Steve Grace in Perth

October 26, 2012
by Rodney Olsen
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It was a surreal moment. Back in December 2010 I was being driven along a very rough track somewhere out of Port Moresby in PNG. We were in a four wheel drive heading to a remote fishing village to see the work of aid agency Samaritan’s Purse.

Us westerners were in the cab but the back of the ute was full of local kids. As we were being thrown around inside the vehicle the children were hanging on and singing at the top of their voices. They were singing Steve Grace songs.

Steve Grace is an exciting and vibrant Australian singer/songwriter with a heart for world evangelism. Twenty years ago, Steve Grace was driving trucks. Answering the call of God, he pioneered a concert ministry that has taken him to hundreds of cities and regional towns throughout Australia.

Steve’s vision soon developed into an international ministry with opportunities each year to perform at concerts, festivals and crusades before thousands of people in nations across the globe. This humble ministry has been used by God to see many come to a genuine faith in Jesus Christ and many inspired to take up the challenge of living life in the grand adventure God has called us to.

Over the years Steve has shared the stage with artists like Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Rich Mullins, Amy Grant, Carman, Randy Stonehill, Phil Keaggy. And more recently, Steve has become a featured artist at crusades conducted by evangelists like Greg Laurie and Franklin Graham.

It’s been a while since I heard Steve sing live but today I got my very own concert. Steve performed live during my Morning Cafe radio program. You can hear our chat and a couple of his songs by clicking the play button at the bottom of this post.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR261012_1300.mp3]

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Christmas Begins this Sunday

May 17, 2011
by Rodney Olsen
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As you probably know, in December last year I visited Papua New Guinea with a media team from Australia and New Zealand to look at the work of Samaritan’s Purse and in particular, Operation Christmas Child.

This Sunday I’ll be telling the story of that visit as Thornlie Church of Christ, 319 Spencer Road, Thornlie, launches their Operation Christmas Child campaign for 2011. The morning service begins at 9:00 and I’ll be showing a short documentary as well as talking about what I experienced.

Papua New Guinea (PNG), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands (the western portion of the island is a part of the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua). It is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in a region defined since the early 19th century as Melanesia. The capital is Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea is one of the most diverse countries on Earth, with over 850 indigenous languages and at least as many traditional societies, out of a population of just under 7 million. It is also one of the most rural, with only 18% of its people living in urban centres.

The majority of the population lives in traditional societies and practice subsistence-based agriculture. – Wikipedia

While we were in Papua New Guinea to help distribute some of the thousands of shoe boxes collected this year for Operation Christmas Child.

Operation Christmas Child is a unique project of Samaritan’s Purse that brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes.

It provides an opportunity for people of all ages to be involved in a simple but hands-on project that has the power to transform children’s lives.

In 2009, our teams in Australia and New Zealand delivered over 300,000 gift-filled shoe boxes to South East Asia and the South Pacific. Globally, Samaritan’s Purse distributed an estimated 8.5 million shoe boxes to children in 105 countries.

As each shoe box gift is delivered, it is treasured by the child that receives it, and is a lasting reminder that he or she is precious to God.

One of the most exciting aspects of the trip was a visit to an area that received shoe boxes last year. We saw first hand how the simple gifts given last year have opened opportunities that have changed the health and well being of the entire community.

If you live in the Perth area I really hope that you’ll be able to join me.

By the way, you can click on the photo in this post for a closer look.



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From Mouths of Babes

December 23, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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Sometimes you just trip over great blogs. Other times you have to travel thousands of kilometres to find them.

As well as the many great stories that I’ll be sharing about my trip to Papua New Guinea, I want to share a blog I’ve just discovered. It’s called From Mouths of Babes and it’s written by Katrina Roe who was a member of the media team that travelled to PNG. Katrina’s the morning announcer on Hope 103.2 in Sydney.

So what’s her blog about? Here’s part of the story in her own words.

When I fell pregnant for the first time, I couldn’t have been happier. We had been trying for a baby for a while and I knew I was ready for this next stage in my life. But so often my friends with kids had only negative things to say about becoming a parent. ”Enjoy your sleep while you can!” ”You don’t know what you’re in for!” Or sometimes just a smug smile that said, “You’ve got a big shock coming.” The thing is, my first year as a Mum was the best year of my life. I loved everything about it. That doesn’t mean the adjustments weren’t difficult, but just that the joy of knowing my child far outweighed the difficulties.

So I really want this site to be a celebration of parenting, a celebration of all the joy and love our kids bring us. Yes, we need to talk about the hard stuff too, but let’s talk about it in a way that encourages us to be better parents and better people.

