Testimony Sydney 2009 Student Monika Frendo

 “1st year student at Sydney this year......& may I add a very happy one.....AIFC has been amazing!!!!”

My testimony is one of "from destruction to restoration" in 3 years: from the rags of the world to the riches of God. I'm by no means there yet, but man o man, what a journey it's been.

This year of doing the AIFC has been a consolidation of stuff that was accumulated in my head (theologically) and also was hidden deep down in my heart underneath the scars of life and making sense of it all. At least that's how it felt to me this year.

I knew a lot of stuff, but I didn't have revelation of it to appropriate it to change me.

Doing the course clarified so many things for me. This year has given me so much freedom in Christ, just by the revelations I received in many of the assignments and exercises.

I had prayed about doing the course a few years before I actually did it. I never thought I'd have the resources to actually do it. God spoke to me again about doing the course in about October of 2008. At the end of last year some miraculous thing happened financially and in the heart of my non-Christian husband (who actually encouraged me to do the course and pay he paid for it. He even drove down from Grafton to Sydney each workshop session).

Very soon after starting I think my husband saw changes. There were struggles and I was stressed out a bit about doing the work, but he saw a change in me.

My name means "counsellor or advisor" so I believe I'm destined for something out of this. Don't know what yet, but even if it's only to "clean me up" then it was worth it. But I do believe there will be something more.

There's so much to say. I just praise and glorify my Lord Jesus Christ for being so patient with me. It only took 50 years for the penny to drop.....darrrrr.....God is so faithful.

I will defer for a year because my husband and I have to accumulate holidays from work (each workshop sessions were 5 days for us travelling up and down to Sydney). Also to consolidate finances. I have already purchased all my text books for 2nd year so I'm committed to do 2nd year in 2011.

I don't know what else to write, there's so much.

I just thank God for you all at AIFC. I know it must have been a long, hard road for you guys too. Your commitment to "healing of the nations" through competent, effective counselling is so wonderful.

Thank you Bruce Litchfield for your vision and courage to persevere to make your/God's vision become a reality. You were 50 when God touched your life, I'm 50 and God is touching mine. You're a dentist and I'm a dental assistant. You were divorced and remarried as I was. (you to a beautiful awesome woman and me to an awesome wonderful man who hasn't come to Christ, but is squirming)  Your children were separated from you and so were mine. (God is doing an awesome work there) It's just such an encouragement to see you now and how you have managed to touch the nations through AIFC and your changed life. It gives me hope. (mind you I don't have your brains!!!)

Ask Linda Lessing, Assistant Centre Director Sydney, about my dread of journalling and PO Charts: I've avoided stuff like that all my life. Now miraculously I love it!!! It's been a method of healing for me this year. Sooooo awesome! I'm looking forward to completing Advanced Diploma in 2011. I intend to go over my Year 1 stuff and read all the text books I've purchase already for Year 2. I want to be ready.

Cheers in Christ

Wasted on Jesus

Monika Frendo

02) 66495248

knightangel02@internode.on.net

Testimony of Joanna Sankari, 2007 Graduate

Youth Support Worker, The Salvation Army

“Doing this course straight out of high school was extremely beneficial. I learnt a lot about counselling but more so about myself...”

I feel very grateful for everything that I learnt studying at AIFC and many times refer back to my modules for help when dealing with a particular client. It was only yesterday that I was actually looking back at some of the modules and pictures from my time at the college.

A few months after finishing the course I started looking for my first job in the counselling field. I have to say that I was a bit reserved at getting anything because I was fresh out of school and was quite young and had no experience. God was wonderful as always though and answered my prayer.

I now work for the Salvation Army, Youthlink as a youth worker. I feel that it's a great beginning and feel blessed to have this job. I'm loving it and am learning to deal with new challenges every day.

On reflection it was surprising to see how much I learnt about counselling but more so about myself.

I know I was led to do the course by the Lord because I only registered for it soon before the cut off date after my mom found an AIFC brochure as I was considering another college.

Straight out of high school at only 18 years old, I went into it without too much thought or idea of what it would be like.

I was instantly struck by how empathetic, caring, knowledgeable and Godly all of the staff was and eager to assist me with any questions.

My first and second year tutors made learning so much easier and that much more personal.

Apart from also finding the course challenging and interesting; the guest speakers were the best in their fields and spared ample time to hear us out after class.

