Reflection on Towards Reconciliation

The last couple of years I have been studying a Post Graduate Certificate in Theology. I don't find joy from studying but I do it for personal development as well as requirements of my position as an ordained minister in the Uniting Church of South Australia. My family have been very supportive to me throughout my studies in encouraging me and knowing when to stay away from me.

My last subject I chose for my Post Grad Cert was a very different subject to others I had chosen which had been along the themes of leadership. I didn't know what to expect when I went on a weekend of "Walking on Country" and then began my topic "Towards reconciliation." It has been quite a journey for me and has touched me in very unexpected ways. I thought I would share my reflection of my experience here.

The last few months have been an interesting journey for me as I have tried to intentionally engage with indigenous culture and the issues First peoples are struggling with on a daily basis. I have listened to the stories of the Adnyamathanha people, I have read copious articles, I have visited with Anangu people in Yalata (a very different experience from listening to Adnyamathanha people) and I have engaged my congregation as well as people in my family and social networks in conversations around issues of reconciliation and generally how they understand the issues of First peoples.

I have realised from the perspective of a white, first born Australian generation, grand-daughter of English and Dutch migrants looking to make a better life for their families, I have the opportunity to choose whether or not to engage in conversations about land rights, justice, and reconciliation. I choose whether or not I want to notice and subsequently make a stand for the rights of First people’s in Australia. I get to choose whether to ignore what mistakes have been made and are continuing to be made or I have to make ways forward to helping the reconciliation process. While there is that desire to want to help others, to free the oppressed and show compassion for the down trodden, there is still a faint voice that says “It’s too hard, let someone else sort it out”. My faith reminds me that Jesus says in Matthew 25:40 “…‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’” How can I not seek ways to stand with my indigenous brothers and sisters after what I’ve learned these last few months?

This journey has made me understand the importance of story. It’s important that stories are told and stories are heard and in some ways experienced by the hearer. For people in the Christian faith there is the need for faith stories to be heard and for the hearer to connect with one’s own in experience in some way. Hearing and reading the stories of the Adnyamathanha people has helped me understand their connection and belonging to the land which I now realise I’d never really understood. For me, that experience has impacted me far more and given me greater understanding than had I just read facts about indigenous people and the issues they face. To be included in the stories, trusted with the stories and to feel their emotions as they told the stories gave insights and experiences I wouldn’t have otherwise had.

It is those experiences that I have taken back to my own community and the lens through which I now see and hear through when in discussions about reconciliation for indigenous people. The same lens through which helped me understand the struggles of the Anangu people in Yalata, a people displaced from their land near Maralinga when white people chose to do nuclear testing on the land. I find it interesting that just in the few months that I have been engaged in this course of study that I have had several opportunities to engage and hear stories of indigenous people when that hasn’t normally been my experience.

I will never claim to fully understand what indigenous people have experienced or to know how we can move forward to full reconciliation. However, I have come to realise that even in taking small steps towards reconciliation that is a much better approach than staying silent. As a leader in the church I have to lead in this area and not just hope that someone else will do it. I have a responsibility to stay engaged in conversations of reconciliation and justice for First peoples and help the church to stay informed and ready for action. Previously I would have thought staying quiet was better than saying the wrong thing. I realise now that staying quiet is saying the wrong thing.

As followers of Jesus we are all part of the body of Christ. As the body of Christ we have a responsibility to make sure that every part is cared for and represented. One part of the body can’t say to another part ‘I don’t need you’ and each part of the body needs the other part so that it functions the way it was designed. 1 Corinthians 12:26 says “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it.” If the church is truly part of the body then when our indigenous brothers and sisters are suffering, then we are also suffering. It is no longer an issue about the ‘other’ but an issue that we all share and need to actively engage in.

This course has had a far bigger impact on me than I had anticipated it would and I will be forever changed because of the experience.

Risk Taking Mission and Service

May is Mission Month at our Church. During mission month we focus our fundraising efforts on our partners in Northern Thailand and the Upside Down Circus which is a big, 2 day family friendly event, supported by the different churches of various denominations in the northern suburbs of Adelaide. Mission month used to be an opportunity for the congregation to hear about different people's experiences of mission. When you hear people speak passionately about the way they are involved in mission, whether it's an overseas short term trip or whether it's something a person is involved in weekly or part of their daily life it is always inspiring. However, that is nothing compared to actually being involved in mission, having the courage to get out of your comfort zone and experiencing first hand what it means to come alongside someone, serving them and caring for them, sharing your experience of your relationship with God.

