Studies
HOLIDAY
ABM’s brilliant new story/study book for Lent 2026 – or anytime! Gospel stories reimagined in an Australian landscape.
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. PhD (Charles Sturt), MTh (Charles Sturt), B.Th. (Hons) (Flinders), DipPS (ACD), Grad Dip Ed (SACAE), BSc (Hons) (Adelaide)
“Strikingly, surprisingly, shockingly, new. I encourage you to read and cherish these stories.”
Dr Meg Warner, Principal, Wollaston Theological College, Perth.
“While reading these stories, the bible comes alive in a way you won’t ever forget.”
Rev’d Dr Joan Riley, Principal, St Barnabas Theological College, Adelaide.
“Unmistakeably Australian. I highly recommend reading HOLIDAY in Lent and Easter.”
Rev’dDr Ruth Mathieson, Principal, St Francis Theological College, Brisbane.
“To articulate Christian truth using Australian vernacular and imagery is an invitation to renewal.”
Bishop Cam Venables, Bishop for the Western Region, ACSQ