Tony & Felciity Dale in Australia (By Oikos Australia)

The Simple Church Conference brought inspiration and encouragement to many people around the nation. The big surprise is how many in traditional churches are appreciating this opportunity to be challenged to see simple church multiplication as a way forward. Tony and Felicity very capably bridged these groups because of their involvement both with independent groups for many years, plus their close association with several mega churches in the United States who work alongside the house church movements. One of the inspiring challenges that has come out of these meetings is to see legacy churches and home churches working together in greater cooperation in reaching people for the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Both Tony and Felicity have a depth and graciousness in the way they impart effective teaching, stories and practical ways of engagement in simple church. Their time with us will have a ripple effect that will be seen for a long time in the way missional home churches develop in our country.

Reports from each of these events all over the nation will be gathered, along with photos, DVDs and podcasts.

Welfare… for Whom? (By Andre Van Eymeren)

Sometime ago a Christian Indigenous leader in Melbourne alerted me to a bill being put forward by the Rudd government. It related to the Northern Territory intervention, the racial discrimination act and the welfare act. The racial discrimination act was suspended to allow the Howard government to ‘intervene’ in the Northern Territory. The Rudd government has continued with this intervention, despite mounting evidence as to its ineffectiveness and disempowerment of the communities affected. To an outside observer, the Northern Territory Intervention could appear to be a positive thing. The Government’s said aims of improving the quality of life for children and limiting drug and alcohol abuse in Aboriginal communities, are outcomes that anyone would applaud. However the methods and their outcomes have been largely devastating for the Indigenous communities, and now the Rudd government wants to take things a step further.

There is a strong push to re-instate the Racial Discrimination Act. Should it be re-instated, it has significant implications on the intervention in the Northern Territory. In order for the intervention to continue, the Rudd government has also needed to propose reforms to the welfare bill. These have the potential to affect all Australians who are on Centrelink benefits. Now do I have your attention?
I wonder did your interest level go up, when white Australians came into the scenario? If that was the case for you, join the club with most Australians.
Have you ever asked yourself why indigenous issues are hard to get on the radar of most Australians? My view is that it goes back to Terra Nullius (land belonging to no one). The time when that awful, disgraceful lie was spoken over our country. That it was a land with no human inhabitants. That lie was spoken about the indigenous people of my country, your country. I believe in the minds of most Australians today, they continue to be non-people… ghosts.

Here perhaps we need to pause for a moment.

A mate of mine lamented that whenever we talk about indigenous people, it very quickly becomes political. Why can’t we love them as fellow created brothers and sisters? At one level when you are building a relationship with an individual, it is easier to stop and see God in the other. And with any of our interactions, with whomever, that is where we want to aim. However, when relating to a people group, especially an oppressed people group, things are bound to get political very quickly. In simplistic terms (which is about all I can understand) politics is about influence. Because the indigenous people of this land have had very little real influence, significant interactions are going to revolve around politics and ways to move forward. Thus the role of the advocate.

Back to the issues at hand. Since 2007 Aboriginies in the Northern Territory, Queensland and in Western Australia have suffered a new wave of massive injustice. They’ve had the army roll into their communities. Their men have been accused of being paedophiles and rapists. Their young people have been gaoled for minor offences, many dying in custody. An indigenous leader returning from a recent trip to the territory reported that the camps are in a shocking condition, saying they are like refugee camps. His pain was visible as he relayed the deadness in the eyes of the women and their lack of hope.

A further injustice has been indigenous peoples subjugation to blanket income management. For people under income management, 50% of their benefits have been paid onto a basics card, which enables them to pay rent, bills and buy staples from certain supermarkets.

At first this doesn’t sound so bad, but stop and think for a moment… put yourself in that situation. What would it be like to be told that you are not able to manage your money? Not to choose to do it as part of helping yourself move forward, but be told? What would it be like to go to the supermarket and only be allowed to buy certain things, and then have the embarrassment of not having enough on your income management card? (it is not simple to get a balance on this from the government) Or if you wanted to travel, not being able to put that money aside… I guess just not having the freedom, or the self-determination, to live how you choose.
With the Federal Government desiring to re-introduce the racial discrimination act, for this intervention to continue, there is the need to change the welfare act, enabling income management to be rolled out across the country.

