26th August 2021

Dear members, friends and relatives of the Shepparton Uniting Church and the Shepparton Rural Congregations,

I write this to you recognizing that many of us are facing the greatest challenge of our time in the Greater Shepparton Region.

Covid 19 has somewhat invaded what was routine, disrupts and transforms our normality into a new ‘normal’ which comes with loneliness, uncertainty, and the fear of tomorrow. Many have been tested and are in isolation and many more are self-isolating. This means that many families can rely on us and others for friendship and for practical help.

There are families with young children who are in isolation with limited resources and are home schooling, there are those in our Age Care facilities that we cannot visit, and there are many who yearn for the day that we will be able to come together to worship face to face. Most will need a prayer, a phone call, and some practical help.

This is our mission, highlighted by the pandemic: We hope and trust in God who raised Jesus from the dead and who, in the power of the Holy Spirit, sends us to be about God’s mission of restoration, reconciliation and wholeness in the face of brokenness, alienation and sickness.

We will endeavour to reach out to as many as we can with love and friendship. We are all in this together and we can come through it all together.

Help is available and the details is on the Shepparton Uniting Church web page or the FaceBook page.

You do not have to suffer alone.

We will hold you all in our hearts and our prayers, and may God fill our hearts with compassion and strength in our shoulders, that we may bear each other’s burdens during this difficult time.

With love and blessings

Rev Loni Vaitohi

03 58224602 mob: 0449504228 email: vaitohiloni@gmail.com

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