Go love the world: Go Magazine TWO 2020

TWO 2020

Interserve Australia

Print Post Approved 100000107

The Great Physician A taxi driver with a searching heart Under the Fig Tree Archaeology is my love language

Love that comes from the heart of God connects us to all of God’s children. It connects us to his creation so that we cannot choose who to love and who to ignore. Nor can we close our eyes to the things that marginalise others. The more connected we are to God, the more connected we are to the world around us. The more we know his Love, the more Love we have to give to others.

Interserve is a global community of ordinary Christians who believe that God Loves the World deeply.

We are doctors, teachers, baristas, accountants, carpenters, musicians, entrepreneurs, community development workers and more; working in Asia, the Arab World and among diaspora in Australia. We prioritise locallyled projects, meeting needs and building capacity among the most marginalised people.

Your support is love in action that can make the greatest change in communities – through work that impacts on all areas of life.

Together, we can bring tangible Love that transforms lives and communities.

Will you Go Love the World with us? interserve.org.au

Contents 04 God’s love overcomes fear 06 The Great Physician 08 A taxi driver with a searching heart 10 Ambassadors of love 12 Archaeology is my love language 14 Full hearts 16 Under the Fig Tree 18 One person among millions 20 Getting out the gate 22 Loving my neighbour 24 You came back!

26 Keeping watch 28 Tangible Love 30 Inside Interserve Thanks to all who contributed to the making of this magazine.

Primary sources of news and information: Our own correspondents.

Editors: Kaitlyn Gaudion, Yvonne Evans, Peter Smith Get in touch at go@interserve.org.au Design: Les Colston, Urban Zeal

Go is the magazine published twice a year by Interserve Australia Limited. It contains content of Interserve Australia Limited and its subsidiary Interserve Development Limited (collectively “Interserve”), and from friends in the Interserve International fellowship.

Material of Interserve may be freely reproduced with permission from Interserve Australia Limited. Permission for use of other text and images should be obtained from the original source.

Photos: Stock images or supplied by Interserve personnel, except where indicated – thanks to all. Photos do not necessarily relate to articles for sensitivity reasons. Cover photo by Janelle Khoo with illustration by Leanne Pedersen. P26 courtesy Walt Manis. P16-17 courtesy of the author.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Bible quotes in this magazine are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright 2011 by the New York International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.

Interserve Australia Limited is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Interserve Australia Limited and Interserve Development Limited are ACNC Registered Charities. Interserve Australia Limited is a member of Australia’s Missions Interlink and the international Micah Network.

Interserve is a Child Safe organisation. www.interserve.org.au ISSN 0256-4726.

From the National Director “For God so loved the world…” (John 3:16) is central to our Christian faith. We know and trust that God loves the world because he sent his Son. Jesus came and lived among us so that we might experience this love.

We also know and trust God’s call to go and love the world. One Interserve worker shares, “We knew from experience that walking alongside others in their pain is much more powerful than what we can do from a distance.” She has just moved overseas in the midst of COVID-19.

This edition of Go shares what it looks like to go love the world. From Sydney to the Middle East, women and men choose to do life with others: getting out the gate, befriending a neighbour, conversing in a taxi, overcoming fear in the workplace. It is about intentionally being with people in tough places in life and allowing God’s love to move.

I am challenged by these stories. Right now I am physically isolated due to COVID-19 restrictions in Melbourne. But as I follow in Jesus’s footsteps, I am called to go and love the world. And so are you.

Christine Gobius

This publication was printed by on Grange Offset paper which is a PEFC Certified supplied paper (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification). Offset Grange paper is Australian made and manufactured in facilities with ISO14001 EMS certification and made elemental chlorine free.

Printed by PostScript Printing.

Our business brings together people from marginalised backgrounds and provides a safe space for training and discipleship.

God’s love overcomes fear We live in a 4,000 year old city, along with 25 million others. Pollution fills the air like a grey soup and the economy is in a permanent struggle to keep ahead of population growth.

Yet the noise and chaos brings a captivating vibrancy to the place we call home. Hanging over this society are deep divisions between rich and poor, women and men, and between Christians and Muslims resulting in brokenness, mistrust and violence. As a minority, Christians often focus on self-preservation and separate themselves from the majority Muslims.

financial, social and spiritual aspects of people’s lives. We soon found ourselves wearing aprons, serving coffees and baking cakes for our new, tiny coffee business!

