The Gen12 conference, ‘It starts here’, was held at BST on Saturday 19 July with over 140 people coming together to find out more about cross-cultural mission. The day was jam-packed with thought provoking messages from key note speakers, practical insight into ministries at the seminar electives and informative conversations with mission advisors over the breaks.
Just as God said to Abram in Genesis 12, “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you”, our hope is that the next generation of Christians will be passionate, committed to serve and be a blessing to others for the sake of Christ. The Gen12 conference was designed to help people figure out where it is that God is challenging them to serve, how to go about it and with whom they can partner with. Over 20 organisations were represented at the event – organisations that are active in church-planting, Bible translation, teaching, aid and development and so much more.
So where to now for those who attended? To find out, we caught up with Andrew Faulkner. Andrew has a degree in Business Management and Marketing and has been working with Telstra for the past 12 years in marketing, business-to-business sales management and customer experience improvement. He is currently studying a Graduate Diploma of Divinity at BST.
Before coming to Gen12 did you have a desire to serve cross-culturally?
“My wife Debb and I feel a strong desire to participate in overseas mission with our family in the future. That’s largely why I was motivated to study at Bible college.”
In what way did the Gen12 conference impact your view on mission?
“Gen12 impacted my view on mission in a number of ways. It reminded and challenged me with a realistic perspective of the opportunities and challenges, offering practical suggestions on what we can do to prepare. It also reinforced our conviction that we are called to be missionaries wherever we are today, and it is not just something that we might become involved with in the future. There are things we can do now to be active in mission. I was also excited and encouraged by the different creative ways that God’s people are working in the nations – whether in creative outreach in the urban marketplace or the strategic placement of missionaries in countries that are closed-off to the Gospel. I loved hearing about the global efforts that are already underway and I’m excited to see how we can contribute.”
So where to now?
“Over the next 12 to 24 months, while I complete my studies at BST, my wife and I will be praying to clearly determine which country we feel led to serve in. I will also be taking the opportunity to catch up with a number of the mission organisations that were represented at Gen12. Everyone was so open and eager to share perspectives and ideas. After Simon Longden’s stirring final message for the day, I’ve been challenged to consider daily my response to what I am seeing, where I am.”
If you have a desire to serve in cross-cultural mission and would like to find out more about what you need to do to prepare, contact us on 3870 8355 or visit gen12.com.au for a list of the mission organisations that we work with.
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