February News

Hi Everyone!

There has been a lot happening during the past four weeks. Children have started school and kinder, holidays are over and our MOPS groups are once again in full swing.


Unfortunately for many, their world has been turned upside down. Several of our mums have been caught in the midst of the floods in the eastern states and in WA. The cyclone in the far north has caused havoc over vast regions of Australia. Now we are witnessing an earthquake’s devastation in Christchurch, NZ where there are KIWI Mums groups. My husband assisted a couple whose house had been flooded in nearby Clunes and was struck by the damage even minor flooding can inflict.

The prayers of many are with those who have suffered loss at this time. It is our prayer that they will be comforted and supported by their churches, family, friends and those from other groups.

NEW GROUPS

It is a pleasure to welcome our new MOPS groups that have started out in earnest this year.

Western Australia

• Mandurah Baptist Teen MOPS
• Ellenbrook Baptist MOPS
• Pingelly Baptist MOPS
• Karratha Baptist  MOPS

South Australia

• Oakden Baptist MOPS

Australian Capital Territory

• Northpointe Baptist MUMSnext

Tasmania

• Smithton Christian Fellowship MOPS

New South Wales

• Blacktown Uniting MUMSnext

Please pray for these groups as they find their feet and grow during the coming year. We look forward to hearing good things about each one of them as they touch the mums in their communities.

MOTHERS ON THE MARCH WALKATHON

The Walkathon date has now been established as Saturday 7^th May. We will be bringing you more news of this exciting event over the coming weeks. Clean your sneakers and start exercising those calves ladies!

CHARTER RENEWALS

These were sent out on the 7^th January and many payments have been received turned to the MOPS Office.  If your group has not yet re-chartered, please follow this up as soon as possible.

PARTICIPATION FEE

Thanks to those groups who have sent in their donations already.  I get many questions about the new participation fee.  The fee is a small annual Registration Fee similar to that of any other group you join.  The purpose is to help MOPS Australia be an effective, up-to-date organisation that reaches out into the community with a professional image so that we might encourage more groups to start, and therefore allow more mums to attend a MOPS group.


‘CONNECTIONS’ BLOG AND THE MOPS WEBSITE

It is a pleasure to have Cath Oehlman and Alice Kan coordinating the weekly Connections blog. Their expertise and organisation have brought a professional and fresh approach to our new online Connections.  (You will soon find the blog as part of our site so that everything is in one place for you.)
Cath and her husband Damon will also be working on the website, giving it a fresh look and bringing it up-to-date. Please visit the site over the next few weeks. In addition to a fresh look, we will soon have all the MOPS groups listed, and a range of new downloads (MOPS policies, logos, templates, etc) available for you.  If you think there is something that should be on the site, please us know and we will see what we can do.

Margaret Sanders - National Director

Why I Love Regional Training Days

I LOVE chocolate. Lindt Excellence Extra Creamy - yum! Cadbury chocolate. Mmm mmm. Lindt Lindor balls. *Mouth watering* Belgian chocolate. Green & Black's Organic Chocolate. In fact, I love almost any chocolate - even cooking chocolate when I'm desperate!

I love relaxing with a great book. I love walking along the river and watching the sun come up. I love my husband and my kids. I love bluesy-jazz music. I love earl grey tea. I love girls'-nights out.

Another thing I love is Regional Training Days - I have from the first one I attended as a MOPS Coordinator. They are one of the things I love most in our MOPS calendar year!! I'm passionate about their role in supporting you as a MOPS leader.

Let me share with you four reasons why you and your team don't want to miss the RTD in your region.

1. Training. You know when you put on an item of clothing that feels like it's been custom made for you? You just want to sigh out loud? Well, that's what the training at your RTD is like. It's customised for YOU as a MOPS leader, serving in YOUR MOPS group in YOUR region. Training comes in different shapes and sizes: a DVD, or a forum, a session from your Regional Coordinator or perhaps a guest speaker. But it's a perfect fit for you and the needs you face in this season of leadership. Attending training is part of your MOPS charter agreement.
2. Networking. RTDs provide a great opportunity to meet other MOPS leaders in your region. These amazing women are doing what you are doing - they face the same joys, the same frustrations, the same needs. Sometimes networking happens in a structured way, sometimes it's chatting over morning tea or lunch. Don't miss out on the chance to take some notes and pinch ideas from others who might just have a wonderful idea for you and your group. At your RTD you will also be able to connect with your Regional Coordinator.
3. Team Time. RTDs give you some quality team time - whether it's chatting during the day, an allocated team discussion time or brainstorming in the car on the way home. MOPS mornings are busy, and team meetings are often filled with organising and administration. RTDs are a great chance to relax together whilst getting some great training. Why not take advantage of the child-free time (!!) and stop off for a coffee en route?
4. Inspiration. RTDs will inspire you, reignite your passion, remind you of the vision, give you some great ideas and encourage you. Why would you miss an opportunity like that?

