The Vision: Is it old or new?

Over the last few days I've been reading a book called "Red Moon Rising" by Pete Grieg. I highly recommend for those of you that haven't heard of it. It is story of how the 24-7 Prayer movement started, and has some pretty amazing stories of how the spirit has led people together with similar visions of an army of young people, a whole generation of prayer warriors calling out to God...and how God has been answering them...

I remember going along with a friend to a 24-7 prayer room soon after i'd become christian (at some crazy hour of the morning after we'd been out on a friday night). ..As well as laughing at how my parents (not church goers) thought I was passed out in a gutter drunk because i had turned my phone off and wasn't answering and thier utter disbelief when i rang at 5am to tell them not to stress i was just in a prayer room... it has been interesting reflecting back on the experience... I remember it being a special time but also a time that God really started to break my heart for the poor (and the start of turning my life upside down!). The bizaree thing is, until i started reading this book, i had always thought this 'movement' was just a regular rythym of the church, or perhaps nothing new - why would i question it... of course we should have time as a church community coming together in prayer...praying for ourselves, each other, praying for our communities, our nation, our world....nothing revolutionary about that!? And Pete Greig's story tells, it is not new, generations before us have led similar movements...the Moravian community prayed for 100 years non-stop!

For me personally, a vision that is shared in the book had strong resonance with me - it was very similar to one that I have of the global Salvation Army: "There were hubs of concentrated light, almost like powerhouses, which were sending out pulses of light"...But my image is of a globe with Salvation Army corps scattered all over, with people being released from the captivity of the church building, walking out of the safety of our corps and reaching out into thier communities hurting....and thier communities being healed. For me that is the potential of the Salvation Army...we are a global army, a global family, yet are local and grassroots focused ...friends often ask me why i choose to work for the Salvation Army as opposed to another NGO? And on many many points it is so tempting, but recently i can't get away from this one vision... I love that we are the communities. By that i mean, for example, when a disaster happens like the tsunami, or as communities struggle to cope with the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, we don't have to send a team there, because we already are there, we are already part of the community, we are in relationship with them, and we will be there long after the emergency disaster and project teams leave. Our Soldiers remain. I am humbled when i think of friends I have made globally that are living out this vision, mostly unpaid!...they are the saints that keep going unrecognised, yet remain focused on bring love, care and healing to thier communities. I think Daryl Crowden has a similar vision when he says "It is this priority for transformation that makes every Salvationist a community, and human capacity developer".

In my mind, Integrated Mission (or whatever you want to title this similar vision) isn't a new movement, just as the 24-7 prayer movement wasn't...But it does take us back to our roots, back to an Army that walked out of established church held captive by religion and straight into the communities that were hurting most...That is my vision. Is it yours?

Here's a thought...perhaps we should call NEO's (New Expressions of Church) - OEO (Old Expressions Church)???

Close the Gap Campaign

I just finished reading a government report called "Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage - Key Indicators 2007" and is the basis behind Oxfam's "Close the Gap" campaign. The thing that struck me as ironic was, all the examples of "Things that work" and recommendations were bottom up, community-owned, grassroots initiatives that have proved successful! One that i looked up caught my attention, and I've cut and pasted a little bit below: good stuff!


"The aim of the Empowerment Research Program is to explore the role and contribution that concepts of empowerment and control can make towards better understanding and addressing the social determinants of Indigenous Australian health and wellbeing.



We have utilized two practical programs or tools for studying empowerment and control and their relationships to Indigenous health. These are the Family Wellbeing Empowerment Program and Indigenous Men’s Support Groups. Both of these interventions are ‘inside-out solutions’ that build on Indigenous strengths. The dominant image of Indigenous Australia portrayed by health statistics and the media is a traumatised people plagued by chronic and debilitating disease, incompetent governance systems, alcoholism, violence, unemployment, boredom and appalling education outcomes. Too often these images overlook crucial facts that Indigenous communities, like all human societies, mainly consist of people trying as best as they can to go about the daily business of living a meaningful life. Equally important is that no matter how desperate the situation might look to the outsider, communities often have pockets of exceptional strength, resiliency, creativity and innovation."



National Close the Gap Day is on Tuesday 18 September 2007 - and will give Australians across the nation the opportunity to come together and show their support for closing the 17-year life expectancy gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and other Australians.

For Salvos in Melbourne: A group of us are going to the event at Federation Square 12pm - 2pm. Want to join??

See Oxfam's website for more details: http://www.oxfam.org.au/events/close-the-gap-day/

Paul Keating - The Redfern Address - Australian Labor Party

Woman at the Well John 4:4-42

Last friday i had the opportunity to go to UNOH's Surrender conference "Fools for a Revolution". For me it was a really positive time to be able to connect with such a diverse group of people also passionate about the situation of Indigenous people in Australia. Hearing thier stories and experiences, it was further confimation to me that the relational approach that the regional team use in community is vital. By far the highlight of the weekend was hearing two aboriginal people talk, Aunty Jean Phillips and Ray Minniecon who are both very passionate about both seeing the Indigenous church grow in Australia and raising up the next generation of Indigenous leaders.

In the elective with Ray, he facilitated a discussion on the Story of Jesus meeting the woman at the well in Samaria (John 4:4-42) and the link with the situation of the Aboriginal people. Was very interesting and i was amazed at the discussion that came out of a couple of basic questions. I thought i would very roughly share a few thoughts we had.

The Questions that were posed to the small group discussions were:

1. What barriers did Jesus have to overcome in order to have a relationship with the samaritan woman?
2. Think about Jesus's approach and method. What principles can we learn for relationship building?

The barriers we mentioned included: Gender, Language, Social Stigma - cleanliness of associating with a gentile, Social Class, her history (the time of the meeting at the well is an indication that she herself was socially excluded, perhaps because of her history), physical barriers - Jesus went out of his way to pass by Samaria.

A good question to ask ourselves: who in your community/society represents the woman at the well?? We discussed the link to the Indigenous people in Australia.

Key Principles/Approaches:

1. There is a surprising bargaining power in the way that Jesus approaches the woman and asks her for a drink of water, he is the one in need. How often do we go to the community with things for them, rather than showing our own needs and vulnerability. There appears no power structure here - which surprises her.

2. Jesus is aware of her history, acknowledges it, but is not judemental - he continues to talk to her. He is 'informed' yet has compassion and is gracious.

3. Jesus being with her there at the well, and building a relationship with her, meant he put her above religous laws & norms. And surprisingly, the disciples didn't question it when they returned.

4. Jesus mixes the 'natural' (being the water) with the supernatural (living water)- which leads to transformation.

Just imagine if we could apply so perfectly the approaches that Jesus used in our own interactions with people!!!