Salt Podcast
Conversations with Amy
Join Amy Townsend as she takes you deeper into the lives of 'ordinary' people with heart warming, sometimes challenging and always extraordinary gospel stories.
We've teamed up with radio Hope 103.2 to deliver these seasons of SALT. Where possible, we'd love you to leave a review to help spread the word! (If you'd like to financially support the production of SALT we'd love to hear from you. Please email Bill Farrand, SMBC Chief Operating Officer, or phone 02 9747 4780.)
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Episodes
26 August 2024 Episode 123 - The healthy way to handle grief - Nancy
For the final episode of Season 10, Amy Townsend introduces us to a woman with a vast experience of the nature of grief.
Nancy Guthrie has written many books on the sorrows of life and how to navigate them.
With her husband, she has developed respite retreats for the broken-hearted, and 'Grief Share' videos that lessen the burdens people carry.
This episode, Nancy begins by telling Amy how God introduced her to the difficult topic of grief.
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19 August 2024 Episode 122 - I should be dead by now - Michael
What does it look like to literally live thinking that today might be your last day?
This episode, Amy Townsend introduces us to Michael Fattal.
Michael was born with a severe medical condition that gave him a life expectancy of just a few years.
He is the first person in Australia to survive the 'lungs in a box' surgery.
And his up-beat attitude will totally inspire you.
Listen
12 August 2024 Episode 121 - Does God want me to retire? - Howard and Trish
This episode Amy introduces us to not one but two faithful servants of Jesus.
Howard and Trish Spencer have been married for over forty years.
In that time they've faced the mission field together, along with infertility, violent crime and long seasons of depression.
You think that would be enough, but now they question whether you ever really need to retire from a life of service.
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5 August 2024 Episode 120 - Serving while surfing - Steve
This episode Amy introduces us to a man whose Christian journey has involved vast amounts of soil and salt - with a few goats thrown in.
Steve Campbell didn't know where God was going to take him. He just preferred that it would be outdoors.
God honoured that and took him into the line-up of a local beach, and on to surfing as a ministry.
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29 July 2024 Episode 119 - Five years without him - Carolyn
Amy Townsend's guest this episode is one half of the perfect marriage.
In some respects, Carolyn Woods and her husband Steven were the odd couple - never meant to be together!
Yet God used hardship on hardship to hammer out a beautiful union.
But what happens when half of your reason for living goes away?
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22 July 2024 Episode 118 - Journey to the dark side - Yakim
Demon possession ... spiritual powers ... the overcoming presence of evil.
In our Western world these are elements of Hollywood fantasies.
But this episode Amy introduces us to Yakim (not his real name), who has lived in a place where these are real experiences.
Join us on a journey that has taken one man and his family from Western enlightenment to Eastern mysticism.
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15 July 2024 Episode 117 - Finding my fluffy blue mouthpiece - Miriam
This episode, Amy Townsend introduces us to Miriam Braithwaite, a woman whose idea of her best life was never leaving home.
For Miriam, family and the quiet life were everything.
But God's introduction to a fluffy, blue friend opened the door to an exciting new world.
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8 July 2024 Episode 116 - The Prosperity Gospel - an African perspective - Tamie
What if there is more to the prosperity gospel than we think?
Amy's guest this episode is Tamie Davis. Tamie had a heart for mission from an early age, but after years of training and preparation what she found on the mission field was not what she expected.
Tamie shares with Amy how God used her time in Africa to change her heart and mind, just as much as she changed the hearts of others.
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1 July 2024 Episode 115 - Diary of a mission kid - Lachlan
Mission kid or missionary?
Amy Townsend's guest this episode is Lachlan Field, and he had a foot in both worlds.
At age 9, Lachlan moved overseas with his family to share the gospel.
But was that his calling, or something he was called upon to do?
And how has he come to see mission work now?
Listen
24 June 2024 Episode 114 - Pornography: a woman’s story - Danica
Have you ever felt like you're fighting against yourself?
This episode Amy Townsend speaks to a woman whose struggle falls well outside society's expectations.
Today we meet Danica Vega and discuss pornography - a woman's story.
