Dear aifc family and friends,
If you have not heard the news it is with sadness I advise that husband, father and aifc founder Dr Bruce Litchfield (Bruce) died on July 2nd 2018 after battling a number of medical conditions in recent years.
Because of the ups and downs of his health and multiple extended hospital visits, his tired body in the end had had enough, departing this world to be with the Lord.
Bruce’s funeral was held in Buderim Queensland on Monday July 9th. The sadness of saying good bye was lifted by the celebration of his life, his great love for God and family and the ministry of healing and reconcilaition that he and his wife Nellie journeyed, toiled and joyfully sowed into for over 30 years
Bruce and Nellie and the ministry that God worked through them has changed the lives of thousands of people over many years, more people than we will know this side of heaven.
This ministry that we are part of, a ministry of reconciliation called the Australian Institute of Family Counselling, continues to change lives for Christ – for which we are now tasked with stewarding and sowing into the lives of others into our generation, into times of great need.
His heart for missions (through which the Ugandan Institute of Family Counselling was started) continued up to the time of his death and I am pretty sure in the back of his mind up until recent months he was still thinking he could sneak in one more OS mission trip!
I am sure you have many fond memories of Bruce and of his personal impact on your life. Things we can be grateful to God for.
Indeed my own lives and the lives of so many have been impacted by this man of God.
In the past 1-2 years, perhaps upon moving from the cold of Canberra to Buderim in Qld, Bruce came to a deeper level of God’s love and how important people are to God. You could sense it in his writings and conversations.
This is something we as believers need to know the most, but often don’t, is that we are deeply loved and precious in God’s sight.
In his twilight months Bruce also managed to write his last book, a devotional titled “Apples of Gold, Glimpses into the unsearchable riches of Christ” (see below).
Bruce is survived by his lovely wife Nellie whom our hearts go out to as she is left behind. During their lives together you couldn’t speak of one without the other, Bruce and Nellie go together like Peas and Carrots, and they have been like that to each other in their special journey together, in the mission work and as the inseparable team that founded aifc.
We mourn with Nellie in her loss as Bruce goes on ahead. Please keep her and their families in your prayers.
Bruce is also survived by 5 sons and his relationship with them has been a source of special blessing especially in the past 12 months.
God bless,
CEO
An excerpt from Bruce’ Apples of Gold devotional on page 278 titled The Conqueror of Death 2
I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me though he die, yet shall he live (John 11:25)
To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain…My desire is to depart and be with Christ for that is far better (Phil. 1;21, 23)
Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43)
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints (Ps 116:15)
These verses show why we, in life and at deaths door, look in hope and with confidence to Jesus, the Conqueror of Death
The chapter in John 11 is an intimate picture meant to give each believer a buoyant hope in the resurrected Christ
Paul said, to depart and be with Christ is better than to live in the flesh in this sinful world, in the midst of sorrow and trouble
Being with Christ, is being free from sin and sorrow and enjoying communion and pleasure without interruption
Have you thought about becoming a qualified counsellor? It’s a great opportunity to learn how you can extend God's love and grace to the hurting out in the community.
For those who would like to enrol in aifc’s accredited Christian counselling courses we have two intakes per year for courses commencing around the following months:
Enrolment Season - opens approximately 2 months prior to our courses commencing. Enrol online here during our enrolment season.
We also offer two modes of study:
A Master of Counselling course was introduced in 2018.