This is our second year where we have encouraged people in our small groups (we call them K3Y groups) to not just give money and not just listen to other people's experiences but to actually get active and find opportunities to serve and build relationships with people in our local community. We encourage our small groups to do this together because it's always easier to do something in groups rather than as individuals.

As an FYI our K3Y groups (pronounced "key" groups) have three values:

- Intimacy with God

- Relationships with Christians

- Connecting with people who don't yet know God 

We have found the third value - connecting with people who don't yet know God the most challenging value for our groups

 Even as groups it can be scary to 'go out' and find ways to partner with people. Our groups are made up of teenagers through to people in their 80's but we think age shouldn't be an excuse for not caring for people in our community. It's been exciting to hear the stories that our groups have been sharing with the leadership team. One group of older women has been organising afternoon tea for the police chaplain to take to the police station when he visits. One of our teenage groups supported another local church by helping out at their Easter event. Another group organised a "Biggest Afternoon Tea" to raise money for the cancer council. These are just a few examples. Each group is encouraged to look at their own gifts, skills and interests to think how they could serve people in the community. This is only the second year we've done this but I can see how people are willing to take a risk and try something new. Sometimes the hardest decision in doing something new is just deciding you're going to actually do it.

To keep encouraging groups we had a K3Y event night where we continued to look at the "Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations" by Robert Schnase, with a focus on Risk Taking Mission and Service. We began by acknowledging there are risks involved when we decide to get involved in mission and work alongside people. Usually we think of the risks to ourselves before thinking about the risks for others or even the positive risks involved. We all react to risk in different ways.

In mission there is a starting point and that starting point can be different for each person. This can include:
- Sensing an invitation or a call from God
- An awareness of human need
- Feeling unworthy or inadequate but wanting to do something
- Wanting to make a difference
- Finding purpose and meaning
- Seeing an opportunity to using Spiritual gifts or material resources

In mission we are aware that God invites us to participate in God's mission.
We join God in mission where we learn to love God and love others the way God loves us. (John 13:34) It is a risk to allow ourselves to love people who aren't like us, don't think like us, don't look like us. Loving others like God loves us pushes us to re-evaluate our friendship circles and moral circles as we build friendships with people with different life experiences to our own.

In mission we risk not being in control:
- We don't know the outcomes and whether our efforts will make a difference
- We don't have all the answers
- We don't have all the resources
- We risk relying on others generosity and receiving what they offer
- We need to be sensitive to any inequalities of power/influence/money

In mission we risk relationships:
- Relationships take time
- Relationships need commitment
- Relationships can't be planned
- We risk getting involved

As we practice risk taking mission and service, God's Spirit;
- Changes us
- Changes others
- Changes churches

In mission we risk failure:
Failure is different for each person
 
“Risk taking mission and service is one of the fundamental activities of church life that is so critical that failure to practice it in some form results in deterioration of the church’s vitality and ability to make disciples of Jesus Christ. When churches turn inward, using all resources for their own survival and caring only for their own people, then spirituality wanes.” Schnase pg 83

In mission we risk Spiritual growth:
We discussed how mission looked for a person on a discipleship pathway from new to connecting and growing through to leading.

We had some good, thought provoking table discussions and input throughout the night. It might help our groups to think of ways they can continue to be involved in risk taking mission and service.

Walking on Country

As a minister in the Uniting Church of South Australia I am required to be part of a continual learning process. Sometimes this can feel like an extra thing to do on top of an already busy schedule and other times it can be a pleasant break from the usual routine and demands that part of life.

Currently I'm completing a Post Graduate Certificate in Theology which is part of my love-hate relationship with study. As part of the course I recently participated in Walking on Country. A weekend where a group of us from the Uniting College of Leadership and Theology travelled to the Flinders Ranges, staying at Angapena station, to spend time learning about the Adnyamathanha people, who are the first peoples of the land in the Gammon Ranges.

I’m not a “country” girl and very rarely spend time in the country. I have never stayed in the Flinders Ranges or heard the stories of the Adnyamathanha people. The weekend was a huge learning curve for me.

