First Home Project Urgently Needs Your Help

July 30, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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I’ve known Jarrod for a number of years and I fully endorse this amazing new project. Please get behind Jarrod and Teresa in any way you can.

There is a housing crisis in Perth. Only 2% of rental properties are vacant.

The mining boom has seen a huge increase in the number of renters and this additional competition has left parties outbidding each other to lease the few rental properties on the market. In this environment, refugees – our newest Australians – struggle to access affordable accommodation, let alone accommodation close to employment opportunities or community services.

Jarrod, Teresa and Tyson have come up with the First Home Project to help provide affordable medium term accommodation and an inclusive community for refugees who are struggling in this housing crisis. They’ve found a house in an exciting, growing suburb in Perth. This property has enough bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchens for three families at a time, and with some renovations, in as little as a month it could be ready for their young family and some of our newest Australians to move into.

The First Home Project isn’t just about a house. It’s about building a community.

It’s about providing a ‘hand up’ with affordable accommodation and walking alongside them as they build their new lives in Perth. Jarrod, Teresa and Tyson are excited about creating a home for their young family and their new refugee friends.

You can find out more and play your part by visiting First Home Project.



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Cafe Conversations with Jarrod McKenna

June 19, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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One of the great privileges I have each month is to sit down in front of an audience and have a relaxed conversation with someone from our community. I get to find out more about them and the journey that life has handed them. Cafe Conversations has been a regular fixture on the last Sunday evening of the month throughout this year.

I’ll be in conversation with Jarrod McKenna at Thornlie Church of Christ this Sunday evening. I’ve interviewed Jarrod on radio a number of times in the past so I’m looking forward to hearing his story in a little more depth this weekend.

From slums in India to packed stadiums in America, prison inmates to university students, Greenpeace trainings to Mega-church meetings, nationally and internationally, Jarrod McKenna is a sought after social change facilitator, social commentator, activist trainer and speaker.

Last year alone he spoke to over 15,000 people, a little over 8,000 of which were students being trained through his award winning nonviolence program “EPYC!”.

He is the youngest person to be named a Donald Groom Peace Fellow and at the invitation of Tim Costello was recently appointed National Adviser on Youth, Faith and Activism for World Vision Australia.

Let me invite you to be part of an entertaining and insightful evening, within a relaxed environment, 6:30 this Sunday evening at Thornlie Church of Christ, 319 Spencer Road, Thornlie.



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The New Conspirators

April 23, 2008
by Rodney Olsen
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the_new_conspirators_cover.jpgThere’s an old book on my bookshelf that was second hand when I bought it many years ago. The cover was already beginning to part company with the pages when I snapped it up for the bargain price of just three dollars. It was an early catalyst in helping me to see faith in a different light to the understanding I’d developed while being brought up in a conservative, traditional church.

That book is The Mustard Seed Conspiracy by Tome Sine.

Tom Sine has worked as a social worker, educator and headed up a community development project in Haiti for World Concern. These days he spends a lot of time trying to learn what God is doing through a new generation of innovators.

His interest in new innovations in expressions of faith have led him to write his latest book, The New Conspirators.

Tom also teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary in Seattle, and is part of Mustard Seed Associates.

Tom Sine joined me on my morning radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM along with Jarrod McKenna from Peace Tree Community. While Tom’s book talks about the many ways that people are re-imagining church, Jarrod is part of a community that is living out faith in simple ways in the Perth suburb of Lockridge.

You can hear our discussion by clicking on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

If you’re in the Perth area you have a couple of opportunities to hear Tom Sine speaking at Vose Seminary in Bentley tomorrow.

Living on Purpose in Uncertain Times

1:00pm-3:30pm

Aimed at Christian leaders

Cost: $20

Join Tom Sine for some eye-opening excursions into our new global neighbourhood. You will identify the growing pressures on time and money facing people in your church. They will also show you how you can enable people to live on purpose, creating less stressed, more festive lives; and discovering imaginative ways God can use their lives to make a difference in their communities and God’s world.

Confronting the Powers: The New Conspirators

7:00pm-9:30pm

Aimed at all Christians

Cost: $10

God is doing something new through a new generation of innovators, risk takers and entrepreneurs. These new conspirato rs can be found in at least four streams: emerging, missional, mosaic and monastic.

Some are creating innovative missional expressions of church, some are creating sustainable communities that work with the poor. Others are using the arts to create imaginative forms of environmental advocacy. Still others are creating new ways to celebrate the in-breaking of God’s new order. These young conspirators are all imagining new ways, in these uncertain times, to give creative expression to that new world the Jesus told us is already here.

You can find out more about Tom Sine and the rest of the team at Mustard Seed Associates at the Mustard Seed Associates Website.



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