Eight years ago, corruption, injustice, poverty and lost opportunity drove the Middle East into revolution. In the midst of this, my family was seeking God and felt called to business for transformation. We were convinced that business has the potential to impact the

One of our team, Ash, joined us from a slum area with dreams of being an accountant. I recall his extreme discomfort when I took him for his first visit to a bank! He was brought up in an environment where violence was normal. His father beat his mother and his brother followed

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Since then, it’s been a journey of hard work, stress, miracles and joy! Our business brings together people from marginalised backgrounds and provides a safe space for training and discipleship. We are now a community where we work, learn, laugh, eat and pray together.

Sounds nice? Maybe, but the journey doesn’t always feel nice. In fact, it’s REALLY HARD.

in his footsteps. Ash would have made a perfect drug lord. He was angry most of the time and was always ready for a fight. There would have been many fist fights with other team members if I hadn’t physically held him back.

We strive to model and operate by Godly principles including love, grace and forgiveness.

This was difficult for Ash’s colleagues whom he often offended and frightened. Yet today, Ash is part of the management team of two men and two women, after insisting for a long while that business is only for men. He is now dependable and supportive of all of his colleagues. His faith has grown and it’s become normal for him to discuss matters of faith with both Christians and Muslims.

Mary is another team member from a slum area who battled with her family to get a basic education and find work against her parents’ wishes that she only prepare for marriage and children. Mary is an evangelical Christian which is unusual here and we were excited by the potential of her working with us. However, Mary’s behaviour towards her colleagues was far from salt and light. Her deep insecurities and fears poured out on her colleagues in the form of verbal abuse, bitterness and unforgiveness while showing a completely different side in our Bible studies. I was frustrated!

We came to a moment of confrontation when I was prepared to fire her. However, that same morning my wonderful wife and business partner told me that God had been speaking to her about how we should be growing in love for our team. Ouch! Love is an interesting concept.

1 John 3:16 talks about giving up our lives for our brothers and sisters. Who is our brother and sister? What does giving up our lives mean?

1 John 4:18 also tells us that there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

I suddenly realised that fear was in the way of God’s love. I was challenged to allow God’s love to remove my own fear. Only then could I really show love to Mary. Only then can I help Mary start to overcome her fears and the destructive force they were having on colleagues. It starts with me!

Striving to constantly grow in God and demonstrating His love is hard work. But we have seen enormous joy and fulfilment in seeing God’s transforming love impact lives through our business.

Jacob and his family live in the Middle East, working in business for transformation.

All names have been changed.

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The Great Physician

It is my desire that healthcare workers may come to know Jesus, the Great Physician.

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2020 has been a very challenging time for the world. All of us have found ourselves in a different situation than we anticipated at the start of the year. Personally, it has brought a sudden halt to my work. Worldwide border restrictions have left me unexpectedly outside of my country of service. But along with the frustration, it has given me a chance to reflect on the past two years since I went overseas to work.

I had been living in an Asian city on a high plateau. After a period of language study, I started work as a doctor in the obstetrics and ultrasound departments of a local hospital. It was a really challenging start but I began to learn that to be accepted in a local context requires patience, humility and a healthy respect for the people and systems that surround you. As my relationships improved, so did the opportunities. Despite my basic language skills, I was invited to begin formal clinical teaching.

God had given me a vision to bring learning opportunities and up-to-date skills to people who lack access to them so that they, in turn, can better serve their own people. It is also my desire that healthcare workers may come to know Jesus, the Great Physician, and serve patients with the compassion that reflects His love for the world. As the initial months passed by, I found myself busy doing all the muchneeded “good” things. Most of my days were occupied by acquiring general and medical language, preparing lessons and getting to know my colleagues and the culture of the hospitals.

I was also learning about day-to-day clinical work in that context. As time passed by, I found little time to do anything else. While the response to my teaching was good, I had neither the time nor language ability to talk about the deeper issues of faith.