One of the highlights for me on the weekend was to spend time with people from Iga Warta. There, we travelled to nearby landmarks to hear the stories of the  Adnyamathanha people. We stood in a creek bed to hear the story of a flood. We looked out on the ranges to hear the creation story. We sat near a tree to hear the story of family. We saw a rock that looked like damper that told the story of a mother looking for her children that had wondered off. So many integral stories which connected people and land that I had never heard before.

We visited an ochre pit. I remember Terry (in the photo) asking us if we were ok to put ochre on our faces and I thought it was a polite but funny question because a bit of ochre isn’t going to hurt anyone. Terry put the white ochre on each of our faces, explaining that white was representing the connection with mother earth. As he placed the ochre onto my forehead I felt I had received a blessing. I felt myself relaxing and being aware of my surroundings. For me it was a spiritual moment. However, I also thought that was it and was ready to move on. Terry explained that there were more colours of ochre that he would put on our faces. I wondered how all those colours were going to fit! And yet each time Terry put ochre onto my face it was like another sense came alive; another blessing. I became even more aware of the sounds, noises, and the earth around me. The orange ochre was particularly valuable to me as I thought about Mother Earth breathing, and for me, connecting to mother earth for new perspective and breathing in the fresh air. A blessing, a time of personal refreshing and reconnecting to God’s creation as we heard the stories and opened our eyes to seeing the land around us in new ways.

I think for myself, being first generation Australian in my family. I hadn’t really connected with the stories of the first people of Australia. They weren’t the stories of my heritage and no one in my family knew the stories to even tell them, let alone make personal connections.  So although I had heard stories being told it had never made a personal impact on me. Over the weekend I felt I began to connect with the stories, understand the important relationship to land and could see how this includes me in both a physical and spiritual way.

 (Rainbow over Nepabunna)

After our weekend I went home and preached on community. I told the story of the hill that represents the two different Moieties (family groups) and the significance of that to the Adnyamathanha. I talked about how important stories are to community, especially when told orally with significant landmarks close by. I made the connection to the oral tradition of Christian stories and how they help form us as Christian community. I encouraged the congregation to share together some of our faith stories. I reminded them that those stories are part of who we are as Christians and that we also have symbols in the Christian faith that help point us to those stories. I talked about how, because of the treatment by white invaders, the Adnyamathanha people had started to lose their language and their stories but they were trying to reclaim those things important to their community. I made the connection that as Christians we have no excuse to lose our stories.

 (Hill showing the two Moieties - North and South)

I finished by sharing that as we left the Flinders Ranges we drove past the hill where we’d heard Aunty Denise tell the story of the two Moieties. It was the first story we had heard as we travelled to Angapena station. On our way home the people in our car spotted the hill as we drove by and the people in the car began retelling the story and what we had learnt over the weekend. At Church in Pt Augusta Aunty Denise asked the whole group if we had noticed the hill and we all said we had. She asked us if we had known the story before we began the trip and we answered no. She then asked us to tell the story, and different people in the group gave input to the story. Aunty Denise then said, “Now, every time you see that rock you will know the story of the Adnyamathanha people.” As Christians we can learn about the importance of story and sharing the stories of our faith and connect people to a deeper understanding that these stories of our faith, just like the stories of the Adnyamathanha people, aren’t just read but they are lived and experienced and help us understand the relationship of creation, creator and spirit in our lives.

I am still working on what I will do now that I’m home. Just in sharing in my sermon it brought a range of emotions from my congregation. Some recalling their own time spent with first peoples and others working through what reconciliation means. Before my sermon I read to the congregation the Uniting Church pre-amble to the constitution. One person wrote me an email to say they felt they had wanted to stand up and clap when they heard it read in church.

 (how far we travelled)

We were welcomed on to country and experienced amazing hospitality over our weekend. It was a very humbling experience.I really hadn't been sure what to expect when I made the decision to go but the weekend was a rich learning time and an experience that has had an impact on me and my ministry.

Radical Hospitality

At a recent 3Dnet gathering I attended we heard about a book by Robert Schnase called 'Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations'. In his book Schnase talks about the Five Fruitful Practices of Congregations as being, radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, risk taking mission and service and extravagant generosity.

At a recent leaders night at church I spoke on radical hospitality using Schnase's book as the base for our discussions.

During our opening time of worship we were reminded that hospitality is inviting people into a relationship with God. "Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ welcomed you, for the glory of God" (Romans 15:7 ESV)

Hospitality is more than a handshake at the door and a coffee handed to you after the service.

