Not exactly orders from above, but certainly strong hints, meant Craig and Karinna Exon giving up the trappings of a comfortable lifestyle for a Salvation Army career battling society’s ills.Just over five years ago Craig and Karinna Exon of Berwick said they were looking to change their life direction. But unsure of where this would take them, they both decided to look to God and wait for a sign.
The couple, who are now both ministers at the Salvation Army Church in Berwick, were living in Tasmania at the time, and their first child, Chandra, now five, was on the way.
Mrs Exon, 28, said the pair had been contemplating entering the ministry for some time, but to begin with were quite reluctant to give up their comfortable lifestyles.
But, as she explains, it did not take long before they received a sign and realised where their lives were headed.
“To begin with we wanted to hang on to our house, our jobs and our cars and thought we could not give up the life we had before, for the ministry.
“But then God started to remove a few things along the way.
“We wanted to buy a house but could not get one.
“Then both our cars broke down.
“Everything we once relied on had gone and God just kept sending us signs.
“The indicators and things we relied on just fell through and this really changed our course it was very much a calling,” she said.
Mrs Exon said this part of their lives often makes her recall a scene from Bruce Almighty, the film starring comedian Jim Carrey.
“It reminds me of the scene when he (Jim Carrey) asks God to show him a sign and then a truck drives past with about 20,000 signs stuck to his truck.
“At this time we were saying ‘God, show us what you want us to do.’
“And when he did we felt a real peace of mind, and knew that we were doing the right thing,” she said.
The couple, who have been married for almost 10 years, and also have a son Kaeyl, 2, then moved to Victoria spending the next two years living and studying at the Ministry College in Parkville before being placed in Berwick.
Mr Exon, 31, a former Primary and Secondary school music teacher, said they had many plans for their church and the broader community.
Top of that list was to help change the public’s perception and understanding of the Salvation Army and the role it plays in the community.
“We are a welfare and social activist organisation but that is not our main focus, we are a church. A lot of people come in and ask where the op shop is and people still have that mentality about the Salvation Army.
“But we are a church for everyone, not just those on welfare and we do more than providing emergency assistance and food relief and running Red Shield appeals and opportunity shops.
“Our main focus is the church and everyone is welcome the more the merrier,” he said.
The church’s Sunday sermon now attracts around 65 people, with 100 people attending the church on a semiregular basis.
They are both ordained and can both perform weddings and funerals.
Both Mr and Mrs Exon said they hoped to start a second Sunday service by early next year, and even though they say the Salvation Army is primarily a church, it still provides welfare and assistance such as food and furniture to Casey families.
“We probably help six to eight family units a week,” Mrs Exon said.
“Mostly people who come in have found that they are reaching the end of their fortnight and Centrelink has not got them through.
“The car might have broken down or the washing machine might have fallen to bits.
“When stuff like this happens people often come in,” she said.
The couple said they consider themselves to be ‘Mr and Mrs Berwick’ because like a growing majority of people living in Casey they are a young family trying to raise, educate and provide for their children.
In school term four the couple hope to have a play group up and running at the church and they are currently organising a family fun day on Grand Final day.
They said they hoped to stay in Berwick for at least the next 10 years but added that the Salvation Army was like the military and that they could be called on to move anywhere at any time.
“Every time we see the powers that be or the hierarchy we hang it out there quite loud and free that we don’t want to move and want to stay in Berwick.
“We are well and truly enthusiastic about the church that has been built here and I very much enjoy getting out amongst the people and telling our stories.
“We have built something of eternal value and significance here with a real purpose and passion behind it and we are really enjoying watching the church grow,” Mr Exon said.
As the pair work and live together, they said they had learnt to understand each other’s roles in the church and each other’s different personalities.
“Craig is a really out there people person and can talk the leg off a chair if you stand still for long enough.
“But for every bit that Craig is the extrovert and I am the introvert.
“I am the organised one who puts everything into place and we learnt from an early stage that if we both try to do the same thing we butt heads.
“Sometimes I am just like ‘why can’t you be more like me?’ But it does not work like that and in this role we have really learnt a lot about each other and ourselves,” she said.
Mrs Exon said the couple would love to be ministers for the rest of their working lives.
She said there were two things she really enjoyed about her involvement with the church.
“The first thing has been seeing the church grow from its infancy and how it has grown within the community.
“Watching all of this unfold and playing a part in the growth of the church is the part that I find really exciting.
“I have also enjoyed my own journey and development and how I have grown personally since joining the ministry,” she said.
