Here's to The year ahead

Over the past year or two Amos Australia has been trying to develop a plan of ‘where to from here’. We believe that in the past 10 years we’ve been obedient to the heart of the gospel in serving the poor as equals before God, in the eastern islands of Indonesia. We have come to realise that that the way we view the poor and the way we live also impacts poverty in various ways.
The Bible is clear on God’s love for the poor and downtrodden, so we hope to cultivate a deeper understanding and partnership between us. By the time you read this, our newly appointed Amos Australia team will have worked together, God willing, for just two weeks.
Joel Bruning has joined Amos Australia as our National Relations Officer, and will be helping out particularly with the Australian side of things, putting together events, publications and the like.  We feel that Joel has a lovely nature, is really approachable and considerate, and so we’re really thankful he’s joined us. You can look forward to Joel sharing the privilege of serving our neighbours through Amos Australia.
Jake Turvey has also joined Amos Australia as our International Relations Officer, and will be assisting with the relationships we have with our international partners, visiting them, translating proposals and so on.  Jake has had some experience working and travelling in Indonesia, speaks the language, and he loves the people and reflections that come with travelling cross-culturally.  He has a humble posture and an adventurous spirit that we feel will be a blessing to Amos and our overseas partners. 
Clinton Bergsma has been appointed as Executive Officer, directly answerable to the Amos Board. Clinton, well known to our overseas partners and the board, has been an integral part of Amos for over 7 years. During this time Clinton has visited our partners 3 to 4 times per year, completed a Masters in Transformational Development (MTD), and lived in Indonesia with his family for 3 months while he completed a higher level Indonesian language course. He has developed a love and admiration for our closest overseas neighbours, learning from their local knowledge and skills, while bringing together the varied resources God generously gives to his created beings.
Arlene Ward has also joined us as a volunteer Creative Director, so no doubt you’ll see some of hers, and other volunteer artists’ handiwork in the future.  We think that the arts (from poetry, music, photography, painting and sculpture) have the ability to help us consider things that spoken or written words might struggle to express. We’re glad to welcome her and we’re keen to have other artists bring these gifts too.
Carolyn DeHaan, one of our Amos Board members, will stay on as our volunteer Accounts Manager, and will have her workload somewhat increased. We’re really grateful that God gives varied gifts, both in art and numbers, equally admirable.
Diane Bosveld, also an Amos Board member, will stay on as our volunteer Sales Officer, and looks forward to meeting you all at the various stalls and events. We hope this gives you an opportunity to give glory to God through the various textiles and art created by our friends in Indonesia.
These part-time remunerated and volunteer staffing appointments mean that we’ll have a greater presence in Australia. We’ve penciled in a number of events: a mini conference for the 20th of July 2019, where you’ll hopefully be able to meet Pak Rozali – the director of TLM, our partner in West Timor - and explore the intersection between poverty, the gospel, and life here in Australia. 
We’re also hoping to bring a small group of interested people to Sumba for the week of the 21st of October 2019 to learn first-hand from our partners about poverty, its local causes and impacts, and how our partners are attempting to address it. 
We’ll also be hosting three or four smaller evening events through the year where we hope to share a little more about Amos Australia’s work alongside our partners, and how that might interconnect with life here in Australia. 
Join us by exploring the rest of our website or Facebook page - maybe leave us a message. Get in touch with Joel if you’re interested in coming along to Sumba, or helping at some planned events, by email to joel@amosaustralia.org or by text to 0430398028. Lastly, we hope to put out a small publication in late September that we hope will be packed with insights, thought-provoking articles and engaging art.
Needless to say, we’re both nervous and excited about the coming year. We don’t know what lies ahead, so we’ll hold our plans lightly enough to adapt willingly if God guides things differently. Amos Australia has walked alongside our overseas partners for 10 years, and we’re looking forward to seeing what comes out of having a greater focus in Australia.
Our hope is that this will be good news for everyone – our partners, the communities they work with, ourselves, and the rest of creation.  Our desire is to reflect God’s love and concern for the poor, and that Jesus’ words concerning the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, and the unfairly treated, would evoke our response towards them, for his love towards us.

- Daniel Bosveld, Amos Australia Chairman