I remember always sitting in the front row so I could pay better attention but would always regret it when Dr. Litchfield was teaching as he always seemed to quiz me for the answers.

Being the youngest in my class by a number of years, I was never made to feel inadequate or not as well equipped by the rest of the students.

I was blessed being a part of so many wonderful people’s personal journeys in the course and seeing first hand the wonderful healing powers of God’s love working through people by using simple techniques such as active listening.

It’s funny because so many did the course to try and help others but ended up being helped themselves. The friendships that were created are those that I will treasure and keep forever.

Working as a youth worker for a year now and furthering my studies through a Salvation Army college in a Cert IV for Drug and Alcohol work, I still find myself learning and facing new challenges daily.

I truly believe that it is through the grace of the Lord and the basics that I learnt from my time at AIFC that I am able to do this job and attempt to the best of my ability.

Joanna Sankari
Youth Support Worker
The Salvation Army
Cafe Horizons Cabramatta
Phone: 02) 9724 6344
Fax:     02) 9724 5433

Testimony of Georgina Anderson, Ballarat

Diploma of Counselling and Family Therapy, Graduate 2002

Thank you for your encouragement regarding my being salt.  As a result I have documented my “Christian” Counselling qualifications on my CV which is used when I write reports to the children’s or the family court and at times requires my appearance to speak to the report and/or recommendations.  I have also registered my “Christian” qualifications on my application for PACFA membership.

Thank you also for the invitation to give my testimony.  Actually, for some time now I have desired to let you all at AIFC know about my personal and professional progress which all started at AIFC some years ago however, I dismissed this desire.  So, your invitation confirms what was already in my heart.

I commenced at AIFC in 1999 when I was about 3 years old in the Lord.  I was a stay home mum of my 4 gorgeous sons.  When the youngest went to school, I did too.  My conversion 3 or so years earlier, well it was more like the return of the prodigal daughter, was let’s say colorful in itself.  My brother suffered from diabetes and kidney failure.  He was on the waiting list for a donor and his whole Christian community was praying for a kidney for him.  At one point, he and his wife felt the Lord encourage them that there would be a kidney but it would not be from a deceased person and prompted them to pray for the donor and the donor’s family.  My life was spiraling with pain and brokenness and my determination to fix it all myself, apart from God.  When my brother ceased praying for God to provide a kidney and for him but rather for God to save and bless the donor and the donor’s family, I hit rock bottom and reached out for the Lord.  At that point I was not coping.  I was dying spiritually, psychically and physically.  God came into my life and set me on a path of healing and wholeness. My brother became so critical they were considering removing him from the list lest his health deteriorate any further he would have not been able to sustain the operation and recovery.  I went through all the testing and gave my brother my left kidney.  Today my brother is a Pastor and a teacher at Harvest Bible College where he is pioneering a special program for the vision impaired and his kidney is functioning at maximum capacity.  Praise God.

That year at AIFC was a wonderful time where the Lord gave me much insight and understanding into my own life and the road I had traveled and into his ways and his healing power and into the reparation of not only my own soul but how that would ripple out to my husband and children and all those I had contact with. However I almost did not attend because I had been praying for financial provision.  Dr. Bruce Litchfield asked where I was the first day and a brother in the Lord said he thought I had not come because I had not received the provision.  In short, Bruce asked him to call me up and tell me to get there ASAP.  I did arrive a day late and my fees for the whole year had been paid.

I spent the following year integrating this knowledge and awareness into my daily life.  My father encouraged me to go back and complete the 2^nd year and my diploma and wanted to pay for my fees and books etc.  At this confirmation I did enroll for the diploma in 2002 however almost did not turn up again because my father had died suddenly and I buried him the day prior to the commencement of the seminar.  I was deeply grieving and did not know if I would be able to function however my father’s words of encouragement for me to complete this study and his desire confirmed my own, I remembered his wish for me to do this and so I attended.  I felt rather dissociated sitting there at the opening words from Bruce.  Bruce then stopped and he said OK someone here is under extreme stress who is that person?.  No response.  Bruce then said this is not everyday stress this is great stress someone is under.  I put my hand up and told him that I had buried my father the day before.  Bruce prayed for me and God gave him a word for the class.  Bruce said (from my memory) “Get up and leave your father’s house and go to the land I am giving you and I will prosper you and I will make your name great and I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you and all will say look what the Lord has done and you will be a blessing to families in the Land”.  And so, I functioned and went on to complete the course and continue with my own personal and spiritual growth.

