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

Amahoro context – part 2

Claude Nikondeha set the context brilliantly in his opening address on the first night of Amahoro. It set the tone for the conference and spoke prophetically into a broader context in which many find themselves. Quoting Richard Rohr he said ‘pain, if not transformed is transmitted’. This for myself and my Australian colleagues became the most profound statement and most quoted sentence of the conference. Claude spoke about transfiguration in the context of redemptive suffering post apartheid. Using Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela as he quoteable sources he also quoted, ‘When we are able to see the larger purpose of our suffering, it is transformed, transmuted. It becomes redemptive suffering’ (Desmond Tutu).

This was powerful stuff we were hearing and Claude (founder of Amahoro) communicated so powerfully and articulated for me not only the theological and ecclesiological that lie ahead for the formation of God’s people in South Africa but this was powerful formational process for any of us who harbour resentment, anger, revenge or hatred due to suffering that has been inflicted upon us. Claude was reminding us of God’s heart for redemption and reconciliation despite us and what we do to each other.

i write this under the title of Amahoro context because i really feel this was the context of the conference. Everything seemed to fall into the zone of developing effective frameworks for the reformation of God’s people through a transformative…transfigurative process of encountering the other through the love and grace of God.

So I promised you a story about 3 weeks ago and it’s taken me forever to find the time to get back on the blog. So having set some context according to the observations of an Aussie visiting South Africa as a learner, my next post will be a powerful story. It is the define moment of the conference for me and the image of what I observed is burnt into my memory and I will never forget it. However everything we heard and saw at Amahoro is deeply embedded within a context so that is why I am attempting to paint a picture for you before I tell the story

This is drawing out longer than the announcement of the winner of Australian Idol isn’t it? I promise I will post within the next 2 days

Amahoro context – part 1 response

Hi all,

Thanks for your comments. Sorry I began to blog then disappeared, once i moved on from Sotuh Africa, I went out of internet range. Wireless internet isn’t exactly a priority in Zimbabwe.

I understand that my blogs may touch on some sensitive material and i can only write out of my own observations. These writings are by no means exhaustive of the issues and are merely ovservations of an outsider to Africa.

Cobus, in response to your questions I was referring to Afirkaans within this context. However I show my ignorance in not really knowing the difference between white South Africans and the various backgrounds they come from. I am very uncomfortable distinguishing anyone according to the colour of their skin or their background, however the language i use is the language I heard while in South Africa. maybe it says something about the current atmosphere of post apartheid but for the purpose of this conversation and for teh benefit of my readers in Australia who may not understand anything of the context of Amahoro I will try to use this language and in a respectful way. The white South Africans I met all spoke Afrikaans if that helps.

i have received many comments since arriving back in Australia nearly a week ago regarding the lack of information on my blog. I apologize if there are those who have been checking regularly waiting for the stories to pour out. i finally arrived home at midnight on a friday night then as I settled became quite sick so this is my fiorst day getting back into it. While in Africa I neither had the time nor the internet availability to blog anymore. You’ll start to see the reflections pour out soon.

Shalom
Mark

Amahoro context – Part 1

Amahoro is a vision and an idea that literally means shalom – peace. But not just peace in the way our English language describes but restoration and wholeness of life, equal opportunities for all and a spirit of reconciliation.

So as I have come here to the Amahoro Africa conference in South Africa and I am encountering the most unique conference of my life. I have entered into an atmosphere of Amahoro among the very raw tensions of post apartheid South Africa. While there is a desire for Amahoro in the content, there is a very raw and real context into which that is spoken every time we gather together in the hall.

I feel privileged as an outside westerner to be able to observe what is going on here. There are 7 of us from Australia in the crowd of 200 or so. While there are representatives from Kenya, Rwanda, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Uganda, Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, there are also people here from New Zealand, UK and USA. The most dominant presence here are the South Africans who make up about half of the group. The majority of those South Africans are white Africans. I tell you this to set a context for the space I find myself in as we understand the history and the current issues that particularly face the above mentioned African countries.

The hosts of Amahoro are Trevor (black South African from Soweto chairing the conference), Marius (white South African from Cape Town) and Rene (coloured South African from Cape Town)

I want to continue to set a context for a story I want to tell you. For the sake of breaking up long blogs, I’ll save it for the next one.