Despite the government now needing to say the reforms are not racially driven, a response to the proposed changes to the welfare act by Dr Seth Purdie, points out that the areas they propose to roll out Income Management (IM), just happen to be high in indigenous population.

Other responses point to the ineffectiveness of the strategy;

The validity of Income Management as a helping strategy is being questioned by many welfare groups, including The Australian Council Of Social Services (ACOSS). The primary and proper role of the social security system is to reduce poverty by providing adequate payments and supporting people into work. Appropriate activity requirements to assist people into employment are consistent with this objective. Compulsory income management, which does not increase payment levels and removes individual autonomy does not further this objective. Rather, it locks people into long-term dependence on others to make financial decisions for them without enabling them to manage their finances independently.

Senate Report Community Affairs Legislation Committee March 2010

The St Vincent de Paul Society, agrees;
Income Management is returning social policy in Australia to the depression era Sustenance Allowance, commonly referred to as the 'susso'. While recipients were obviously appreciative of the susso, the manner in which it was administered commonly stripped any remaining dignity from the recipient.

Senate Report Community Affairs Legislation Committee March 2010

Another damning statement, which needs qualification, comes from Prof Jon Altman; he says that there is no real evidence coming from Government regarding the effectiveness or not of income management. He comments;

Worryingly, the evidence might change over time. For example, there is forthcoming research from the Menzies School of Health Research, currently under peer review, that outcomes from income management might, at best, be ineffective and, and at worst, perverse.

Prof Jon Altman, Committee Hansard, 26 February 2010, p. 36. 31

Many social services that either gave evidence at the inquiry or responded to the proposed changes were negative towards income management and the administration of it. They commented that at the very least it needed to be part of an overall strategy to empower the recipients. Major concerns include:
The lack of clarity around how someone would get off income management.
The government has also not provided a sunset clause to the program.

Northern Territory Council Of Social Services says that perhaps Income Management (IM) can be used as a consequence for chronic drinkers. Other Northern Territory based organisations are mixed in their response to IM. Some are supportive of it in its current form, others say the system should allow for exemptions from IM or provide a clear pathway out of it. Some agree with the Government that it should go broader, so as not to be discriminatory.
One group that seems to be in favour of IM is the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women's Council (NPY Women’s Council). They believe IM has helped to protect women and children, and that within the communities there has been an increase in the amount of money spent on essential items;
The elected Directors believe that, along with other NTER measures such as an increased policing and child health checks, IM has increased the funds available to welfare recipients for the necessities of life, and served to reduce the amount of money available for grog, illicit drugs and gambling, and thus the level of demand sharing by those who spend their funds largely on substance abuse.

Senate Report Community Affairs Legislation Committee March 2010

Whilst successful even here, the NPY Women’s council admit that it is not IM alone that is making a difference. In their communities coupling IM with an increased police presence and child health checks has seen an overall rise in the wellbeing of the community. They are also concerned that removing IM from people receiving aged or disability pensions will increase demand sharing or humbugging. That they will be a target for those who are still on IM.1

It is difficult to reconcile these positives with the negative and heart-wrenching situation that a local indigenous leader experienced during his recent trip to the indigenous camps around Alice Springs. He was reflecting on the impact of the whole NT intervention and not income management alone. His views are picked up by Ms Jane Weepers of the Central Land Council, talking on the affect of the BasicsCard, to Parliament in February;
While there might not be rigorous academic reports on the issue, I can assure you—and you will have a lot of people before you today on this— that anyone who lives in Alice Springs can tell you racism is alive and well and discriminatory practices are alive and well. Certainly the introduction of the BasicsCard and its implementation have assisted to highlight just how different the arrangements are in this town for people who are black and people who are white...I can certainly tell you, from our council meetings and others, that there have been hours and hours of discussions around just how humiliating the administrative arrangements of the BasicsCard are for people. Ms Jayne Weepers, Central Land Council, Committee Hansard, 17 February 2010, p. 4.