As I got more involved in the day-to-day working environment, a different set of challenges become apparent. Why is a stillborn baby treated with less care than a live birth? Why is life-saving treatment delayed while waiting for the family to make necessary phone calls to find

the money to pay for it? Why is terminating a pregnancy the only option offered when certain maternal or fetal risks become known? Why is general decision-making done so differently to what I know as best-practice? Should we not treat a person, dead or alive, with or without money, with dignity? Should we not as healthcare workers give patients balanced advice regarding their choices? The underlying issues behind these questions are complex and I began to see that the foundations have something to do with how we view the value of a person. I believe that each person—each patient—is created in the image of God, valuable and priceless, and this affects how I treat them. But how can I show this to my colleagues?

One day, a lady doctor whom I had been working with asked me if I was someone with faith. I was surprised with this unexpected question as I had not yet had any direct conversations about matters of faith. I asked her the reason for her question. She had noticed an incident where a patient’s decision had upset me. From my reaction, she concluded that I must be someone with faith. We discussed the issues surrounding it, particularly the value of every life. That day I realised that I can begin by helping one person change one aspect of their worldview at a time, even though I’d like to change everything at once! This was exciting. It is possible, with the help of the Great Physician, to point others to Him through our daily choices and conduct.

We need evidence-based medical practices to improve patient outcomes. But just as importantly, we also need to model through our daily work the compassion and love that the Great Physician has for each life. Go, love the world, just as Jesus does.

Hannah is an obstetrician living and working in Asia.

Names have been changed.

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A taxi driver with a searching heart What if God had appointed this taxi driver to hear the good news today?

I looked up and down the inner city street, suddenly quiet from the usual rush of traffic.

I needed a taxi in a hurry and, in this city of over 60,000 taxi drivers, not one could be found. I began walking quickly to a larger thoroughfare, quietly asking for the provision of a quick, safe ride home. I had classes to teach at my university in a couple of hours. I spied a taxi some distance ahead, stopping to set a passenger down, so I sprinted and got there just in time. Falling into the back seat in relief, I gave hasty directions to the driver.

With my eyes closed, I thought back over the morning’s errand—a kind of ‘mercy mission’ to take some necessities to an elderly patient in hospital. To fit this in before classes began I had decided on the luxury of taking taxis there and back. On the way in, I had shared the gospel with the taxi driver and left him with a

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little booklet to read. When I first arrived in this city, I had heard about the plight of taxi drivers and their relentless schedules which gave little opportunity to hear the good news. I’d decided then that if I ever paid to take a taxi, I would share the love of God with the driver. But today, I’d already done that, and I was tired and needed to be rested for my classes.

There was a niggling thought in my head, though. What if this driver never hears of Jesus?

This taxi had been a timely provision for me.

What if God had appointed this driver to hear the good news today, and I didn’t tell him? What is stopping me, really? I kept wrestling with my need for a rest and rationalising my excuses.

Finally, I opened my mouth.

The taxi driver was friendly, and listened intently as I shared with him the core of the good news—the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and the forgiveness and eternal life he offers. “Have you ever heard this before?”

I asked. “No, I haven’t,” he replied. “Well, not completely. The passenger just before you was a Christian too, and she started to tell me but her journey came to an end too quickly. So I didn’t hear it all.”

drawer under the spare bed and drew out the precious book. I added a Jesus DVD, also in his language, to the gift. The driver delightedly accepted the materials I offered with a sincere “thank you” and a promise that he would value and peruse them all.

I never saw him again. I don’t know if I’ll see him in heaven, though I hope I will. But I know that on that day, the love of God compelled me, along with another of his children, to share the grace of the Lord Jesus with one taxi driver who had a searching heart.

“For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all.”

2 Corinthians 5:14 Julia has lived and worked in Asia for over twenty years.

The Lord had prodded me until I opened my mouth.

I was stunned. This day, the Lord had appointed two of His children, in a city of 22 million people, to talk to this taxi driver. And he had prodded me until I’d opened my mouth. The driver continued, “And I want to know where I can find a Bible.

I’ve been trying to find one for a while but I have no idea where to look.” I couldn’t believe my ears at hearing this earnest desire. There are a lot of bookshops in my city, but a Bible is hard to find.

His enthusiasm grew as we talked. As we drew up to my high-rise apartment block, I took a risk.

“My apartment is up there,” I said, pointing to the second-highest floor. “I have a spare Bible up there, in your language. Would you wait for me to get it for you?” “Really? Yes, of course!

I’ll wait here as long as it takes!” he replied.

