Profits at what cost?

Verity and I have been radically educated, first of all by our interest in fairtrade some years ago when we decided to which many of our grocery items to either fairtrade labels or Australian owned and grown products, but secondly by World Vision’s ‘Don’t Trade Lives‘ campaign. When we began this educational journey we discovered so much about the appalling living and working conditions of the people who produce the products we consume and about the companies who make massive profits off their suffering just so we can have a cheap product and shareholders can gain more profit for their share in the company.

Has our vision being so clouded by the bottom line…dollar$ and cents, that people no longer matter to us? Do we even bother to research the story behind the food we eat and the clothes we wear? i suspect it’s easier to live in ignorance because that requires no action on our part.

When we learned about the human cost of the production of what we enjoy in our comfort and affluence, it began to haunt us every single time we walked into a store, so we would stop and think about each purchase and try and make an informed decision as to how we participate in the world as consumers. Did you know that in many Asian and African countries where our main product lines of coffee, chocolate, big brand clothing etc, the majority of people who enable these consumables to be brought into your household are slaves? They are held against their will, forced to work extraordinarily long hours, many of them children, barely surviving as we simply pluck our favorite brand from the shelves without blinking an eye like drones who have been sold a lie with pretty packaging to cover the blood, sweat and tears. The even sadder thing is that many companies are aware of this but they don’t care as long as you keep pumping money into their brand.

Verity wrote a song called ‘Profitable crimes’. It’s a poetic kick in the guts to any of us who may have never given thsi a second thought. The song is amazing and Verity and I have often though it’s the best one on the album ‘Advocate’. It’s the anthem of the CD.

She wrote the song after one day walking into a department store with some money she was given for Christmas to buy some new closes. As she looked at the labels on the clothes a haunting voice of conscience speaks in her head, and the chorus goes a little like this:

“Who’s fingers bled? As they sowed on this thread, of the fashion we usually wear. Who’s cries were drowned? In all these cents and dimes. Another profitable crime.”

If you think the chorus is tough to listen to, wait until you hear the verses that tell the story.

As I wrote this post today one of the headlines on the news is about an Australian Defence contract for making our soldiers uniforms being given to a Chinese company (article here). Why? BECAUSE IT’S CHEAPER! Why is it cheaper? Because the company Defense want to give the contract to doesn’t pay their workers as much. Who knows what conditions they work under, but then again who cares? Defense are happy because they win financially. Nevermind the 400 workers in Victoria currently fulfilling the contract under fair pay conditions and good work environment, they will lose their jobs. This isn’t about being patriotic, although that’s the brush the media paint the article with. This is about being ethical. Shifting this contract offshore is just another story of many, many others like it where Aussies will lose jobs because companies want to save a buck and exploit people in another country who don’t have a union, don’t have to be paid much or anything at all and are not requireed to have a fair working environment.

This and many stories like it ought outrage  and disgust us. But here’s what will happen. You’ll read this article and hear about this headline on the news, you’ll get stirred up initially, but then it will leave your mind and you’ll go back to the way things were because this doesn’t directly impact you, you’re not directly affected…the poor and exploited aren’t your problem…or are they?

One of the great things about music, and Verity’s music particularly, is that it’s subversive and can communicate a message straight to the heart because that’s where the change needs to happen in all of us. The gospels of the New Testament call us to care about this issue so don’t shrug it off, get educated and respond to it.

Let me know your thoughts and check out Verity Skye’s music here. 17 days to go til the launch

Shalom Mark

A foolish revolution

Back in 2007 I was reading Shane Claiborne’s ‘The Irresistable Revolution‘. It was such a refreshing ‘get to the point’ read and timely reminder of our primary call to be Christian. That same year Shane was the speaker at UNOH’s Surrender conference and Verity was asked to worship lead throughout the conference.

The conference for 2007 was titled ‘Fools for a Revolution’ (which was my motivation for titling my blog ‘foolishness’ perviously). Ash Barker asked me if Verity could possibly write a song for the conference that whould be like an anthem reminding people of the call to Christian discipleship. Verity and I discussed ideas and eventually what emerged was Verity’s own unique song as a challenge and a call titled ‘Fools for a Revolution’. It made it to track 1 of CD 2 on UNOH’s ‘Following Fire’ CD released the following year. Verity has since reproduced and re-tweaked it for her CD ‘Advocate’. You’ll find ‘Fools for a Revolution’, track 1 on the CD.