Don't deprive the other leaders in your region of your presence, your gifts, your experience - you are precious and a blessing! I encourage you to mark the date of your local Regional Training Day in your diary, make sure your whole team knows, and plan to attend together. You won't regret it!!

PS - I think I need to go and have a cup of earl grey tea and some chocolate.

Donna Hill

NATIONAL FIELD STAFF LEADER

I Am Nothing Without Love

It's hard to avoid the topic of love today, given the date.  There are thousands upon thousands of love songs, but one song, more than any other, speaks to me about true love.  Every time I listen to this track by singer/songwriter Ginny Owens, I am stopped in my tracks.  If you have a few minutes, click this link to listen to "I Am Nothing"...

I could travel over oceans, cross the deserts, climb the mountains
Just to share your story, bring you glory, and win souls for you.
I could sing like an angel, songs so humble and so thankful
Full of drama and emotion, so the world would know your truth.
I could give away my money and my clothes and my food
To restore those people who are poor, lost, and down-and-out.
Oh, I could succeed at all these things,
Find favor with peasants and kings,
But if I do not love, I am nothing.

I could live a flawless life,
Never cheat or steal or lie,
And always speak so kindly, smile warmly, and go about doing good.
I could dedicate myself to do what everyone else wants me to-
Listen to them, compliment them, say the things I should.
I could show up every sunday, lead the choir and Bible study
And they all might come to know me as a leader and a friend.
Oh, I could achieve success on earth, but success cannot define my worth
And all these actions, all these words, will not matter in the end-

Songs will fade to silence,
Stories, they will cease.
The dust will settle, covering all my selfless deeds.
So as I strive to serve you,
Won’t you make it clear to me,
If I do not love, I am nothing.

If I cannot live my life loving my brother,
Then how can I love the one who lived his life for me?

Sent to earth from heaven,
Humble servant, holy king,
Come to share a story, get no glory, and save my searching soul,
You knew that I’d deny you, crucify you, but nothing could stop you from
Living for me, dying for me, so that I would know-

Songs will fade to silence,
Stories will cease,
The dust will settle covering these selfless deeds.
But your life here has made it clear enough for me to see
That if I do not love, I am nothing

These lyrics get me every time.  Without love, I am nothing.  Without love, you are nothing.  We can go through the motions, and do all the "right" things, but without love what difference will it make?  Speaking kindly, offering charity, living honestly, stepping up to leadership, encouraging others... these are all admirable traits but without love they are just noise.

The first three verses of 1 Cor 13 challenge me as a leader.  Do I love my MOPS mums? Do I love my leadership team? Do I seek to see them as Jesus does, and love them as He has loved me?  Or am I going through the motions, doing all the "right" things and just generally making a whole lot of noise?

This Valentine's Day, I encourage you as a MOPS leader to reflect on God's love for you, and consider the ways you share His love with your team and your group.  Don't just make noise.  You are dearly, deeply, tenderly loved. Live like it. 

1 Cor 13:1-3 (NLT)

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, 

I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 

If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans 

and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, 

but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 

If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, 

I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, 

I would have gained 

nothing.

__________________________________________________________________

Catherine Oehlman is Chief Editor of Connections Online, and Coordinator of her MOPS group in Stafford.  She also lead worship at the Australasian Conference in 2010.  Cath blogs at SquiggleMum and you can follow her on facebook or twitter.  Her own munchkins are aged 2 and 4.

Suit Up!

At the start of the year, as we make our plans for teams, talks and all of the details that go into making a MOPS year – ZING - don’t forget to suit up! Ephesians 6 tells in great detail of the armour that God has provided for us to use in His service. Don’t ever forget that we are in a battle, that when we serve God in MOPS that we are soldiers on the front line.

So, I encourage you to put on the full armour

of God so that you can take your stand against the Devil’s schemes. Put on the belt of truth and put the breastplate of righteousness in its place- live lives that are real, authentic

and transparent before your mums so that they will see the light of Christ within you. Have your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. For this ministry our pretty shoes - the very cute ones with the heels, the straps and the bling- just won’t cut it! We need boots… good sturdy boots that are always ready to run in and take ground from the enemy! They are shoes that bring peace. Where there is conflict let’s be the ones to bring God’s peace. As Romans 12 tells us; ‘’If it is possible, as much as it depends upon you, live at peace with everyone.’’

Never forget to take up the shield of faith that will extinguish all of the flames of the enemy. When we battle despair and discouragement, when we face a lack of carers or team members, when the mums don’t come, when we encounter criticism from those we thought were friends; lift high your shield of faith and quench the arrows of the enemy's attack. ‘Then take up the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions.’ Above all, be women who press into God through study of The Word and prayer. In the busyness of life, with all of the demands of husbands and small children, with all the pressures of being on a MOPS team, don’t neglect to spend time waiting on God and lingering in His presence.

It is here that you will find the fuel and the strength to face all that this year holds.

Cherie Macchiusi