Amahoro – Johannesburg, South Africa

I am sitting in my room at the YFC camp in Johanesburg, SA. It’s the end of the day (midnight in fact) on the first full day of the Amohoro conference and I am almost lost for words as to how to reflect upon the experience. In case you’re wondering, we have 2 wireless routers on site and I am able to access one in my room which is great because I didn’t expect to have the luxury of internet access while I was away.

I am sitting here staring at the screen wondering whether to launch into this so late in the night or not. I feel I need more time to be able to unpack so I’ll try and give a snapshot and overview of my first 24 hours here.

I am one of 5 Australians here at the conference. The other western countries represented are UK, USA and New Zealand. The rest of the people here are from Africa (large contingent of South Africans – mainly white African). I’ve made new friends from DR Congo, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda among many others and but i particularly have an affection towards people from those countries because of the connections i have made back home.

The content of the conference so far is more than I could have imagined and no one could have predicted how powerful one of the sessions was. I listened to a black South African talk about the theology of redepmtive suffering (which I want to flesh out some more). I heard a theologian from the DR Congo talk about contextual theology (again another blog coming). Then I witnessed amazing history in the making when i attened a workshop on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. This is a story I really want to tell properly and well so watch out for this blog post coming soon. Tonight was Brian McLaren leading us into a new understanding of biblical narrative which was fresh and confronting.

The spiritual discipline and the theological engagement along with the amazing conversations is more than I could have imagined and I look forward to sharing more soon.

Shalom
Mark

Travelling to Africa

In a few days I leave for South Africa and will be visiting Swaziland and Zimbabwe during my travel to a very unfamiliar part of the world to me.

It’s been some time since I blogged regularly and I’m not about to change habbit although I would love to. I have been busy with so much it’s hard to find the time and the will to sit in front of the computer and reflect in a blog.

However I type this one in the hope that there will be some blogs to come in the near furture. I imagine that spending 12 days in 3 African countries will do something to me, it will stir me and cause me to want to respond in a number of ways. This blog may serve as a tool for reflection and interaction with others as I continue the journey.

I leave on Sunday June 7th for 12 days. I will be spending most of my time with World Vision. For the first 5 days myself and 5 other Aussies (Wolrd Vision delegation) will be attending a conference in Johannesberg where we will be challenged, confronted and inspired by people such as Desmond Tutu and brian McLaren to name a few. On Friday after the conference we travel with Swaziland WV staff to visit some of the poorest communities in Swaziland dealing with disease, malnutrition and HIV/AIDS. We return to South Africa on Monday and on that day I will be flying to Zimbabwe with one of my Church of Christ colleagues (Craig Brown who is part of the World Vision trip with me) for 3 days. In Zimbabwe we will be looked after by international Churches of Christ President, BJ Mpofu. We will have an opportunity to see first hand the development work our Australian Churches of christ are contributing to.

12 days later I’ll be flying home wondering what just hit me. The day after I arrive back I’ll be back behind the pulpit of my church wondering what on earth to say after being released by them for 12 days to have an opportunity to develop within myself spiritually & theologically among many other things, and having the opportunity to explore more direct partnerships between our church community and struggling communities in these areas.

So in about the 4th week of June keep your eyes peeled for some of my reflections. I don’t think I will be bogging before that as I don’t expect to have the time or accessability to the internet.

Also stay tuned for an event I am organizing with World Vision and members of local churches called the ‘Blackwood global village 40hr Famine challenge’. My trip will certianly contribute developing our focus for this event. In shotr we (local churches of Blackwood) are hoping to work with local business and government to make the Blackwood shopping precinct a 40hr Famine zone to impact 50,000 people in our community by raising awareness of the global food crisis and raise $100,000 for Wiorld Vision to help combat the crisis. We will have a range of activities happening on the weekend of August 21-23 including a concert on the Saturday night.

As you can see plenty to look forward to over the next couple of month in this blog.

See you in a few weeks

Shalom
Mark

Gran Torino – a reflection

Warning: If you haven’t seen Gran Torino but want to and you don’t want the movie to be spoilt for you then don’t read this post as I reveal the ending

I am surprised that in a country where the conservative right are obsessed with Hollywood movies that perpetuate the fixation on atonement theology, that Gran Torino didn’t make the list of movies for them to develop church resource packs, bible studies and campaigns to get the masses to flock to cinemas for their salvation.

