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My mind was full of so many thoughts about the Lenten and Easter seasons that I didn’t know which one to address.

I started on forgiveness.
Luke’s Gospel reports on a remarkable forgiveness event. Jesus, in all his agony, turns to the thief on the cross beside him. He receives the thief’s plea, the recognition of Jesus’ divinity, when he cries, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom”. And Jesus recognizes him as a child of God, insists on no spoken confession, but says without hesitation, “Today you will be with me in Paradise”. (Lk 23:42-43)

Then I thought about risk. After the suffering of the cross, the gospel offers a sign of hope for risk-takers. Joseph of Arimathea claims Jesus’ body, offers a burial place, and risks his life to claim by this act that he is a follower of Jesus.

And suffering.
My local Pentecostal churches hold an Easter celebration on Good Friday! They don’t want to deal with suffering. But we must enter the suffering of the world, for it is only as we take up the cross of Jesus that we find the true way of life, and the promise of resurrection. Finally today I knew what I wanted to say. I knew because I am listening to two funeral services at the same time.

One is a state Funeral being held in St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in Melbourne for a 45 year old, Irish, Catholic, Australian Rules Football legend, Jim Stynes. With his football career over, Jim established a youth mentoring program called ‘Reach’ and was awarded an Australian Honour for his community work.

The other funeral I’m watching on my computer. It’s the televised funeral of the King of Tonga, King George Tupou V, who died unexpectedly at 63. Tonga is a Christian nation in the South Pacific and the King is Head of the Methodist Church. This King in his short reign of 5 years led democratic reform in Tonga. My husband, John, is participating in the funeral. We love the Tongan people, having worked there as missionaries.

Through the life of service and untimely death of these two men, I see mirrored the life and death of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

But more than that, I see hope.
For in both services, the Christian belief was proclaimed that death is not the end, but because of Christ’s resurrection, we have the promise of eternal life. God demonstrated his power and love in raising Christ and offering hope to all believers.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu wrote these powerful words which I love to sing:

“Goodness is stronger than evil,
Love is stronger than hate,
Light is stronger than darkness,
Life is stronger than death.
Victory is ours, victory is ours
Through Him who loved us.”

I have expressed the love and prayerful support of the World Federation family to the Queen Mother and members of the Tongan Royal Family. The Queen Mother, Queen Halaevalu Mata’aho, is President of the Tongan Federation Unit.

May your Easter recognize that many of us, like Christ, are called to walk the road of suffering – but we already know the end of the journey. That end is the glorious hope of resurrection.

May you so rejoice this Easter.

Shalom,

Ann

My dear Federation Friends,

How positive are you?

Did you greet the New Year with excitement and anticipation?

Have you high hopes for what you will achieve in 2012?

Are you a maker of resolutions that you work hard to keep?

Whatever your answers, we can all acknowledge that God has given us another beginning in our life’s journey. And I guess God hopes we’ll do much with it for God’s Kingdom.

Although I’m officially on my summer break (from teaching), I’ve already achieved some things I planned for this year.

• spent time with family including a precious week minding 2 grand-daughters (aged 3 and 5),
• had a refreshing swim at the beach late each hot afternoon,
• tackled some often put-off household jobs,
• relaxed reading several books.

All these have restored body and soul. But what were my hopes for Kingdom work this year? Could I do much as one women in the big scheme of things?

After the Federation Assembly in Korea in 2006, I prayed about how I could do something for the Millennium Development Goals. My background is teaching; my experience is the Pacific Islands; my passion is children. So I dreamt of a BackPack Project that would equip primary school children in the countries where my church has partnerships. In the past 5 years the Uniting Church Adult Fellowships in my small state of Victoria have sent over 5000 filled schoolbags to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga. The backpacks contain exercise books, writing and colouring tools, health equipment such as lunch box, drink bottle, handkerchiefs, soap, towel and ball or skipping rope. You can see photos on Facebook. One woman, one dream, one hope to make a difference – and I know I have because I’ve seen the children’s faces as they’ve received their backpacks.

And we’ll continue for another 5 years. If each of us has responded to God’s grace and God’s subsequent call to service, then we know God does indeed equip us in big ways and small.

One of the books I’ve been reading is “When Invisible Children Sing” by Dr Chi Huang. Taking a year off medical school Chi went to La Paz, Bolivia, to help abandoned children. The refrain, “they are not worth anything; they’re drug addicts and thieves” pounded in their minds daily as they lived in sewers and back alleys – forgotten and unwanted. Yet hope did survive, even on those dark and dangerous streets where sometimes God seemed so far away. Dr Chi worked to change their lives and found his own life and faith transformed forever.

Keep your hopes alive this New Year and your resolutions positive, for our God is a God of miracles.

My best wishes and blessings on you all.

Shalom,

Ann Connan

Did you know that grain seeds which lay for thousands of years in the Egyptians pyramids sprouted after being planted? And that weed seeds from a sunken ship sprouted after hundreds of years in salt water?

Seeds, no matter how old, are alive: dormant, yet alive. When conditions are right, they wake up and sprout.

Does it remind you of “a shoot will grow up from the stump of Jesse; a branch will sprout from his roots (Isaiah 11:1 Common English Bible)”?

When the people of Israel had tired of waiting and hoping for the promised Messiah, prophets kept the hope alive – “A child is born to us, a son is given to us, and authority will be on his shoulders”. (Isaiah 9:6) – and the waiting continued until the time was right for God to act through the obedience of Mary of Nazareth. As we journey through Advent to celebrate again the coming of God in his Son, Jesus, to our world, words such as “waiting” and “hoping” appear regularly in our readings and liturgies. They appear, too, in the language of those around us who have no time for God, religion and the true meaning of Christmas.

“I can’t wait for Christmas,” says the young child. “I’m hoping Santa brings me a bike.” “I’m hoping the day is not too hot for the roast dinner I’m preparing,” says the Australian Mum.

For over ten years I suffered with chronic depression when I couldn’t function as I should. It was as if the seeds of my God-given gifts were lying dormant. I couldn’t wait for the conditions to change. I longed for new life. But insecurity, inferiority, and lack of self-confidence dominated my every day.

I turned to the Psalms where so often words of despair resonated with me and then to the songs of praise which left me with a flicker of hope.

And I waited. Surely God would not abandon me?

With the words of scripture, much music (Often played excessively loudly), family, friends, church family, and, yes, ultimately medication, things changed. I began to trust my abilities again, to stop listening to the constant whisperings of self-doubt. Late-blooming seeds give me hope. They remind me to be patient and not give up on myself. After all, the growth seeds that God has spread in my life and yours will break through eventually.

At this Advent and Christmas Season may we be reminded again that the time of waiting and hoping is over: Immanuel, God is with us. The conditions are right for us to be empowered with God’s grace in the gift of his Son, Jesus, and to spring into wholeness, new life and service,

Christmas blessings to you all!

Bambelela. Shalom.

Ann Connan