and welcome to The Baptist Connection Website!  I'm Tim Bunch, Pastor of the Garden City Baptist Church in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.  Two events occurred in my life that, looking back, I now can clearly see was God's hand directing me to putting together this Website - let me tell you about them!

 

The first began with an international phone call from a brother who was relocating "Down Under" for work and was seeking a Church.  He was not moving to my town, but he couldn't seem to find any in the town where he had gained work.  This town was located on the northern Western Australian coast, but the reality of the situation was, we were the most western Church located at this latitude at the time! Yet we are only 136 kilometres inland from the eastern Coastline, and I know there are hundreds and hundreds of towns between us that West Australian coast with believers who have no Church of any kind to attend.

 

The second event occurred mid-2015 with a marriage within our congregation seeing a wonderful young couple relocate to a regional town that had no Church for them to attend (and when I mean no, I mean no - nada, none, of any kind!).  In an effort to ensure this couple had suitable Church involvement, the Garden City Baptist Church began travelling over 4 hours in one direction to hold services in this town - immediately attracting the attention of many OTHERS in the region who were simply dying to have Church!

 

Internet is not the same in Regional and Remote Australia and many still cannot go "online" to watch services.  Even then, what about the pastoral care and personal input into these people's lives?  From these personal accounts, I began talking to other Pastors and Missionaries and found that our particular case was not an isolated one.  Other Pastors had faced almost identical situations, yet like me were struggling to provide the care we felt towards these country folk.

 

Very quickly, however, another need presented itself as I began asking questions: there are many Churches who had no Pastor at all!  I kept digging and found there were Churches who had no Musicians, no Youth Workers, Pastors who were struggling with their health due to there being no "2nd Man" to assist, and on and on it went!  The Lord spoke to my heart regarding these needs, and though I personally could not fill each and everyone of them, the idea for a website that would open up the opportunity to connect brethren with Churches, and connect those who desired to serve in Ministry with Churches who needed Ministers developed.

 

I add a word of caution, however - this is NOT a "Job Opportunity" website!  Ministry is not a Job Opportunity - it is a calling from God.  DON'T browse this website looking for work - God's work is PLENTIFUL.  What is needed are men and women who have surrendered to the call of God on their lives for full/part-time ministry.

 

My heart's desire here is merely to connect brethren with Churches and those who would minister with ministry opportunities.  I will not know every Church listed, nor will I know every ministry opening advertised, but I hope that with "the furtherance of the gospel" as our drive, our Baptist Connections will bring many more into the Kingdom of God!

 

Enjoy the website, get connected to a Church and plug-in to a ministry: that is why Our Great Saviour created the Church!

 

"For the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ".
Ephesians 4:12