Where Hope Showed Up This Summer
- Missions Team
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Just before Christmas, a mum of five reached out to LifeHouse Community Care after having to leave her home due to difficult circumstances. She had nowhere else to turn.
Our team made sure her children had gifts to open and that the family could share a special Christmas meal together. In the new year, when she secured stable housing, we were able to provide practical items to help set up her new home.
A few months later, she came back simply to say thank you.
She now visits regularly, attending church where she loves the music and her kids enjoy Kids Church. She also drops into the pantry and op shop, which she calls her favourite place for joy, belonging, and a good bargain.
Moments like this are why Community Care exists.
“The church should be a place where people can go for help,” says Tess, who leads the team. Their heart is to be a place of welcome and support when people don’t know where else to go.
The team sees many moments like this. A young couple arriving at church with a baby hoping someone can help. A dad seeking emergency food support after losing work due to illness. A grandmother whose life changed overnight when she took on care for her infant granddaughter.
Just as important as the practical support is how people experience the response. Every interaction is shaped by dignity, encouragement, and hope.
Tess often tells people, “You’re doing really good. You’ve made a step to come in here. This is just a bump in the journey — it’s a step, not the end. We all need help at times.”
Often, what people need most is connection. Someone to stand alongside them.
When one client, exhausted, simply asked, “Can you give me some hope?” Tess asked if she could pray. They replied, a little hesitatingly, that they didn’t believe in God.
“That’s okay,” Tess said. “I’ll believe for you.”
This heart of showing up for people when they need it most runs through many of LifeHouse’s missions projects and partnerships.
Towards the end of last year, amidst months of deadly conflict near the Cambodia–Thailand border, families were forced from their homes. Our partners Mothers Heart Organization and New Life Fellowship responded alongside other local organisations. They helped provide relief, practical support, and a safe space for children while families waited to see when they could return home.
Closer to home, some of the growing group of LifeHouse chaplains are also trained disaster response chaplains. They are ready to respond when unexpected crises impact our region and people need a steady, compassionate presence.
In different places and different ways, the people of God are showing up.
In uncertain moments we can offer practical help, but also hope. The kind of hope that comes from the One who promises to wipe every tear from our eyes and make all things new. (Revelation 21:4–5)
Want to be part of moments like this?
One meaningful way to be involved is by serving in our LifeHouse Care spaces. Volunteers help create welcoming places where people can receive practical support, encouragement, and connection when they need it most.
Missions Snapshots
LifeHouse Care received the 2026 Aussie Spirit Award from the City of Coffs Harbour for our Community Pantries, recognising the impact of this ministry across the Coffs Coast.
A new chaplaincy training cohort began their Certificate IV in Chaplaincy & Pastoral Care in early March.
Term 1 has launched across several missions spaces including LHCA, Ability & Beyond, and Red Frogs uni dinners.
Two new LifeHouse team members have begun serving in Kids and Youth ministry while studying towards a Leadership and Management qualification.