A further concern around the proposed changes to the intervention, (outside of income management – which has the potential to go nation wide) comes from the Australian Human Rights Commission. The government is wanting to see the changes as a special measure, allowing basic human rights to be suspended. Any special measure that would repeal a people group’s human rights needs to fulfill certain criteria:

It must demonstrate a standard of consultation, and the consent of the people group.
It needs to be for their sole benefit.
It must also show sufficient, current and credible evidence that the measure will be effective.
It needs to also determine if there are effective alternate means, which do not limit human rights.
It must also show mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating the measure, to ensure its objective is met.

According to the AHRC the government has failed to adequately meet any of these points.
So where do we go with all of this? On a political front, and bureaucracy will always struggle with this, more individualized responses are needed. It is obvious that what might be working in Pitjantjatjara country is not working in the camps around Alice Springs. Senator Rachel Siewert believes;



The best thing for the government to do at this point would be to drop this approach (IM), continue on with reforming the negative aspects of the Northern Territory Emergency Response and shift to a more consultative community development approach to addressing the underlying causes of disadvantage and social exclusion in Aboriginal communities.
If this approach includes looking at each community and developing that community in deep and authentic consultation and partnership with the Indigenous people of that community… then I whole-heartedly agree.

Broader to the Government hopes to reform welfare, by extending the possibility of income management nationally, Ms Kasy Chambers of Anglicare Australia says;
It was looking at communities that were quite discrete, that understand themselves as communities and where there are hugely strong kinship obligations. I do not believe we see those in Cannington or the suburbs of Sydney and Melbourne. We do not have that same understanding of a set of people as a community. So, whether or not the blanket approach worked in the Northern Territory— and we have a view about that—we do not feel there has been enough evidence or looking at the stuff that did go on to take it in this form to every other single community in Australia.

Ms Kasy Chambers, Anglicare Australia, Committee Hansard, 26 February 2010, p. 7.46

And perhaps we’ll give ACOSS the final word when it comes to Income Management;
The use of the social security system to achieve wider behavioural change not tied to this objective is inappropriate and inefficient unless individuals or communities have sought this approach. This is because the social security system and Centrelink are poorly adapted to providing the kind of intensive case management that is required, which is rightly provided by specialist local community organisations. Income management can be a useful tool for those services and communities, but it must be a tool in their hands, not an instrument applied by government.
As well as taking a stand politically, which I believe we must do, I want to call us to stand with our Indigenous brothers and sisters. To share in their pain for what is happening to their people. To recognise that when one part of the body hurts the whole body hurts. We also need to pray!! Only God can mend the hurt that stems from the past and seems to have no end. Only God can work in the hearts and minds of the policy and decision makers, and cause them to see beyond ‘easy’ fixes and adopt a response that sees and deeply values those affected by their decisions.

Debunking Aboriginal Myths (By Rebecca Walker)

I was recently lent a copy of All-About: The Story of a Black Community on Argyle Station, Kimberley by Mary and Elizabeth Durack. It is a children’s book published in 1935 which went through five reprints up until 1944. Even just looking at the cover, it is immediately distressing, as it emblazoned with a picture of an Aboriginal man who looks like a demonic ape. It purports to tell the story of a white family living on a station in Kimberly, with many aboriginal workers. The Sunday Times in Perth wrote of it that “The book is, indeed, a happy book for Christmas, full of good cheer, excellent fun, and a splendid tale of station life in the vast Nor’-West”.

Mary Durack went on to write many other children’s books about aboriginals up until 1964. If we assume that the books were probably in circulation at least until the 1970s, it gives us an insight into the kinds of myths about Aboriginals which have informed the understanding of many Australians growing up between 1935 and the mid 1970s, which has been passed on either consciously or subconsciously to later generations of Australians. Again just before we get started, it should be emphasised that this content is from a children’s book!

