Starting any new ministry is never easy but imagine starting one when a pandemic is raging in your country!? That was Albury Bible Church back in September 2020.

The church had been planning for months to start a new ministry for people with intellectual disabilities in its community, but lockdowns and border closures threatened to stop everything on its track.

Thankfully, Jesus Club's new digital training and facilitation came into its own during this time, and Albury Bible Church could continue the orientation training for its ministry entirely online! 

The leaders learned about the vision of Jesus Club and the ins and outs of running a Jesus Club ministry. Specifically, the essentials of ministering and caring for adults with intellectual disabilities, including behavioural management, safety concerns and Covid-related best practices. And once the club received access to Jesus Club's extensive Online Resource Library with its large selection of Bible-teaching modules, Jesus Club Albury had everything in place to start sharing God's salvation message in a meaningful way!

So in May, six leaders and three members from two local churches - Cassie, Georgia and Jarred, attended Jesus Club Albury's first meeting. The members came with an impressive knowledge of their Bibles and were eager participants in every activity. And their enthusiasm only increased as the evening went on as they learnt about God's and Jesus' love for them and understood that a Christian was a friend of Jesus. 

The evening ended on an even higher note with members learning from Buddy sheets and making a beautiful craft they are so proud of, which reminds them of the story of Peter - another Christian and a great friend of Jesus.