The Passion of the Christ and the Chronicles of Narnia seemed to become an obsession for for some churches to drive home the point of sacrificial salvation for our souls through the substitution of one for many. There are still elements of Narnia haunting the shelves of Christian book shops.

Who would have thought that a similar theme can be found through the actions of an old racist white guy (played by Clint Eastwood) who lives with his haunting post war memories in a dodgy run down multi-cultural neighbourhood, in the movie Gran Torino. I guess the people who drive these campaigns to horde churches into cinemas for their vicarious Jesus fix didn’t see the connection. Maybe it was the violence, but that doesn’t stop them promoting the Passion of the Christ. Oh I know it must be the language, because you can’t have Christians exposed to bad language in the cinema now can you.

As you might imagine I was very unimpressed with not only the campaigns but also the movies attached to them, when well meaning Christain groups have tried to drive an agenda down our throats. But there is a great story in Gran Torino that has been missed by many.

The story is developed around a lonely and angry traditional old American man (Walt) who has just lost his wife. A veteran of the Korean war he lives in a neighbourhood full of Veitnameese refugee families whom he has no time for at all. He is a drinker and a smoker with a foul mouth. A family next door is harassed by a Vietnameese gang which results in an altercation on Walt’s front lawn and he steps in and becomes involved. Clint Eastwood’s presence in the roll of Walt can only be played by him, he takes on a whole gang with a stare and gun and a few choice words. However unlike most Clint Eastwood movies he never fires a shot.

Walt is the man on the porch who reluctantly becomes the object of affection and salvation by an oppressed community and begins to develop a relationship with his neighbours next door. there are a range of themes running here and I highly recommend watching the movie just to see the dynamic of the relationships between Walt and his sons (emotionally distant), between Walt and the Vietnameese family who put up with his insensitivity and racism but discover the compassionate man within, and between Walt and the Priest of the Catholic church Walt is reluctantly a part of. The relationship between Walt and his Priest is one of my favorite relationships to watch unfold and develop as they discuss theology, social justice, life and death.

Walt’s commitment to social justice alone would be the reason why I would take my church to see this movie. You can see that it gives him great pain to see his new friends constantly harassed by an oppressive situation where they will never get a new opportunity in life and will always be kept in the cycle of poverty and violence. Walt befriends the teenage boy next door Tao. This is where you see someone who has the ability to step into the cycle of poverty and redirect it to create opportunities for Tao so the cycle doesn’t continue. Walt helps Tao get a job, even takes him shopping to by the tools he needs. It’s a comical relationship as Walt even teaches him how to socialize like a ‘true American’.

A significant incident of violence against the family one night breaks Walt’s heart and the viewer is left wondering what Walt is going to do to seek vengeance on their behalf. This is where I think the DVD cover is miss leading.

Walt’s community want him to act on their behalf to seek justice, they have high expectations of him. They have suffered this kind of oppression for long enough and are looking for a saviour. Walt realizes that the only way to give this community a chance is to remove the cause of the oppression once and for all. I love how the director leads us to expect one outcome but what eventuates is entirely different. We’re led to believe that Walt will take his gun, go around to the house of the gang and shhot them all.

In an emotionally charge climax Walt does front up on the lawn of the house where the gang live and they come out to confront him, guns aimed. Walt has a few choice words to say to the gang about their behaviour then he reaches for his lighter in his jacket to light his cigarette. He knows this is it, he knows what will happen next and as he draws his hand from his jacket, in fear the gang members shoot him dead. Walt falls to the ground, shot in cold blood, unarmed, his arms stretched out as if you signify crucifixion.

A guy with a compassionate heart developed a relationship with an oppressed community. Working tirelessly, he tried to ge=ive them a chance but the forces of oppression wouldn’t let that happen, so he deliberately gave his life to save the vulnerable and those who were too weak to save themselves. As a result the force of oppression was removed from the community and the community was set free.

Can you see the parallel Gospel themes here? Then why didn’t i get my church resource pack for Gran Torino?

I would highly recommend Gran Torino, particularly for the themes of social justice, salvation, community and relationships.

And what about the Gran Torino? Well that’s a story within a story. Walt’s classic 1970’s Gran Torino is at the heart of this and there is a great story line that unfolds with the Gran Torino in the final scene but I won’t tell you how that all plays out, you’ll just have to go a see the movie. Great ending though.

Have you seen the movie/want to see it? Keen to hear what you think

Shalom
Mark