Schnase says Fruitful Congregations
- Naturally turn outward
- Know that their work focuses on those not yet here
- Are missional, open and inviting
- Know it's not about them but about the strangers yet to be invited and welcomed

In churches that practice radical hospitality there is a desire to invite, welcome, receive and care for those who are strangers so that they find a spiritual home and discover for themselves the unending richness of life in Christ.

Jesus said "I was a stranger and you welcomed me" (Matthew 25:35 ESV)

 We watched a clip about a church faced with closing it's door but exploring what hospitality means to the church.

We were reminded that hospitality isn't the work of one person or a committee but a lifestyle. As the body of Christ, God calls us to welcome everyone, seven days a week, wherever we are.

In table groups we recalled our own experiences of walking into a church for the first time. We thought about what made us feel welcomed, where we found it easy or hard to connect. We also discussed the role of hospitality in our experience of church.

(At this point we decided to have a quick break and try out the supper hospitality)

Schnase says, in churches practicing radical hospitality, newcomers intuitively sense that:
- These people really care about me here
- They really want the best for me
- I'm not just a number, a customer, or an outsider here
- I'm being invited with them into the body

"To become a vibrant, fruitful, growing congregation requires a change of attitudes, practices, and values. Good intentions aren't good enough. Too many churches want young people as long as they act like old people, more newcomers as long as they act like old timers, more children as long as they are quiet as adults, more ethnic families as long as they act like the majority of the congregation" (pg27)

More questions we looked at in table groups were
- Why do people need Christ
- Why do they need the church (although there's another question there if you take the 'why' out of the question)
- What does your church provide for people seeking a relationship with Jesus?
- When can welcoming become a manipulation of a church guest?

We also looked at hospitality as part of a discipleship process, as we each grow in our relationship with Christ.

Questions on this were
- What are the greatest gifts you've received through the church from your relationship with God?
- What do you feel has been your greatest contribution to building the body of Christ?
- What contribution to the body do you want to seek/make
- What contribution have you made in inviting/welcoming someone to the body?

In each of the table discussions group members were encouraged to only answer those questions they felt comfortable in sharing with the group. We also had opportunity for the table groups to share what they were comfortable with in the larger group.

We then looked at the ways someone new to the church can connect with the church. We talked about the pathways and ministries the church has in place to help people grow as disciples and opportunities for the church to show hospitality in those different areas.

 Everyone is responsible to pray, plan and give their best in ministry to help people feel invited and welcomed.

We finished with one last table discussion, asking two questions.
- If you are part of a ministry team, how do you see your team enhancing radical hospitality
- What's your next step? How are you growing in discipleship and showing hospitality to someone in your congregation?

We had some really good discussions around hospitality. There was good reflection on how our church sees hospitality and some exploring of what hospitality could look like in the future.

Palm Sunday 2013

When I was at college we were encouraged to be creative in our devotions and worship space. It's not always easy to find the time to be creative when you are in full time ministry so it's been a while since we've done anything a bit 'different' in worship. Palm Sunday seemed an ideal time to be reflective and carve out space for busy people to sit with a familiar story and listen to what God was saying.

As people walked in, they were handed a paper bag. In the bag was a picture of a donkey, paper framed with palm leaves, a picture of a coat and a small stone. We began the service by looking at Zechariah 9:9 We took out the picture of the donkey and thought about the image of Jesus riding a donkey and what image we would have today of someone important coming to our city. We then looked at the symbolism of peace associated with a donkey and what it meant for Jesus to be riding a symbol of peace, when people were looking for a strong leader to rescue them from the oppressive Roman government. We spent time thinking about Jesus bringing peace into places and situations where we hadn't seen an opportunity for peace to exist. We thought about our own lives, where we were worrying, where we felt troubled, where we didn't feel peace and we spent time praying for those things and asking Jesus to bring us peace.

