The Vision

Seven years ago, our family moved to a suburb called Tarneit. Not many people knew then that there was a suburb called Tarneit, and some still don’t. Nestled to the north of Hoppers Crossing, this suburb 26-kilometre west of Melbourne (or 35kms on the road) was predominantly paddocks, farms, and bushland.

Many would see Tarneit as a potential property investment opportunity, and perhaps it is rightly so. Lands are converted and subdivided into residential estates. Despite the pandemic, houses are still springing up each day, and people are moving into Tarneit.

However, one glaring observation when we moved to Tarneit was, and still is, the lack of Christian’s presence and gospel access in the area. There are no visible church buildings in Tarneit except for the Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah Witness, a unitarian church, and a handful of ethnic churches meeting in the community centres ministering to the minority population in Tarneit.

Tarneit is indeed a mission field. We can resonate with what the Lord Jesus says to his disciples in Matthew 9:37-38, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

After much prayer, CrossCulture church has decided to plant a new church in Tarneit area to reach out to the residents from the surrounding suburbs. We want to see a flourishing cross-cultural gospel-centred community that lives out and proclaims the transformative power of the good news of the Kingdom of God. Together with my wife, Maria, we are spearheading this new church plant.

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The Invitation

By God’s grace, we hope to see God saving many people in Tarneit and the surrounding suburbs. When God is going to do His work, He always moves His people to join Him. As a family, we believe this might be one of the reasons why He orchestrated our move to Tarneit seven years ago.

Now, we are extending this invitation for you to join God in His mission. Will you partner with us?

Here are a few ways you can partner with us.

1. Pray

For now, please pray for wisdom for the team to plough the way forward. Please pray that we will be sensitive to what God is already doing in this area. Please also pray that even now, God will lead us to men and women of peace.

We hope to send regular newsletters to you to pray more specifically for us.

2. Give

We appreciate the generosity of God’s people to fund the ministry work. You can give by clicking here.
Alternatively, if you wish to do a bank transfer, please see the banking details below and include ‘Tarneit Church Plant’ in your transfer description:

Account Name: CrossCulture Development Foundation Ltd
BSB: 182512
Account Number: 000965961584

3. Connect with us.

If you live near Tarneit and want to consider joining the new church in the future, if you want to get involved some other ways, or if you want to know more about the church plant, please drop us a message at tarneit@crossculture.net.au. We would love to hear from you.

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Apostle Paul says this in Acts 17:26-27, “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him…”

God is bringing more people from all over the world to Melbourne. Some have chosen Tarneit to be the place where they live and raise their families. Will you join God in building His church in a location where many people without easy access to the gospel can potentially seek God and find Him?

In Christ,

Sandy and Maria Citro

PS. If you know anyone who would love to hear about this project, please share this webpage with them. Thank you! :)

Today, it is home to more than 55,000 people (based on 2021 Census). With the house prices almost half of their counterparts in the eastern suburbs and comparatively more affordable than the neighbouring suburbs, Tarneit is a haven for young migrant families with aspirations of providing the next generations with better educations and lifestyles.