For 4 or 5 years now the band Vox Congo have captured and warmed the hearts of thousands of Australians not only with their amazing energetic music and strong Gospel message, but also with their tragic story of fleeing their country (DRC) to seek asylum here in Australia. It is a story that tugs at the heart strings and their past 5 and a half years here in Australia have been a real rollercoaster ride of appeal and rejection. Not only had their plea for asylum in Australia been rejected but their home country didn't want them back. They refused to reissue passports after they had expired so when the guys were ordered to leave our country they could go nowhere. They were labeled as non-persons with no country. This means no health care, no government assistance, no rights.
Etienne, Adolphe, Martinse and Papy expressed deep faith and determination to continue hoping in a hopless and helpless situation. They appealed to the compassionate hearts of people who make desisions within our immigration system and waited patiently in prayer. My wife Verity and I, journeyed with them through the uncertianty and the heart ache, as week after week we would ask, 'have you heard anything yet?', only to meet long faces and a sadened response. Yet through it all they continued to play their music with energy, to sing their song of joy in a strange land and Adolphe would always say to me, 'yet God is good and we have faith'. It has been an awe inspiring journey.
We shared in celebration with Papy and Martinse at the end of last year and early this year when immirgation informed them they were allowed to apply for residency. We then went through the gruling task of preparing the application which wasn't guarunteed to succeed and wondering where on earth they were going to find the $3000 each to lodge the application.
It is with great excitement and tears in my eyes that I share this amazing news with you.
Papy Mbikulu Wena (keyboard player and drummer for Vox Congo) received a letter from immigration yesterday, Wednesday June 27th, to say he is now a PERMANENT RESIDENT IN AUSTRALIA!!!! This great news has been 5 years and 8 months in the making. Through much heart ache and struggle we have journeyed to this point of celebration.
Praise God for the amazing journey, the prayers, the persistence, the courage and the hope we have that yes we can actually make a difference when we stand with those who cannot and ought not stand alone.
I had the privilege of sharing in tears of joy with Papy on the phone last night. He would like me to spread the news far and wide that he is now free to make a home with his family here in Australia. His wife Rebekkah is relieved to say the least and daughter Jael will continue to grow in the comfort of knowing that her dad will not have to leave her behind.
On behalf of the family I extend special thanks and gratitude beyond what words could ever express to Urban Neighbours Of Hope and the Knoxfield Church of Christ for their endless support and tireless efforts in standing with the ‘Congo Boys’ as they appealed to our government again and again for compassion. Your advocacy support, compassion and prayers made all the difference. One particularly special thankyou goes to Robyn for her amazing financial gift to help Papy apply for residency. Robyn, you are truly amazing and will not be forgotten.
I am still overwhelmed with the news and can’t wait to bring similar news once Martinse finds out the answer to his residency application. We are yet to find out if Etienne and Adolphe are allowed to apply for the same rights, they continue to seek asylum in Australia. Please continue your prayers for them. They now have even greater hope and expectation for this great news to flow through all of their stories.
Please share this story through you networks and newsletters as I have lost many contacts through my move to Adelaide. I promised people I would let them know when these guys reached the final goal they had been praying and hoping for, for so long. When citizenship comes up I’ll make sure you all hear about it so you can go to the ceremony. I know I’ll be there.
Post your comments at www.myspace.com/voxcongo so papy can receive your encouragement.
Shalom
Mark
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Minimum Chips
I arrived at my office after being out on Wednesday afternoon to find a homeless man sitting on his bag at our office doorstep. He was asking for some assistance and I immediately went into defensive mode, I have a strict policy on not giving money to people who ask for it. Before I reacted I responded with, ‘can I get you something to eat?’ He was very appreciative and in fact that is all he wanted. I went across to the fish and chips shop with him and gave him a choice of anything on the menu. All he wanted was minimum chips. I wonder what the guy behind the counter thought as I placed the order. Here was a young man in a spiffy long black coat with a dirty old, smelly homeless guy beside him. We shared a chip and a chat and Alan (the homeless) guy said to me, ‘so are you the minister over there.’ I said yes and he responded by saying that I had restored his faith in people and the church.
I have mixed feelings about my encounter on Wednesday. There is part of me that cannot bear to see someone suffer or go without and another part of me that is suspicious of those who like to take advantage of compassionate suckers.
