‘Still plenty of good work to be done’ at The Garden in Brisbane

When the semester began at The Garden campus ministry in Brisbane, Australia, the team was excited to have all of their usual scheduled events in person because of low Coronavirus infection rates, said campus minister Emily Abernathy.

But three weeks later — nope, not so fast!

“In true 2020 form, after just three weeks of events, new restrictions limited our gatherings to 10 people,” said Emily. “So, we had to rethink our events, but there is still plenty of good work to be done even in the midst of a global pandemic and we are still seeing God move!”

The team doubled the number of Life Groups — small gatherings of two or three students and a staff person — and had a few weeks of Tuesday Night Lite, with three groups of 10 people meeting in people’s homes instead of a large group gathering.

Then, because restaurants are still open — only private gatherings are limited to 10 people — they were able to hold a Tuesday Night in a café.

“We had a bunch of new people, created a positive relationship with a local café, and got to have the whole group together again,” said Emily. “So, while we’ve had lower attendance and fewer new people throughout 2020, we’re having more faith conversations with students than ever before!”

“Given everything,” she added, “the second half of 2020 is shaping up to be another great semester of ministry. And as a team of four, we are in a really healthy place and God is encouraging us all and bringing us closer together through the ups and downs of 2020.”

Photo at top: The Garden campus ministry was able to hold a large group gathering at a local café in Brisbane, Australia.