2 February 2021
Tim Flint, now Membership and Mission Pastor at Wagga Evangelical Church (WEC), graduated from Year 12 with no idea what direction to take in either further education or a career. As a motivator Tim took a position in the boning room at the local abattoir – a time he looks back on as a very valuable experience.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but I was pretty sure I didn’t want to spend the next 40 years in the boning room of the abattoir. It paid well and gave me time to explore, think and mature as I considered my long term direction. It certainly motivated me as a young person to put some serious thought into my next step.”
Tim ended up studying Primary Education at CSU in Wagga, and he worked in this field both locally and overseas. But it was when he was part of a schools based evangelistic team in the United Kingdom that he understood that God was calling him to use his skills in full time ministry. Tim returned to Wagga to undertake a ministry apprenticeship through WEC complemented by further study at Moore Theological College in Sydney.
“I love teaching and I love God. I have been blessed with an opportunity to use my gifts and experience in a ministry role at Wagga Evangelical Church, funnily enough, back on my old school grounds!”
Tim Flint’s association with Wagga Wagga Christian College started before he donned the uniform. With a sister in the foundational year of the College, and worshipping with his family at St Paul’s Anglican Church, the site of the first two years of the College, Tim, as a primary school student, used to join in the hockey games that were are regular feature in the church/College car park.
And like so many other past students Tim’s connection with the College didn’t finish with his final day of Year 12. After completing his Primary School training and working in English schools for a number of years Tim found himself back in Wagga teaching for a brief period at his old school.
“There is so much that I loved about my time at the College: the close knit nature of the community was one of the main things. Everyone was valued, the staff knew who you were and where you were coming from. The College was characterised by a deep care for the children who were part of it’s community. It was qualitatively different in that this care was bourn out of a Christian concern.”
Tim remembers key staff whose solid faith in Christ was evident in how they interacted with students.
“Ethel McNeill had this wonderful thick Scottish accent and she was unflappable in the face of sometimes trying secondary school students. Her genuine Christian walk overflowed into a care and concern which was palpably felt by everyone.”
Tim’s own Christian walk, fed by home, church and school through his teenage years, was impacted in his late 20s as he realised afresh the profound significance of the gift that Jesus offers each of us. With training and experience as a primary school teacher, it was when he was part of a schools based evangelistic team in the United Kingdom that he understood that God was calling him to use his skills in full time ministry.
“I love teaching and I love God. I have been blessed with an opportunity to use my gifts and experience in a ministry role at Wagga Evangelical Church, funnily enough, back on my old school grounds!”
If you would like to get to know Tim and find out more about Jesus’ great gift to us, connect with WEC through their website. Currently, numbers for meeting in person are limited and Sunday services are complemented with online streaming each Sunday.
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