As Jesus walked the road through Samaria to Jerusalem he encountered all sorts of people along the way. Some were keen to follow him and others were reluctant but to all he explained that to join the Jesus movement it would come at a personal cost to them. He also explained the urgency of service for the Kingdom of God right here on our doorstep. Right here on our doorstep!
Sometimes it’s in the little things, like in a bag of minimum chips, that help us to become the people of God we are called to be, people who are not afraid to exert some sense of personal cost so the kingdom of God can truly come, a sense that our life counted for something. Whether it be a financial cost, the cost of our time, the cost of lending a compassionate ear…
I got a call yesterday with some amazing news. One of the asylum seekers Verity and I had journeyed with for 5 years, Papy, a band member of Vox Congo, was granted his permanent residency yesterday. What an amazing celebration it was for us to share in the news after sharing in a long journey of doing lots of little things to help and advocate for the guys. It gave me a deep sense that my life counted for something and that it was worth spending some of my time and energy on the little things that make big differences in peoples lives.
Shalom
Mark
I have mixed feelings about my encounter on Wednesday. There is part of me that cannot bear to see someone suffer or go without and another part of me that is suspicious of those who like to take advantage of compassionate suckers.
As Jesus walked the road through Samaria to Jerusalem he encountered all sorts of people along the way. Some were keen to follow him and others were reluctant but to all he explained that to join the Jesus movement it would come at a personal cost to them. He also explained the urgency of service for the Kingdom of God right here on our doorstep. Right here on our doorstep!
Sometimes it’s in the little things, like in a bag of minimum chips, that help us to become the people of God we are called to be, people who are not afraid to exert some sense of personal cost so the kingdom of God can truly come, a sense that our life counted for something. Whether it be a financial cost, the cost of our time, the cost of lending a compassionate ear…
I got a call yesterday with some amazing news. One of the asylum seekers Verity and I had journeyed with for 5 years, Papy, a band member of Vox Congo, was granted his permanent residency yesterday. What an amazing celebration it was for us to share in the news after sharing in a long journey of doing lots of little things to help and advocate for the guys. It gave me a deep sense that my life counted for something and that it was worth spending some of my time and energy on the little things that make big differences in peoples lives.
Shalom
Mark
Jesus with skin on
I just spent last Tuesday and Wednesday in Melbourne at the World Vision headquarters doing Kids Hope Co-ordinator training. I know, when is this guys going to stop! It was a very enriching couple of days and even though I’ve been involved with Kids Hope for more than 2 years I was enlivened once again by the stories and possibilities of what can happen when a church and a school develop an active relationship through one church member mentoring one child for one hour a week.
The idea of the 2 day training was to equip me with all the resources to train and equip mentors to participate with this ministry. The Kids Hope directors are excited that Blackwood Church of Christ will be the very first church in metropolitan Adelaide to run with the program and they are excited that we will be the example to others in SA about how a successful Kids Hope program is run. Furthermore, if our conversations go well with Hawthorndene Primary School, they will be the very first school and will be the example to all the other schools. What an awesome responsibility and privilege we have to impact the broader metro Adelaide area through such a simple ministry of compassion and love.
Through the stories I kept hearing over and over during this couple of days, I kept hearing the phrase, ‘We have an opportunity to be Jesus with skin on’. This phrase began to grow on me as I realized what it meant to the many schools around Australia to see Christians actually doing something practical to serve their community with no expectation of recognition or bum’s on seats in their churches. The stories kept flowing from story tellers with tears in their eyes as we heard about schools, families, children and yes even churches being transformed through the power of building effective and quality relationships of service. For the churches it was about embracing the opportunity to be Christ in the community. Or as St Francis of Assisi says, ‘to preach the Gospel at all time, but only if necessary use words’. It was about embodying the Good News through their actions.
As I listened to the stories I drifted for a while and began to image Blackwood and Hawthorndene having such stories to tell. Stories where parents, teachers and principals speak with utter amazement about these people from the church who have invested so much into transforming one life and not being able to put their finger on their motivation for it, but knowing that it must be good. And members of our church telling stories with tears in their eyes saying, ‘I had an amazing opportunity to be Jesus with skin on’.