Verity and I have been around churches all our lives and have certainly observed varied responses from Sunday church goers. The past 10 years or so I have spent nearly every Sunday on stage preaching to an audience and Verity has spent much of her time leading worship. Observing audiences is an interesting phenomena, especially when you say something challenging or reveal a new insight and all you get is blank stares. Have the regular Sunday Christians become so desensitized to the message that they no longer hear it? This is not only good news but a call to radical action and radical life change. Yet from our observations, for many Christians, the change doesn’t seem to be that radical from Sunday to Sunday.

Verity writes some hard-hitting lyrics in her song that ought to evoke a response in us. When non church goers share their impression of ‘church’ with me I hear them saying that Christians are a bunch of self-absorbed hypocrites who participate in narsasistic rituals one day a week. Sometimes we need to hear stuff like that because for some reason that shocks us more than the radical gospel message that ought to be disturbing our comfort every time we meet.

So Verity’s opening line of the song goes like this, “you walk the line, you’ve spoken in time, like a prisoner caged for doing a crime”. She talks about conformity to the way we do the traditional form of ‘church’. We know the right lines to say, we sit in rows staring at the back of each others heads, we wear smiles during our gatherings that may hide what’s truly going on, we don’t share our lives with each other or have in-depth conversations about what it really means to follow Jesus and the deep struggles that come with that as we sip our coffees over morning tea. Meanwhile there is poverty in our communities and around the world, and I don’t just mean monetary poverty but spiritual poverty, poverty of relationship and disconnectedness. There is injustice all around us and this Gospel we hear on Sunday is supposed to radically move us into spaces where our priorities are to counter those injustices with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Shane Claiborne in his book and as he spoke at the conference reminded us of the messiness and the awkwardness of engaging this foolish gospel that invites us to put the needs of the ‘poor’ before our own, to love our neighbour as much as we love ourselves, to bear a cross that may lead us to be unpopular and less liked by those we want to be popular with and liked by. This gospel calls us to humility and to put our reputations on the line for the sake of those who are already humiliated and have little hope. We are asked to put our lives on the line…why? Because the one we worship and hear about on Sundays did!

So Verity’s call and invitation in ‘Fools for a Revolution’ goes like this: “your silence welcomes another day, injustice is allowed to play…come on and be fools, fools for a revolution”.

So let’s hear your reflections, Christian or non-Christian, lets have a respectful dialogue. What does it truly mean to be a church goer on Sundays and how does it impact your life? (if at all) Does the church inspire you and challenge you in a good way to live your life as a radical Jesus follower and are you actually doing it? I don’t want people coming on here and bagging the church by the way, I love the church (being the people) and I am a minister of the church. I’m looking for constructive conversation and if the church doesn’t do it for you then maybe suggest how we can be true to our call. What can the church do to be authentic and effectively continue to call people into discipleship with Jesus?

If you would like to hear Verity’s song ‘Fools for a Revolution’, the Following Fire version is on her MySpace at www.verityskye.com

Check out Shane Claiborne on YouTube speaking on ‘Irresistable Revolution’

I look forward to the conversation. I will be checking the blog daily and posting once or twice a week.

Shalom
Mark

New theme

I’ve chosen a new theme and blog title to go in partnership with my wife’s new CD coming out at the end of the month. I tend to be the writer/public speaker, while Verity is the songwriter/artist/musician.

Verity’s recording name is Verity Skye and she is about to release her debut album titled ‘Advocate – songs that will not be silenced’. It is a powerful theme with 12 powerful songs. She writes an amazing introduction in the second page of her CD booklet which is essentially a call to radical discipleship.

Rather than explaining a lot about the CD in this post, I’ve decided to dedicate my blog to exploring the themes in her songs. So throughout February leading up to the launch of the CD on February 27th, I’ll be blogging about her songs and inviting discussion around each theme. There will also be the occasional plug for where she is preforming next.