At my apartment I made a beeline for a hidden 9

Ambassadors of love For a long time the medication wasn’t working, but we continued to pray.

I first met Ankur when his marriage was struggling. My main aim was to help him to get to know Jesus and serve him physically, as needed. Little did I know how much the Lord was stretching me in my love. I was able to pray with him and support him when the marriage ended.

A little while later he developed seizures and discovered that a brain lesion was causing them. Because of this he lost his job. Through many phone calls and face-to-face meetings

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I discovered Ankur was owed years of leave entitlements and superannuation. During this time I told Ankur about the story of the persistent widow. We discussed how God is so much better than a crooked judge, and that we should keep praying and not give up. His face brightened as he realised that God is good and would look after him. Eventually we were able to negotiate a settlement where his employer gave him a payout of all that he was owed.

Ankur continues to struggle with his health and employment, and I have taken him to the hospital and doctor’s appointments. For a long time the medication wasn’t working, but we continued to pray. He has also been evicted and needed to find other accommodation. Together we have read through parts of Genesis and many stories

of the gospel and discussed them. Through all this, Ankur has come to realise that Jesus is the Lord of the world, and that he loves him.

A breakthrough came a few weeks ago when we were reading the passage where the Pharisees criticise the disciples for eating with hands that are unwashed. This is a very relevant passage because many South Asians believe that avoiding meat is associated with purity and closeness to God. Jesus says that nothing outside of us can make us unclean by going into us. Rather, it’s from within our hearts that evil desires come and make us unclean.

Ankur said, “Whenever I go to the temple, they only talk about outside cleaning: cleaning hands, removing shoes, clean food… But don’t talk about the heart. Only Jesus talks about the heart.” Then as he read further, it struck him, “This is me. How can I have my heart cleaned?”

I told him, only Jesus can clean your heart, and he died for all your sins (‘paap’) on the cross.

Ankur has struggled with feelings of revenge on his former boss. And I have had to firmly refuse to take any part in revenge. After a while he is sorry and repents. And each time I have reminded him that Jesus can clean his heart, all he needs to do is pray. He keeps wanting to go and pray in a church, but he knows that Jesus can forgive him, even from home!

“We love because he first loved us.”

1 John 4:19 “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 31:8–9 Clive works with Interserve’s ministry to migrants in Australia.

Some names have been changed.

His face brightened as he realised that God is good and would look after him.

What I have learned is that sharing Jesus with migrants is a long-term process, requiring lots of time, patience and love. Thank God that Ankur’s seizures are now under control with some new medication and he is loving Jesus more and more. He once told me, “I haven’t seen Jesus, but I think you are Jesus.” I had to vigorously correct him, but it reminded me that we are the visible ambassadors of Christ’s love.

There are many times when I wanted to give up, and other believers have helped him too. He knows that when no one else was there to help him, followers of Christ were the ones who cared for him. And now he thanks Jesus for sending us to him.

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Archaeology is my love language When we think about how God’s love motivates us to love others, it can sometimes be hard to imagine how we can do this. How do we love our neighbours? Even harder: how can we love people scattered across the world?

For me, doing my job as an archaeologist is a way to love Central Asians – by helping them understand the story of Christianity in their own countries.

Why does history matter?

The Bible is a history of the people of God. God is always reminding Israel of where they came from and where they are going. It reminds them of who they are: 12

Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we travelled. And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God.” (Joshua 24:16-18) The history of God’s love and salvation for Israel is what makes them want to serve him. And for Christians, the story of how God loved and saved us through Jesus is what gives us our new

identity in Him! This history of faith is central to our knowledge of who are.

History is our story too History is often only seen as the stories of important people or events. But archaeology and history also have the potential to uncover the stories of the everyday lives of ordinary people. We already know the power of personal stories: we share the testimonies of God at work in our lives and the stories of others who have gone before us. For the Christians of Central Asia, archaeological research on the church in this region helps them appreciate the history they can own for themselves. Making a decision to follow Christ is usually seen as a betrayal of family and heritage. Yet archaeology has the power to show that Christians have been there for hundreds of years and Christianity has a legitimate place in contemporary society as it has had in the past. Being a Christian does not conflict with being Central Asian.

