As I glance into the rear vision mirror and reflect upon 2020, I am grateful for the enduring dedication that you, our valued staff, volunteers and students on placement have demonstrated. Your loyalty to your team and ongoing commitment to working together, has enabled Baptist Care SA to sustain quality service delivery under intense pressure. I extend particular thanks to everyone who provided client services during the Christmas season.

You are all genuine champions of community… Thank you!

Planning the Pathway into 2021

As we head into another year that will undoubtedly be packed with a liberal blend of both opportunities and challenges, I am inspired by the wise and faithful words of William Carey:

“Expect great things from God… Attempt great things for God”

With this in mind, the Executive Leadership Team recently meet and celebrated ‘Great things from God’. We reflected that during 2020, by working with and on behalf of the Baptist churches of our great state, we:

• Witnessed the courage, endurance and resilience of many vulnerable people
• Appreciated the dedication, skills and resilience of our leaders, managers and staff
• Reaffirmed the valued contribution of our volunteers (whom we are now able to re-mobilise)
• Affirmed the value-building benefits of inter-agency collaboration
• Gratefully applauded the generosity of our donors and supporters whose faithful contributions continued to underpin our missional efforts to shed light into the darkness of poverty and loneliness.

Now as we step into 2021, we will work together to pursue ‘Great things for God’. We look forward to seeing our Lord’s hand of grace and healing at work amongst us as we continue to work alongside all our supporters and collaborating partners.

As we step forward boldly, we pray that

• SA’s most vulnerable children and young people will learn to trust again and develop hope for a future in which they have opportunities to thrive
• Parents who are struggling under layers of adversity will experience life-giving encouragement and practical support that enables them to cherish and nurture their children
• People who are living with disabilities, those without a place to call home, those struggling with loneliness, mental illness and unhealthy dependencies will engage with positive people and skilled services that can assist them to take steps toward improved health, well-being and stability.

We note that a number of key State Government Departments are moving through substantial service reviews and re-commissioning processes during this pre-election year. This is likely to lead to significant changes in a number of our Adventure, Community, Care and Family Pathways service portfolios. I know that this can be very unsettling for staff and ask for your patience as we discern the way forward.

Our Executive Leadership Team is committed to keeping staff informed. We trust that our ongoing implementation of our Strategic Horizons Plan will enable us to continue our transformational work with vulnerable people.

Finally, I advise that we are in discussion with SA Health and other State Government agencies about how our staff and vulnerable clients will be able to access COVID vaccinations. Our COVID-19 Emergency Response Management Working Group will keep you updated as more information becomes available.

I hope and pray 2021 will yield blessings in various ways for each of you.

Graham Brown
Chief Executive Officer