I love that attitude. We had people telling us the same sort of negative stuff when our kids were very young but I can assure you that Emily (14) and James (12) have brought us untold pleasure over many years. Of course there are tough times but I wouldn’t swap parenting them for anything.

Katrina’s most recent post, A Brown River Christmas, tells part of the story of our trip to a couple of villages near Port Moresby. I hope you’ll enjoy reading her account of the trip and that you’ll stick around to read more of her posts.



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Changing Communities

December 22, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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Click for larger image.

I think my head is finally sorting itself out. Since returning from Papua New Guinea I’ve been catching up on a little sleep and trying to get over a constant light dizziness. I’m not sure if that’s the result of a heavy schedule or the side effects of the anti-malarial tablets I’m taking.

Over just four days I had the amazing opportunity to join a media team from Australia and New Zealand to look at the work of Samaritan’s Purse and in particular, Operation Christmas Child.

Papua New Guinea is a truly amazing place. The time we spent there was extremely hot and incredibly humid. While the conditions were a little testing, the time we had there was well worth the rushed visit. The people we met welcomed us warmly and it was such an honour to see the work they’re doing amongst the poorer villages near the nation’s capital of Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea (PNG), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands (the western portion of the island is a part of the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua). It is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in a region defined since the early 19th century as Melanesia. The capital is Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea is one of the most diverse countries on Earth, with over 850 indigenous languages and at least as many traditional societies, out of a population of just under 7 million. It is also one of the most rural, with only 18% of its people living in urban centres.

The majority of the population lives in traditional societies and practice subsistence-based agriculture. – Wikipedia

While we were in Papua New Guinea to help distribute some of the thousands of shoe boxes collected this year for Operation Christmas Child.

Operation Christmas Child is a unique project of Samaritan’s Purse that brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes.

It provides an opportunity for people of all ages to be involved in a simple but hands-on project that has the power to transform children’s lives.

In 2009, our teams in Australia and New Zealand delivered over 300,000 gift-filled shoe boxes to South East Asia and the South Pacific. Globally, Samaritan’s Purse distributed an estimated 8.5 million shoe boxes to children in 105 countries.

As each shoe box gift is delivered, it is treasured by the child that receives it, and is a lasting reminder that he or she is precious to God.

One of the most exciting aspects of the trip was a visit to an area that received shoe boxes last year. We saw first hand how the simple gifts given last year have opened opportunities that have changed the health and well being of the entire community.

In the coming days I want to share more details of the trip and I hope it will inspire you to get involved in Operation Christmas Child or to support the work of Samaritan’s Purse in some other way.



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Delivering Christmas

December 15, 2010
by Rodney Olsen
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When you’re considering donating money or goods to an organisation, one of the first things you probably consider is whether your donation is making it to the people who really need it and whether it’s doing what it needs to do. It’s fairly natural to want to know that when you want to make a difference in the lives of other, you’re actually achieving what you set out to do.

Over the next few days I’ll have the amazing opportunity to look at the work of Samaritan’s Purse and in particular, Operation Christmas Child.

Late tonight I’ll be heading to the airport to begin a journey that will take me to Brisbane and the on to Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea (PNG), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands (the western portion of the island is a part of the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua). It is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in a region defined since the early 19th century as Melanesia. The capital is Port Moresby.

Papua New Guinea is one of the most diverse countries on Earth, with over 850 indigenous languages and at least as many traditional societies, out of a population of just under 7 million. It is also one of the most rural, with only 18% of its people living in urban centres.

The majority of the population lives in traditional societies and practice subsistence-based agriculture. – Wikipedia

I’m going to Papua New Guinea to help distribute some of the thousands of shoe boxes collected this year for Operation Christmas Child.

Operation Christmas Child is a unique project of Samaritan’s Purse that brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes.

It provides an opportunity for people of all ages to be involved in a simple but hands-on project that has the power to transform children’s lives.

In 2009, our teams in Australia and New Zealand delivered over 300,000 gift-filled shoe boxes to South East Asia and the South Pacific. Globally, Samaritan’s Purse distributed an estimated 8.5 million shoe boxes to children in 105 countries.

As each shoe box gift is delivered, it is treasured by the child that receives it, and is a lasting reminder that he or she is precious to God.

One of the most exciting aspects of the trip will be a visit to an area that has previously received shoe boxes. That means that I won’t only be letting you know about the smiling faces of the children who receive gifts this year but I’ll be able to see first hand the effect that a simple gift can make for those who have less than most of us.

I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to keep you up to date during the journey but I’m sure to let you see the results once I’m back home. I’ll be taking photos and some video which I’ll share with you as soon as I can.

While you’re preparing for Christmas, please spare a thought for the many thousands of children around the world who’ll be receiving a gift for the very first time thanks to the generosity of those who have prepared shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child.



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