By Dave Rowe, Lead Pastor, Seaforth Baptist Church

We got involved with Manly-Manado (or Action Against Poverty as it was then) right from the start after Jim Goddard came and presented the idea to our local ministers gathering.  The idea of churches joining together at a local (rather than just denominational) level to engage with our community and mobilise our community to see change both here and overseas was a compelling vision.

I particularly loved the communal way in which everyone was encouraged to use their individual gifts and talents to come up with an idea and then run with it.  Manly-Manado provided the framework and the inspiration but the idea that each person could do something from as little as selling cakes or washing cars to running large events with a few hundred people was really exciting.

Even more exciting was seeing people being energised and feeling released to ‘do something’.  There was money raised and a sense of empowerment and ownership that came with that but probably equally as important for us was the sense of ‘togetherness’ that came with each event.  Events weren’t “the Anglican Church”, or “the Baptist Church” or “the Uniting Church” they were “us” as the people of Manly.  

For us as a church it was invigorating to see scores of people finding a voice and getting involved in projects that our church ran or other churches ran.

Since being involved we have had over a dozen adults and a similar number of kids travel to Manado to witness first-hand what their efforts are achieving. This connection has been an invaluable experience of the complexity of mission and also of the impact. I love that our kids, especially from a very early age, are getting the crystal clear message that their wealth comes with responsibilities and that they have the power to impact and change the world one life at a time.

For us, Manly-Manado breaks the sense of the problem of poverty being “too big” or even “someone else’s problem” and brings it back to one life at a time, one business at a time, one community at a time and now, one church at a time.  We have seen young people in their teens choosing careers and travel destinations that reflect their heart to be ‘change agents’ not just spectators or passive participants in our culture.

The goal of mutual transformation that lay at the heart of Manly-Manado has certainly born fruit in our community and we are richer in so many ways for having taken part.