Gaining a global view

Before Australian Chey Mattner became LWF’s World Service Head of Operations, he was an Australian Lutheran World Service Executive Director. Hear from Chey about serving the church in an international setting.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

The variety – you can be in the field one day, meeting a government official the next and writing a policy somewhere in between. We have more than 7000 staff in 25 countries, so most decisions have a global impact. And working with an extremely committed and professional team, as I did at ALWS!

Has it given you new perspectives?

ALWS gave me the perspective of challenges faced by an organisation which provides technical and financial support, while this role has given me a better idea of obstacles faced by an organisation implementing the work. It has reinforced for me that greed is the reason for much of the suffering in the world and that the most powerful way to address it is to give children the chance to be educated.

What would you like to say to encourage Lutherans in Australia/New Zealand?

Hold onto ALWS. It’s one of LWF’s most respected partners because of the value it places in true partnership. ALWS is a solid, reliable and professional organisation which LWF learns a lot from. And we need to challenge ourselves as a church to think globally. Where once the future of our church was to protect itself from the world, it will now only thrive if it’s in the world.

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