In 2023 Eternity had the privilege of interviewing so many remarkable Aussie Christians. Here – in the second part of our series on our best interviews in 2023 – we reshare some of these conversations.

If you haven’t yet read part one – our top interviews with international Christian leaders – you can catch up here.

And you can also revisit other top stories from earlier in 2023 in the two-part series published in June. Click to read part one and part two.

We hope these stories impact you as much as they did us.

Leila and Danny Abdallah

Leila and Danny Abdallah have revealed that the drug-affected driver who killed three of their children on a footpath in 2020, Samuel Davidson, has become a Christian in prison. He is reading his Bible daily and talking to other prisoners about Jesus.

Read the story: Abdallahs reveal forgiven driver has come to Christ

Kanishka Raffel

The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Kanishka Raffel, describes how he abandoned Buddhism to follow Jesus Christ.

Read the story: Why Kanishka Raffel abandoned Buddhism to follow Jesus Christ

Robert Fergusson

Almost 50 years ago, Hillsong’s Robert Fergusson encountered Jesus, preached his first sermon and met his wife, Amanda. “Last week I stepped into his office with one burning question, ‘What does it cost to endure?’” writes Aziza Green.

Read the story: This is how to endure

Tarryn Stokes 

Tarryn Stokes has always pursued music, whether singing at church, worship leading, singing in choir, teaching or writing songs. As she headed into the semi-finals of The Voice Australia, Tarryn told Eternity the blessings and challenges of the competition, and how her faith sustained her through dark times.

Read the story: Finding her voice: Tarryn Stokes takes on ‘The Voice’ singing competition

Eternity also followed up with Tarryn after her win to ask what’s next for her. You can read the follow-up story here.

Bella Taylor Smith 

The Voice 2021 winner Bella Taylor Smith embarks on her solo career and her biggest passion: worshipping God through music.

Read the story: Bella Taylor Smith turns from television stardom to her first love

Chris Watkin

Chris Watkin, the man behind the Australian Christian Book of the Year, shares his journey.

Read the story: Chris Watkin: the man behind the Book of the Year

Anne Pattel-Gray

When Anne Pattel-Gray’s high school teacher asked what she wanted to do when she graduated, Anne said she wanted to go to university. The response from her teacher and fellow students was laughter.

Now, as head of the University of Divinity’s School of Indigenous Studies, Anne’s purpose has been realised.

Read the story: Creating a new narrative for our nation

John Dickson

Historian, author and podcaster John Dickson tells Anne Lim how he came to Christ as a 16-year-old smart alec. With his band In the Silence, he performed at churches, schools, jails and communities across Australia in the 1980s.

Read the story: Musician turned historian owes his faith to two women

Wayne Alcorn

After decades of ministering to youth and men, here is pastor Wayne Alcorn’s sad conclusion: many men in churches can’t relate to God as Father or embrace his love because of troubles with their earthly fathers. What would it look like for these emotionally damaged men to heal and flourish?

Read the story: Healing the scars of a fatherless life

Katherine Thompson

As a mental health professional, Dr Katherine Thompson knows a lot about suffering. But it is her own experiences that make her new book one of the most powerful and practical resources on suffering to date.

Read the story: How to find hope in suffering

Mike Gore

Mike Gore’s life story sounds a bit like a movie script.

Abandoned at birth in a field in southern India, rescued by a paediatrician, placed in an orphanage, smuggled across state lines and adopted by a Christian couple in the Sutherland Shire of Sydney. And his story has been just as unpredictable and inspiring since then.

Read the story: The rags to (spiritual) riches story of an Indian orphan

Tom Slockee

“Tom Slockee was sitting in the sun at home on the south coast of NSW, opening a bucket of oysters, when a bloke came up his driveway and said, ‘Tom, we need you to come to Sydney….'”

In 2023 Tom was nominated for the National NAIDOC Male Elder Award.

Read the story: Struggling to find a good family home drove Tom to fight

David Nduwimana

Ten years ago, David Nduwimana arrived in Australia as a refugee from one of the poorest nations in the world.

This year, he proudly sang the Australian anthem before tens of thousands of people. This is the story of his journey …

Read the story: From refugee to national treasure

Mike Bird

Theologian Mike Bird shares his journey from a secular home where religion was rejected to a “liberating and transformative” faith in Christ.

Read the story: ‘I thought most churches were filled with moralising geriatrics’

Graham Jenke

In 2008, Lutheran pastor Graham Jenke met a group of bikers in a South Australian Hotel. Today, he’s spent over a decade sharing the gospel as an honorary member of the Redback Motorcycle Club. He shared his unlikely story with Eternity.

Read the story: Sharing the gospel with big-hearted bikies