Myth #1 – Aboriginals are Inferior
From the opening lines in the dedication of All-About, the tone of white superiority is distinct. “You will never read this, for to learning you have no pretensions. You cannot sue us for libel, though we have exposed your characters, your secrets and your private lives. Forgive us! Our protection lies in your unworldliness”. So basically, Aboriginals are too dumb to realise what the Durack sisters are saying about them. This of course, means that it is completely morally acceptable to say malicious things about the Aboriginals. The fact that the Duracks felt that the Aboriginals might sue them for libel if they understood indicates that they were aware that what they were saying was, at a minimum unkind, if not outright slanderous!

This tone of superiority continues throughout the book, another awful example appears on page 17: “We have long ago had to face the fact that our more cultured mode of speech is equally intelligible to the blacks as is the pidgin form. The latter we use in evidence of the superiority which they so unreasonably refuse to recognise. Our darkies have none of the docile inferiority complex which makes such excellent servants of their brothers of other lands”.

This almost does not need commentary, it is so disgustingly prideful. To know that aboriginal people can understand the so-called “cultured mode of speech”, yet to insist on using pidgin when speaking with them as “evidence of the superiority [of the whites] which they so unreasonably refuse to recognise” is oppressive, racist and mean-spirited. It is appalling that on top of this assumption of superiority, they go further to censure the Aboriginals for not agreeing with that racist assumption. It is disgusting that in a book that is supposedly “the happiest book of the year”, the Durack sisters actually criticise the Aboriginals for not having the “docile inferiority complex which makes such excellent servants of their brothers of other lands”! Here the evil intent of the superiority/inferiority divide is made clear: it is to legitimise the enslavement of the “inferior” human beings.

Myth #2 – Aboriginals are Promiscuous
Probably the strongest theme in the book is that Aboriginals, particularly the women, are promiscuous. The book is full of sly gibes about Aboriginals sleeping around, and needing white people to point them towards marriage. This is rather hypocritical given the number of children many Aboriginal women had to white fathers. Clearly, the white men were not following their own advice on sexual morality. And that is without mentioning the numbers of Aboriginal women who were raped by white people. To accuse Aboriginals of promiscuity, in the moralising tone the Durack sisters use, is hypocrisy in the extreme.

All of the Aboriginal women at one point or another are accused in the book of promiscuity; of sleeping with both Aboriginal and white men. One particular example is the character Polly. On page 10, Polly explains Aboriginal sexual ethics, if an aboriginal woman leaves her man and runs away with someone else, then her tribe will kill the man she ran away with. If she even looks at a white man, then her tea and meat will be poisoned so that she dies. The next page goes on to describe how she tricked her husband regarding one of her sons, “He caused her no worry after she managed to convince a somewhat dubious husband that her son’s extraordinary lightness of colour was due to a shortage in the charcoal supply at the time of his arrival. ‘S’posin’ me got plenty charcoal put ‘longa this piccaninny, ‘im go black then like ‘nother kids; only too late now”. So not only is Polly promiscuous, she is also hypocritical.

Myth #3 – Removal of Aboriginal Children is Good
Another theme of the book is that Aboriginals are bad parents and that the good of the children demands that the government remove the children from their families. Page 11 describes how Polly’s daughter was removed by the government. It starts by talking about how Polly hid Daffodil so that she would not be taken. “The ‘Government’ brought torches to seek her out, and old Polly fought for her young like a tigress at bay... But the white men had right on their side and were fired with the spirit of purpose. Daffodil must learn to read and write and sew fine seams with her slim brown fingers and learn the godlessness of her mother’s people. Later, if she wished, she could go back again, provided she kept away from the blacks’ camp and as much as possible from the old black mother who had fought so hard for her ignorance”. You almost cannot caricature the obscenity of this viewpoint!

