In 2010 thirteen Christian individuals and ministries from around Australia received a share of $100,000 from Mission Travel through the Giving Back grant program.
More than 18 months has passed and we thought you'd be interested in the progress of some of our winners.
Jessie Taylor: Film production of asylum seeker documentary ‘Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’ www.deepblueseafilm.com 
Jessie is a barrister who fights tirelessly for the rights of asylum seekers. The Giving Back Grant has help fund a documentary, which has hidden camera footage and interviews with asylum seekers coming by boat from Indonesia to Australia.Since receiving the 'Giving Back' grant, 'Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea' has come along in leaps and bounds. The film was completed in September 2011, and was unveiled in a private cast, crew & donors screening at ACMI on 21 November 2011. It made its world premiere at the UK Film Festival in London in December 2011, and will screen at the Thin Line Texas International Documentary Film Festival in February 2012. The production team have entered it in a number of other international festivals and looks forward to hearing more good news about the film being showcased and screened throughout Europe, the USA and the rest of the world!Australian release is anticipated in mid-2012 on the festival circuit, and the team are in the process of lining up distribution.
Emily Isham: The Mafunzo Project - Support for Congo’s Panzi Hospital www.themafunzoproject.blogspot.com/
Emily was a missionary kid who grew up in Congo and knows the culture, people and language. She is a doctor at Royal Hobart Hospital and is doing her Masters in International Public Health and Sexual Forensics. The $10,000 Giving Back Grant has enabled Emily to recently travel to Bakavu and collaborate with staff at Panzi Hospital (featured on Four Corners) to enable more Congolese medical and nursing students to complete their tertiary studies, by encouraging Australians to donate towards university fees and essential study resources.
Nightlight Outreach www.nightlight.org.au Purchase & fit-out vehicle to help feed Brisbane’s homeless
Nightlight feeds and clothes up to 150 people who are homeless and disadvantaged in Brisbane, Logan and the Gold Coast each night. Michaela Porter and her husband were operating out of the back of a 2001 Ford Laser Hatchback. The Giving Back grant has enabled them to purchase and fit out a Toyota Hiace van.
Tony Clark: Recording an intercessory music album
Tony has an amazing Saul-like testimony, finding God’s healing as a 19 year old. As a talented songwriter, musician and singer, he produced his first EP in 2007. The $5000 grant has helped Tony record his first album: a deep intercessory CD that will break down barriers and bring great healing.
Tony writes: "The album' In The Dawning' is shaping up to be great! Its amazing being in the studio experiencing a mixture of writing, true expression, and worship. God is really shaping the songs. We are now laying the cello and bass tracks, leaving the main and backup vocals. Very exciting, the songs have gone from their raw basic state, to taking on a whole life of their own with the various instruments involved giving them new dimensions. This album is shaping up to be a very unique and passionate expression of God for His glory." The album is scheduled for release in late February.
Prison Network Ministries: Caring for children of prison inmates www.prisonnetwork.org.au 
Children of inmates in two of Victoria’s female prisons were the big winners of the Giving Back Grant. The $5,000 has been used in the Kids Matta program, which includes camps, ‘Fun with Mum’ sessions and attending special activities like footy matches and movies for up to 50 children each year.
From one of the mum's whose child attended the Mill Valley Ranch horseriding camp:
"The days leading up to camp, my 11 year old daughter was like a 5 year old counting down the sleeps til Santa comes!"
God willing Mission Travel would love to Give Back again in 2012/2013.
