Resources for you, your family and friends

May 9th, 2022

By MCF_Admin

Links and offers will be updated as new information comes to hand.

Feel free to share anything found here with family, friends, churches, schools and others.

If you have something that could be added to this page or if you have a question on something you’ve seen on this page please email: [email protected]

Forum of Christian Military Ministry (FCMM) news

ARMY Chapel Services (Christian) – can be found on Facebook under – Army Christian Services, on the web via: www.armychristianservices.com or here’s one on YouTube

RAAF Chapel Services (Christian) – produced around the last Sunday of the month and can be found on ForceNet – Chaplaincy Services – Air Force Families (they’d love you to join the group).
You can also search YouTube for the Services each month under – Air Force Chapel Service

Solid Rock – Connecting Christian women who’s partner, child or they themselves are in the ADF. For face to face or Zoom meeting info visit the Solid Rock Facebook page. Everyone across Australia are welcome to be involved. If you have questions or for more info email: Solid Rock

ADF Daily Devotional – available as a hard copy from your local ADF Chaplain or listen as a Podcast via this link: ADF Daily Devotional – YouTube Podcast

MCF Partner news and offers

Bible Society of Australia – Loads of resources, podcasts and helpful links.

Find them all at: https://www.biblesociety.org.au

Did You Know Education – Loads of interesting facts about Australia and the Christians who helped shape it. Free resources for parents, Grandparents, schools, Sunday Schools. Feel free to share the info around.

Find them all at: https://didyouknow.org.au

A few fact sheets from Did You Know to get you started:

Do You Think You Know who is the MOST influential person of all time?

Australian Bank Notes & Christian Connection

Christian Heritage in Schools – Parents and Grandparents info and promo

Bible Studies, Bible Courses, Talks, Books, Concerts and more (most discounted or free)

Our Daily Bread – free devotional booklet

Did you know that the “Our Daily Bread” Christian devotion booklet is available online, via email, app, or in print, free of charge from their website? They also have a ton of other resources you can browse through if interested. Link to the website: https://odb.org/

Thank you Chaplain Barry for sharing this info.

There are loads of Bible Studies, some with a military flavour, on the MCF website.

MCF website Bible Studies: Click HERE

Vision Christian Media – get the free app from your app store or vision.org.au/app for Australia’s Most Helpful Christian App. Instant access to – Christian radio, daily devotions, podcasts, full Bible + reading plan, news + Insight and much more! Vision Christian Media

Look after yourself (mental and physical aids)

Looking after your mental health

If you’re working from home or have been working long hours, remember to look after your spiritual and physical health but also your mental health. Thank you to RAAF Chaplain Emma Street for sharing these good tips.

Working at Home – Brain Breaks

Just as pauses and rest days are important for achieving peak physical fitness, the same applies for mental fitness. A working routine needs “brain breaks” for optimal mental performance. Short periods of movement or creative thinking, like a recovery exercise, refreshes the brain and replenishes mental resources.

A day on base is full of natural mental breaks, as we walk around, engage in casual conversations, take coffee breaks, queue at the mess, PT, or chat to a wandering chaplain.

Working at home, it is easy to lose those little breaks as there are less interruptions and we can sit for long periods on the PC or telephone.

Some home ‘brain breaks’:
1. Have a mid-morning virtual coffee with friends or colleagues.
2. Change your environment. Have your coffee/lunch in a different room, outside, or just stand looking out the window. If you can, head out and grab a takeaway.
3. Try a 5-minute walk or some small physical activity, either hourly or after a long task.
4. If you use a printer, see if you can set it up in a different room to your PC.
5. Lunch time PT is great. There are some good videos to help with that.
6. At the end of a working day, ‘leave’ work by walking to the letterbox and back.
7. Avoid tech in the bedroom. If you are not On-Call, try leaving the phone in another room.

Finance

Do you or someone you know need a bit of advice during this time of uncertainty? The Salvation Army may be able to provide some advice. Visit their website for more info: https://www.salvationarmy.org.au/about-us/our-services/moneycare/

Violence in the home by children or adolescents – resource and help guide

Are you or someone you know struggling with violent and abusive behaviour from your children or adolescents?