Archaeology sounds romantic and full of adventure. In reality, it is hard outdoor work, long research hours, and getting very sunburnt! If that stills sounds fun to you, a career change could be in order! Each day I begin excavating around

Doing my job as an archaeologist is a way to love Central Asians.

5am. We set up to shelter ourselves from the sun and throughout the day we shift our shelters to make sure we keep enough shade to protect us.

I spend most of the day hunched over a grave site, carefully and slowly excavating the soil. I work in dust, dirt and mud, and the sun blares over us as the day goes on. The afternoon is spent processing artefacts and getting enough rest before the next day.

We go through this hard work because we know it is worth it, not just because we love it. We love others because God loved us. We want to unearth stories of the God of love at work in people who have gone before. We want to demonstrate the continuity of a community of faithful Christians in this region reaching back into history. This can also show people of other religions that they are loved by God. Archaeology is one way to love others so, well, hand me my trowel!

Victoria served her short-term placement at an archaeological dig in Central Asia.

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Full hearts

Never underestimate the power of one small act!

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It’s amazing how a small act that seems insignificant in our eyes can spark something huge in God’s Kingdom.

We’ve had a small box of bilingual scripture cards in our home since we’ve been married.

They’re in English and Japanese. They sat on the kitchen counter in our first home but after a number of house moves they lay forgotten in a box. After our recent move they resurfaced again and I took them out to give to my best friend, Anh, who I’ve known for the past six years. I met her the day she decided to follow Jesus and I still remember telling her that it’s the best decision she would ever make! Since then we’ve become close friends and we’ve been journeying together through the ebbs and flows of life. Since first meeting her, she’s given birth to her own startup education centre where she holds English and Japanese classes for the local community in our South East Asian city.

Anh went on to share how the people in her class asked to know more about Jesus and two of them now want to follow him! My heart wanted to erupt with joy! Heaven is rejoicing!

Later that day she wrote an email to our international church pastor to share her story.

My eyes welled up with tears as I read it. I felt so thankful and humbled to be reading her story – His story!

It is amazing how one small act can lead to something so huge! Never underestimate the power of one small act! Step out, share what you have and watch what God can do with the little you have to offer.

Andrea and her family live and work in South East Asia.

All names have been changed.

Thursday mornings are my favourite weekday mornings. Anh and I meet at 7am and walk to the lakes, grab a bowl of sticky rice and a glass of ice-cold tea, chatting about what God has been showing us and usually discussing a book we choose to read together. This past Thursday, I remembered to take the scripture cards to give to her. She thanked me and I jokingly challenged her to put one verse each week on the notice board of her education centre and call it “Wisdom of the Week”. She could even suggest to her colleagues that they should memorize it and try to do what it says during the week. We didn’t talk too much about it as we continued to our usual breakfast spot for our weekly catch up.

About 3 hours later a string of messages flooded my phone. It was Anh. “Thanks for the cards.

You know what? Today during the Q&A part of our Japanese class they asked me, ‘When you don’t have money, where do you go to borrow some?’ I took a chance and told them that, as a Christian, I would ask God to guide me. They seemed interested in my faith and after sharing some of the cards I ended up talking for two hours, starting with the Garden of Eden!”

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Under the Fig Tree Your tears are not the only outward sign of your deepest pain Your need is desperate Your words are filled with horrors You scramble to fill a bag with warm clothes for your children For your baby Your house is cold Your cupboards are bare Your plumbing is leaking Your children are crying, unruly, aching to get out But this cold room is the only safety you know How can you start again here?

Your life has been torn apart Senselessly Your son is in a different land Kept apart by distance, money, weather, borders By governments Those in their warm clothes and heated houses Those who have a responsibility to care They have failed their duty to you They plot and plan, distanced from the horrors Why is this world so unfair?

Why you?

You live in a land that is barely welcoming A place that is now your ‘home’ “How can this place be home?”

It doesn’t feel safe

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How can you possibly process the death of your child, your son?

You have other children to care for, a family to hold together Your mother, your sisters, your aunties, your community are not here You are alone Isolated You long for a place to belong in this strange wintery land For someone to hear you, to see your struggle, to care “I hear whispers about people who care who provide warm clothes who offer a warm drink where children can fill their bellies A place where people like me can find community with others who have faced the same horrors a warm place, a family Free from discrimination Who are these people and why do they care? “There is something different about them. They are defined by love. How can I know this love?