I believe in her work a great deal and am certainly her number one fan. Not only is she an amazing songwriter/musician/composer, but her amazing voice, eclectic musical style, the contributing musicians and an amazing producer have brought to life a message through music that pierces the heart. These songs will not be silenced because they represent stories that need to be given a voice. These songs are not just for your enjoyment but are supposed to disturb you into action.

I will assist the message here by continuing to provide the ’shout out’ to all who would join the revolution of radical discipleship.

Visit www.verityskye.com for the journey that is developing. It’s just linked to her myspace at the moment and the songs on there are only the basic home recordings. But after the launch be prepared to be blown away by her studio recording and then in March/April an upgraded website.

Shalom

Mark

updating ‘climate scam’

So has anyone been waiting? Yeah so have I, waiting for the governments with the most influence to really take climate change seriously enough to do anything about it. Yeah I know I didn’t come back like I said, kinda like unfulfilled promises while our Aussie government takes an extraordinarily large delegation with them to Copenhagen for a tax payer funded ‘holiday’.

So the word is, they made some progress but no legally binding commitments. In other words, we haven’t really made any progress and the fate of our climate is not really that high on the agenda.
From what I can gather the more powerful governments who’s voices are heard (they’re the same voices that are always being heard) spent the time looking for loop holes so they can meet minimum commitments without having to cut back on too many emissions and the bottom line…to save a buck!

Meanwhile the governments of smaller, or developing countries (the ones who have to fight to be heard) get patronized, screwed over, left out, unheard and they’re the ones who most probably have to live with the effects of our living. They’re the ones who wacth the waters rising. They’re the ones who have big western companies moving to clear land, build enterprises and use their resources.

The imbalance makes me sick quite frankly and I neither have the time or the patience to stay up to speed with the debate so I’m moving on. The links in the previous post will probably keep you more informed than I possibly could.

Cheers
Mark

Climate scam

In the final hours of the Copenhagen conference, what has been achieved? What’s been going on? Is there anything to look forward to? Is anything else going to change apart from the climate?

I’ve been so angry and stirred up about the climate change issue for some time now but even more so in the past month. I became more active in advocating for change when i attended the voices for justice conference in Canberra back in September. I met with MP’s and Senators and i can honestly say that the conversation that held the most hope was with Green’s Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, the rest just injected spin, cleverly worded sentences and excuses into our conversation. My role in meeting with MP’s and Senators was to highlight the issue of climate change with specific needs and to convince them to lobby in their parties for change that would not only benefit the poor but the planet.

My anger escalated at the presentation of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). While it was at least a start to a solution, it wasn’t enough and certainly did not look after the Aussie battler financially. This created a stale mate and to top off a circus of a week of politics, the Liberals put Tony Abbott in charge, talk about setting us back 20 years.

So now Australia go to a conference with no real policies in place about how we will contribute to the solution and as it turns out through the many blogs and news stories I’ve been following, this conference in Copenhagen is nothing but a spam where the rich look after themselves first then we’ll think about the planet, oh and maybe the poor that are most directly affected by our greed will come next.

When you hear stories of the ‘rich’ countries controlling the conversations, putting blockages and objections everywhere they can and the ‘poorer’ smaller nations not having a clue what’s going on, you have to wonder. The countries with power are stalling and not ready to talk figures or targets. The Christian message of justice spoken by the World Council of Churches seems to be falling on deaf ears, The agendas of those most directly affected by climate change are squashed because…well…let’s face it their not important enough, developed enough to be an economic power or country of influence. Injustice reigns, confusion spreads, fatigue has set in because those with less power and influence are forced to wait for hours after a scheduled meeting time with the more powerful and influential. political games are being played while frustrated protestors are being beaten. we wait in our air-conditioned rooms of comfort and watch on our big screen TV’s or read though our high speed internet connections to see what comes of this conference, while predictions say the conference will do nothing but set us back 2 years to the talkfest they had in Bali.