In 2003 I commenced a Bachelor of Psychology at Ballarat University completing specific components to qualify for my entry into the Master of Psychotherapy and Counselling whilst operating a private counseling practice with the blessing of my home church and the use of their cottage for servicing members of the congregation for a discounted fee.

In January 2004 I commenced full time employment at a community welfare agency as a family therapist to provide assessments, short term interventions and recommendations for families who were involved with child protection with a view to prevention of children being removed from their homes or to reunify them when they had previously been removed.  In July 2005, I was offered a position to provide assessments, therapeutic care and recommendations for a boarder range of families including research into attachment theory and clinical practice in the case of trauma and early intervention for families to divert them from the child protection system, the development and implementation of a student placement unit and development of effective clinical interventions to support placements where reunification with their families of origin has failed.  I am currently writing my thesis on “Development of an Attachment based Psychotherapy for Caregiver/Child Dyads with a history of Maltreatment and/or Maladjustment”.  When I complete this thesis, I will receive my Master qualification.  This work has also taken me to America to be trained in the Adult Attachment Interview (Mary Main) at the Attachment Institute in San Diego California in Feb/March this year for which I am now undertaking an 18 month accreditation testing.  I hope to commence a Phd in 2008 and return to America to commence the formal training and accreditation for the Strange Situation Procedure (Ainsworth) which will give me the formal qualifications (only one other in Australia currently has this) to continue with my research and development of early interventions for hurting families, with documented and empirical outcome measures to attain federal funding for the provision of same to the most vulnerable in our society and at the other side, provide recommendations for the recruitment of Foster Carers and direction for the care system which is currently in crisis in Australia.

I am very passionate about this work and know in my innermost being that these doors and opportunities are of a divine nature and it all commenced with my grounding in AIFC.  As I move through the university culture and the worldly system I always rely on my “Christian” training and the development of a biblical mindset that I learnt at AIFC.  I think this helps me to learn with God’s wisdom and to be able to see everything through perhaps “Christian Lenses” and to differentiate and discern what is of God and what is not.  I will end here because I could easily go on when I start to consider all God has done for me and my family, it seems endless.

May God Bless You and please let me know what you think of my testimony and if you are able to use it to encourage others in any way.

Thank you for the opportunity, Yours in Christ

Georgina Anderson

Counsellor, Family Therapist & Psychotherapist

Testimony Bernadette, 2007 Graduate

Advanced Diploma of Counselling and Family Therapy (Christian)

To anyone considering undertaking study with the AIFC ….

If you are reading this then you are probably like me and feel a stirring in your heart to minister to the broken hearted and needy people of this world. Maybe you are already doing this in some capacity in your life already and feel that becoming a Christian Counsellor is the next step. Let me share with you what led me to complete the Advanced Diploma of Counselling and Family Therapy (Christian) with the AIFC.

The desire to become a counsellor was always in me, however it wasn’t until I read a book called the Dream Giver that I seriously began to seek God and ask for His will to be made known to me. I started to earnestly pray asking God to direct me to the right place to study and to give me words of wisdom concerning this. Well within a few days answers started to come in, firstly through The Word in which I read Isaiah 61 and secondly through words of wisdom from others where Isaiah 61 was again spoken over me, secondly that stirring had now turned into a real desire and a strong excitement began to take place in my spirit. I now felt sure that God was leading me to become a professional counsellor but which course to do, there are so many. I knew without a doubt that it had to be a Christian course so I looked into a few that I knew and requested that flyers be sent to me, in the mean time I met a lady who had just completed the course with the AIFC. After speaking to her I was interested to find out more about the course, I jumped on the AIFC website that day. Immediately I knew that this course offered something more than what the other courses that I had been considering did. For example that I would not only be leaning how to counsel according to The Word of God but that I would also gain the tools and knowledge a professional counsellor needs to have. The role of the Holy Spirit was also something that was important to me. I decided to put it into God’s hands and apply.

Well I have not looked back since, what I thought was going to be a journey to get “Qualified” turned out to be so much more, I not only gained the skills I needed to effectively help others, I was also challenged to deal with some stuff in my own life and most importantly my relationship with God is stronger as I learn and continue to learn how to listen and discern what His will for me is. I encourage you, if you feel a stirring in your own heart to seek the Lord and He will make His will known to you.

God Bless

Bernadette

February 2009

Made public with Bernadette’s permission