Our History

New Hope International has a rich history of assisting Christian Schools in Australia and overseas. The Ministry was birthed out of Christian Community Schools Ltd (CCSL) in Australia.

One of the founders of CCSL, the late Rev Bob Frisken had been the President for ten years before CCSL was closed to allow for the formation of Christian Schools Australia (CSA). Bob sadly passed away peacefully on 4 March 2024 at the age of 90 years. He is greatly missed, but the vital work in Christian education he pioneered continues.

In late 2001, John Frisken, the eldest son of Bob and Maryanne, suggested to the Council of CCSL the idea of forming an organisation that could create global networks between Christian schools. Thus in 2001, NHI was formed with some of the previous directors of CCSL with the aim of helping schools, particularly in developing countries, through visits, provision of resources and some teacher training. At the end of 2001, Maryanne resigned from her primary teaching position to work alongside Bob to develop NHI. This Spirit-led decision was key to the future direction and development of NHI.

In 2005, Bob visited the Solomon Islands where the Christian schools were crying out for teachers to be trained to be effective Christian Educators. Bob and Maryanne then wrote training material which has now become ‘The Effective Teaching and Learning Series’ (ETLS) a unique training series based on a discipleship methodology. God has used this to raise up Christian teachers throughout developing countries who can train their colleagues to embrace a biblically-shaped vision and practice in their schools.

Australian schools can also receive this training especially with the problem of ‘mission drift’ occurring in schools which become increasingly independent, and spiritually and fiscally comfortable.

The vision that the Lord gave John, Bob and Maryanne has grown into a ministry that has blessed Christian teachers, schools, and their wider communities both overseas and in Australia far beyond what was ever envisaged. New Hope International is now working in almost every continent where it has been invited to serve the local Christian Church to support and teach the ETLS to their schools, and to partner with them in developing their local communities to become self-sufficient and sustainable over a long period of time.