Meanwhile our neighbours in the Pacific Islands, Asian nations and across Africa, continue to suffer the realities that we are grossly unaware of. The reality of their lifestyles has changed dramatically because of the pollution we pour into the atmosphere, but it’s not just about our fellow human beings in developing nations, it’s also about us and how the planet we inhabit is being affected by our presence here. Soon we will feel the effect like our neighbours already are, but that’s not why we should change our ways…to save ourselves. No we need to save our planet anyway and care about our neighbours anyway. We are responsible for the effects they are suffering. And our Australian government wants to pull wool over peoples eyes at the conference in negotiations so we don’t actually have to change much in our contribution to climate change! They say it’s the biggest moral issue of our time but from what I have heard we suffer from sever moral poverty. It’s all about $ in the end. (more on this in a later post)

I have much more to write so I’ll try and break up these posts so their not so long. But here’s some websites I encourage you to explore on the issue

http://www.greenpeace.org.au/climate
http://www.avaaz.org
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/home.html

Dare I say, ‘watch this space’

Shalom Mark

Vox Congo celebrate this Christmas

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

Great Communion celebration Adelaide

On October the 4th the Churches of Christ in South Australia gathered to celebrate a Great Communion and 200 years since Thomas Campbell’s declaration and address. There were many gathering points, particularly in the regional areas where clusters of churches gathered together. But the main event organized from the state office was held at Mile End Church of Christ.

Some traveled for hours to be present at this once in a life time gathering. We estimate around 300 people gathered in the Mile End building representing a great number of our churches in South Australia. We tried a few new initiatives to celebrate 21st century style. Here’s how it panned out.

I chaired the committee that pulled this event together but ideas came from all over the place as to how we could celebrate and particularly how we could connect with those who were some distance from us. The other challenge presented before us was the Mile End is currently our oldest existing building at over 100 years old so has limitations when it comes to technology.

Mark Butler our State Minister is currently serving as a RAAF chaplain in the Middle East so we wanted to be able to include him. Also since we are the Churches of Christ conference of churches in South Australia and Northern Territory we wanted to include our one and only NT church. Jim Larkam, minister at the Darwin Church of Christ NT suggested we skype during the service so we could have audio and video link up via the internet. That presented a huge challenge for us since there was no internet connection at the church. Craig Brown and I came up with another idea while we were in Zimbabwe earlier this year. We decided to interview BJ Mpofu, President of our World Convention with a Great Communion address we could play on DVD. Once we converted this recording to DVD Craig worked out how to upload it to YouTube so people all over the world could have access to it.

So we decided to rise to the challenge. We imported our own sound equipment for the band and audio link up (thanks Etype for the loan of the sound desk, speakers, folds, and leads. Thanks Blackwood COC for the mics, leads and mic stands). We brought our own mobile internet modem to plug into a laptop (thanks to my brother Adam for the loan). We brought our own laptops and data projector (thanks to my mate Marcus for the laptop and being our IT consultant and to Blackwood COC for the projector). And we were set to go!

We pulled it off without a glitch! Geoff Payne, acting State Minister, welcomed us all as he read the introduction to the declaration and address. We sang a hymn played on the great pipe organ at Mile End, then tried something we never tried before…we skyped Mark Butler. It was perfect, he could see all of us as we panned the internet cam around and we could see him projected up onto the big projector screen we found out the back of the church. Mark was able to address us all the way from the base in the Middle East. When we had finished with Mark we sang a chorus led by my wife Verity Skye and a band she had put together. Tthey sounded brilliant but even more so was the powerful singing of the congregation. Then we skyped with Darwin Church of Christ. We could see about 20 of them gathered around the computer in their church building. It was so amazing to connect with our church at the top end and we felt a real sense of togetherness. I know this meant a great deal to the Darwin church who often feel isolated so far away. Darwin COC remained connected to us for the rest of the service, they sang songs with us, listened to me address the congregation and joined us as we had communion together. We even played the DVD recorded address from BJ (recorded by me at BJ’s house on my mum’s handycam) so we were not only able to connect with our church in the Middle East and Darwin but we connected with the Zimbabwean churches as well.

I was the speaker, reflecting on what or who shaped our identity as a movement. I reflected on where we have come from, the voices that have contributed to our movement taking shape in Australia, such as A.R. Main, E.L. Williams, G.R. Stirling and Greg Elsdon. Then I cast our attention to what shapes us for the future. While the average age in attendance was probably well over 65 it was important for all of us to believe and imagine that we have a future. Simon Clemow, minister at the Goolwa Church of Christ led us in a thanksgiving prayer towards the end of the service. I suppose Simon and I, two young leaders in our early thirties, represented part of the future hope of our movement. We were almost the youngest ones there by about 20 years.

