Part of a series ‘Voices of Volunteers from Around Australia’.
Sarah Kuswadi: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and the volunteering ministries that you are involved in?
Lauren Driscoll: I volunteer alongside my husband Steve, who works for AFES at the Australian National University (ANU). A big highlight of my week is reading the Bible and sharing life with a couple of students and grads one to one. Those early years after high school were such a big time for me in shaping my identity and making decisions about what to do with my life. It’s a huge privilege to be able to encourage other women as they go through this season.
Steve and I also have two beautiful kids, one in preschool and one a few months old. Raising them is my main ministry. It’s great having time to model (very imperfectly!) the Christian life to them. Because of their personalities and ages we’ve been able to be involved in the uni ministry as a whole family. My son has had the time of his life on camps, jamming on guitar with his uni-aged friends.
Showing up with kids in tow means the students get to see some of the highs and lows of following Jesus, a season or two on from where they’re at.
Why did you get involved in volunteering in this way?
I had a great example in my mum, growing up. She could afford not to do paid work and so she spent her days raising us, serving at church, and working on various ministry projects. In our culture it can be considered demeaning—especially if you’re a woman—not to be paid for the work that you do. But I think the gospel causes us to see things differently. In 1 Corinthians 7:29–31 we’re reminded that the time is short. If the time is short but the needs and opportunities are overflowing, why wouldn’t I want to serve the cause of the gospel as much I can? And if resources are limited and my family has enough resources, why wouldn’t I consider using this season to serve for free?
The Scriptures do also teach us that it’s right for ministries to pay their workers. In fact, I’m able to do what I do because generous Christians support my husband.
What is your background and what is something that’s unusual about that?
I have a rare liver condition and it took my doctors a while to figure out the prognosis and treatment. My church community prayed for me a lot as a baby. I sometimes meet people who were a part of that church community, thirty-something years ago, and they still remember praying for me! As I look back, I’m struck by how God has answered those prayers. Physically, I’m much healthier than they ever thought I’d be, although the disease is still uncured. And spiritually, God has worked in my life through seasons of sickness and seasons of health to grow me in knowing him.
My hope is to show a variety of ways Christians volunteer around Australia. What would you want to share with others about how volunteering has changed your life?
In church today, because of the way we split our congregations, it can be hard to connect with people who are older or younger than us. Women in my life stage, with tantrumming toddlers and screaming babies, often feel like we don’t have much to offer. Sometimes I’ve opened the Bible with women and my brain has been a complete fog; or I’ve invited someone over to my home only to spend the whole time keeping my toddler from total meltdown. In those moments it’s easy to think, what’s the point?
But then I remember back to when I was eighteen and an older woman, Naomi, invited me over to her home to read the Bible. She had three small children at the time and there were lots of little interruptions, but I thought it was fantastic! I got a realistic picture of a different season of life, I was encouraged in my Christian thinking, and I also implicitly learnt that me and my eighteen-year-old problems were not the centre of the universe.
There are good reasons to take a step back, such as when the kids aren’t sleeping or coping. But when I’m tempted to think that younger women will be put off by my chaos, I remember back to my time with Naomi and think about how special it was to be welcomed into that.
What have you found encouraging in your volunteering role?
I’m in a season where I’m low on energy and high on little interruptions. It can be easy to feel flat as a Christian. By contrast, many of the students, grads, and ministry apprentices have lots of time, lots of energy, and are in intense periods of growth in their faith. It encourages me to hear how they’ve been wrestling with different doctrines, sharing the gospel with their peers, and growing in godliness. It spurs me on when I’m tempted to grow apathetic.
Just the other night a young women shared with me about two people she has been sharing Christ with in her workplace. One of them seems to have accepted the gospel! It was a great reminder to me that God is still in the business of saving people.
Is there a Bible verse that you often come back to for encouragement?
Some days I’m able to do a lot; other days I have hardly any capacity; and still other days all my plans get completely turned upside down. I love Ephesians 2:1–10, where Paul reminds us that we are saved by grace alone, not by works. He concludes:
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Sometimes I find myself wanting a different set of good works to the ones that God has prepared for me. Why can’t I be chatting to that student rather than defusing this tantrum? But I’m both encouraged and rebuked that no matter how haywire things feel, God always has good works prepared for me, and I just need to walk in them.