We read Luke 19:28-40. We thought about the people joyfully praising God in the street. We remembered Moses and Miriam leading worship to God after the Israelites fled Israel. God had saved his people before and God could save his people again. We spent time reflecting how we praise God for the things he has done for us. We pondered questions: "How comfortable are you to praise God in public", "When was the last time you spent time with God giving him praise for what he has done", "When was the last time you shared with a friend what God has done for you". We then took our paper that was framed in palm leaves out of our bags and wrote our praises on them and stuck them on the doors. The next thing we did was to take out the picture of the coat. I took some artistic license here and encouraged people to think about why people in the crowd would lay their coats on the ground for a donkey to trample over them. What would the path of coats look like when Jesus had moved on and the crowd had gone? We thought about the expectations of the crowd, maybe someone was hoping for healing, maybe someone else was hoping to stop paying taxes to Caesar, maybe someone was hoping to be able to do what Jesus could do? We thought about our own expectations of Jesus when we bring our prayer requests to him. We wrote a prayer request on our coats and put them back in the bag and brought them to God in silent prayer knowing that God answers prayer but maybe not in the way we expect.

We then brought out our stones. Jesus had told the Pharisees that if the disciples kept quiet, then the stones would cry out. (Luke 19:40) We noticed the Pharisees weren't crying out and wondered whether the Pharisees hearts were harder than stone. We felt hope that creation will always praise its creator. We acknowledge the sadness that will come later this week as we journey with Jesus to the cross but we remembered the hope that we have in Jesus, the risen Christ. We held our stones as we sang our final song and examined our own hearts for any hardness toward God. Afterwards it was good to hear people continue the reflectiveness and have conversations about the service and imagery. One group of people saw a lot of imagery in their stones which had cracks and dents. They felt these symbolically represented some of the things their hearts had been through over the years which they gave over to God. The stones were taken home which I hope will keep people reflecting through the week.

The praises we stuck to the doors were seen by our playgroup families during the week. A great way to share our faith with people in our community.

A way to take our Sunday service and look Beyond Sunday :-)

Ministry Musing

I haven't blogged for awhile but it's a new year so you never know what might happen! This year will mark the beginning of my 3rd year as Senior Pastor. I can't believe the time has gone so fast. It hasn't been easy, there have been lots of little changes and some significant changes both in ministry and in my own life. However there have also been some great things happen as a result of change and there have been some belly laughs along the way. One of the things I've realised is the importance of remembering who God made me to be and why I was called to ministry. As you go through the day to day happenings of ministry and life in general it can be easy to lose focus on why you are doing what you're doing. Lots of people have expectations of you and opinions on how things should be. You can't let those voices be louder than God's voice. Of course, that's not just for people called to ministry,it's something to remember wherever God calls you. God has put you there for a reason and you need to be able to remember that reason. So I have nothing mind blowing to share but I prepare to begin my 3rd year happy knowing who God created me to be and reminded of the calling he has for me.

Fear Not

Isaiah 41:10 (NIV) "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." This verse became the theme for the team of people from our church who went into a psychic fair for the very first time. Yes, you read correctly, we went into a psychic fair. We were taking Isaiah 41:10 to the people we met but it turned out the verse was as much for us as it was for the people we met at the fair. We went, not knowing what to expect but with the belief that it was what God wanted us to do. Our goal at the fair was simple, we were to share God's love and encourage people to let go of the worries and stress in their lives. For over a year our church has been praying and planning for the fair. People in our church donated money so we could book the stalls, people gave their time to make knotted bracelets, (which had the Isaiah verse on them) another person made a mountain of cross-stitch crosses. A person in our church is a reflexologist, (This person had the original vision) and was able to teach team members how to massage. Many people prayed. It was a church effort! For us, as a church, it was a new and unknown step. We didn't know what to expect or what the outcomes would be. There were uncertainties and doubts and even fear at times. We didn't know if people would come to our stall or not. We didn't know if people would want to talk to Christians. We didn't know if we would say the right things. We had to trust God. We were amazed at the response. People came for massage, for healing, for prayer, for answers and for a listening ear. They wondered why we would want to be there and not make money - everything we offered was free. They were surprised that the church had a spiritual element and wasn't just a charity. They were confused that a church would give massages. They were open to love of God. We trusted God. It seems that whenever we try to bless others God blesses us as well and if the blessing we feel as a church is any indicator of how blessed people felt after visiting our stall then I think we were able to achieve our goal.

Ordination in the Uniting Church of South Australia

Last week the Uniting Church in SA celebrated the ordination of 7 people who had been candidates for Minister of the word. This ordination was particularly special because we celebrated the ordination of the first person from South Sudan to be ordained in the Uniting Church of Australia.