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17 June 2024 Episode 113 - Make a joyful noise unto the Lord - Lachie
What were your childhood dreams growing up?
For Lachie Massey it was singing, music and composition - and those dreams started coming true, age six.
20 years on, the next step in Lachie's musical career is finding the harmony between faith, music, and the gospel.
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10 June 2024 Episode 112 - Fatherhood almost killed me - Desmond
It's the return of Salt for its epic tenth season, and host Amy Townsend begins by introducing us to Desmond Chin.
Desmond had the ideal life, and starting a family was the ideal next step.
The birth of his son Jordan should have been one of the happiest moments of his life.
But instead, it led him to the brink of suicide.
Listen in as Amy explores the world of post-natal depression for men.
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29 January 2024 Episode 111 - Behind the mic - Jenny
For the final episode of season 9, Amy interviews Salt's most familiar talent.
Over the past six years she has gathered and shared over one hundred stories of how God has been at work in and through His people.
She's brought salt and light to our everyday lives as listeners, and we are delighted that we can finally persuade her to sit on the other side of the microphone, ready to share her story.
It's with great pleasure that we introduce our listeners to Jenny Salt.
Listen
22 January 2024 Episode 110 - Single minded singleness - Karl
This episode Jenny Salt welcomes on board Karl Deenick.
At the tender age of 16, Karl made a decision not to marry but to dedicate his life to serving the Lord Jesus, whatever that looked like.
Closing that door opened another that led to a PhD on the strangest subject you'll ever encounter.
Listen
15 January 2024 Episode 109 - The storyteller and the saviour - Kristen
In this episode, Amy Townsend welcomes a woman whose fantasies highlight the facts about Jesus.
Kristen Young is a successful fiction author.
Kristen's tale is one of childhood dreams coming true for a little girl who loved stories.
But along the way, Kristen had to learn that what we read, watch and listen to shapes our lives for good and bad.
Ultimately, Kristen learned that a story is a pathway to God, not just for our heads but for our hearts.
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8 January 2024 Episode 108 - Deepest, darkest France - Kelly
This episode Jenny Salt talks to a woman who took the good news to a country where the gospel has grown old and stale.
Kelly Landrigan grew up in a fibro house in working-class Sydney.
Her family went to church regularly, learning about rules to please God that she could never keep.
But hearing the gospel, and understanding grace, took her on a journey to deepest, darkest France.
Listen
2 January 2024 Episode 107 - Loving the red dirt - Alick
This episode Amy Townsend speaks to a man whose heart for the gospel sent him west.
Alick Arkapaw has a deep love of sport and has a 'tell it like it is' attitude.
His love for this great brown land - Australia - and the people who populate it, led him to take his young family to the bush.
There, he discovered the real spiritual needs of today’s man on the land.
Listen
26 December 2023 Episode 106 - Journey to murder, road to forgiveness - Tamar
Jenny's guest this episode is Tamar Pollard.
You won't have necessarily heard her name before, but if you were living in the UK in 1997 you would have seen photos of her family on the front page of every newspaper.
And the headlines would have included words like 'murder' and 'tragedy'.
Tamar's story is one that does include details of horrific circumstances.
But it's also a story of incredible faith and a journey of forgiveness that will take your breath away.
Listen
18 December 2023 Episode 105 - His call over your comfort - Jenny
This episode Amy Townsend talks to Jenny, someone who has left her Australian life behind to be a stranger in a foreign land.
We can't tell you her last name because Jenny is currently doing gospel work in an unreached part of the world where being a Christian is not a safe thing to be.
But there's a lot more to Jenny's story than her time on the mission field.
Today, we'll be talking about the challenges she faces every time she comes home.
Listen
11 December 2023 Episode 104 - Still a mother - Jackie
This episode Jenny Salt speaks to Jackie Gibson, a woman with a heart for mothers going through the hardest times.
Jackie has lived in the US and the UK both as a child and as an adult, and currently lives in Philadelphia with her husband and kids.
Jackie's journey as a mum has been a great joy, but also marked by deep sadness.
Her book, You Are Still A Mother, was written in the light of her experience and the hope that remains.
Listen
