By Garry Sanossian
When Pastor Joe Redamwang speaks of their sense of vision for Wagga Wagga Christian Church, a young and thriving church established by Burmese families, he says, “Our mission and vision is to have an active, strong faith and to pass that faith to the next generation.”
WWCC has grown rapidly since it began in 2011 as a house church, and children now outnumber adults. Focused on raising up the next generation, Pastor Joe and the elders recognised that this next generation, born in Australia, needs firm foundations in both faith and cultural identity.
With this focus in mind, WWCC leaders reached out to our Network Resource Team last year, seeking partnership and support to strengthen their children’s ministry team with practical teaching skills.
Jo Huntington, former Network Health Ministry Leader at churches of Christ, together with experienced children’s educators and ministers Avril Mundy and Meikle Bennett, who have led Southern Cross Kids Camps and SYNC Camps in our network, partnered with children’s leader Nin Nin Sang Dong and Pastor Joe Rednawang to design training and English-language curriculum for their children’s programs.
Earlier last year, Jo, Avril, and Meikle made their first visit to Wagga Wagga Christian Church to get to know their people and context.
Jo recalled, “The sense of family we experienced reminded us that this collective Burmese culture was different from our own. The children’s team, the elders, Pastor Joe and their families belonged to each other and to the work of caring for the next generation in a way that was beautifully unique.”
Across two visits, they worked together to design a practical, culturally sensitive training program. Drawing on their experience from directing Southern Cross Kids Camps and SYNC, Avril Mundy and Meikle Bennett shared training that covered safe church principles, positive behaviour strategies and creative ways to engage children in Bible stories. The training also strengthened safeguarding practices, including ensuring all volunteers completed their Working With Children Checks.
For Mary Nanghee, who has been teaching Sunday school for the past two years, the training brought renewed confidence and clarity. “We have more confidence this year,” Mary said.
“We prepare all of that the documentation and children check, everything after the training. We know more detail and more about the regulation too.”
Recognising the challenge of teaching in a second language, the team also helped teachers choose English-language curriculum. “A lot of the curriculum has pages and pages for every Sunday,” Avril said. “We talked through what to look for and how to decide what best fits their church.”
For Mary and the teaching team, using English rather than Burmese was an intentional decision. “When we teach with English, they understand more, the more they catch on,” she said.
She acknowledged that it has not always been easy. “We have a little bit difficult for language barrier,” Mary said, “but we try and getting better.”
What shone through most was the sense of mutual blessing and shared learning.
“The gift of this work is mutual,” Jo Huntington said. “We were blessed by the WWCC team’s warmth, energy and resilience, and inspired by their commitment to nurture their children’s faith and leadership.”
“They (the WWCC leaders and volunteers) love God and are deeply devoted to one another,” she added. “They see the church as family and community in a way I’ve never witnessed before.”
For Avril, the greatest impact came through relationships. “What stood out for me was that they just loved us being there, that we became family. They deeply appreciated that people cared and were interested in working with them,” she reflected.
The experience left Avril with a deep sense of connection. “I think I have two churches now,” she said.
“My church and the Wagga church. I would feel very safe and at home to walk in and know that I would be loved and welcomed there.”
For Mary, the heart of their church’s ministry is for the next generation. “We always encourage them – you are the next generation to hold life in the church,” she said.
She finds deep joy in watching children grow in faith. “I feel very happy,” Mary said. “Even though we do not have enough education and there is a language barrier, but we try and pray for them. We are like a bridge, joining with God and the next generation.”
Each week, that commitment is expressed in prayer. “Every Sunday we pray for the kids,” she said. “We pray not only for our church, but for all of the Australian generation, that they turn back to Christ.”
Out of this time of connection and partnership, several children and leaders from Wagga Wagga Christian Church attended SYNC Camp later in the year, an experience they found deeply encouraging.
Through the training visits and seeing leaders from the church serve at SYNC Camp this year, Avril has been deeply impressed. “I believe there are some excellent young leaders in that community that have a depth of faith and incredible skills,” she said.
“I’m excited to see what God will do through that church and its wider impact across our network.”
WWCC leaders at SYNC.
For Jo, the partnership went far beyond a single training program. It reflected the richness of diversity within the network and the value of churches learning from one another.
“I think it’s really exciting that our network is such a rich and diverse place and that we have so much to offer one another when we stop and actually engage well and take the time to listen and know deeply,” she said.
“What we gained from the experience was just as valuable for my own faith journey and understanding of what it means to be the church.”
“I am deeply encouraged by this work,” Jo said. “I pray that God would continue to use our network to be alongside this church and in turn that we would also benefit from this church’s gifts and strengths to us.”
