Tim and Karen Banfield have been a part of the Illawarra since early 2016. Tim is a local having grown up in Dapto, and has spent most of his life in the Illawarra, whilst Karen has spent most of her life in the Eastern and Southern Suburbs of Sydney.

Our relationship is a story of God's grace and restoration for the two of us. Both of us realise that God and His Kingdom is not to be taken for granted. In sharing some of our testimony, Tim in late 2015 was diagnosed with a squamous cell carcinoma, or mid-range skin cancer, and a few months later told that he could possibly lose his life. Tim had the faith, confession, and prayer to believe that God would deliver him. In April 2016 he was 100% medically cleared of any problems. Tim realises more than ever that, "...the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). Karen struggled with self-esteem issues for many years and gave her life to Jesus in August 2015, when Tim invited her to a small church in Sydney's inner west. After committing her life to Christ, Karen would often cry deeply as she came to know the love of God. The Holy Spirit was personally healing her memories, emotional pain, and rejection from the past, as He was transforming her into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). As a result, Karen is a very endearing woman who has much empathy for people, she has grown a great deal in knowing God, & experiencing Him in a very real way. Karen says, "I never want to live my life ever again without a personal relationship with Jesus & experiencing His continual love".

Moving forward, we have been Married since August 2016. Both of us love Jesus with our entire beings, and spend most of our time aside from our employment, hungering and thirsting for the Kingdom of God. This is not a superficial statement, as we want to genuinely know God, and we desire for others to be involved with us who have this same agenda. It's time to get "on fire" for Jesus (Luke 3:16), as He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

Importantly, we bring a wealth of experience, passion, love, purity, Holy Spirit anointing, empathy, care & energy to the body of Christ in all of our activities. We hope that those who share our vision will come with purity of heart, righteousness, passion, dedication, and vigour to build this work for Jesus like no other!