We also had some amazing archives available span a representation of four centuries. Starting with Dr George Campbells’ translation of the four Gospels owned by Barton Stone with his hand writing in it, printed in 1799. We had that on display along with many 19th century publications from Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Barton Stone and Walter Scott, through to the 20th and 21st century Australian authors and leaders of our movement, with the last of those being written and printed by Graham Carslake in 2009.

On the table above the books we had on display a 100 year old photo of the 100 year celebration held in Pittsburgh USA in 1909. It’s a delicate old panoramic view of the oval where the stands are packed with people from all over the world. It is owned by an older member of my church whose grandfather was in attendance at that gathering. Of course alongside that we had a limited edition reprint of Thomas Campbell’s declaration and address printed by the Disciples of Christ in 1908.

October the 4th was an amazing event for us in Adelaide with a rich mixture of history and new technology that brought us together across space and time, we were connected with our past and connected with each other in, even though in various locations. More importantly we remain connected with Christ our guide and hope for a promising future.

Unfortunately due to the many technological challenges we faced we were unable to record the service. Also because there was so much going on we forgot to take a photo.

Youth Vision celebrate the Great Communion
Every April and October Youth Vision SA hold a state wide teens camp attended by up to 100 of our teens from a number of churches. This October everyone on Teens Camp paused on Sunday the 4th to participate in the Great Communion. They even played the greeting from BJ downloaded from YouTube (we had uploaded it for use on October 4th). So our teens even though were not present at Mile End were still able to participate with us while on camp and share in the same connection we had with Zimbabwe.

Mark Riessen
Minister, Blackwood Church of Christ, South Australia

40 hour famine

it just occurred to me to post the link to sponsoring me for the 40 hour famine here on my blog. I’ve been so frantic organizing the Blackwood global village 40 hour famine events over this weekend that i forgot to ask for sponsors. I’ll post a story on the famine events next week and with any luck with the national media release that went out last week the national news might cover it. Local press has been covering our event and World vision have been filming a documentary/promotion DVD with me during last week and over this weekend so hopefully you’ll see all the highlights there.

Here in Blackwood the community has rallied together for this cause and we’re trying to raise $100,000 to combat the global food crisis. Today 900,000,000 people will face the crisis of not having access to even one nutritious meal. Together we can make a difference and bite back at hunger. Go to the link below and sponsor me, contribute to the solution. I’ll be back to give you a story in a few days.

Sponsor me for the 40 hour famine

Cheers Mark

Ministry of presence – Amahoro

My lack of precense on my blog is a very long story and some of it may filter through over my next few posts. However over the past few weeks experiences from my time in Africa have manifested and have become even more profound as I have experienced life and integrated some learnings.

Edward Simiyu, a Kenyan pastor at the Amahoro conference spoke very briefly one night on the ministry of presence. He wasn’t one of the advertized key speakers but Edward’s tpoic and what he said was the most powerful and enlightening moment for me. Not only has this concept resided with me strongly since coming back from Africa, right up to this day, but it has helped me frame a range of experiences in life and ministry over this past few months.

The ministry of presence is the most profound and sometimes the most confrontingtype of ministry. The more I think about it, it is certianly the most significant. i can’t think of much that is more impostant than being present with another person.

I’ve travelled a fair bit and visited many countries, some for holidays and some for ministry related agendas. I’ve always had this niggle in the back of my mind about the amount of money and time I spend to go to another country to visit. Sometimes it’s hard to justify when you think that the money you spend on a ticket could have provided food for a whole village or the time you send travelling could be used doing something important for the kingdom of God in your own backyard. But Edward setteled my mind and confirmed another thought rattling around in my head. He started by saying to those us of who have travelled from other countires to be at the conference that our presence here was important ministry.He understood the financial cost to us to fly to Africa and the time we spent travelling and he followed through by saying that is not waste…to Africa it is powerful ministry.

