About Us
IR Director
BEN SHUE
Director ACC World Relief
“The Scriptures tell a story of one man who demonstrated uncommon compassion. Jesus gave food to the hungry, water to the thirsty and healed the sick. He made people feel special, accepted, even loved. He also attacked institutional rules and warped thinking that kept people impoverished and fearful. By modeling and speaking about a new way of life, Jesus was boldly declaring that a new era had come and that everyone was welcome. In this new community there would be no more tears, no more sickness, no more death. In the renewed cosmos there is peace, justice and healing…the best part was that it was free for anyone who wanted it. “Hey there! All who are thirsty, come to the water! Are you penniless? Come anyway—buy and eat! Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk. Buy without money everything’s free!”
As an INGO (international nongovernmental organization) we believe that heaven on earth is possible. That by improving the livelihood of one person at a time, whole communities can be transformed. By resourcing community development projects, people in desperate poverty can gain skills which give them employment, dignity and an opportunity to feed themselves and provide an education for their kids. By sponsoring children, we can help another child unlock their potential to change their life, their neighbourhood and potentially their nation for good. When disasters hit, we act fast because lives are in the balance. We want to be good neighbours who look out for each other. Fueled by hope that we can recreate a better world, we are transforming communities one life at a time.”
Ben loves learning, has an entrepreneurial perspective and is passionate about releasing people to rise to their potential. He has held various roles including secondary school principal, co-director of a medium sized social enterprise, small business owner, and executive pastor. Ben and his family spent five years in South East Asia where they endeavored to live out their faith in practical ways. Ben was Country Director Laos of an International Non-Government Organisation where he was responsible for 40 staff and a range of community development projects that helped over 60,000 people. During this time he was also the SE Asia Team Leader for a faith-based Human Resources organization which he grew from one family to 60 people across four countries.
Ben sees ACC International Relief attracting, training and deploying hundreds of people into active volunteer roles so that hundreds of thousands of people in desperate circumstances can experience the hope, empowerment and life-sustenance that results from partnering towards building a shared vision of a better world.
Qualifications
Bachelor of Arts (Hum.), Bachelor of Biblical Studies, Graduate Diploma in Education (Sec. Teaching), Graduate Diploma in Outdoor Education, Masters in Education (TESOL), Masters in International and Community Development, Masters in Business Administration (cand.)
IR Operations
“Transforming Communities One Life at a Time”
Our Values
Training Up Local Leadership
Building Community Capacity
Strategic Service
Faithful Stewardship
ACC International Relief is a signatory to the ACFID Code of Conduct which defines minimum standards of governance, management and accountability for non-governmental development organisations. Adherence to the Code is monitored by an independent Code of Conduct Committee elected from the NGO community. Our voluntary adherence to the Code of Conduct demonstrates our commitment to ethical practice and public accountability.
Copies of the Code of Conduct are available from ACFID, Private Bag 3, Deakin, ACT, 2600. Tel (02) 6285 1816.
Our Team
HEAD OFFICE STAFF
GILLIAN MOORHOUSE
Business & Program Manager
Gillian’s professional background was in the health sector, and is a graduate of the Australian College of Health Services Executives Management Residency Program. She then came on board with the team at FreeToBeKids as they took the organisation through its most rapid growth phase. Gillian is now an integral part of the ACC International Relief team providing support to all areas. She is usually found with a coke in one hand and her blackberry in the other. Gillian credits her inspiration for her diligent work ethic to Dwight Schrute.
Qualifications: BSc(Biotech/Biomed), PGDip Health Service Management
SARAH CLARKE
Finance Administrator
Sarah loves numbers, loves people, and loves keeping everything organised with coloured filing systems. These skills make her an essential part of our team, releasing others to do their work as they confidently know that Sarah has the finances all under control. Sarah comes to ACC International Relief after working in finance in the construction, hospitality and corporate sector. Sarah’s second role is Ben Shue’s PA, reminding him to eat lunch when he gets too busy.
sarah.clarke@accinternationalrelief.org
CHAD & CORRIE IRONS
South East Asia Program Managers
Accountant
Chad & Corrie Irons live in Da Nang, central Vietnam with their 2 children Hope and Josiah. Chad is a man of many passions including coffee, Star Trek, his family, oh, and did we mention coffee? Corrie has the privilege of homeschooling Hope and Josiah, as well as developing video pieces for Vietnam projects and assisting with the organisation of the many teams who visit the work being done in Vietnam each year.
Chad has been a chartered accountant for 15 years and worked with PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos before marrying and then vowed to return to Vietnam with his family which occurred in 2008.
They now feel privileged to be working with World Relief on the field. He enjoys any role which challenges him to find a solution to a problem. His aim is to continually develop business management methods which streamline work processes and make things clear, logical and bring greater productivity to administrators and those on the field. These skills have been honed by his combination of work in public accounting practices and 6 years as Business Manager for an ACC church, college and childcare centre.
Qualifications: Chad- BA Finance Admin, CA, Barrista Basics Cert.
Corrie – BA Communications (Broadcast Journalism), TESL Cert
FIELD WORKERS
PAUL & DEB HILTON
ACC International Relief Pen-Asia Cooridinators
Paul and Deb’s passion is to see lives transformed, for individuals to reach their full potential in life, to see beyond where they are now to become all they can be! Whether that be in the city or in the villages they work in they are committed to see change. They say that they are always in awe of how taking time to care and doing something about people’s situation gives these people hope for a better future and builds their dignity and self worth.
When Paul and Deb have free time they make the most of it. Living near the beach is a bonus and not too far from a tourist town in Central Vietnam is definitely a plus!
Paul and Deb have two married children and 4 grandbabies whom they love and cherish very much. They all live in Australia.
Paul and Deb have been working in Vietnam since 1998 having grown the work there from a scholarship program with 50 kids, to a sponsorship program with over 1,100 children working towards a full education, working with over 100 villages to transform their situations through community based programs including water and sanitation, livestock and micro economics, facilitating lifesaving heart operations through their program, ‘Operation Heartbeat’ as well as meeting other medical needs for children.
Having grown a great team around them and seen much success through their programs in Vietnam, Paul and Deb are now the Pen Asia Region Coordinators for ACC International Relief operations.
Melanie Houston
Media
Melanie is involved in the ongoing development of our website and media. She has recently spent 4 months working in Vietnam for fieldworkers, Paul and Deb Hilton, traveling around Asia and visiting other ACC International Relief’s projects in order to create clips, write articles and help promote the work we are doing. She is very artistic and usually puts too much time into creating detail which most likely no one will notice.
Annual Report
For a copy of the 2008 Annual Report, please contact the office on (03) 9837 2277
