Postcard from the bushfire zone

This week I am in Melbourne. I was originally here for a meeting and a ministry induction. Since they were 6 days apart I thought I would stick around in Melbourne for a while. That was until the bushfires devastated areas around Melbourne and I felt compelled to help in some way.

I got in touch with Brian Tunks (a friend and former colleague from SA) who was appointed by the Victorian Council of Churches (VCC) to co-ordinate volunteer chaplains to help counsel survivors, other volunteers and professionals working with the bushfire relief effort. I ended up joining a team made up of other ministers and chaplains volunteering their time (Some old friends and colleagues I’ve worked with before). So on Tuesday February 17^th a few of us travelled together early in the morning to meet up with Brian and the other chaplains stationed at the relief centre in Yea.

The drive up there was humbling. I couldn’t believe how far south the fire had come, it didn’t take long from the beginning of our drive in Boronia to reach blackened paddocks and the town of Yarra Glen surrounded by black and a few houses burnt to the ground. Driving through Kinglake was eerie just knowing how devastating this fire had been.

Once we had arrived at Yea we signed in, debriefed and were split into two teams. I went with the team appointed to the Alexandra relief centre. While at Alexandra we discovered that on this day even 10 days after the fires first started, people were coming into the relief centre for the first time. They haven’t wanted or being able to leave their fire affected homes until now due to trauma, fear of looting, or fear of not being able to return to their still standing homes because of road blockages due to crime scene investigations and unsafe areas.

Even with my experience as a CFS firefighter and as a chaplain I stood there in the centre still feeling as helpless as I was when I was back in SA. You see people coming in but you don’t want to intrude or impose, yet you know many want to talk. Then all of a sudden I felt something grab my hand. I looked down and saw that a 3 year old had adopted me. He just calmly looked up at me as if he thought I needed looking after. He seemed to be alone and I tried asking him if he had any parents around. He just took me by the hand and started leading me around the centre, giving me the tour. (This was amazing because in our morning briefing when we were talking about our strengths and weaknesses in working with people I said ‘don’t put me with little kids’. It seems there is a divine sense of humor about this situation)

This child eventually led me into where all the people were seeking assistance from DHS, Centrelink, insurance companies and other government departments and this is where my conversations with people started. I felt completely humbled as I met people from Marysville, Buxton and Tagartey who had lost everything and wanted to talk about it. Then I finally got to meet the mother of this child I found out was called James. The mother, Judy rushed into the room in a panic to find James (still holding my hand) and her first reaction was a sigh of relief and she said, ‘thank goodness he’s with you’. ‘What’s going on here?’ I thought. How did I earn any sense of respect or right to even be there? I found out why when I went outside to talk with security guard Jon.

Jon called me over and wanted to chat. He had been on security at the centre for 9 days straight. After a bit of a chat he told me how much respect he had for the VCC chaplains. He said he was a Vietnam veteran and he always respected the ‘padre’ (army chaplain) He said, ‘you guys are like padres’. I knew how much of an honor that was to be called such a thing but I didn’t feel I deserved it, I was an outsider, from interstate even. But I give credit to the other VCC chaplains who spent time there the days before me. The VCC were the only recognized Christian organization (apart from the Salvos) that had jurisdiction to provide assistance during the bushfire relief at the centres. It was a permission that was given reluctantly as well as government departments are very suspicious of the agendas of Christian groups. I have to particularly commend Brian Tunks for an outstanding job in building relationships and managing this valuable ministry.

Jon also told me about what he and others had referred to as ‘cowboys’, well meaning Christians coming to fly their flag with the agenda of promoting their church and evangelizing people. I know it’s sickening, as bad as the media taking advantage of trauma victims. One story that really took the cake was the one about the 2 pastors who drove down from Queensland in a supped up V8 Commodore with loud colours and all the trimmings with ‘Chaplain’ plastered along the side of the car and both of them dressed in matching uniforms promoting where they are from. They were not trained to deal with this crisis and made a nuisance of themselves. They were turned away from every centre (yes that’s right they would get turned away from one them move on to the other).

Even while I was there, there were about 3 different Christian groups who shall remain nameless. All of them wearing their badges, all of them well meaning yet ill prepared, all of them flying their own banner and all of them turned away by security because they pose a hindrance rather than a help. I just felt sad because they potentially damage the relationships that have been built by the VCC with suspicious government organizations and survivors.