He said the ministry of presence is an African concept. I won’t argue with that but I also know from my time in Vanuatu that it is also a Ni-Vanuatu concept. The point for me is, it’s not a concept that we in the ‘west’ understand well. He used an example saying, when someone in Africa dies, people don’t send cards, they go, they show up.

It’s the showing up and the ‘being’ with people that speaks more powerfully than anything we can send, or build or buy. While the practyical support in providing aid, etc is important Edward said that is we really want people in Africa, Aisa, etc to knoiw that we really care about them, if we really want them to know that they matter when we send aid and gifts and support, if we really want them to believe that we pray for them and care about them…then we will show up and show them that they matter enough for us to travel halfway across the world to be with them. It was like he could not empasis enough the importance of our physical presence to encourage and minister to them. He said that our presence with them matters so much because it tells them that yes, there is somone else on the other side of the world that cares about the violence in Congo or Rwanda and that we are not just praying but we have come to stand with them. That’s the kind of presence that speaks louder and more powerfully than anything.

So Edward encouraged us all to allow our presence to minister to one another because it is in the presence with another that we can truly express ones thought and feelings. It is in the ministry of presence that we convey hope, love and and the sense that being with another person is more important than the busyness of running programs and events. Sometimes we just need to make ourselves avaiulabe to care.

I’m going to continue this theme for a couple of posts. thankyou edward for your encouragement to us and confirming that our presence with you was not wasted.

Amahoro, Mark

Transforming the world with a towel and a bowl

It’s a foolish thought I know but Jesus teaches such outrageous concepts. The only way to bring about change in our world splintered by hatred, greed, war and suffering is not with a pile of guns and bombs and a bunch of threatening words in a diplomatic showdown. The only way to truly bring about lasting transformation, reconciliation and peace is with a towel and a bowl and a massive dose of humility. This is the most valuable lesson I observed at Amahoro and it’s taken me this long to word it the way I need to express.

On day 3 of Amahoro we had some workshops we could attend. One of them was a panel called ‘the legacy of the  truth and reconciliation commission (TRC) and the reformation of South African society’. The panel was to comment on and discuss the TRC, a commission set up post aparteid in the bid to seek the truth about the many injustices people suffered under apartheid and to hopefully begin to bring about reconciliation among the people of South Africa.

On the panel were the following people: Trevor Nthlola (from Soweto, chair of teh discussion), Rene August (from Cape Town), Moss Nthla (from Johannesburg), Adriaan Vlok (Afrikan former minister of police and former minister of correctional services under apartheid), Sarafina (Adriaan’s former housemaid) and Sean Callaghan (from UK formerly of South Africa)

As Trevor introduced the panel the conversationbetween Adriaan and Trevor was amazing. Adriaan talked about being a ‘Christian’ all his life in that he tick the box for statistical purposes, went to church on Sunday but left the sermon in the pew and went about his business which was about hunting down the ‘communists’ and dealing with them under aparthied law. He says he became a true christian 3 years ago when God transformed his heart. Before he went on to tell too much more of the story Trevor interupted and said, ‘you know if it wasn’t for the Lord Jesus Christ I would not be sitting here and you would not be sitting there…we would still be emenies today and i want to thank the Lord Jesus Christ that we can be sitting here together as brothers.’ It was an amazing scene, a black South African from Soweto sitting with an Afrikan formerly a man of great power who exercised it with all it’s consequenses under apartheid, having a constructive conversation about reconciliation in the name of Christ. An unheard of scene 15 years ago and a priviledge to bear witness to. Adriaan agreed with Trevor and returned the compliment of calling him brother because if it wasn’t for the Lord he wouldn’t be sitting there. He said that the transformation that happened within him was not posible with the spirit of the world in him. It was only by the Holy Spirit that he could change. An amazing testimony.

It was amazing to listen to Adriaan and his story, but what was also fasinating was to observe the reactions of the others on the panel as he spoke. He talked of teh ‘unofficial war’ they waged against each other and it was a war because they were killing each other, black against white and the white seemed to weild the power. He said you couldn’t knock on a door in Soweto and expect to be greeted with a cup of tea, this was war and they were killing each other. As he began to say things like this Moss and Trevor began to snicker and laugh and i imagine because we were comparing the realities of not so long ago to the reality of what we were observing on that stage, this mixed group of people united in Christ reflecting on the stories that had them killing each other.

