HOLIDAY - PDF version. Stories of Jesus set in an Australian landscape. ABM's Lent Study for 2026!

Order now! HOLIDAY, ABM’s fabulous new Lent (or anytime) Study for 2026 and beyond.

PDF version. Available immediately. No printing. Environmentally friendly.

"Truly beautiful. Not many stories bring tears to my eyes, but these short tales do it again and again. Normally we think of tears being a result of sadness, but there are also the tears that come when the veil thins slightly, and through it we glimpse the beauty, truth and goodness that we long for. There is sadness involved, because it is not yet ours to enter into, but there is also a promise which allows us to dare to hope. I think this is what CS Lewis called ‘joy’. These stories are, to me, bearers of that deep joy."

The Right Revd Dr Anne van Gend, author and Bishop of Dunedin

From Steve and Vanessa Daughtry, author and illustrator of ABM’s wildly successful Advent (or anytime) Study, CARAVAN, comes a brand new book, HOLIDAY.

100% Australian. 100% Missional. 100% Gospel.

100% Enjoyable.

Stories from the adult ministry of Jesus, starting with his baptism by John and finishing at the Resurrection, HOLIDAY imagines the Gospel stories set in a contemporary, Australian landscape.

HOLIDAY opens a door on new and refreshing ways to encounter Jesus. Concentrating on the people whose lives Jesus touched, the stories invite us to imagine ourselves in the scene.

Not just another bland Bible Study, HOLIDAY is a book of powerful stories that you and your faith community will laugh, cry, wrangle and wrestle with.

Here’s what one Aussie Biblical scholar has to say about HOLIDAY.

“In HOLIDAY Stephen Daughtry invites us in to encounter Jesus anew, by retelling key moments of Jesus’s adult ministry from the perspective of ordinary people in contemporary Australia.  The stories are gritty; at times I tasted the dust in my mouth and felt the pain of broken relationships. These stories are also of love and faithfulness, with gentle and true transformation in the lives of ordinary people.

I appreciated the deep respect for First Nations people and ways of knowing embedded into these stories, and the keen observational eye of each narrator as they tell their story in a voice that is unmistakeable Australian.  What CARAVAN provided for the Advent to Epiphany season with stories of Jesus’ birth and childhood, HOLIDAY offers for the Lent season with stories of Jesus as an adult and the ongoing impact of what an encounter with Jesus may mean. 

I highly recommend reading or listening to HOLIDAY in Lent and Easter as we journey with Jesus through key moments of his ministry to the cross and resurrection - and glimpse the transformation in the lives of those who encounter Christ as we hear these stories.”

Reverend Dr Ruth Mathieson, Executive Director & Principal, St Francis College, Brisbane. 

More recommendations below.

The price of each PDF copy remains at $10.

For international orders please contact ABM on: info@abmission.org.au

Just as with CARAVAN, all the stories will be available to listen to on ABM’s YouTube account: https://www.youtube.com/@AnglicanBoardMission .

You and/or your study group can sit back and have the author read the stories to you each week. Make sure you have a good quality sound system to play it on.

FURTHER RECOMMENDATIONS

"It has been a revelation to find Stephen Daughtry’s stories. Not only do they absolutely bring the gospel stories home to an Australian context, they do that very unusual thing of making you want to both cry and laugh, just in a single page. Context is everything here. We can think that we understand the stories in our Scriptures, but when we read them translated into our own context, suddenly the familiar becomes strikingly, surprisingly, shockingly, new. Daughtry is offering those of us who live in the Australian context something really special – I encourage you to read and cherish these stories."

Dr Meg Warner, Principal, Wollaston Theological College, Perth.

"I couldn’t put down this set of inspiring and creative interpretations of key episodes in Jesus’ life. The vista of Australia is embedded deeply in Stephen Daughtry’s words, the images vivid and memorable. Every story has an unexpected turn, and readers are given fresh insights into Jesus and those characters who formed part of his ministry. While reading these stories, the bible comes alive in a way you won’t ever forget."

The Rev'd Canon Dr Joan Riley, Principal, St Barnabas College, Adelaide.

“When I was much younger, I remember the impact of reading ‘What’s so amazing about Grace?’ by Philip Yancy.  In this Yancy used real and fictional stories to bring to life key elements of Gospel teaching.  For Australians I think Steve Daughtry’s story telling has even greater impact because he references places that we know and describes people who sound like us.  In this collection people from Roma go to see Jonno and get baptised; the temptations of Jesus are retold in a way that invites us to bear witness; the rich young man has both a name and an epiphany; and the woman at the well works at a servo ‘in the middle of the arse-end of nowhere!’  To make something old new again is a gift, and to articulate Christian truth using Australian vernacular and imagery is an invitation to renewal.”

The Right Reverend Cam Venables, Bishop for the Western Region, ACSQ