What is the Truth?
The bible is clear in its teaching that all people are created by God in his image and so are of incredible value. When we feel or are taught that we are less than loved and valuable, it comes not from God but from the Devil. Obviously we are all fallen, and all fall short of the glory of God. However, this does not diminish our value. This is a state that is shared by all humans; there is no racial grouping that are more/less sinners than others. Jesus taught that we should be more worried about the plank in our own eye than the speck in our brothers. Yet the interface between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal cultures in this country has been based on the unjust oppression of Aboriginal people, supported by the notion of white superiority.

The social basis of the kingdom of God is of a harmonious people brought together from disparate cultures around the one King Jesus Christ. This is displayed in the very throne room of God, “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb… And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’" (Rev 7:9-10). What then should the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people look like? We are brothers and sisters, and one day we will join in one voice to worship our Lord and our God as one holy, equal and diverse people. This is how we should be beginning to live now.

Work & Calling (Kitty Cheng)

The Transforming Melbourne team was invited to participate in the Cre8 Kingdom Summit organised by Australian Marketplace Connection. Being part of the Cre8 team, I had the privilege of learning from the process of assisting to organise, as well as during the conference.

I was reminded that the Bible has a lot to say about work and business. Indeed, Jesus said, “do work / business till I come.” So how would Jesus have us, in the midst of our busy and often stressful work environments, rise up and bear fruit to our Father’s glory?

According to Dr Wynand J de Kock’s roundtable sharing “Vocation and Careers” during Cre8, many workers feel unfulfilled and frustrated in their work, including Christians. Work can be boring, mundane, stressful, and insignificant. Many do not see a bigger purpose for their work than simply earning money or meeting temporal needs of those served. While satisfying the needs of self and community are necessary, these purposes are ultimately unfulfilling if one does not sees a connection with God’s purposes.

For some, work feels a bit like the Egyptians must have felt when Pharaoh said, “let them collect their own straw but don’t reduce their quota of bricks.” This is not how work is meant to be. The Bible gives us an entirely different view of work – a realm where we can expect to see His kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This is the way God intended work to be from the beginning of time – His children managing His creation in relationship with Him.

We should establish that our everyday business as a call from God for which He anoints us and equips us. God’s personal invitation for us to work on His agenda using the talents we’ve been given in ways that are eternally significant. (Thomas Addington and Stephen Graves, A Case for Calling).

The Church: A Broken Vessel To Be Loved ( By Andre Van Eymeren)

Amy, Josh and I have recently moved to the leafy, middle class suburb of Ringwood (Oh sorry – of course egalitarian society – there are no classes!). Only 20 minutes down the road, yet at times, it feels a world away from the multicultural Dandenong we have called home for the last 2 years. However, under the surface of our new community, there appears to be desperation. I saw this in the eyes of a mother with 3 kids in tow, at the end of our street. Something was going on in her life that had left her not only frustrated, but you could see in her eyes a massive pain and block, perhaps there is no word other than desperation.

This confirmed for me a vision I received the previous night… somewhat unsettling. My eyes well with tears and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up at the thought of it. I awoke to what I thought was a knocking and a cry, my first perception was that Joshua had got lost somewhere in the darkened ramble of our new house. But after startling him, as he slept safe in his bed, a vivid image came to me.

It was of a woman, broken, her brown, shoulder length, lightly curled hair was all dishevelled, her eyes were wild. She was running in a blind panic and knocking on our door. She was crying for help. The desperation was written all over her face. I hope I have captured some of the intensity of that moment. It was stark, it was startling, fleeting, yet has stayed with me over the last few days.

So what did the image mean? The house we have moved into is a DHS house, in which we will be caring for teenage foster kids. Sometime in its past it has been a refuge for women escaping domestic violence. There is a sense for me, that a spirit of desperation is over the house. We have been praying for God to turn that into a spirit of hope and new life… please pray with us.

