Footprints Magazine Blog Tour

Welcome to the blog tour of Footprints Magazine for Christian Women!  This tour is in celebration of the 50th issue of the mag, which started out with very humble beginnings.  I have contributed several articles to past issues, and am delighted to be able to give away a one year subscription to a SquiggleMum reader.  I also had the opportunity to interview editor Janet Camilleri:

Janet, what did the first copy of Footprints look like, 50 editions ago?

Take a look – pretty different huh? It was VERY basic … I’m almost embarrassed now by how naïve I was and how amateurish it looks! But God had planted a seed in my heart and I knew not to despise the day of small beginnings … out of a tiny acorn, a mighty oak tree grows. (I actually read a great blog post about this very subject earlier today – you can find it here.) When Footprints first started, I treasured that Scripture that says if it is of the Lord it will grow; if it is not it will come to nothing (Acts 5:38 – 39).

What is your dream or vision for the 100^th edition?

A full colour, glossy magazine with hopefully a lot more pages; available bimonthly or even monthly (instead of quarterly) with a six-figure circulation, available in newsagents and supermarkets!

Okay maybe I’m dreaming just a little bit… hey with God anything is possible! At the very least, I would hope that our quality would have only improved (layout, content, etc) but most importantly that churches across the country would subscribe and then give them out freely, because they know and trust Footprints as a valuable resource and ministry tool that encourages and nurtures  women, and supports them in their Christian walk!

Many small magazines are ceasing to produce physical copies and instead moving to an online ezine.  Why are you continuing with paper copies of Footprints?

I am – and always have been – a magazine junkie! I’ve always loved reading, but especially magazines. My family will tell you I’m also a computer junkie – I’m always at my PC writing articles, emailing friends, laying out Footprints, catching up on Facebook.  And yet … there is nothing quite like being able to flick through a magazine at your leisure. I do a lot of my reading, curled up on the couch beside my hubby as he watches some “boy stuff” (sports / motor racing / whatever) on TV, so at least I am still being companionable even if I’m not interested in watching the same shows!

Much as I am often on the computer, I love being able to curl up with a magazine or good book even more – and I know I’m not alone! Digital probably is the way of the future but for now, my passion is producing a print magazine.  There is incredible power in the written word. Look at the Apostle Paul’s writings (in the New Testament) – still touching lives nearly two thousand years later! It will be interesting to see which type of words endure longer in our hearts – print or digital magazines. And how would we do activities like the collage activity I recently shared on the Footprints blog if we didn’t have print magazines?!

There is a lot of Christian content available for women online and in print in the US.  Are the needs of Aussie Christian women unique?

I’ve never been to the US, but from what I’ve seen and read it is a very different culture to ours. In some ways it is more “Christian” and conservative – in that most people seem to profess a belief in God, or call themselves a “Christian”. Church-going seems much more common. Here in Australia, you tend not to unless you are real fair dinkum about it! (How’s that for a real Aussie saying!)

And of course that is another reason we need home-grown reading material. Our language – especially our slang – is quite different. Our seasons are opposite. Our holidays and our educational system are poles apart. Politics; television and many everyday things are different. I suspect we are a lot more casual, friendly and relaxed. We need publications that meet us where we are at, and America is NOT where we are at (even though we are saturated with their culture … but that’s a whole ‘nother story!)

At the magazine editor’s conference I went to last year in the Philippines, Sharon Mumper from Magazine Training International explained that their organisation exists because it is important to have “culturally appropriate publications – where God puts the vision into people’s hearts to publish and reach their own …”. Yep, that about sums it up!

If you could put a copy of the 50^th Edition of Footprints into the hands of any woman in Australia, who would you pick?

Hmm good question! There is a part of me that would love to send a copy to certain senior church officials who told us in our early days that others had tried before and failed … is that a bit childish of me??! (See I am human, not a super-Christian LOL!)

I would just love to see it get into the hands of any Australian woman who is lost and crying out for God in her life. I’d love to see a copy given to every new Christian, to encourage them in the great decision they have just made. I think Footprints should be given to every woman who ever visits a church, so they have something to take home and read and think about. I’d love to see churches sign up the missionaries that they support – imagine how blessed those on the mission field would be to receive a little slice of home, of feminine fellowship and encouragement, each time the new issue of Footprints arrived!

Sorry, I’m getting a bit of track here aren’t I! Seeing as we have a new prime minister who just happens to be female – I’d love to give Julia Gillard a copy! I wonder what she would think of it?!

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There are still a few days left of the blog tour.  Jump here tomorrow for the next stop off on the tour at Paula’s, then to my friends Kelly and Tabitha!

And if you’d like to win a subscription to Footprints Mag for yourself, or for a woman in your life who you think could use some encouragement… just leave a comment below!  Aussie residents only please.  I’ll choose a winner on Monday.

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Congratulations Erin – you are the winner of the subscription to

Footprints Magazine for Christian Women. Enjoy!!