It was amazing to find people of such strong spirits there and such positive outlooks on the future. The government departments have done a brilliant job in processing so many people. Our role was to be there for them as well. We were chaplains to the CFA, Police, volunteers, security, survivors, government department personnel, insurance & bank reps, the works and it was a very enriching time for all.

You may realize that I use the word survivor to describe those who have lost. I do this because I came across a note on the notice board among many others which was posted for the people seeking assistance by one of the agencies. It was addressed to the bushfire ‘victims’ and someone had come along and crossed out victim and wrote ‘survivor’ above it. I thought that said a lot about the spirit of the place, it wasn’t full of victims but survivors. It reminded me of the words we posted on our screen during our service last Sunday, ‘helpless not hopeless’, but these people were showing that now 10 days on they were not entirely helpless either.

Myself and another chaplain were sent out on house calls in the afternoon. Amazingly it was one of the government departments that was originally suspicious of the idea of chaplains that sent us out. She had gained a respect and understand for what we do. So we visited people in homes still standing in Tagartey and Buxton (weren’t allowed into Marysville) It was amazing to see one house disintegrated and the other untouched. People embraced us like long lost friends.

We finished our day gathered together at a pub in Yea where we invested our money back into the local economy and enjoyed the company of other volunteer workers around us. On the way home we passed the site where the old Golburn pub used to be on the corner of the turn off to Flowerdale. It was burnt to the ground but that night there was a gathering. All the people that used to gather at the pub for drinks were getting together on this night. A whole bunch of people were pitched in the pub carpark with their beers in the dark enjoying the company they once shared in that old pub.

People all over the affected region are doing rituals just like this, the rituals are important and necessary for continuing the value community and build on their hope for the future together.

This was my day as a VCC chaplain working alongside some great people at the bushfire relief centres in Yea and Alexandra following the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria February 2009.

Shalom Mark

Responses to the bushfires

I came across a post on Mark Connor's blog which I thought I'd direct you to. Mark is the senior pastor of Citylife Church on Melbourne. Certianly a more diplomatic and insightful response to the comments made by Catching the Fire Ministries. I recomend a read and look at his related posts about how to respond. Thanks Mark

Shalom
Mark

God is not angry!

I was talking with a colleague yesterday and reflecting that I have been sitting on this post for a couple of days now because I wanted to be as diplomatic and concise as possible in responding to some of the actions and speeches in relation to the bushfire's in Victoria. I nearly titled my post 'STOP IT!' which about sums up my cry as thoughtless and insensitive people do and say stupid things in the wake of the greatest natural tragedy on Australian soil. So I'll do my best.

Having said that I am so comforted and encouraged by the thousands upon thousands of people making so many sacrifices to help, donate, sit with, talk to, comfort and encourage the victims of the fires. Being a former CFS member myself I am still astounded at the amount of volunteers who would give up so much of their time day and night, to put their lives on the line in the hope of saving others.

But back to the title of this blog. I was appalled to come across the article in The Age that reflected on Pastor Danny's words as he presumes to speak on behalf of God, "'My wrath is about to be released upon Australia, in particular Victoria, for approving the slaughter of the innocent children in the womb,now call on My people to repent and pray". Yes thoughtless and insensitive is my thought too. Pastor Danny from Catching the Fire Ministries, probably thinks he's doing a noble thing...I don't know, how do you get into the mind of a heartless comment like that. I went to the CFM website to see they have the full prophecy and response displayed on their front news page. I can't stomach it enough to actually post the link here. But they actually have the audacity to write in the first couple of paragraphs about the resources they're gathering to contribute to the relief effort, then they go on to explain that Victorians have brought this tragedy on themselves and that this is God's wrath, then they finish by saying, 'May God bless Australia with His rains of mercy.' So which is it Danny, is God condemning Australia or blessing Australia? GOD IS NOT ANGRY! I refrained from posting a comment on their site but I felt like saying, 'don't be surprised if the victims of the fires throw your donations back in your face.'

I can't even begin to imagine the damage this does to the great work christian organizations like the Salvation Army are trying to achieve through the grace and love of God. Yes that's the kind of God I know, gracious and loving, any kind of reflection that God is vindictive and vengeful is a very poor theology and insensitive. Stop it!