Adriaan talked of going before the TRC recently to seek amnesty for his ‘crimes’ and to ask the people of South Africa for forgiveness but he said amazingly no-one seemed to hear him, it seemed to him that it was all a bit ‘tokenistic’. It wasn’t until he stood before Franciscani (I have no idea how to spell his name) and 9 black African women that he finally felt he was heard.

Franciscani was a leader of an apostolic pentecostal church (black congregation) who stood against the injustice of apartheid. Adriaan’s administration was responsible for jailing him because he visited accused ‘communists’ in jail, but he would say he was doing the work of the Holy Spirit by standing against injustice and with teh oppressed. The police attempted to poison him (which he survived) and there was an elaborate plan to bomb a church builing to kill much of tehblack congregation and render the building useless but that failed as well. Adriaan spoke of his part in all of this, the balance between law and secret plans on the side that would serve other agendas. The whoel time he was telling these stories Moss and Trevor’s snickers became under the breathe snorts until finally on the punch line (the failed attack) they would break out in laughter because they were all convinced that God had a miraculous hand in the outcomes of these events which is why they all sit on the stag together on that day. Adriaan said the bomb that was supposed to demolish the entire building and kill many only managed to damage part of the building and didn’t even injure a single person and the black congregation continued to meet there.

Then Adriaan told of his house maid Sarafina and she told her story of working for this wonderful man and having no idea what he did outside the walls of his home because he treated her so well. Adriaan said that if he was going to truly seek forgiveness for his actions and the way he had conducted himself for so many years reconciliation needed to start in the home. He was deeply moved and shaped by the text from John 13 where Jesus washes the feet of his disciples. He said to himself, this is what he must do, it was the ultimate act of humility and service. So one day he asked to wash the feet of his housemaid Sarafina. She was amazed! He then told a story about how he gained teh courage to go to the office of Franciscani and he washed his feet. It was an action Adriaan nearly backed out of but he said he had to seize the moment, it was now or never.

When Adriaan had finished (we had been sitting for over an hour listening to stories) Trevor was about to wrap up but Sean (who was sitting next to Adriaan) said he needed to say something. You could say he was seizing a moment because it was now or never. He addressed Adriaan Vlok  by telling him that when Sean was only 17 he was conscripted to the apartheid regeime where he was sent to work with the death sqaud. They were told that those against apartheid were terrorists and were to be hunted down and ‘dealt’ with. Sean told Adriaan how he has suffered from the trauma of this time since the end of apartheid and that he too had sought amnesty. But his therapist said he couldn’t blame a system for his pain he needed to blame a person and he looked Adriaan in the eye and said, ‘I blamed you’. He said everytime he needed to curse in his home he didin’t curse using God’s name he used the name ‘Vlok’ and a curse word.

Sean turned to Adriaan and asked his forgiveness right there on that stage. Adriaan accepted and in turn asked Sean to forgive him and then Adriaan did an amazing thing. He asked Sean if he could wash his feet. Sean accepted and asked Adriaan the same. So they used the glasses of water they were using to drink out of and right there on the stage before all of us witnesses from around teh world we witnessed this amazing history making event. 2 men formerly in positions of great power using apartheid to mame and persecute the black community of South Africa, now suffering their own pain and shame, were transfigured by the power of the Holy Spirit are actively seeking forgiveness and reconciliation of a broad scale and practicing that very act rigth in front of us with ‘a towel and a bowl’.

Adriaan washing Sean's feet

I could not believe what I was able to have the privilege to witness in that room that day. But I know this, God is working in amazing ways with people of influence in South Africa. 15 years on after apartheid the atmosphere may be far from ideal but there is hope in South Africa. the hope resides in simple acts of compassion, humility and service, the powerful act of reconciliation through the use fo a towel and a bowl. So simple yet so difficult.

Shalom
Mark

This is by no means an exhaustive account of historical events in South Africa but it is a reflection on an experience of a foreign visitor to a conference in South Africa. I apologize for gapping holes or misinterpretations. It is purely a reflective blog to share a story of hope