal perpetrated by predatory individuals.”
But since 1996, Bishop Michael says fundamental changes have occurred in the way the diocese has responded to sexual abuse. In particular, he refers to “co-operation with police investigations”, “pre-screening for employees working in child related fields”, the development of “independent and rigorous reporting and investigation processes for allegations of child abuse against diocesan personnel”, the implementation of “Towards Healing principles and procedures” and attempts “to reach out to those who have suffered harm as a consequence of child sexual assault within the diocese”.
Unique initiatives to address the issue of sexual abuse include the establishment of Zimmerman House, a specialist diocesan unit that promotes strategies to prevent child abuse and provides child protection advice, training and information sessions. Insights is an innovative diocesan programme exploring ways of addressing the destructive impact of abuse on the diocesan community and individual parishes.
Bishop Michael recognises that despite these initiatives, “the grief, pain and anger felt by some victims and their supporters” will not be lessened. He quotes retired Auxiliary Bishop Geoffrey Robinson who said recently, “Nothing’s perfect in this field. The only solution is the impossible one, of turning back the clock and making the abuse un-happen. Short of that nothing’s perfect. To those victims of abuse and their families who continue to find no peace or comfort, I am sorry,” says Bishop Michael. "To our dedicated parishioners, to the vast majority of honourable and dedicated clergy, religious and laity who serve the diocese, I am sorry that you continue to share the burden and shame of our failure and our history." Bishop Michael concludes the statement: “As Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle, I am committed, with the diocese, to strive to mend what is broken, to bind what is wounded and to seek forgiveness for our failures.”
Bishop Michael Malone’s apology is available in text and video format at www.mn.catholic.org.au
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AnglicanCare Community Grant Increases Dementia Support The Anglican Care Group will receive more than $30,000 through theAustralian Government’s Community Grants initiative.Thefunding will be used to provide education and support programs forcarers of people with dementia in the Charlton electorate. The groupwill use the funds to develop the ‘Cameos for Empathy in DementiaCare’ project. Anglican Care’s Kylie Jacques is delighted withthe grant, and says the innovative project will be of benefit to bothAnglican Care and the wider community. “Based on the ‘Habilitation Model’, the information sessionswill incorporate the use of puppets, role playing and skits,” saidMs Jacques. “The project aims to provide the carers of peoplesuffering from dementia with skills to empathise and communicate withthe dementia sufferer, thereby making care partnering more effectiveand enriching.”
It is estimated that more than 245,000 Australians have dementia,and nearly one million family members and friends help care for them.The funding is part of $3.5 million in grants provided by theGovernment, to fund community projects that support and raiseawareness for people with dementia and their families. 6 May 2010 Nile LabelsSchool Ethics Course “Unethical” Christian Democratic Party President, Rev Hon Fred Nile MLC haslabelled the new proposed Ethics Course in NSW Public Schools asunethical for the following reasons: "Firstly, it was proposed to meet the needs of childrenwhose parents are atheists, or irreligious, and have requested theirchildren not attend any Scripture Classes. However, it is beingadvertised for all the children in the trial schools in directcompetition with the legal approved Scripture classes. “Secondly, it is being promoted as ‘Co-Scripture’ whichis an abbreviation of ‘Complimentary to Scripture’. It is not‘Co-Scripture’ it is NO SCRIPTURE and NO GOD. "Thirdly, State School teachers are not allowed to teachScripture, even if they volunteer to do it because it is claimed tobe a ‘conflict of interest’. However, State School teachers haveapplied to teach the new Ethics Course, which is a ‘conflict ofinterest’, as they can use their influential position to encouragechildren to leave their Scripture Classes and attend the newsecular-humanist so called Ethics Class which is being pushed by thepowerful left wing NSW Teachers’ Federation. “Fourthly, ethics based on the worldwide Judeo-Christianethic, which is based on the Holy Bible, are already taught inScripture classes in Public Schools for one period per week.” Nile stated that he fully supported Archbishop Peter Jensen’sconcerns over this new Ethics Course and has called on PremierKristina Keneally to immediately cancel the trial whilst furtherconsultations are held with all Church leaders. Two petitions concerning this issue can be downloaded from theseURLs: http://www.cdp.org.au/download/ethics_versus_scripture_classes_la.doc Source: Christian Democratic Party Jesus Team Raceto Victoria The Jesus Racing Team heads to Victoria this week for Round Two ofthe Yokohama V8 Ute Series. Andrew and the Jesus Racing Ute arecurrently running second in the championship after the win at Clipsallast round, and are keen to maintain their place at the pointy end ofthe table.