There are dozens and dozens of churches and christian denominations that have pulled together for the greater good in order to provide unified support for the tragedy that is still unfolding. This is God's intention and how God's mercy, love and grace is being expressed, through the common unity and love that Christians normally divided by difference of opinion can work together to express the love of the one true God who only wants to love us and be in relationship with us, not vindicate and destroy us. I feel like I need to apologize for those rouge insensitive theologies that do not represent the majority.

(I know I do not speak for everyone, these are my thoughts and opinions because this is my blog and I do not pretend to represent anyone other than myself. I say this because I know friends of mine who I love will take up issue with some of the things I am saying here. Happy to chat if you want).

I understand that some people have more literal views and alternative interpretations of the biblical texts and well, that might be a whole other conversation. I am normally very tolerant of theological difference and textual interpretation and often sit at tables in cafes over coffee with various colleagues and friends entering into respectful debate and dialogue over such issues. But I guess you've realized by now that Danny's comments have disturbed me . They are divisive and hurtful in an already divided and hurting context. This is not God's doing or a result of God's favour being lifted from Australia. this is the result of some twisted human act in using free choice to light a match and watch things burn. It's disgusting and we can't imagine why someone would do such a thing. Any God who would actively or deliberately allow such a thing, I really want nothing to do with. As my Old testament lecture would say 'God suffers with the suffering people'.

It's time now for the people of God to work together and show the world what God really looks like in response to a devastated people. A God who comforts the afflicted, brings hope to those who mourn, brings release to the oppressed, and proclaims Good News (funny that sounds a lot like the Jesus of the Gospels I read about).

As a footnote to all of this I'm still trying to reconcile other unbelievable news I am hearing in relation to the fires. I cannot comprehend the thought of looters going into devastated areas and helping themselves to other peoples' property. It's stealing! STOP IT! Have a heart.

And to some of my friends who have been cynical of the news coverage and the stories being aired. Stop it! Give it a break guys and let the nation grieve in the best way they know how. Yes you'll miss some of your precious programs on TV while many victims miss their precious loved ones they'll never see again. We all feel the need to identify with those who have lost, and we need the stories of hope. I know what it's like to fight large and devastating fires and stand helplessly 100 metres away from the 100+ foot flames of an out of control inferno with your heart in you mouth and your fellow crew members scrambling to do what they can. Holding the fire hose and pointing it in the general direction as it pales to insignificance, the radiant heat burns your face and you realize the limits we have to control such a monster. I know what it's like to be evacuated from a home while flames enter your property threatening to take everything (my family and I were fortunate).

As a gathered nation we mourn the tragic loss of life and the devastation of communities and we look to a God of comfort and hope as we imagine what kind of future could possibly lie ahead as come consider the possibility of rebuilding their lives.

Our gathering of churches here in the Adelaide hills where i am in ministry remember all too well what Ash Wednesday was like 26 years ago. Each church here (including the one with which I am in ministry) is responding in various ways. find out how at www.mhicc.wordpress.com

Give blood www.donateblood.com.au

Think about volunteering with a work party www.govolunteer.org.au They'll need help with the clean up in the second half of the year

We'll be posting updates on our site as to how we are responding at www.blackwoodcc.org.au

And of course give money www.redcross.org.au

Shalom
Mark

Are we in control?

Did you know that more than two thirds of the world population live under impoverished conditions? Yet we still refer to them as the third world rather than the 2 thirds world. Impoverished means they suffer from a lack of access to meeting basic needs. Lack of basic health care (malnutrition, dehydration, death from common curable diseases), insufficient supply of clean drinking water, lack of education, lack of community sustainability and housing due to civil war, genocide and climate...and that's not even scratching the surface.

By 2015, the year the UN have committed to halving the effect of contributing factors to world poverty, it is predicted that about three quarters of the wold population will suffer from lack of sustainable living and about a quarter of the world population will live in urban slums.

Statistics are disturbing, but maybe they are not disturbing us enough. I just came across a website with an 'Earth Clock' on it. Check it out. It's scary to see all those numbers changing so rapidly. I don't know how they do it but it calculates population growth in real time. It also calculates incidents of malnutrition, HIV/aids and cancer. You can see how many species have become and are becoming extinct, deforestation and desertification statistics and more. You can look at an annual view to what the stats say for a single day. You can even click on 'NOW' and watch the numbers run and see what happens within one minute.

