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.

So today’s topic came out of our Ask Me Anything: Kids Ministry episode with Josie Rivett where one of the questions was around pathways into paid kids ministry coordinator roles. Later, I was debriefing with Amy Stopher, who said, “Pathways into paid ministry is a whole podcast topic on its own, you should interview Alexia Horton”. Turns out, not only is it a whole podcast topic, it’s Alexia’s whole job. She’s the Women’s Ministry Advisor at Trinity Theological College.