Shalom
Mark
The idea of the 2 day training was to equip me with all the resources to train and equip mentors to participate with this ministry. The Kids Hope directors are excited that Blackwood Church of Christ will be the very first church in metropolitan Adelaide to run with the program and they are excited that we will be the example to others in SA about how a successful Kids Hope program is run. Furthermore, if our conversations go well with Hawthorndene Primary School, they will be the very first school and will be the example to all the other schools. What an awesome responsibility and privilege we have to impact the broader metro Adelaide area through such a simple ministry of compassion and love.
Through the stories I kept hearing over and over during this couple of days, I kept hearing the phrase, ‘We have an opportunity to be Jesus with skin on’. This phrase began to grow on me as I realized what it meant to the many schools around Australia to see Christians actually doing something practical to serve their community with no expectation of recognition or bum’s on seats in their churches. The stories kept flowing from story tellers with tears in their eyes as we heard about schools, families, children and yes even churches being transformed through the power of building effective and quality relationships of service. For the churches it was about embracing the opportunity to be Christ in the community. Or as St Francis of Assisi says, ‘to preach the Gospel at all time, but only if necessary use words’. It was about embodying the Good News through their actions.
As I listened to the stories I drifted for a while and began to image Blackwood and Hawthorndene having such stories to tell. Stories where parents, teachers and principals speak with utter amazement about these people from the church who have invested so much into transforming one life and not being able to put their finger on their motivation for it, but knowing that it must be good. And members of our church telling stories with tears in their eyes saying, ‘I had an amazing opportunity to be Jesus with skin on’.
Shalom
Mark
Unexpected Transformation
At the last UNOH Surrender conference, Ash Barker said this; “In many ways Urban Neighbours Of Hope was not an idea, it was a place to be in solidarity with those who are poor and to be converted by them so that the Good News of the Gospel can truly come.” Ash’s words have resonated with quite strongly as it is quite counter cultural to or more well known practices of mission where those who are sent with the ‘Good News about Jesus’ are the ones who do the transforming. What Ash is suggesting resonates more strongly with my own experience of cross cultural exposure where I have profoundly encountered the presence of Christ in the other.
I wonder what our expectations are with our approach to mission. Is mission still a term we associate with the few Christians who are sent to far away lands to convert the ‘heathens’? Do we expect that our church will have a profound impact on our local community through the mission of the church? Who do we expect to be transformed and how? In fact I believe it is the call on every Christ follower to be engaged in the mission of Christ and I would suspect that all who do so will never be the same. I believe that when we engage in that which is so much bigger than ourselves , we too are converted by the experience.
Mal White from Kids Hope Aus, was here in Adelaide for a couple of days. Part of his reason for being here was to inspire those of us who are considering being involved with the mentoring program with our local Primary School. On Wednesday night he shared an amazing story with us of how a church was transformed by a school and a community. Yes that’s right…an unexpected transformation happened. In fact it wasn’t even the church that initiated the missional encounter, it was a school from the ‘wrong side of town’.
The church (which hadn’t changed its ways in around 150 years) couldn’t say no to an opportunity to be involved in Kids Hope with their local school. About 6 months into the mentoring program the church was encouraged by Kids Hope organizers to hold a ‘Kids Hope family fun night’ for all the kids and parents. The leadership decided to go with a safer option of inviting kids to Sunday school. Much to their surprise the kids came and the church found that their traditional Sunday school structure didn’t cut it so they had to experiment with alternative methods of conducting their children’s ministry. Another problem developed from there, the parents of the kids started hanging around. The church didn’t expect that more adults might join their small community. To cut a long story short, this church soon found that they were radically transformed by this encounter with their community. All of the old ways of doing things went out the window and they became the church the Holy Spirit had called them to be.
It’s amazing what can happen when a church relinquishes their control of the outcomes of the Spirit. It is not us that does the transforming but the Holy Spirit and we must expect that we are the ones who are transformed by Christ in the other as much as anyone. As Ash would say, when we are converted by them, the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus can truly come.
Shalom
Mark
I wonder what our expectations are with our approach to mission. Is mission still a term we associate with the few Christians who are sent to far away lands to convert the ‘heathens’? Do we expect that our church will have a profound impact on our local community through the mission of the church? Who do we expect to be transformed and how? In fact I believe it is the call on every Christ follower to be engaged in the mission of Christ and I would suspect that all who do so will never be the same. I believe that when we engage in that which is so much bigger than ourselves , we too are converted by the experience.
