Me

My earliest memories are of growing up in Berowra, in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney.

We lived at 106 Wideview Road and my first school was Wideview Public School, which conveniently just was a bit of a walk down the road.

School wasn’t something I found very easy.

Halfway through grade six we moved to Sale in Victoria and I got a scholarship to Gippsland Grammar school where I found myself feeling a bit out of my depth most of the time.

At the start of grade 11 my family moved back to Sydney, to Penrith, and I finished school at John Wycliffe Christian School. I particularly appreciated one teacher at the school, Kerry Bartlett, who I had for both Modern History and Economics.

I wasn’t sure what I would do after school, so I applied for a journalism course and worked out how to get experience that would improve my chances to get into the sought after course. I did a months work experience at 2BH Broken Hill, and they offered me a job and a chance to do my journalism cadetship.

So began my adult life as a journalist and announcer in the outback of Australia. My time in Broken Hill was very formative for me and I met many people who I admire to this day.

I had put off being baptised until I left home because I wanted to make sure the faith was actually mine and not just my families.

The Broken Hill Church of Christ became my family for those two years and I am grateful for the hospitality and discipleship of the Curtis family and Wilbur who spent countless hours going through a discipleship program with us. I was Baptized at that church (my father who was visiting was able to do it).

After two years I reached a point where I wanted to “make a difference” and enrolled in Fusion’s Certificate Course in Christian Youth and community work. I found that course life changing. I loved getting right into the bible and also thinking through sociology and psychology.

After the course I accepted a six month placement with Fusion in its Hobart centre. The six months became nine years as I worked with Fusion in Hobart from 1992 to the year 2001. During that time I did the drive time program for the Hobart Christian radio station that is now managed by my brother. I also served as the deputy chair of the Youth Network of Tasmania and won the 1995 Young Achiever Award (Regional Development) for Tasmania.

I met Leeanne in 1992 when she was working in the Scripture Union book shop which was on the ground floor of the same building Fusion was housed in. Leeanne was a graduate of the Cornerstone bible college and had spent time as a camp cook at Blue Lagoon Christian Youth Camp. We were married in 1994.

From 2001, as the State Director, I moved with my family to Poatina until 2005. During that time I helped to support Coast FM and did the breakfast program for  Heart FM.

In 2005 we moved with his family to Victoria where I took over leadership of Fusion’s work in that state and oversaw its growth from 3 centres of operation to 6 centres of operation and to an annual budget of over one million dollars.
From 2009 until 2011, I shared the responsibility for the organizations international leadership with an executive team who managed the transition to a new organizational governance structure in September 2011.

At the start of 2010 we moved once again back to Fusion’s international headquarters, Poatina Village.

I am one of Fusion’s bible and missional teachers with a particular love of training and developing emerging leaders. In addition to regularly teaching in with Fusion in Australia I have enjoyed the chance to teach and dialogue with Christian leaders in South Africa, Ghana, Poland, Germany, Albania, Canada, Indonesia and the U.S.. I have also been working with the Fusion team in the U.K. over the last couple of years to develop training and materials for Christians wanting to do outreach during the London Olympics.

Since stepping down from organizational leadership of Fusion, I am exploring how to more effectively support and empower churches who want to engage in mission. I am driven by the belief that this is a critical time of transition for world generally and as a result the Christian church is needing to discover a new paradigm of missional engagement.

As part of this commitment I am in the process of finalizing a book about Kingdom Cells which will be published in the U.K.