Now here's the part I find most disturbing. I clicked on a link that predicts population growth for as far into the future as you want to look. it starts at 10 years and you can see we've added another billion people to our population. Then if you click on the up down arrows you can go into the future one year at a time to see how huge our population is really predicted to grow. I was curious so I did. I was heading up to 50 years from now and noticed the population growth rate slowing significantly, then at the 50 year mark it peaks at nearly 8.8 billion people. The next part isn't so exciting as from then on the population begins to shrink. So if this prediction is correct we will see a negative population growth rate within our lifetime, well before the turn of the century.
In 300 years time the entire world population size is predicted to shrink to the population size of New South Wales and in 330 years time the size of South Australia's current population. In 500 years from now there will be one person left on earth. That person will last 7 years then gone. Interesting conspiracy theory? Is there maybe some element of truth to population decline and if so what is the cause? The rapture? Is Christ coming back again in 50 years and then begin to cart us off in groups over the next 450 years? What does that say about the poor one left behind? Are we going to finally tip nature over the edge with our relentless unapologetic consumption of our resources?

We don't know what the future looks like, we can predict it and we can't control it. But we can learn a few things from our past. Our history tells a story we can learn from and learning is pointless if we don;t change. So you tell me, what does our future look like?

Shalom Mark

Hot, hot, hot!

We are beginning the fourth day of an unforgiving heatwave here in Adelaide, South Australia and we can't yet see an end in sight. It all began on Australia Day with a top temperature recorded at 35.9 degrees Cecilius. The next day, Tuesday January 27th 2009 the bureau of meteorology (BOM) recorded 30 degrees at around 8:45am and as I type more than 48hours later, we are yet to see the thermometer dip below 30.

The top for Tuesday 27th was officially 42 according to the BOM and yesterday the 28th was our 3rd highest on record, the hottest day in 70 years, 45.7 degrees Celcius. That just seems absurd until we endured the worst sleepless night on record last night. The lowest temperature recorded before sunrise over night was 34.1! Just after midnight! It was already back up to 36.7 by 4:30am!

So my question on this fourth day of the heat wave and 3rd day of temperatures above 40 (it's already 39 degrees at 10:30am) is, will we break a record today? Will the temperature topple 46 degrees? This time yesterday it was 40.7 so not far behind.

We thought last year was bad when in March we recorded 15 days in a row over 35 degrees with 4 of those over 40. However the outlook for this week looks worse. We still have another 3 days of predicted 40 degree heat after this one but the 7 day outlook only has the temperature dropping to 38 by this time next week.

So here's my next question, one that still divides many. Have we as consumers and polluters of this planet caused such extremes? Can we as responsible citizens of this world do anything to reverse it or endure it but help it slow and recover?

My own personal answer is yes and yes. However I still don't think we have the collective will to really do anything real just yet. The Premiere of our state caused an outrage a couple of days ago when he suggested that we use air-conditioning sparingly. I actually agree, however I do understand the young, the old and the sick take priority. My wife and I haven't turned ours on for heating or cooling for 4 months until 2 days ago. It's not about saving money for us it really is about being mindful of our impact on the environment. But we had to fold and turn it on because our animals could not survive in the heat in our backyard which currently has little shade and our house was up to 40 degrees inside. (We moved the cat and the rabbits into the coolest part of the house, however my fish tank reads 34 degrees and the heater is unplugged! I'm dropping massive iceblocks into my fish pond and fish tank twice a day to keep the fish from boiling)

So what can we do to find alternatives? I struggled to bring myself to use the air-conditioning here at the office because our units are old and energy suckers. I moved my office down to a local cafe in a shopping centre yesterday and enjoyed the air down there. I'm about to move back down there this afternoon. Last evening when we arrived home we put the fan on for the animals inside then went to a neighbours to cool in the pool instead of sitting in air-conditioning at home. This evening we're going to another neighbours place to sit in their pool. Mind you the pool temperatures are between 30 and 35 degrees. It's weird!

The Bureau of Meteorology predicts that we will have more of these heatwaves more often in the near future. I even had a friend tell me there is a prediction of a 50 degree day here in Adelaide in the next couple of months (I hope not!). So how many more heatwaves will it take for us to change our ways? We need to reserve our energy for those who need it most (elderly, young and sick) and those who are able need to think twice before switching on the luxuries we take for granted.

Save the planet! Is that a corny cliche or do we need to actually take that statement seriously now?

Shalom Mark