PASTOR TIMOTHY BUNCH
What a wonderful opportunity this is for me to be able to introduce myself to the folk here at First Baptist Church! My name is Tim Bunch and I am Pastor of the Garden City Baptist Church, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Together with my wife Gweneth and our four children, we have served in this church since its inception.
My personal upbringing was in a Christian family; my father was a Navy man who had spent time in Vietnam. He suffered a major head injury during a rest period back home, leaving him both medically unfit to serve and an epileptic for the rest of his life.
As my father improved we began to travel extensively throughout the country, seeking to serve the Lord in whatever manner we could. I have travelled the width and breadth of Australia several times. Around my mid-teens we settled in Darwin and in 1995 I married a saved girl from Queensland. 2 years later my new wife fell pregnant and with no Bible-based Church in the entire state in which to raise my new family, we moved back to Queensland.
Arriving in Toowoomba, we discovered there was no Bible-based church of any sort. Sure, there were conservative churches, places in which you could even hear the Gospel and even get saved, but a church that stood on the Bible, preached it, believed it – this did not exist. Somewhere in 1998, God brought me into contact with another gentleman of like faith, Graham Jackson. Together, we would meet, share around the Word and pray for the Lord’s leading regarding establishing such a church in Toowoomba.
Mid 1999, God brought across our paths Missionaries Bob and Vinnie Bartlett, and on August 13, 2000, the Bartletts, the Jacksons and the Bunch family held the inaugural service of the Garden City Baptist Church in a rented hall. For some 9 plus years, Pastor and Mrs. Bartlett laboured with us in Toowoomba, training and then ordaining me into the Gospel ministry and on March 1, 2009, after a unanimous vote, I became the Pastor of Garden City Baptist Church.
Since then, God has wrought such wonderful works that even now my heart lifts itself up in praise to His undeserved goodness towards us. In 2012, the church acquired finance and the Garden City Baptist Church opened the doors of 601 Bridge Street, Cotswold Hills, Queensland!
The City of Toowoomba has a strong traditional religious background – Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Presbyterian, etc. With these kinds of religions you usually find they are generational and trying to break through those generational barriers can at times be very difficult. When a person does get saved, sometimes it requires years to undo the indoctrination and tradition.
Australia is a modern first-world Nation in which freedom of religion is a common right. As such, we are free to adopt any form of evangelisation we choose. We utilise several forms of corporate evangelisation which include: door-to-door, letterboxing (tracts), local fairs (tracts, one-on-one), and of course special days/events. For the first time in our history, this year we are hoping to host an open ‘Carols-by-candlelight’ service onsite and use that as an outreach opportunity.
Immediately upon professing Salvation, new converts are supplied with a couple of in-house prepared booklets designed to help them begin the new life in Christ. These booklets both teach and give practical examples of to how initiate and establish a prayer life and Bible-reading time. There is also information provided in those booklets on baptism.
We also run a 4-term (1 Year) discipling program, designed to introduce the new believer into basic doctrines of the Bible, help them find their spiritual gifts and direct them into areas of service. This is a mentoring time and these classes are provided in a one-on-one format.
PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR MISSIONARIES:
From an Australian’s point of view, one of the greatest things I could advise an American coming to Australia is to realise that, whilst we may be a modern, firstworld society, our culture is different. If one were to be looking at an Asian, African or even Pacific mission field, that cultural difference is immediately noticeable and folks head to those fields AWARE and PREPARED for the differences. Sadly, that has not always been the case when Australia is the destination.
The second advice I would offer is quite simply this: be prepared to remain in one place for up to ten years. Any plan that is based upon the notion that a church can be planted and established in two to three years is bound for failure. Multiple trips ‘home’ are not viewed well and confidence in the missionaries genuineness wanes with every departure. Over the years, I have seen many IFB churches ‘planted’, but within two to three years fold due to a misunderstanding of this very big cultural difference.
We ask you to pray that God would continue to grant us wisdom. Much like America, Australia is becoming more increasingly a secular nation. Folks who stand for the Truth of God’s Word and upon the principles of The Bible are becoming fewer and fewer. It appears that discriminating against religion is still viewed negatively, unless that religion is Christianity. Garden City Baptist Church is growing and as such our profile in the community is increasing, but that opens us to greater exposure and if we are not prepared, vulnerability. Hence the need for Wisdom! Only God can grant this and I would ask that this request be viewed not as a cliché, but as a genuine need - for that is what it truly is.
