Aussie Christians worth reading about – part one
Eternity has reported on countless Christian leaders over the past 14 years. Here are just a handful of some of the faith-filled people who have shared their stories with you through Eternity.
Aunty Donna Meehan
Donna Meehan is a Gamilaroi woman, born in Coonamble and a member of the Stolen Generation, fostered and adopted. She is a committed Christian who has a ministry to the broken and wounded-hearted women in the valley. Her vision is: “To bring healing to her people”. Aunty Donna Meehan explained how God had set her free from her resentment about Captain Cook’s impact on Aboriginal lives.
Read the story: How God helped Aunty Donna surrender her resentment
Colin Buchanan
Colin Buchanan is Australia’s bestselling Christian artist. He has six Tamworth Songwriters awards, a handful of ARIA nominations, nine Golden Guitars and spent 10 years as a Play School presenter. Buchanan has 29 albums and his songs are sung by Christian children and parents throughout the nation. But, unlike the typical celebrity, he directs all the attention away from himself.
Read the story: The unique gift of Colin Buchanan
Dan Paterson
Dan is the founder of Questioning Christianity, a ministry that helps people connect the Christian story to life’s deepest questions. He has experience as a pastor, lecturer, and public speaker, studying Theology and Apologetics in Australia and at Oxford. Dan lives in Brisbane with his wife, Erin, and their favourite job is raising three wonderful boys.
Read the story: From darkness, through doubt, to the dawn of Easter
Danny and Leila Abdallah
On the eve of speaking at the 2023 National Prayer Breakfast in Canberra, Leila and Danny Abdallah told Eternity that the drug-affected driver who killed three of their children on a footpath in 2020, Samuel Davidson, has become a Christian in prison. Deeply impressed by their witness to the power of forgiveness through Jesus Christ, the convicted criminal was reading his Bible daily and talking to other prisoners about Jesus.
Read the story: Abdallahs reveal forgiven driver has come to Christ
Dave Nduwimana
Ten years ago, David Nduwimana arrived in Australia as a refugee from one of the poorest nations in the world. In 2023, he proudly sang the Australian anthem before tens of thousands of people.
Read the story: From refugee to national treasure
Eddie Woo
Australia’s most famous maths teacher, Eddie Woo, confesses he didn’t go into maths teaching because it was his first love or what he was best at. Yet Woo has become Australia’s most famous teacher since being named the 2018 Australian Local Hero of the Year and a Top 10 Finalist in the Global Teacher Prize. He’s also the star of his YouTube channel, WooTube, where he makes maths fun and accessible to more than 500,000 subscribers. However, as a Christian, it’s not about the fame for Woo. He says: “I came into my profession with a servant mentality. I am here to be useful – I’m not here to do the thing that I love most; I’m here to do the thing that’s most useful and most beneficial to others. And the reason I did that is because my Lord is someone who didn’t come to be served. He was someone who came to serve.”
Read the story: What’s not to love about Eddie Woo?
Gladys Mwiti
A Christian from age seven, Gladys Mwiti is an internationally respected and loved author, speaker, and psychologist based in Kenya. It was only when she received her PhD in clinical psychology from Fuller Seminary in the US that she realised what a wonderful psychologist her illiterate mother was in the way she motivated her eight children. In this 2023 interview with Eternity, it becomes clear that Gladys is a powerhouse of grace and wisdom. Though grieving the recent murder of her husband of 50 years, Gershon, by their long-time gardener, she is courageously carrying on their joint work in the Methodist Church and through Oasis Africa Centre for Transformational Psychology and Trauma.
Read the story: Out of Africa: a powerhouse of grace and wisdom
Keith and Sarah Condie
Keith and Sarah Condie are co-directors of the Mental Health and Pastoral Care Institute, part of Anglican Deaconess Ministries in Sydney. Keith is a trained Anglican minister and former lecturer at Moore Theological College. He has studied psychology and now teaches pastoral care and mental health courses at Mary Andrews College, Sydney. Meanwhile, until recently, Sarah worked as women’s pastor and Director of Well-being and Care at Church by the Bridge in Kirribilli. Together, the Condies are helping to build marriages and empowering Christians to care for those around them.
Read the story: Dos and don’ts after saying I do
Ossie Cruse
A highly respected Aboriginal Christian, Ossie Cruse belongs to a generation of battle-hardened political warriors who fought for Aboriginal rights through the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. The ABC called him one of Australia’s “last great Aboriginal patriarchs” in an Australian Story program. In an interview with Eternity, he is frank about his hard-drinking past and the miracle that transformed him overnight.
Read the story: Ossie Cruse’s miracle
Email This Story
Why not send this to a friend?