‘Walking on eggshells…’ https://www.rasa.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/walking-on-egghellsv2.pdf is a resource for parents and carers who are dealing with violent and abusive behaviour from their children and adolescents. Although this is a specific resource for families in South Australia it will still provide helpful information.

The resources have been developed from The Respectful Relationships project which is a partnership between Relationships Australia (SA), Flinders University and Southern Junction Community services supported by an advisory group comprising members of a range of Youth and Community agencies.

Thank you to Chaplain O’Sullivan for sharing this info. Feel free to forward this resource.

For the kids

Also check out the Bible Society of Australia for resources, and from time to time free offers. https://www.biblesociety.org.au/open-the-bible

From MCF FCMM partner, the Salvation Army, some free resources.

Kidzone, an award-winning Christian magazine for kids, is being made available free online every week.

For the Kids: Go to http://www.kidzonemag.com.au and the kids can read the magazine.

For Parents/Carers: Go to http://www.kidzonemag.com.au/kz-club for more resources and links to help your child get the most out of the magazine.

From Vic Gov via MCF Member Rep based in Melbourne – WO2 Darren Thomas

Here are some children support activities for those who are caring for, or wish they could, children, grandkids, niece and nephews or neighbours during these difficult and frustrating times.
These Care Packs provide tips and guidance on how to build positive mental health in children, and offer a range of simple, evidence-based activities that can be used with children aged five to 12 years to provide immediate relief against worry and anxiety, or used to support a proactive positive mental health approach.
Each pack explores related topics and contains downloadable activities for children.

https://www.smilingmind.com.au/kids-care-packs

The physio at VBM (Patrick Guest) is a children’s book author. His latest book, Windows, is due for release soon. Here is a YouTube video and his website for interest and support.

YouTube video: Windows, by Patrick Guest and Jonathan Bentley

https://www.patrickguest.com.au/

For young adults

Opportunity for young adults (aged 18-24) to get some training on leadership, outdoor education and other skills by be becoming an Intern at Camp Coolamatong, Vic. Applications are open all year and have a maximum of 12 spots available each year with internships starting mid-Jan.

For more info visit https://www.campcoolamatong.com/christian-internships

Apps you may like

Chaplain Barry has shared a few apps he finds useful, especially at this time…..

You Version Bible
I use this app every single day. I can read Scripture from just about any available translation. I can search for scriptures if I don’t know where it is. I can follow daily reading plans and devotions written by some of the most well-known Christian preachers in the world. It’s the best Bible app available hands down. And it is 100% free!

Soul Space
This is a Christian meditation and mindfulness app. It’s free but very limited unless you cough-up $6.99 a month or $16.99 for a year. It’s great value because of the content. I love using the sleep meditations particularly on nights where I can’t shut down my mind after a busy day. Honestly, I haven’t reached the end of one of their meditations yet because I’m fast asleep before that! As you may have realised by now, I don’t like paying for apps in general, but this is one I’m happy to purchase. Soul Space offers biblically based reflections and meditations on subjects such as:
• Anxiety
• Safety
• Acceptance
• Courage
• Healing
• Joy
• Calm for Kids
• Purpose
• And many more.

Head Space
An alternative to Soul Space if you’d prefer non-religious mindfulness and meditations. It covers topics such as:
• Personal Growth
• Performance Mindset
• Work and productivity
• Stress and Anxiety
• And more
Like Soul Space, Head Space is free but limited without purchasing a subscription. It costs $19.99 a month or $91.99 annually.

Overdrive or Libby
Overdrive – contains thousands of EBooks and audiobooks which can be downloaded to your personal device. For a free (the best kind!) account, fill out a AE968 web form and send it to [email protected]
Libby – a more user-friendly Overdrive. It remembers your login details: Overdrive logs you out each time. You can access multiple public library catalogues as well as defence libraries.