GWENETH BUNCH
MINISTRY INVOLVEMENT
Since day one, I have been very involved in the ministry at Garden City Baptist Church, serving as the main musician and playing the organ for almost every service. My ministry as a Sunday school teacher and Sunday school superintendent has included ordering supplies and organizing classes for various age groups. As the church has grown and the Lord has added to our number, I have had the privilege of introducing new ladies into our ministry, providing the training and guidance they have needed to work effectively. My involvement with our ladies has also included coordinating our annual mother-daughter banquet and our end-of-the-year “R & R,” as well as regular ladies’ meetings. Every Wednesday night I teach the ladies while my husband teaches the men. Once every month I oversee and teach our ladies during “coffee mornings.”
For a number of years, our church was able to hold a Kids Club for primary-age children. My husband and I designed and implemented a program from scratch, sourced teaching material, planned the programs, kept records of the children’s attendance, etc. In addition, I have served as a crèche leader and labourer.
Added to these ministry responsibilities are the hospitality and caring required from a pastor’s wife such as opening our home to missionaries and preachers who come through, visiting the sick in the hospital, offering comfort to the bereaved, preparing food for wakes and the sick, etc. In fact, there is really no part of the ministry in which I do not work alongside my husband, apart from the pulpit. I must be careful to focus on my family as well; we have four children, age eight to fifteen. Each attends a local Christian school, takes music lessons, sings in the choir, etc. It would be negligent of me to ignore the needs of the family God has granted to me. In addition to everything else, I work a part-time job to help supplement our income because the church is unable to fully support us at this time.
TYPICAL DAY
I am sure from reading the above information you will understand that there really is no “typical” day in our lives. It would be extremely rare for me to “sleep in” or not leave the house on any given day.
But to give you some idea of our day-to-day lives, I will describe my last birthday. I was up before the children getting the washing started and releasing our pet dog from his chain in the back yard. Upon reentering the house, my husband greeted me with a cooked breakfast, which was a real treat. By 7:30 a.m., the children were dressed, school bags packed, assignments sorted, the inevitable “lost” clothing items hunted down, and then off to school. That day I did not have to do the run—thank you, Lord! Next, I enjoyed a bit of “quiet time” but not for long. One load of washing done meant it was time to “peg it out” and set the next load running. After that, there were dishes to wash and housecleaning to do.
But then one of the church ladies dropped in to wish me a “Happy Birthday.” It was sweet of her and brought me joy. (I am thankful for the ladies God has brought across my path.) She and I visited for a while, and then another lady arrived. Together we enjoyed fresh coffee and baked items that I had prepared earlier.
I had hoped to have a quiet lunch with my husband, but a man from the church called to see if he could drop in for some counseling, and we ended up inviting him to stay for lunch. While my husband counseled with the man, I returned to my washing and cleaning that had been interrupted by the earlier visits as well as some ironing. I would normally make dinner preparations before starting my shift at work at 3:00 p.m., but because it is my birthday, my husband organized dinner for me. When I returned home, dinner was waiting, along with a cake that one of my daughters had baked for me—she is a blessing!
Around 9:00 p.m. the children were in the final throes of bedding down. (You know that usually doesn’t happen quickly!) The loads of laundry then dry were sitting there waiting for me to fold and sort, and then school lunches had to be prepared. After these chores were completed, I was thankful to spend my quiet time with the Lord, and then it was off to bed. It had been a good day, a little easier than most. Thank you, Lord!
PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR MISSIONARIES:
Be willing to form genuine relationships.
Be prepared to work—the mission field is not a holiday destination.
Be prepared to work in any environment. God may call you to a remote place or a town where many of the daily routines you are used to are simply not available. There is more to the mission field than the big cities!
Australians tend to be very slow at placing their trust in “outsiders.” You therefore have to be prepared to put A LOT of time—maybe even years—and effort into building relationships, often with VERY LITTLE reward. However, once you have earned an Aussie’s trust, you will have a friend for life!
We are blessed to have been a part of Garden City Baptist Church since the beginning. We thank The Lord for His hand of blessing and keeping our hands to the plough, we might REMEMBER what came before, but we are looking FORWARD to the victories God YET has for us!
