Friends I bear great news!!!
Etienne and Adolphe have their Permanent Residency! I spoke to them both last night just as they found out and they are ecstatic! It overshadows the news Verity and I announced just a couple of days ago that we are having a baby! For those of you who don’t know yet, yes we will become first time parents in June next year. It was just a couple of days after we made the announcement to everyone that we’re having a baby tht Etienne called me with the great news.
Some of you know them as the lead singer (Etienne) and bass player (Adolphe) of Vox Congo, while others have come to know them as dear friends, family even, who have been fighting for their right to live free from oppression, their right to be protected and their right to be reunited with their families.
Verity and I first met Etienne, Adolphe, Martinse and Papy in mid 2002, 4 asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We were living on campus at the Churches of Christ Theological College (CCTC) next to fellow students Keith and Sharon Briant. Keith was working with Urban Neighbours Of Hope (UNOH) through the Asylum Seeker Assistance Project (ASAP) and I was about to commence as senior minister at Knoxfield Church of Christ. One day while pottering in the garden Keith approached me and asked if our church would consider housing 4 asylum seekers UNOH had been working with, in our church manse which was currently vacant. It’s amazing what can happen from a conversation around the garden outside the units on campus at college.
From there we invited Jon Owen (UNOH worker) and Adolphe to come to a service at Knoxfield to not only meet but raise awareness on Refugee Sunday about the plight of refugees and asylum seekers. A couple of weeks later they were living in the church manse and so began an amazing relationship between the church and the guys but even more so between the guys and Verity and I.
As I began advocacy campaigns for them Verity spent time teaching them English. We had countless meals with them sharing stories, some very difficult to talk about. The church provided shelter, clothing and food. UNOH paid their utility bills. And over the 9 years I led 4 advocacy campaigns involving letter writing and visits with MP’s and Senators. Countless times the guys were rejected and depression set in, so we shared in the tears and the fears of what next, imagining the worst, to which Adolphe would say, ‘we need to be faithful, God is good’. Many people joined the fight at different stages of the joueney and some come and go, Verity and I knew they needed some constant friends to sustain them in the journey.
(hospitality with Vox Congo in our home, playing around at Glenelg beach & sharing the stage at a church gig)
I was talking with Keith Briant today celebrating the news. We acknowledged that it is almost 9 years since they arrived on our shores and began the process of applying for asylum. We remember there were times when both of us would sit with them and break the bad news about the reality of what they were facing. Especially after exhausting all avenues of appeals to the courts and refugee tribunal and still getting responses of rejection I remember sitting there with Keith and the guys with our hearts breaking telling them the fight was over, it was time to face reality. But here’s a lesson in faithfullness and hope in the face of hopelessness. Adolphe especially would look us in the eyes with the utmost respect for us as pastors of the church and say ‘Pastor, this is not the end. God will do something and give us a testimony to glorify his name’. Constantly each one fo teh guys would remind us of this whenever we hit a road block.
Not long after we met, Vox Congo was born and I became their manager working with them in getting gigs all over Melbourne, then Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide. I worked with them as they produced their first CD and we used their CD and the gigs we organized to lift the advocacy campaign for them and raise money to support their living.
It wasn’t long before my whole family had adopted each of them as sons and brothers, (the guys call my parents ‘mum’ and ‘dad’). My family always has a place for them, they have joined us at the Christmas dinner table and at family events, and now my parents house in Adelaide is a favorite retreat.
In July 2004 I married Papy to Rebekkah (they now have 3 kids) and in June 2007 Papy called me to let me know his Permanent Residency was approved. I cried, he cried and we waited for good news for the others. In February 2005 I married Martinse to Carmen (they now have a daughter Grace) and in January 2008 Martinse received his Permanent Residency. In July 2008 all of us exhausted, constantly harassing immigration to respond favorably to Etienne and Adolphe, we all felt like giving up. Once again Adolphe’s optimism and message of faithfulness rang in our ears. So we launched one more campaign to get 1000 people to write 1000 letters and we launched it at the UNOH Surrender conference. We got our 1000 letters and sent them off through their immigration lawyer. That was over 12 months ago and I thankyou you all for your participation. Now after a few technical glitches that held up the system we can finally celebrate with Etienne and Adolphe.
The most amazing part of this story is the faith journey they have been on, through the crippling lows particularly and their attitudes of hope, their faithfulness and their optimism. We have discovered the value of true friendship together and what it means to stick with your mates through the crap. Now we look forward to the party and celebration of a hope realized. Last year my mum was able to visit Adolphe’s family living as refugees in Kenya and Verity and I were able to visit Etienne’s son who was living in Paris. Now the guys have plans to visit their families in person. Oh and did I mention that last month Papy changed his name to David after he became an Australian citizen!
In the words of Adolphe, “Praise God! God is good!’
Amen
May shalom reign this Christmas.
Mark
P.S. Check the tags for related Vox Congo stories over the past 5 or 6 years and I just rediscovered a bolg I started some time ago which I haven’t touched in a while with more Vox Congo stories on it. Follow the journey at www.voxcongo.blogspot.com
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