On a deeper level, I believe God was showing me a picture of the church! Oh what a haunting image. His beloved bride, battered and bruised, hurt and desperate. Calling out for help. Don’t know about you, if a woman in that state turned up at my place, I would be overwhelmed with compassion, and I would want to do whatever it took, to see her begin to mend the desperation and come to a place of hope. I wouldn’t pay her out, I wouldn’t make fun of her, I wouldn’t be harsh with her. I would show her love, the restoring love of Christ. Yet I have not been that way with the church. I have criticised, I have chastised, I have made fun of, I have torn down…

What is needed is love and compassion. This is Jesus, beloved! Like the image of the woman coming for help, once the crisis has subsided, you would want to address issues in her life, but not with condemnation, with love and compassion. Gently peeling back one bandaid after another, to reveal yet another festering sore that needs the touch of the healer. Perhaps this is the heart attitude we need to have towards the church?

The story of Hosea and Gomer comes to mind. Hosea’s life became a prophetic message to the people of Israel. They were like an unfaithful bride, running around in a desperate effort to meet their needs for security, prosperity, fertility etc. It got to the point that God disowned his people (Hosea 1:8,9). Yet you see his heart for them coming through again and again. (11:8,9; 14:4-9) He can’t let them go, his love is too great, his compassion unfailing even in his anger.

So what are we to do? The church is broken, battered, bruised - desperate. Like Israel it has got there, through its own sin (which we are all a part of). But like Israel, God’s great love, even in his anger and hurt and disappointment, is calling the church back, with a promise of destiny, hope and new life. Instead of condemnation and frustration, could we be God’s instruments to call his bride back to him, to see it restored to the picture God has in his wallet?

The same morning that I saw the desperate woman, as I was travelling to the office, I saw a bridal boutique, and realised that’s what we’re preparing the church for - the great wedding feast. Will you join me, more will you join Jesus, in his task of calling and restoring his bride to be all that it can be?

Church Models for Missional Engagement (James Walker)

A Revolution
A revolution is taking place in both the theology and practice of the church as the twenty-first century begins. Statistics show that people are leaving the church at a rate of 4,500 per year from church attendance in Melbourne, and this probably reflects the case nation-wide. There are numerous Christians who “have come to the conviction that the institutional church as we know it today is ineffective” and the church must change its attitudes and practices to engage with the average Australian . Thus there are a number of different church models that are endeavouring to overcome to address these abysmal statistics.

Simple Church
The simple church model has been born out of a need and desire to redefine the nature and practice of church. It structures its life “around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth. The leadership and the church are clear about the process (clarity) and are committed to executing it. The process flows logically (movement) and is implemented in each areas of the church (alignment). The church abandons everything that is not in the process (focus)”. Furthermore, simple church defines itself as “a Christ-centered community established primarily on relationship both to God and to the other members of the group”. In doing so it discards many aspects of conventional expressions of church, which are considered beneficial by some, and problematic by others. The simple church model gives those in the movement the opportunity to focus on what it considers to be the core practices of Christian spirituality”.

Whilst there are a number of benefits of simple church there are also some negatives or dangers that exist. For example, simple church can simply be an idea that is not practiced by those promoting it; simple church becomes complex when denominations get hold of them. They can also become insular and isolated, similar to what can occur in house churches or small groups.

Multi-Site, Multi-Congregation Church
A multi-site church is where a church “meets in many locations…a multi-staffed church, meeting in multi-locations, offering multi-ministries, with a single idenity, single organisation, single purpose and single force of leadership”. These locations can vary from “different rooms on the same campus, different locations in the same-region, or in some instances, different cities, states or nations”.

A couple of strengths of a multi-site church. It firstly permits different sites to leverage all of the benefical ministries of the parent site such as childrens, small groups and teaching. This can be an advantange because new church plants typically do not have the resources to deliver these ministries at a high level from the start [6]. Another strength is what Dave Ferguson calls “Brand new and trust brand” which means the multi-site church has the benefit of “congregational loyalty” thus the particular congregation has a trusted brand (parent site), and another site in another location is brand new.

However multi-site church also has some disadvantages. The multi-site church can be a form of “Spiritual Colonization”. The senior pastor functions as the “virtual” bishop, the parent site as the head office and the sites as “affiliated members” [9]. This spiritual colonization can be true of many aspects of the services, such as “the message, the musical style and atmosphere”, taking away from contextuality of the individual congregation. According to White this “contradicts the biblical principle of congregational polity because the founding location sets the budget, hires the staff, and determines the membership”.

