Pastor John and Jocie Meadth, with grandchildren Isabella and Noah. The couple will be leaving Healesville for Haiti at the end of the month. 71323
By Seth Hynes
PASTOR John Meadth, pastor at the Liberty Family Church in Healesville for the past 26 years, and his wife Jocie, will leave for Haiti at the end of October.
Mr Meadth will deliver his last sermon on 23 October.
It will be a chance for his congregation to say goodbye to the couple before he takes up a pastoral position at the Port au Prince Fellowship church.
Mr Meadth said when he first came to Healesville in 1986, there was very little interaction between the local churches.
“I think in terms of change, the main thing I’ve seen is the increasing willingness of the churches to work together on joint projects,” he said. “HICCI for example (Healesville Interchurch Community Care Inc) is a community welfare organization that involves all of Healesville’s churches.
“We have a combined carol service in the park at Christmas and meet together for combined services twice a year.”
He said matters of marriage and family, “the ongoing challenge of helping people in their daily lives” and the difficult welfare issues in Healesville were some of the challenges he had faced as pastor.
He was proud, he said, to be part of a healthy and well-respected church.
“In our time here in Healesville, I have always enjoyed the community Healesville is, both in the church and the wider community,” Mr Meadth said.
“In all our interactions, the good has far outweighed the negatives that might come our way.”
Mr Meadth met the elders of Port Au Prince Fellowship at his son Rodney’s wedding in 2010.
The Liberty Family Church manages the Homes for Haiti program, an initiative that aims to build homes for Haitian families made homeless by the January 2010 earthquake.
The elders invited him to work at their church and in May this year he accepted and will serve as pastor in a two-year placement.
Pastor John Meadth will be replaced by David Hernandez in November.
