Tassie ‘mobile mission’ connecting people to Jesus, and each other
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- 6 min read
BY LAUREN MARTIN
The road between Orford and St Helens on the East Coast of Tasmania is slow and winding, passing through small towns and beside windswept beaches. It connects lonely townships, many bereft of services like banks, healthcare and parish priests. But the heartbeat of these communities is strong, and a Salvation Army mobile mission is capitalising on that by connecting members to each other, and to Jesus.
East Coast Mobile Mission Officers, Majors Linda and Steve Miller, had never ministered without a corps building before being asked to take on the new appointment in January 2021. The Salvation Army had never had a presence on the east coast of Tasmania before and, so, the Millers simply got in their car and started driving to each town, making connections along the way.
“We’re pretty old for pioneers,” Steve, who’s just a few years out from retirement, jokes. But, later, he agrees that the new appointment has energised him. “We were told to leave a Salvation Army footprint, to build community.
“For us old people who have been corps officers forever, it’s exciting to do something new. We are just doing what we love and just being part of the community.”
The Salvation Army’s vision statement, one life at a time, with the love of Jesus has come alive in their lives and the lives of those whom they encounter. “Salt and light,” Steve says. “The hands and feet of Christ.”
“Our calling is to love God and to love his people,” adds Linda, as she references The Salvation Army’s spiritual focus for 2026 and beyond, ‘The Way’: “This is a real opportunity for us just to live the Jesus way: just travel with people, walk with people, share life and faith with people without the time constraints of program and property and everything else that pulls at you.”
She says it was only when she and Steve took a leap of faith and stepped out of corps life that they realised how much it freed them up to be present with people and to really do life’s journey alongside individuals and communities. As Linda and Steve have followed God’s leading on the highways and byways of the east coast, the Holy Spirit has been moving. Partnerships have been formed. Lives are being transformed.
These are just some of the stories:
Jacquie proves you’re never too old
Ninety-two-year-old Jacquie Mitchellmore stopped going to church a few years ago. “I read my Bible every day,” she says. “But I was missing the fellowship.”
She met Steve Miller when he came to the Orford Probus Group to chat. Afterwards, he mentioned that he would like to start a fellowship group in the area and before she knew what she’d said, Jacquie blurted out an offer to host it at her home.
“It just popped out!” she says.
Her husband had passed away three years ago and she thought, “My home is a comfortable home, so I might as well use it.”
She also has a piano and, once the group had begun, realised how much she had missed playing and singing amongst others.
For Steve, Jacquie’s offer to host the fellowship group was an answer to prayer. The regular meeting provides a place to which he can invite people along who are new to faith or interested in finding out more.
The diversity of the attendees has invigorated Jacquie, who has made new friends through the group.
“I’ve belonged to Bible study groups before, but they have never been quite like this one,” she says. “Steve is wonderful leading the group, because everybody can be themselves and be included in what they want to say [and] what they’re thinking, and that’s what I really like about it.”
The group meets every second week for Bible study, fellowship, some singing and, of course, a cup of tea. Jacquie enjoys hosting the group and says she has grown in her faith as a result.
“God’s not done with me yet!” she says, “I feel that God is still using me, and it feels good.”
‘Lunch with Mates’ church partnership
Images supplied.
Just up the road at Triabunna, Anglican Church Parish Warden Sue O’Rourke remembers being at the church for a Bible study one day, when Steve and Linda Miller turned up for a meeting with the new Parish Minister. She, and others, were also invited to attend.
“That was when ‘Lunch with Mates’ was born,” she says, referring to the weekly community meal that the Anglican parish now puts on in conjunction with The Salvation Army’s East Coast Mobile Mission and the local RSL club.
“It’s for anyone who wishes to come along to have a free meal once a week,” says Sue. “It’s also particularly for older people who are on their own like I am now, who may not get a nourishing meal every day and [want] to have social interaction with other people within the community.”
The Anglican Church funds the ministry, and Steve and Linda work with volunteers to make it happen. About 30 people attend regularly. Sue says it’s a beautiful ministry that has seen people make new friends and care for each other outside of the weekly meal.
“If we know somebody within the community who needs a meal, we will take it, or we will organise for Steve and Linda to take it to them. It’s pastoral care.”
Charlie and Jeanne gain friends, mentors and support
When you step out in faith and pursue God’s calling on your life to pioneer something new in community, it can often feel lonely and isolating. Charlie and Jeanne Koellner founded the St Helens Lighthouse ministry three years ago, along with Alexander and Carole Withers and other members of a combined church prayer group. Since then, they have fed and supported more than 5000 people.
“I always thought the Salvos were just people who stood on the corner and sang and banged their tambourines,” Charlie jokes, “but we were just blown away when Steve and Linda arrived and offered to put on a barbeque for us.”
After that initial offer of assistance and involvement, it became apparent that the two couples had the same heart for God and for people. “You can’t not fall in love with Steve’s laughter and Linda’s beauty – they are just wonderful,” says Charlie.
The two Salvation Army officers are now established Lighthouse team members.
“They’re there when we need them,” says Charlie, who is encouraged by Steve’s regular phone calls to check in and pray.
Through their connections as Salvation Army officers, Steve and Linda can also source and access donations of goods, clothing and – at times – financial assistance, which they generously pass on to keep the ministry running and to bless those who need the service.
“We have had ladies living in cars with kids and people who have had their tent blown away, and we just love on them and support where we can,” says Charlie. It’s a blessing to be able to refer individuals with complex needs to Steve and Linda, who can work alongside the Lighthouse team and assist.
It wasn’t long into their partnership that Steve and Linda started a regular ‘Hope Group’ fellowship and Bible study meeting, using the local St Helens Uniting Church. This enabled existing Christians who weren’t already in a small group and people from the Lighthouse who were interested in faith to connect in a meaningful way. A new group has just started for men that meets every second Thursday, and the leaders are seeing people meeting Jesus for the first time.
“There are quite a few musicians amongst us, and we have a worship time as well as prayer and Bible study, and talk about everybody’s issues and support each other,” says Charlie. “It’s great!”
Mick’s life transformed
One of the men who attends the fortnightly Men’s Hope Group is Mick D’Amico, who moved to the East Coast of Tasmania in May last year. He started attending the St Helens Lighthouse ministry and admits he was a “broken man” when he first arrived.
“I’ve always believed in Jesus, but I followed the wrong path of new-age spirituality and that led me down some slippery slopes and [into contact with] some evil people, and that wasn’t right,” he says.
When he started going to the Salvos’ Hope Group Bible study, then the Men’s Hope Group, then joined a local church, he says things started to shift spiritually.
“I just love the Bible now. I make sure every morning I read the ‘Word for the Day’ on the Bible app and listen to Christian radio ... My connection with the Salvos enriches my life, and being in that Bible group, I’m better off for it, same with the church and Lighthouse.”
Mick is now volunteering at the Lighthouse and has started his own Bible study group in his home that other members of the church, including Charlie, attend.
“I’ve always felt like an outsider, but here I feel like I fit in.”