Missional Church
The missional church originates from the life of Jesus. The church defines itself around the principle of mission. Alan Hirsch says “when the church is in mission, it is true church…The mission of God flows directly through every believer and every community of faith that adheres to Jesus”. Dan Guder believes mission is not a department of the church. The mission of God should define the church and its believers otherwise the “scope of the gospel and the mandate of the church” is unfulfilled [11].The missional church is applicable in a number of different contexts. For example, it “can go to the average non-Christian in our context, a person who has little real awareness of, or interest in, Christianity but is suspicious of the church. Connecting with these people can be carried out in the average café, local bar/pub or nightclub”.

The missional church also has some disavantages. Most missional churches in Australia thus far are only seem to be reaching the de-churched (those who have left the church to seek Christian life outside organized church structures) and not the non-churched (those who have never been part of a church community before beyond the occasional wedding, funeral and occasional Christmas and/or Easter service).

Though the missional church can endorse itself as the solution to advancing the kingdom, its techniques and appeal only impacts certain groups of people. In the missional church community there is a big focus on the arts and the same problems of exclusion can exist. The solution is not to expect everyone to fit into an artistic community mould, but network and rethink how to reach and connect with different interest groups such ministry to children and elderly.

Conclusion
Even though there is a move towards different models or expressions of being and doing the church, models such as simple and missional church will exist alongside multi-site, multi-congregation. Thus both will need to work together in partnership. However unless churches start to “think about Christianity apart from its institutional expression [then] the church culture [will] continue to decline”. So it is imperative that experiments such as simple and missional churches are explored and implemented to endeavour to connect with the average Australia then otherwise “in twenty years time the churches will be two-thirds of the size they are today, while Australia will have grown considerably larger”.

Nehemiah 4 (Andre Van Eymeren )

I’ve been searching for a way to describe, or a story to tell that would help illustrate my growing understanding of what Transforming Melbourne is calling the church to. Essentially it is prayer and holistic mission, but what does this actually look like? As a church worker and mission practitioner for over 15 years, I’ve been struggling with how intercession and mission come together. However, when I read Nehemiah 4, some things seem to drop into place for me.

The scene is a defeated Israel, looking at their destroyed walls, remembering the former glory of their city. Nehemiah heard of their distress from Babylon, and got not only permission, but active support from the king to go and rebuild the walls, and effectively the city. Interestingly in terms of engagement with the world (Babylon), Nehemiah was part of the establishment, so to speak. He was responsible for the king’s wellbeing and many of his affairs. From that position, through relationship Nehemiah took the risk of appearing sad in the King’s presence and won his favour for this project.

As we get to Chapter 4, Nehemiah has rallied the remnant and they have started working on the walls. At the start all is cruisey and, I can imagine the sense of excitement and togetherness building. The sense of destiny returning. Then the enemy gets word of what is going on… and they are not happy. Sanballat, Tobiah and the others have enjoyed control of the once great Jerusalem and its people. That control is now being threatened.

Firstly there are insults about the workers and the quality of the work. (vs1-3) Nehemiah prays a prayer of desperation that turns into a mighty warfare prayer, calling on God as protector and vindicator. The work progressed quickly, because the people had a heart for it. (Their motivation was close to the surface.) (vs6) In terms of prayer and mission this is where it gets interesting, the two come together quite starkly over the next few verses. (I want to say here that I’m not using the story as a metaphor for something else, I want to use this story to illustrate a point.)

Sanballat, Tobiah and the others became furious, they vowed to fight against Jerusalem and create as much trouble as possible. Nehemiah got the people to pray and he set a round the clock guard on the wall. Drama builds as the workers begin to flag with the enormity of their task, and the threats continue. Nehemiah becomes more strategic, stationing guards at the most vulnerable places along the wall and assigning families with swords, lances and bows. As the task of building continues, prayer comes to the forefront again. Nehemiah calls the people to put their minds on their Master and then fight for their brothers, sons, daughters, wives, and homes. (vs13-14)

Seems a great combination, to be mindful of God and the reasons why we want to make a difference in the world. And then to actually do it!!

