Ted Bartlett, is the founding Manager and now General Manager of Wollongong City Mission. When Ted shared with the leaders the concept of giving young unemployed people vocational skills courses with personal development training he felt a strong affinity with Wollongong's own 500cc motor cycle World Champion Wayne Gardner. Wayne was featured in a TV commercial. It in-volved a song entitled, "They said, 'You'll never make it."'

Wollongong City Mission started with an employment training programme in the difficult days of an earlier recession in 1983. Wollongong Lord Mayor, Frank Arkell, had approached the Sydney City Mission to set up in Wollongong to do something about the high unemployment rate in the Illawarra. . As a result of the dedication and hard work of the staff, over the next few months the programme finished with a 95% job placement rate. This result was maintained over the next few years for the life of this project. Over and over again Ted heard the response, 'There aren't any jobs in this city,' and then those intimidating words; "They said, 'You'll never make it."'
Thirteen years later the Mission has become Wollongong's largest charity. The Mission enjoys a high profile in the community with continuing support by all sections of the media. It is now an integral part of the community. Starting with one project in 1983, it has now grown to around 40 projects with a budget of nearly $3 million. It serves nearly 10,000 people each year.
Mission staff are motivated by a deep Christian commitment which they believe has called them to serve the poor and needy. Staff give their time and skills sacrificially to help people get out of the welfare system quickly and permanently. This is the Mission's goal for the future - to help people towards independence.
Behind all this is a freedom which all staff enjoy; that is the freedom to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ whenever it is appropriate. There are many, many instances of Mission clients deciding to accept God's intervention and direction in their lives through Jesus Christ. Yes, they said, "You'll Never make it!" But God's working in "Mission Impossible" quickly turned it into "Mission Possible" -so that God receives the glory which is His!
Ted Bartlett has spent 35 years establishing ministries and businesses, all designed to reach men and women for Christ. These years have won Ted many honours, one of which was given this year, 'The Merv Nixon Working for the Illawarra Award'. However, Ted acknowledges that it's simply because God did what He said he would in the first place!
At a recent presentation at the Illawarra Business Person of the Year Award dinner, the Chairman explained that the award is given to 'an individual showing exemplary dedication to the regional community'. All of Ted's work over the years has centred on establishing businesses and ministries to help disadvantaged people. The businesses have all been started without capital, but have grown to provide the financial resources for his welfare projects.
In earlier years, he started printing businesses, direct mail advertising, a professional letter writing consultancy and insurance businesses. He has lectured in capital cities around Australia on biblical money management principles. His lectures took him to Canada and America, where he lectured on the same subject, as well as creative welfare projects. During this period he met former US President, Jimmy Carter and his wife, Roslyn.

In 1970 Ted established what he believed to be the first free financial counselling service in Australia, and started a business to provide funds for this venture, which occupied the next 10 years. Not sure how to attract financially-burdened people to an untried and unique financial counselling service, he asked God for the answer. Ted believed that God gave him the idea of setting up a debt collecting agency! As his business client numbers grew, it, of course, put him in contact with thousands of people needing counselling. Ted had another purpose. His ultimate aim was to share the Gospel with them, and has many wonderful stories to tell about this.
The business was so successful that several law firms asked him to start process serving (serving of court summons on defendants). -But in spite of continually facing difficult situations, Ted found this an excellent way of talking to people about a relationship with Christ.
Ted feels that one day God must have asked him a very unusual question - like, 'How much excitement can you stand? Excitement is something he knows about. A Senior Partner in a law firm once asked him to set up an agency as a 'private eye'. He finally agreed to do this, as he again realised this was a means of reaching a new group with the Gospel; criminals and those in trouble with the police. Over the next few years, his staff and he faced many dangerous situations, but neither Ted nor any of his staff were ever physically harmed. Private inquiry agents ('private eyes') are licensed to carry guns because of the nature of their work, but as Ted saw this work as God's ministry, no guns were used.
In 1980 he left this business and established a full-time financial counselling service which became Creditworthy. He worked without salary for the 3 years he directed this organisation. In that same year he helped establish The Institute of Financial Counsellors for NSW and ACT. Centres were started in Sydney and around Australia. The project eventually won Ted Institute life membership.
A Life of Helping Others to Succeed.
Ted has had the great honour of working with the 'lowest' in society - though he believed that to be a dubious description - to the 'highest', and those in between. From that experience he has learned to give respect to every human being, and to care for everyone.
Just about everything Ted has started has been without capital, often without human resources, and without the necessary skills. But he believes in the resurrection power of God's promise, "Faithful is He who calls you, who will also do it." Whom God calls He equips!
The award 'Wollongong Citizen of the Year' was given to Ted in 1989. And he has been honoured further afield, serving on such Boards as the National Institute of Mercantile Agents. In spite of a heavy workload Ted finds time for things he feels are important. This year, he helped initiate the The Rutherford Institute of Australia, an international US based organisation which seeks to prevent discrimination against religious organisations and individuals.
Through all these years, Ted has been supported by his wife, Jill. She accepted Ted's belief that God had given him a 'vision', and gave everything to allow him to be obedient to God.
A book titled The Almighty Dollar is currently being written by Ted, which will preview his 35 years experience. If published, the book will give details of all that God has taught him about money, both theologically and experientially.