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Olivia Salvo

I was raised in a very loving Christian family in South Africa with parents who love the Lord. My parents are still part of the same Dutch Reformed church I went to all my years at home. I was baptised there and went to Sunday school and listened to our minister preach throughout my school and University years. I feel very blessed as I write this as my relationship with God has been a lifelong one.


I am so thankful for many wonderful Christian friends and family throughout my life at all times. People whose wise counsel and love kept me grounded in my faith at times when I doubted. I lived and worked as an audiologist in 5 countries and travelled a lot, but no matter where lived, I always joined a church and Bible study group. I was guided by His Word and Holy Spirit, but also through friends and family whose support and encouragement along the way was clearly God’s work which He does so miraculously, intelligently and timely.


On my journey with God, looking back on my life I have found my faith in God and His son Jesus Christ renewed and strengthened most through the difficult times. I read once that when we walk with God through dark valleys, we become inseparably connected with Him. Often I didn’t realise it at the time, but God was always at work in situations where I thought life wasn’t making any sense. Proverbs 16:9 says ‘In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.’ In my life’s journey God is at the steering wheel regardless of where I want to go. He has blessed me with a wonderful husband who is now on the journey with me and I can’t thank God enough for the blessing of being His child.



I hold close to my heart Ephesians 1:7-10, ‘In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished onto us. With all wisdom and understanding he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfilment – to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.’


Amos Selvaraj

11 Jun, 2020
I’ve grown up in a Christian home of sorts. Mum did a great job leading and teaching me about Jesus given the circumstances. But even with that guidance I just coasted along for many years- going to church, bible studies, youth groups and other Christian activities- without any real interest. To be honest I can’t say I even wanted to be there. I’ve been attending Drouin Presbyterian church since about 2011, but for the most part of the first 5 years I am not proud of what my relationships with God, family and friends were like. But even through all the mistakes I’ve made and pain I’ve caused, I can confidently say God has been with me. In 2015-2016 a lot changed for me, especially my relationship with God and in turn that has greatly affected my relationship and attitude to family and friends around me. I can now see what is important in life and it’s not me. I now understand what God has done for me in giving his son to die on the cross for my sins. I’ve realised that I am a sinner and that I need Jesus to help me. I’m still far from perfect, but knowing what Jesus has done for me makes me want to help and encourage others to follow him also. Galatians 2:20 says “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” From now my only hope is that I live my life by Gods word, and fully rely on his strength and not my own. Becoming a Christian has given me such a feeling of freedom, it’s incredible. And I am so thankful knowing that Jesus has taken what I was owed, and restored my relationship with God.

Daniel Patchett

10 Jun, 2020
At the end of the day, I’m a Christian because of God’s grace. This relentless mercy has been shown to me time and time again, largely through the Christians in my life that I’ve been blessed to know, and who provide an example of what it means to be a follower of Christ. One of the things I find most convincing and compelling about the Gospel is the implicit rightness of Jesus and his actions, how he epitomises everything that we instinctively know to be good and just. It’s by his self-sacrifice that I’ve been saved, ‘for by grace you have been saved through faith, and it is not your own doing, it’s a gift of God’ (Ephesians 2:8). I grew up in a Christian family, and my parents served as missionaries in Ethiopia for several years. They’ve been outstanding examples to me of imitating Jesus’ self-sacrifice. But I don’t want to rock up to church every week just because my parents do, because faith isn’t genetic, and I’ve found it difficult recently to challenge and question my own beliefs whilst retaining obedient faithfulness. Here, I’ve found discussing issues with other believers very helpful.  I’m still an immature Christian, still doubtful and still torn between God and the world at times. Hopefully that will change by God’s mercy and his Holy Spirit.

Graeme Lowe

10 Jun, 2020
It was a great start in life to have Christian parents, but it didn’t make me a Christian. Being a missionary kid I heard and saw amazing examples of Christian faith and God at work in PNG – but rather than inspiring me to become a Christian I felt that I wasn’t good enough and that God was probably too busy with more important things than to take notice of me. I never doubted the many stories of the Bible that I learned at home and church and the way God worked in human history - but it never seemed to be my story. Around the end of primary school my family attended the Easter Convention at Belgrave Heights and God used the preacher not only to convince me that my sin was part of the reason for Jesus’ death, but that in His death Jesus paid for that very sin and every other sin I had committed. Like the people in Acts 2:37 , I was “cut to the heart,” asked God to forgive me and found out He wasn’t too busy to take notice of me. It was profound to me that I now knew God - because previously I only knew about Him. Through all the ups and downs of life from that moment and to this day God has shown me that I have a place in His story – now and forever. 
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