Today I’m chatting with Anna Pretorius—a mother of four, unexpected pastors wife, and Diversity and Inclusion Officer. Anna was born in the jungle in Papua New Guinea as the daughter of missionaries and moved to Japan when she was six years old.

Anna is delightfully funny and honest about the desire to be the strong one and build her own kingdom. She describes the fear underneath her frenetic busyness that she could not trust God to care for her. Anna tell us how God humbled her to know his power and authority and how this transformed her life. She also shares how she navigates working in the Diversity and Inclusion space and how Christians can navigate these spaces remembering how all kinds of people flocked to Jesus, he was attractive to them, but he was also challenging and convicting.

Today I’m chatting with Miriam da Silva—a mother of four, grandmother to one, former journalist who is now a Primary School teacher. Miriam was born in Sri Lanka and grew up very religious in the Catholic church. She described having faith in God, attending daily mass and reading her Bible, but not understanding the good news of the gospel or having a relationship with Jesus Christ. She migrated to Australia in her forties with her husband and four children after civil unrest in Sri Lanka. Not long after migrating, she lost her job as the family breadwinner, had a shoulder injury at work, and experienced financial difficulties, but in the process she met Jesus.

Mrs. Joy Young is a 96-year-old woman who served as a nurse and missionary to Aboriginal people in the Western Desert, Wyndham, and Kununurra with her husband and three children. At one point, Mrs. Young was the only medical professional for a thousand kilometers in the Warburton Ranges in the Western Desert!

I had to pester Mrs. Young to share with me, as she was convinced she had nothing to say! The result was a delightfully funny and encouraging interview. If you’re stuck in a hard place or don’t know what to do with your life, Mrs. Young encourages us towards prayer and trusting in God in every situation, no matter how big or small.

We are interviewing all of our regular contributors in Season 1 for you to get to know them better. Today’s guest is Pearl Roycroft, a singer-songwriter and guitarist from Perth.

Pearl’s struggles with feeling weak and trusting God with her needs, including periods of travel across the country in her van and working in remote Aboriginal communities, and coming to trust more deeply in his love and provision for her. We also cover how these periods of struggle and changes of seasons have influenced her new album, Closing Doors.

Madeleine Richards is a singer-songwriter and a regular contributor to Stories I’d Tell You at Dinner. We explore how she started writing and producing songs, coming to faith in Christ in her twenties, and the balm of community and bringing her mess to the Lord after a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis.