You’re invited to a Footprints fundraiser – Light The Dark party:

• Heaps of giveaways including books, CDs, & jewellery – special thanks to the Hope Foundation, Life on Earth music, & Faith Insignias jewellery!
• Yummy afternoon tea (I’m thinking cupcakes, dip & vegie sticks, brownies, cheese ball …)
• Make a big dent in your Christmas shopping!
• Or, just treat yourself to an inspirational book or two
• And you could drop off any Pauls Collect-a-Caps that you’ve been saving for us!

Light the Dark is Australia’s own Christian party plan – come along to view a unique range of faith-inspired books, family friendly products, beautiful jewellery, clothing and gift items. Even if you live too far away & can’t come to the party, check out a catalogue at www.lightthedark.com.au and place your order with editor@footprintsaustralia.com by Friday 21 October and help support Footprints!

Hope to hear from you soon!

Blessings,  

I wish you could see how beautiful and glossy they are – this pic really doesn’t do them justice. Inside you’ll find the story behind Footprints, as well as info on our two books “Clues to your Calling” and “Decadence”, an invitation for writers, and of course, how to sign up to our great mag!

But the catch is – they’re no good just sitting here in the Footprints office.

We need to get them out into the community, so that more people can learn about our wonderful little mag! This is where YOU can help!

If you would like some brochures to pass on to your church, ladies group, playgroup, school, family or friends, all you have to do is ASK! Write or email us with your name and address, along with how many brochures you think you could use.

And to thank you for helping us, we’re running a special comp. Each person who requests some brochures will go into the draw to WIN a copy of “Climbing Mountains: one young woman’s journey through breast cancer” by Stacey Charbachi  and “God’s Poetry: the identity and destiny encoded in your name” by Anne Hamilton. What do these two books have in common (apart from being a great inspirational read, of course!)?

Both of the authors are subscribers to Footprints! Oh, and both books are available from our good friends at www.lightthedark.com.au.

 The competition closes on 31 July – so make sure you order  your brochures today, to go in the draw to WIN!

This week was a first for Footprints - we lodged our first ever grant application!

Being able to apply for grants was one of the reasons that we incorporated last year, so it is the fulfilment of a long term goal.

We’ve applied for a Volunteers Small Grant from the federal Department of Families, Housing, Communities and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), for the funds to purchase a new computer. What a blessing that would be!

Although our current computer is only a few years old, we all know that’s ancient in computer terms. It has had a few issues lately – we recently purchased some more RAM as it was exceedingly s-l-o-w. The leap from 512 megabytes to 1 gigabyte has improved things a little, but because the computer is so old, it is unable to be increased any further…

Just imagine … a new computer would make updating our blog, web, Twitter and Facebook pages a breeze … not to mention the writing, editing, and laying out of our quarterly magazine, and of course the monthly free FOCUS ezine.

Nor can we forget the  necessary administrative tasks such as maintaining our member database, accounts etc, all of which require the use of a reliable computer.

I confess it would also be a relief , because it would mean not having that niggling worry that this PC could perhaps expire suddenly and leave us in the lurch …

There are probably lots of other very worthy organisations out there who have also applied, so there’s no way of knowing if we will be successful. But regardless of whether we get the funds or not, I think we should just CELEBRATE the achievement of actually lodging our first grant application. Because as the saying goes, you’ve got to be in it to win it!

We should find out in about four months. Now just to wait and pray …

Hopefully most of you will have received the latest issue of Footprints (#54, Winter 2011, with Louise and furry friend Cinnamon on the cover). The Footprints Team and I spent a very enjoyable (and chaotic!) afternoon together on Saturday packaging the magazines for mailout, before sitting down for the more “formal” part of the meeting, where we receive reports from our accountant and editor, as well as discuss content for upcoming issues, promotional activities, etc.

The decision to raise our prices was confirmed once again, as our accountant showed us that the real cost of mailing out a single issue is approximately $3.80 -so while we were charging $12 for 4 issues a year, we were actually making a substantial loss on each subscription!

Fortunately, we make a small income from advertising in each issue, but we see this as a mutually beneficial arrangement – while ministries and businesses support us by purchasing advertising, they are blessed in return by being able to get their message to their target audience at a very affordable price!

And it has to be said, we greatly appreciate any donations, particularly when it comes to being able to bless those who love our magazine, but don’t have the finances to pay their own way. (Although I have noticed, that often times once these readers get back on their feet financially, they are the first to send a donation to bless others!).

All this talk about finances has been a very roundabout way to get to my point – which is – why do we have a print magazine when it a. costs so much; and b. so many other publications are now online only as the web has soared in popularity (eg Christian Woman, Indulge E-magazine).

The reason is simple. We believe that, despite the increased cost, there is a very real need for a “real” magazine that women can hold in their hands, and browse through at their leisure. As one reader commented, “I sit in front of a computer all day at work. The last thing I want is to read for pleasure on a computer!”

Personally, I have found that I am less likely to read Christian Woman since they went digital only.

Here at Footprints, we are also very aware that if we went online only, many readers would miss out altogether. Not everybody is computer literate (particularly in the older generation), or in a position to afford a PC, laptop, Ipad, or whatever.

However it does bring a dilemma, because there ARE others who have adapted to the online environment so well that they find they just don’t read magazines and the like anymore UNLESS they are online! “I don’t have much time to read magazines – I read too many blogs! …  Are you going online? If you go emag – I’d be more likely to read again” as one former subscriber recently commented.

What to do? Do we offer an online version – which could easily be free – for those who prefer their magazine that way? Or would that make our paid-up subscribers feel cheated? Should we charge a small fee for an online subscription? What is the way forward? E-publishing is the way of the future (take a look at this article from Girl with A Satchel) – how can we embrace it?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

A Footprints reader has just moved to Longreach to be a Rural Chaplain with the Salvation Army. She writes: “I am sure your magazine will be helpful for me to share with women of the outback as we visit rural properties …” 

Wow, what an opening! How could we resist, we’d love to bless her with more copies because this is actually a real answer to prayer. We have been praying that God would open doors to allow us to get the magazine into the hands of those most in need of its nurturing and encouraging … particularly women in the outback!

Would you like to help make this happen, and be a part of this new opportunity? We gladly welcome your donations to send extra copies of Footprints to our chaplain friend!

You can donate at any Westpac branch or by direct debit into our bank account. The account name is Footprints Women’s Ministries Inc; BSB 034070; Account Number 396202.

Or you could always donate the old fashioned way, and pop a cheque in the mail to PO Box 1962 Cleveland Qld 4163 …

Let’s expect great things of God together!

There are some aspects of being the Editor of Footprints that I really don’t enjoy. One is having to reject submissions from eager contributors. The other is having to raise our prices.

In all honesty, we held out as long as we could. The subject of reviewing our prices first came up at a Footprints meeting well over 12 months ago, but somehow we managed to hold on …

Unfortunately, the time has come where we can’t absorb the rising costs of production any longer. There are a few reasons:

• postage has gone up not once, but twice, since we last raised our prices;
• we now have to pay liability insurance, a requirement of our incorporated status (nearly $700 a year); and
• according to our most recent profit and loss statement, we are just breaking even (in fact, without the generous donations of several of our readers and supporters, we would be operating at a loss)…

Please know that the heart of the Footprints Team is to bless the women of Australia, so we really struggle with having to raise our prices. We try at all times to give you as much value for money as we can. For example, we increased our pages from 28 to 32 a couple of years ago, and now have colour inside the front cover as well as the outside, all without charging extra.

We’ve always operated on a shoestring budget. We don’t have expensive stationery or a large budget for advertising and promotion, and we are blessed with free web hosting, etc. Our goal has always been to serve our readers as best we can, as cost-effectively as possible. We know what it is like to live on a budget and to count every penny!

From our next edition (Winter 2011, #54), Footprints’ prices will rise for the first time in 5 years.

Currently, it costs $12 for a one year subscription, or $30 for 3 years. We try to encourage bulk orders by offering a considerable discount when 2 or more copies are being sent to one address, by dropping the price to $8 each (ie 5 copies x $8 = $40 for the year).

From the launch of Issue 54 in late May:

• a standard one year subscription will be $16;
• a 3 year subscription will be $42; and
• bulk orders will be $12 each (eg 2 for $24, 5 for $60).

Of course if any of our readers are in genuine financial hardship (ie on a pension, unemployed, single parent, single income family), we are always happy to bless them with a free gift subscription. We don’t want anybody to miss out! (And, from past experience, we know that if / when they get back on their feet, they will pay it forward so that others can be blessed!)

And don’t forget – it’s not too late! Pay or renew your subscription NOW (even if it’s not due yet) and get it at the cheaper price!

If you would like to subscribe to Footprints, or support us with a donation, you check out the Resources page on our website - or make a deposit into our Westpac bank account, BSB 034070, Account Number: 396202 (please use your surname as the reference & don’t forget to email and let us know about your payment and where to send your magazines!).

Finally, we would appreciate your prayers and support at this time!

This weekend just gone was the annual Footprints Retreat, when the ladies behind Footprints magazine and Footprints Women’s Ministries Inc headed to the beach for some rest and relaxation. This year, we stayed on Bribie Island, less than an hour north of Brisbane. Unfortunately it rained pretty much the whole time so only Mel & I were brave enough to go on the obligatory beach walk … but other than that we had a great time!

So what problems did we solve? I’m glad you asked! Here are just some of our great ideas, and conversation topics, over the course of the weekend:

• counselling for Christians returning from short-term mission trips (as it can be a real shock to the system!);
• post-birth trauma counselling for new dads, as well as new mums;
• suggestions of how to educate the gypsies in England;
• End Times (the Last Days before Christ’s return), and whether we are living in them (you’ve got to wonder, with earthquakes, tsunamis, wars …)
• generating motivation and enthusiasm in teenagers;
• community enterprises;
• and what exactly is the aim and purpose of our education system?

We discovered that nearly all of us enjoy having a herb and/or vegie garden (even if it is just in pots) …  that there is no shame in being “just” an admin assistant or not having a “career” … and, we even figured out who the Antichrist is!  (No, not really, but we certainly generated a lot of theories …)

Can you tell that among our midst was a psychologist, a midwife, a school chaplain, a high school teacher, an employment consultant, an accountant, a counselling student, and a community development worker …

Oh and we also tried to work out who is most likely to be the first Footprints grandmother! The general consenus: Mel, as two of her three offspring are now married … a wedding photo of her daughter Kezia appeared on the cover of the 40th issue of Footprints (Summer 2007), and her son Jeremy was married last month.

I won’t be surprised at all to see some very interesting articles in upcoming issues of Footprints, which have been birthed out of our discussions on our weekend away!

The inspiration comes from 1 Corinthians 1:26 – Brothers (sisters!), think of what you were when you were called …

For some of us, it’s been a very long time since we first became Christians. It’s hard to imagine what our lives would be like without Jesus, but remembering can bring a renewed thankfulness of all He has done in our lives, and just what He has saved us from.

Although it’s hard to imagine what my life would be like without Jesus, for example, I suspect I would not have been married 21 years. More likely I would be divorced … possibly promiscuous. My children would likely have gone off the rails (as our decisions affect the next generation). I would not have discovered my gift of writing, which means my life would not have had any purpose. I would even have different friends. I doubt that I would live in the town that I now do, and I definitely wouldn’t be a church-goer!

Now it’s your turn! What difference has Jesus made in your life? How do you think YOUR life would have turned out without that crucial turning point?

Keep your answer to 200 words or less, and email it to editor@footprintsaustralia.com by midnight, Friday 11 March. Sorry, no payment if your story is selected, just the joy of knowing that your story will bless many women across Australia – and I will happily send you contributor copies of the issue when it is released in May!

Footprints Prayer Update

”From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armour …”

Nehemiah 4:16

Thank you for joining us in this Kingdom work, and defending Footprints Women’s Ministries Inc in prayer!

• Praise point: Issue #53 (Autumn 2011) has been printed and according to Lawrence (my husband – no, he’s not at all biased!), it’s the best one yet!
• Tomorrow is the quarterly Footprints meeting, so please pray for God to guide us as we plan and pray.
• Pray also that each issue safely reaches its destination – last year we had quite a few cases of magazines not turning up.
• Another praise point: for many years, I have found it nearly impossible to assign story ideas to other writers … because if I thought of an idea, it was usually something that *I* really wanted to write! However this week God has given me at least half a dozen great ideas ALONG WITH THE PERSON to assign the article to. Praise Him!
• Praise that our subscriber base increased overall this quarter (even if it was only by one or two)!
• Please pray for the still outstanding renewals from last issue, to come in, as well as those that come due this issue.
• Praise that all our advertising space sold this issue. Pray that our advertisers will received much interest and business, and are blessed in return for their support of Footprints.
• Our coming price rise is announced in the new issue. Please pray that it is accepted well by our readers, and that any who truly cannot afford their subscription will take up our offer of a free gift sub.
• Please ask the Lord to touch each reader in a personal way, as they read the new issue.

I thank God every day for our Footprints pray-ers, and am so blessed to know that I am not labouring alone!

 Your fellow servant in Christ,

Janet  Camilleri
Editor

If you’ve died, it means you’re in heaven with the Lord. So really, for Christians whether you’re celebrating a birthday or celebrating in Heaven, it’s a bit of win-win situation!

It was my birthday earlier this month – 7th January. I’m now 44!  And here’s another birthday – Footprints is 13 this month! Oh no! Another teenager in the family!

Speaking of teenagers, the next issue seems to have developed a bit of a “teen theme” which is quite appropriate considering! But what has really amazed me as I look back over the pages and stories I have chosen, is that several are about surviving and enduring hardships and trials, and learning to lean on God in the tough times. This was all before the floods that have devastated Queensland and parts of Victoria and NSW … seems God knew what was needed and was guiding me in article selection, even before the events happened.

Our 13th birthday issue will be out in the second half of February!