So the Israelites went back to work, half of them stood guard, while the other half worked on the wall. The half working on the wall had a tool in one hand and weapon in the other. (vs 15-18) What a wonderful picture… I think it was Oliver Cromwell (Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland 1653-1658 – and yes, I know he didn’t get it all right) who said, ‘Pray as if everything depends on God, work as if everything depends on us.’

So can you see the connections and the links between prayer and mission? Transforming Melbourne is calling the church to a holistic expression of Kingdom life. One that includes prayer as the engine room of mission. That sees the pray-ers in the thick of it, not secluded in a back room or as a marginalised part of the church. The call is to see prayer and mission as complementary, as part of the same whole. The builders must know how to fight, to be both excellent at their task and committed to warfare in prayer. Those standing guard need to engage fully in the work of prayer and be intimately aware of the mission and all that is involved.

Perhaps the last thing to mention is the trumpeter. Nehemiah kept him close to sound the alarm. Should the battle begin, all the men would run to the call of the trumpeter and would fight together. Pretty wonderful illustration of the body, don’t you think? Likewise, Transforming Melbourne from time to time sounds the alarm for the church to come together in prayer and action.

Be great to hear what you think.

The Melbourne Indigenous Church: A Story of Hope (Anne Green)

With eyes of faith one can see that the Indigenous Community of Melbourne is beginning to emerge out of a time of spiritual barrenness.

A quick glance across the 15,000-strong Indigenous community of Melbourne reveals only 2 small Indigenous fellowships regularly meeting together, although there are several other ministries happening and Indigenous churches in some regional centres outside Melbourne. As in the Non-Indigenous Church, these ministries that do exist, though aware of one another, are mostly like puzzle pieces not yet linked together into the Body of Christ.

However, a deeper look into the Melbourne Indigenous Community, with some understanding of the spiritual history of this region, uncovers a story of hope:

Seeds……
Seeds of the gospel have been faithfully sown across the Indigenous community of Melbourne for generations. Indigenous Australians are reportedly the most evangelised people group on the planet. Many of those seeds, sown initially by missionaries and Indigenous leaders of the past, have sprung up to revival in former generations. Other seeds lie dormant. Where in this barren place are the wells of life-giving water to bring growth to these seeds?

Wells…..
Spirit-filled Indigenous Christian leaders, past and present have left their legacy in the Indigenous community of Melbourne. Deep ancient wells of God’s Spirit remain, waiting to be re-dug.

Prayer…
God has raised up an Indigenous prayer network to support, encourage and link together Melbourne Indigenous ministries. Through the commitment and intercession of a growing group of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Christians across the city, the needs of the Indigenous Church are being heard and prayers answered. Old wells are being re-dug and seeds watered.

Wheat and Tares…
Along with the seeds of ‘wheat’ the evil one has planted seeds of destruction in the Indigenous community of Melbourne. We must never forget that we and our ancestors have been partner to this along with bringing the words of eternal life in Jesus. Indigenous people in this city still today are crushed by the ongoing harvest of evil sown into their lives and the lives of their forebears. It is the role of the people of God in this city to unravel and reveal the sins of the past and plead the forgiveness and blood of Jesus over the destruction done sometimes even in the name of Christ. The destroyer must also be identified and rebuked.

A flourishing Indigenous Church will emerge in this City and healing will begin in the Name of Jesus.

Inviting You To 40 Days United Prayer

Lent has arrived. It's a season that leads to our commemoration of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus. Transforming Melbourne organises 40 days of Prayer Calendar every year. We invite you to join us in united prayer from 17th Feb to 28th March.

This year the focus is "Abiding in Jesus for Fruit That Transforms Cities - Fruit of God's Spirit to transform us and through us our cities across Australia."

You can go to the following link and download the 40 days prayer and fasting guide.

http://www.transformingmelbourne.org.au/

Please feel free to share your reflection here.