  
She may be well past her diamond anniversary, but a diamond in the rough she still is. Going as strong today as the day she was built, St John’s Anglican Church in Cooks Hill will celebrate 150 years of being the centre of a very diverse and often changing community this weekend with celebrations galore. Growing significantly over the past decade, people now flock from all over Newcastle to share in the Worship at St John’s. “Only 11 years ago, you would be lucky to see 50 people in attendance on a Sunday. Remarkably in 2010 parishioner numbers are just under 200 most Sundays and the congregation continues to grow,” said Reverend Stewart Perry.
This little church in Cooks Hill is the oldest, existing and operating church building in the Newcastle area. So revered is St John’s that it is on the Register of the National Estate and has a Permanent Conservation Order under the State Heritage Act 1977. 150 years deserves more than one party and the celebrations this weekend will include a Parish dinner on Saturday evening and a Eucharist of Celebration on Sunday from 2pm which is open to all. “The 2pm service will see Bishop Brian Farran and Bishop Peter Stuart celebrate and preach. The Parish will also welcome Councillor John Tate, Lord Mayor of Newcastle, other clergy and many people of whom have connections to the parish over the years,” said Reverend Perry. A lot of the recent success of St John’s Cooks Hill is due to Reverend Perry, and before him Reverend Garry Dodd, as well as Ministry Assistant Victoria Hunter. “Stewart’s passion is innovative and engaging Worship, as well as empowering others to embrace mission and ministry. He and Victoria have brought a young vibrancy and new life to the Parish of St John’s and it will be a great pleasure to join the Parish to celebrate 150 years this weekend,” said Bishop Brian Farran. The 150th year will see at least one activity a month in celebration, including a heritage fair, concerts, children’s parties, exhibitions, high tea, renewal of marriage vows and much more. Media are welcome to join the celebrations, both at the Parish dinner on Saturday 20th February and at the service on Sunday 21st February 2010 at 2pm at St John’s Church, Cooks Hill. Photo’s attached of St John’s through the 150 years – higher resolution photos are available if required. Reverend Stewart Perry is available for interview this week. For details please contact Eclipse Media, Events and PR on 49613200Released: 17.02.10 Some background information to St John’s Cooks Hill:St John’s was built for the largely mining population of Newcastle as Bishop Tyrrell had noted that “only the wealthy of the district attended Christ Church and in order that the people may be “reclaimed from practical atheism”. The new parish included the suburban area at that time as far as Waratah, Lambton, Adamstown and Cardiff in addition, of course, to its mining core in the Glebe and Merewether. In 1856 a school and parsonage were commenced on 1½ acres of land “at present in a state of bush and abutting on the Lake Macquarie Road” (later to become Darby Street). The land was donated by the Australian Agricultural Company (AA Coy) and the new parish was founded on March 1, 1856 by Bishop Tyrrell. The building of the church was also commenced in 1856. The foundation stone was laid on Saturday 27th September and the building consecrated on February 20th, 1860. The AA Coy made the money available mainly through the efforts of Walter Stevenson Davidson, a director and a banker who co-instigated in 1854 a fund to provide money for the construction of churches and schools in this area where the Company had derived considerable wealth through mining and agriculture. Over time changes have been made to the interior layout and in the early 1950’s a major reconstruction took place, enlarging and raising the Sanctuary and Chancel, raising the floor level and replacing two side aisles with a wide centre aisle.
Singleton Christian College visit Rhema FM on a 'Communications' (how we talk to each other) excursion 11th Nov 2009 more photos 'click here'
The final week of October signified the close of the Jesus All About Life campaign in NSW. The last week of the campaign had the Jesus Racing team back on the road to present at a wide range of events in the Newcastle area. Thursday kicked off with a lunch with a local ministers network who have been interested in how they can support the wider work of Jesus Racing coming into 2010 and beyond. There has been a lot interest in Jesus Racing from this region and this meeting was a great opportunity for Andrew and Steve to talk through the vision, direction and purpose of Jesus Racing. The boys then headed down the road where Andrew was the signature guest for the Rhema FM radio promotion called “Race a professional”. 8 competition winners from the Newcastle area had the opportunity to race Andrew at Extreme Indoor Go Carts in Newcastle owned by Luke Searle. The event involved qualifying and 2 races. It was a great time with lots of spectators and a number of very excited winners of the competition. This event saw both Andrew and Steve take to the circuit, Andrew had the upper hand during the racing however Steve managed to out qualify Andrew and still has the timing sheet to provide it!