Each ordination has it's own feel because the ordinands involved give input to the service. They spend time with the moderator in the weeks leading up to the ordination and discuss the way the service will be shaped. For example, when I was ordained there were a few of us with young children so we wanted children to feel involved in the service. We had bags for the children with card, glue, stickers, textas and envelopes so the children could write notes of encouragement to the ordinands during the service.

This ordination service started with song and dance by the Sundanese Youth Choir in SA. Definitely a great way to start a celebration service.

Our moderator Rev Rob Williams then acknowledged the first people of Australia and welcomed us to the ordination service.

Rev Dr Ian Price preached the word and led us in wondering "What is in your hand?" with the help of some improv actors from the gathered people :-) You might recognise the part of Moses.

The ordination service was very meaningful and it's always a special time to see the people praying over the newly ordained people.

We then shared Holy Communion together. I have no idea how many people were there but you can imagine with 7 ordinands there were 100's of people there. However, time was given so that everyone was able to share in the meal.

Everyone who was ordained on the day already had a placement but this day signified the beginning of their ordained ministry.

For me it was a celebration but also a moment in my day for reflection.I was celebrating one year in my current placement and just over a year since my own ordination.

God With Us

Today just didn't seem to be my day. My Key didn't want to work in the door, I got the kids to school late, plans I had for the day were thrown aside and I was just feeling out of sorts. I had a Doctors appointment before heading to my lecture at College and the Doctor was 45 minutes late! I had watched someone else cancel their appointment after waiting 'too long.' I was so tempted to do the same. I wanted to tell the receptionist how I was wasting time sitting in the waiting room when I could have stayed at the office another 30 minutes! I didn't, instead I read my emails on my phone.

Coming out of the Doctors office I had to wait while the receptionists talked to each other about 'matters of importance' and all the time I kept thinking about the time I was wasting. Finally I walked out the door, ready to head to the college, calculating in my head whether I would have time to get petrol, eat my lunch, grab a coffee and meet with a lecturer before my class started.

It was then that I saw a woman sitting in the carpark crying....

I walked over to her and asked if she was ok; she said no. Her Doctor had given her some awful news and now she was waiting for someone to pick her up. She told me how alone she felt.

We sat....we talked....we cried.....we hugged....I was aware that God was with us.

I drove away, still with tears on my face and thanked God that my Doctor was running late today.

Thanksgiving Tree

At the beginning of February we started our stewardship series. It was a good time to remember, as a congregation, to give thanks to God for all that he has done in the past year. We had a bare tree at the front of the church and during the service and put a flower shaped card on all the chairs. I hadn't told people what the bare tree was doing at the front of the church until I invited people to write prayers and words of thanksgiving on the cards and to place them on the tree. It was amazing how the cards transformed the tree! There was much to give God thanks for. At the end of the service the children brought their cards in that they had made in Sunday school and also placed them on the tree.

After the night service we put the tree in the foyer and now everytime I pass it through my week I see how pretty it is and am reminded to give thanks. It literally brings a smile to my face.

Thailand

My excuse for not blogging for awhile is that I was on a mission trip to Thailand!!

This was my first 'real' mission trip. I have been overseas before and I have been overseas as a representative of the church but I have never been to such remote areas before. I have to admit that although I enjoy learning about other cultures and trying new foods I still like the comforts of my own bed! I am not a fan of 'roughing it' or camping....

We started the trip in comfort. Our team of 8 flew from Adelaide on Singapore airlines; which is my favourite airline. We spent two nights in Singapore, getting to know each other and enjoying the sights of Singapore, and then flew to Chiang Mai.

That was where the 'rubber hit the road'. We learned quickly that seat belts aren't as important in Thailand, and that sitting in the back of a ute was part of everyday life. We had to get used to the dogs, chickens and ducks that wandered around the village and the roosters that formed an impromptu choir at 4am every morning. Squat toilets, rice at every meal and the daily community announcements at 6am were reminders that home was a long flight away.

However, as we started to make friends with the people we stayed with and the people in the villages we visited the culture shock diminished. We were amazed by the hospitality of people and their willingness to invite complete strangers into their homes. When we visited a village of "yellow leaf people" we realised how different we were as some the children were visibly shaking when we entered their homes. Even with uncertainty, they still welcomed us.

