Jody Pan, one of our EU Graduates, was interviewed at our Next Steps conference.

Jody, you started attending St Alban’s in Belmore at the start of this year. How did you end up there? And, what are some next steps you’re hoping to take in the coming year as you’re working full time?

In 2022, I went on a mission trip with the EU to St John’s Church in Campsie. That was the first time I was confronted, in a good way, with the abundance of less-reached and less resourced churches in Sydney that struggle to reach their local community with the gospel.

I started thinking seriously, ‘Maybe I could move to a church in south-west Sydney instead of waiting for someone else to do it.’ During my final year at uni, I saw a post on the EU LRLR Facebook page about how St Alban’s in Belmore needs more young people. I got in touch with the minister-in-charge, visited St Alban’s, and didn’t see a reason not to go!

Now that I’m in my first year of full-time work as a teacher, I don’t have much capacity to formally serve at church. My next steps are quite simple – I’m going to keep showing up at church and Bible study every week, and be a keen young person at church.

How does knowing about God’s wrath remaining on those who haven’t turned to Jesus yet shape your decisions in life?

I’m constantly reminded of how to reframe priorities in this life. For example, when I first spoke to my friends about moving out of home so that I could live closer to St Alban’s in Belmore, many of my friends were sceptical – isn’t it a silly idea to pay so much rent when I could continue living rent-free with my family? 

However, as Tim said in the first session at Next Steps, ‘Do we sometimes trust Jesus for eternity, but not right now?’ If we know that the cup of wrath is hanging over the nations, then what is weekly rent compared to salvation for eternity? Knowing about God’s wrath reminds me of the gospel’s eternal value above money or comfort.

What’s one encouragement or challenge you have for us to take some next steps in reaching the LRLR?

My encouragement is that moving to an LRLR church might not be as hard as you think! We often have a mental image of an LRLR region being a distant, dark corner where church service is burdensome and lonely. Instead, I’ve had the complete opposite experience at St Alban’s. It’s a supportive and faithful community where I’ve already grown so much in my maturity and understanding of what being part of an LRLR church looks like. Also, I’ve never been pressured into formally serving at church. I’ve just been showing up every week, and that’s already such an encouragement to the church community! Rather than being a burden, moving to an LRLR church could be a wonderful experience where you can gain and give much.

– Jody Pan, EU Alumni