Friday morning had the boys meeting with Compassion Australia’s key leaders to talk through this valuable partnership for 2010. The team then spoke at a couple of schools in the Belmont area. Belmont High School and the local Christian School were both assembly presentations followed by recess or lunch. The students were very excited to have Andrew and the team at their school along with the car and were very responsive and moved by Andrew’s story and challenge about their understanding of the person of Jesus. Both schools had an almost 100% take up rate of the V8 Gospel of Luke with only a handful of students deciding not to take one. After a quick wash of the car the guys were then off to a combined church outreach in the Marylands area. A number of churches came together to bring Jesus Racing to their region as apart of the JAAL campaign for a Men’s dinner. The event had evolved quite a bit since its original booking and the audience was quite different to what the boys were expecting which was a little frustrating as the presentation prepared would no longer be suitable the boys however improvised and came up with a new presentation suitable for an outdoor family environment that now included women and children.Up again early in the morning for a men’s breakfast in Swansea which was attended by around 150 men. Again a combined churches JAAL event the team had done a great job to pull the event together and have a number of people attend who don’t normally go to church. Again it was a really powerful time of challenge as Andrew addressed the men on the topic of Integrity and how they respond to God. From there it was straight off to the Hunter Christian School open day where Jesus Racing was the big draw card. Again Andrew signed a lot of posters and chatted to a wide range of people. Steve also interviewed Andrew as part of the open day and the car was a huge hit. Overall the Jesus Racing partnership with Jesus All About Life has been a really positive connection. Andrew and Steve have attended over 45 individual events over the campaign time alone and have addressed thousands of people. From the Jesus Racing perspective the JAAL campaign has been a great success and we trust that if you’ve been involved you’ve been able to utilise the ads and billboards as a conversation starter with friends or maybe the ads have created a sense of curiosity in you that you’ve been able to research with the help of a local church or Christian friend. A special mention must be made to Karen Graham from the Bible Society of NSW, Karen organised nearly all the events for the campaign and attended a high proportion of these as well including the Bathurst weekend. Her efforts were invaluable and the Jesus Racing Team greatly appreciates her efforts and skills. God Bless you Karen.November will be a little quieter for Jesus Racing but the team still have a number of other events that sees Andrew speaking at several churches during the lead up to the Homebush Grand Finale in Sydney over the first weekend of December as well as some testing to make sure the Ute ready to go for the big event.Thanks for your support and encouragement, make sure you book your tickets for the Jesus Racing dinner in Sydney in the week leading up to the Homebush event. The Jesus Racing Team. Rhema Fm held it's 2009 Volunteer's thankyou luncheon on 24th September.Thankyou, also to all the volunteers who couldn't make it.'click here' to see the rest of the photos 
See the rest of the photos of Maitland Baptist Family Fun Day (click here) 13th Sept 2009
Media Release- September 6 2009. Jesus Racing driver Andrew Fisher has track-tested the V8 Supercar he’ll race in the Bathurst 1000 alongside David Sieders, and says the team is already clocking impressive times. The car itself has a great heritage, being the Bathurst-winning BF Falcon from 2007 (which was driven by Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup) which is still owned by Triple 8 Engineering. Andrew and Steve Peach from Jesus Racing along with Dave and Luke Seiders from the Seiders Race Team traveled to Triple 8 Vodafone Headquarters in QLD for their first and only test day before the L and H 500 at Phillip Island next week. The test day was the perfect opportunity to push the limits and see what the car can do! Dave and Andrew had seat fittings for the race car, as well as practicing driver changes. They lined up at the QLD circuit alongside the other members of the top Triple 8 Race Team, including Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup, which gave Andrew and co-driver Dave Sieders a good idea of their pace. “I was a second or so off the mark after a day’s testing,” says Andrew, “which is fantastic considering those boys are pretty-much guaranteed a top-five finish”. “The Utes and the Supercars are like chalk and cheese,” he says. “The Supercar is much more powerful and they’re a more physical car to drive. “Braking technique is incredibly important in the Supercar so that is what we focused most of our track time on. David is obviously more advanced in that area given his previous Supercar experience Andrew is pleased with the shakedown and says it gave the team the opportunity to iron out a few teething issues. “Our times were pretty much within the parameters of where we expected them to be after one day,” he says. “I got to practice with a full tank of fuel, then with fresh tyres, both of which made an incredible difference to the car’s performance. “Now I just have to build up confidence so I’m mentally prepared because the next time I get behind the wheel will be in the race at Phillip Island. There’s nothing like diving in at the deep end!” The Jesus Racing Team is still working on pulling together the additional funds needed to take advantage of this incredible opportunity. “I have no doubt that the funds will come in however if they don’t then it will be up to us to pay. This was a risk we had no choice but to take”. Who would have thought that you would see a V8 Supercar with the name of Jesus written all over it racing at the Bathurst 1000?? For more information and interview opportunities please call Lindsay Fisher on 0413 02 02 61.
Don't forget to check out our Community Announcement page (on side menu) for 'Events Happening' in Newcastle Now!!
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