This trip helped me to realise something about mission that I hadn't thought of before. Mission trips aren't about building things. Often I hear about mission trips where schools or churches or houses are built and there is almost an expectation that a mission team will report back with an accomplishment of a finished building. In Thailand we helped to build a church but, it turned out, that wasn't the main point of the trip. I felt the most important thing we did while in Thailand was to continue to build relationships with our partners in Thailand and to offer encouragement and support to the Pastors and leaders of those partnerships.

Relationship building isn't a tangible outcome like building a church so it's harder to report back to the church what the team has done while in Thailand. What I saw in Thailand were leaders and Pastors doing their best to respond to the call that God had placed on their lives. They encouraged other leaders and people in remote villages with very little support and encouragement for themselves. They faithfully serve God and serve people but it is lonely to be in ministry in Northern Thailand where there aren't many Christians and there are many varied religious beliefs. As a team we were able to worship with the leaders and Pastors as well as the people in the villages. We gave them words of encouragement and listened to their ministry experiences. We laughed and cried, we sang songs of praise to God and we prayed. I think this is where our partnership really makes a difference.

It's amazing how quickly friendships are formed while on a mission trip. When you take into consideration language barriers, comfort zone barriers and cultural barriers you might assume friendships are hard to form. However, when your barriers are down and you are open to God's leading then what would normally seem a block to friendships forming actually help form friendships. One morning I was with a woman who didn't speak English and being from a small village, didn't speak fluent central Thai.(not that I can speak Thai) She was reading her bible and through a variety of motions asked me to sit with her and join her bible study. She would show me what she was reading then I would try to recognise the book in her index and then try to find the correlating book in my bible. When I found the book I thought was the one she was reading I would then double check by looking at how many verses were in the chapter she was reading. If they matched I hoped we were reading the same verses!

This may not be as practical as building a church but the memories and the friendships formed are exciting. It is the partnership we have between our church in Adelaide and the churches and home church in Thailand and the people in the villages that will have a Kingdom impact. We came home changed people. We learned things about ourselves we didn't know, we found inner strength we didn't know we had and we learned to trust in God, perhaps more than we had before. We went there thinking we would bless others and yet we found we were the ones being constantly blessed.

Bread isn't the issue

Last week in my journaling time I read Matthew 16:5-12 and I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the disciples. Hmmm maybe I should have had a cup of coffee before I journalled. I could just imagine the looks on the disciples faces that day when they realised they had forgotten to bring the bread! (and this is just after the Matthew stories of Jesus feeding the 5000 and 4000 with just a few loaves of bread and a few fish - what were they worried about?) I can imagine one of the disciples, in charge of the food, searching the boat for bread and realising there isn't any bread, whispering to the disciple next to him that there isn't any bread. I can see the eye brows raised in shock as they both realise there isn't any bread; they haven't been able to do a simple task like remember the bread!! Their minds are ticking over about what to do, should they tell Jesus or not? Perhaps they should just tell the other disciples? So they join the other disciples who are listening to Jesus and Jesus says "6 “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”The disciples start to sweat - Jesus knows they've forgotten the bread. They start whispering to the other disciples, "we forgot the bread, Jesus knows, that why he said what he said" 7 They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread!”

I imagine Jesus is trying to stay patient but is exasperated that they've missed the point. He doesn't worry about things like bread! "8 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11 How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread?" Jesus has fed thousands of people, why would he be worried about this small group not having any bread?

So Jesus tells the disciples again what is on his mind "11bBut be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

And finally the disciples 'hear' Jesus and understand what he's saying "12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Another light bulb moment for the disciples :-)

I love how the disciples are just so normal. I wouldn't want to mess up in front of Jesus!

As much as the text made me laugh it also made me wonder about leadership and churches. I read so many articles on what I should do to be a good Pastor, what to do to get the church to grow, how to treat my staff, how to disciple, love, teach, pastor my congregation. They often start with 8 ways to... or 10 ways to.... If I'm doing A then B should result. I wonder if we as leaders and "The Church" get so caught up in doing what we think is the right thing that we forget to actually listen to what God is saying to us. We know what should happen and what we are responsible for, and we don't want to disappoint God so we try to persevere with something thinking that's what God wants us to do when in actual fact God is saying "You're not hearing me, stop worrying about....because I'm not concerned about that, instead I want you to.... What we hold as important in leadership or in our congregations may not actually be so important to God if that's not what he wants you to be doing at that time.