Mal White from Kids Hope Aus, was here in Adelaide for a couple of days. Part of his reason for being here was to inspire those of us who are considering being involved with the mentoring program with our local Primary School. On Wednesday night he shared an amazing story with us of how a church was transformed by a school and a community. Yes that’s right…an unexpected transformation happened. In fact it wasn’t even the church that initiated the missional encounter, it was a school from the ‘wrong side of town’.
The church (which hadn’t changed its ways in around 150 years) couldn’t say no to an opportunity to be involved in Kids Hope with their local school. About 6 months into the mentoring program the church was encouraged by Kids Hope organizers to hold a ‘Kids Hope family fun night’ for all the kids and parents. The leadership decided to go with a safer option of inviting kids to Sunday school. Much to their surprise the kids came and the church found that their traditional Sunday school structure didn’t cut it so they had to experiment with alternative methods of conducting their children’s ministry. Another problem developed from there, the parents of the kids started hanging around. The church didn’t expect that more adults might join their small community. To cut a long story short, this church soon found that they were radically transformed by this encounter with their community. All of the old ways of doing things went out the window and they became the church the Holy Spirit had called them to be.
It’s amazing what can happen when a church relinquishes their control of the outcomes of the Spirit. It is not us that does the transforming but the Holy Spirit and we must expect that we are the ones who are transformed by Christ in the other as much as anyone. As Ash would say, when we are converted by them, the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus can truly come.
Shalom
Mark
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
What is yet to come
I pondered on a passage of scripture today from John 16 where Jesus is having a conversation with his disciples of what is yet to come. My mind is captured by two things that Jesus is recorded to have said; first of all that there is so much more to talk about and discover together, ‘more than they can bear for the moment’; secondly the Holy Spirit will settle in among them to be an advocating voice and presence on behalf of God and will tell them of ‘what is yet to come’.
I find this to be an exciting, empowering and affirming concept. It also helps alleviate the anxiety of someone like me who may have vision of unwarranted optimism and worried about what to do with it. So the comfort I draw from Jesus’ conversation with his disciples is that we will not be given anymore than we can handle and the Spirit will be with us.
However my mind runs wild with ‘what is yet to come’. Will we be open to the possibilities of what is yet to come through the body of the gathered community of Christ? Or will we dismiss dreams and visions of future possibilities either out of fear of the unknown or fear of leaving the familiar behind? Do we believe the Holy Spirit is among us advocating on behalf of God through our thoughts and imagination? Do we believe that God still expects to see amazing things unfold through the imagination and hearts of the people of God?
Last week I began to release a vision I have for the Blackwood Church of Christ. For the days to follow there was a stirring of imagination and dreaming being fed back to me from various members of our church. The vision continues to grow because I believe we are giving permission for the Spirit to show us what is yet to come. I continue to look forward to the conversations we are yet to have and I encourage you to share not only with me but with others in our church so that we may build on what the Spirit of God is stirring among us and expect that the best of God’s work with and through this church is yet to come.
Shalom
Mark
I find this to be an exciting, empowering and affirming concept. It also helps alleviate the anxiety of someone like me who may have vision of unwarranted optimism and worried about what to do with it. So the comfort I draw from Jesus’ conversation with his disciples is that we will not be given anymore than we can handle and the Spirit will be with us.
However my mind runs wild with ‘what is yet to come’. Will we be open to the possibilities of what is yet to come through the body of the gathered community of Christ? Or will we dismiss dreams and visions of future possibilities either out of fear of the unknown or fear of leaving the familiar behind? Do we believe the Holy Spirit is among us advocating on behalf of God through our thoughts and imagination? Do we believe that God still expects to see amazing things unfold through the imagination and hearts of the people of God?
Last week I began to release a vision I have for the Blackwood Church of Christ. For the days to follow there was a stirring of imagination and dreaming being fed back to me from various members of our church. The vision continues to grow because I believe we are giving permission for the Spirit to show us what is yet to come. I continue to look forward to the conversations we are yet to have and I encourage you to share not only with me but with others in our church so that we may build on what the Spirit of God is stirring among us and expect that the best of God’s work with and through this church is yet to come.
Shalom
Mark
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