Does assuming we know what God wants us to do stop us from actually trying something different? We work on the assumption that to be church we need to look a certain way, have certain programs, act a certain way rather than being willing to hear if God is saying 'How is it you don't understand I wasn't talking about the way you look?'

It highlights for me (again) the importance of prayer and being still before God.

Finding my inner Storyteller

At our recent leaders night I decided to tell three stories that have been playing in my mind recently. The first two stories were familiar childhood stories which may have been told as bed time stories, the third story was a familiar story from the bible. Although the stories were familiar I encouraged the group to listen to the stories with fresh ears, looking for fresh insights.I asked the group to listen to the stories as leaders and listen for what values they heard in the stories, what the stories said about team work and leadership and what the moral of the story might be.

The first story I told is a story that pops into my head every now and then about a Little Red Hen who wants to make some bread but when she asks the pig and the duck and the cat to help they decide to stay where they are comfortable instead of helping out. The little red hen goes through the motions of making the bread, asking the others to help her along the way but they continue to refuse. Finally the bread is ready and she asks who will help her eat the bread, the pig, the duck and the cat all offer to help eat the bread but the hen says because she's the one who made it, she will eat all the bread by herself.

I like this story because as leaders we can relate to struggling to get people out of their comfort zones or wanting to get something done but others not seeing the vision. As a group we also wondered whether the hen had asked for help the year before and the pig and the duck and the cat had all offered to help but the hen was such a perfectionist that it put them off helping this time!

The second story I was reminded of when I heard it told at our recent Synod meeting. It's the story of Stone Soup. This story seems more gracious than the story of the Little Red Hen. A stranger comes into town and starts to make stone soup. It sparks curiosity in the villagers. The stranger then invites the villagers to bring what they are able to add to the stone soup to make an even better soup. Everyone is invited to share in the soup, even if they didn't contribute.

I like the way people were invited to share what they had; herbs, vegetables, meat. It may not seem like much but there isn't any judgment on the offerings and when they were all put together in the pot it created something that none of the offerings could have done on their own. Not only was there soup but community was created as well.

The third story I told was Jesus heals the paralytic. This story tells of 4 men who take their friend, who is paralyzed, to Jesus to be healed. They face obstacles in getting their friend to Jesus but they are focused and determined and they carry their friend to Jesus and the result is their friend is able to walk home that day.

I like this story because it shows the love the men have for their friend and the faith they have in Jesus. The friend would never have been able to get to Jesus on his own. Many people worked together and overcame obstacles for a common goal, and the outcome was amazing.

These stories generated a lot of table discussions for our leaders and we shared together our own stories and insights. I enjoyed being a story teller!

What are we waiting for?

I just read this article at the "Gifted for leadership" site. It made me think of what I journalled about this morning.

Luke 19:1-10 is the story of Zacchaeus - the tax collector. Verses 3-4 says 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. (NIV)

Zacchaeus was faced with a problem. He knew he wanted to see Jesus, he knew he was at the right place at the right time, he knew this was his opportunity but he also knew that he was too short and circumstances were against him.

This is sometimes like us in the church. We know we want people to see Jesus, we know we're in the right place at the right time and we know we have the opportunity to make a difference but that sometimes our situation and circumstances are against us. When we're faced with those situations our first response is often to pray and ask God to remove the obstacles for us or to discern what God want us to do in a particular situation, or wait until we hear God's leading. I'm not saying this is wrong but I wonder if sometimes we do these things so we don't have to take responsibility for the situation we find ourselves in. (This is different to trusting God)

Zacchaeus could have prayed that God would miraculously make him taller, he could have prayed for the crowd of people to part at the most opportune time. He could have hoped that if he stood his ground, somehow, as Jesus passed, he would see Zacchaeus in the crowd...it would be fate....it was meant to be.... Alternatively Zacchaeus could have grumbled about the unfair state of affairs that there are too many tall people in the world and why did God have to make him short?!

Instead, Zacchaeus used his initiative and he climbed a tree. There was no miracle, no leading from God, no bringing about justice to a bad situation. He climbed a tree, he saw Jesus and his life was transformed.

Sometimes we have to stop praying for a miracle or divine intervention and actually get up and do something ourselves. We need to stop grumbling about our situation and do something about it. It doesn't mean we've stopped trusting God or we aren't listening to God. Sometimes when we are faced with a tough situation we need to be active and be the change that we need.