Where is this place?

Could this be a place where I am accepted?

Could I find community here, are there people who will care about me?

Could I find a hot drink, food?

Would they be this generous?

Will I find light from the darkness here?�

My friend you are welcome here come and meet the one who cares more deeply than any human to find shelter under the Fig Tree

Rochelle wrote and illustrated this poem during her short-term placement with refugees in West Asia.

Name has been changed.

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One person among millions

“Oh! This Jesus, I’ve heard about Him before.” The man’s eyes lit up.

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Five pairs of eyes watched us in silence. Five daughters half-hidden in the furtive darkness of the ramshackle bamboo hut. Probably they had never seen foreigners before. Probably our clipped, studied pronunciation of the national language was to them an alien tongue. Curious– suspicious, they peeked out from behind a beam separating the guest area from the sleeping space in their home. Separated from us by a far greater distance than wood and shadow could show.

Our journey had begun that morning, when we embarked on a four-day motorbike ‘faith journey’, with only the bare bones of a route sketched out, and even less of a plan of where we would eat or stay the night. We had turned off the main road onto a bumpy dirt track which would eventually taper alarmingly round the edge of a mountain. Having just nearly crashed the bike in a rocky quagmire, I felt like I had already learned enough faith for one day.

Then the tropical downpour began. After miles of jungle, we suddenly emerged into the edge of a small village, where we rushed for shelter under the eaves of the first shack we came to.

As we pulled in, the man of the house returned from foraging in the woods. He looked at us with surprise but invited us in, offering dried-out dayold rice: all he had.

While we ate he began to pour out his heart, telling us of his poverty, his anxieties for the future, the sickness that prevents him from working in the rice-fields and forces his wife to face the daily labour alone. Finally he shared his terrible fear that one day, when his five daughters grow up and get married—and ‘ownership’ of them transfers from parents to husbands—he will have no son to look after him, in life and in death: as an aging father needing care then as a dead ancestor demanding offerings.

The man of the house looked at us with surprise but invited us in, offering dried-out dayold rice: all he had. spoke softly to them all. He was not ashamed of them; only of his own failure to produce a son.

Before we left to continue our journey, I asked if I could say a blessing over him in the name of the mighty Lord Jesus who makes impossible possible. The One who has Himself walked the road of suffering and grief, who brings hope to the downhearted and love to the unloved.

“Oh! This Jesus, I’ve heard about Him before.”

The man’s eyes had lit up, his voice animated. “It sounds like a good story. I’d like a book about Him so I can read it for myself.”

This may be the only interaction I ever have with this lonely father. He represents one person among millions, one ethnic minority among hundreds. Yet we were brought together to hear something of each other’s stories; to accompany and encourage one another on our journeys of faith. The short-lived downpour and unexpected welcome provided a glimpse of God’s ongoing interactions with us. A reminder that He paves His way—and makes His home—in isolated, forgotten corners; among downtrodden, destitute people; in lost and longing hearts.

Clara is a long-term Interserve Partner, living and working in South East Asia.

Name has been changed.

His fear was real. His ethnic group are deeply enslaved to spirits, and conservative in their views on the value of women. Yet he loved his daughters. He cradled one gently in his arms and 19

Getting out the gate One of the pitfalls of living inside the walls of a large Christian facility, surrounded by dedicated Christian brothers and sisters, is the comfort, safety and isolation it affords. It is easy to be consumed with making the things inside the walls run smoothly. The activities of daily life in our Christian bubble can become an end in themselves, and we find ourselves insulated from the “other world” that is just beyond the gate.

This cut-off feeling has been exacerbated by the coronavirus lockdown. All the meaningful faceto-face relationships that were cultivated during our first year in the UK have have slipped slowly into the background. Zoom and WhatsApp just don’t cut it. The culture of the neighbourhood we are living in does not function well via the internet. So, to a large extent, we are indeed stuck behind these walls.

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We’ve used the time to strategise. How can we engage more with people in our neighbourhood? What new opportunities have arisen during lockdown that could increase connectedness? Are there other gatherings we can organise that will attract people and encourage deeper friendships? As we contemplated these questions, we realised that many of our ideas are attractional: how we can draw people to us. But we need to remember the lessons we learned during our years in crosscultural ministry.

At the start of our cross-cultural experience, we read dozens of books about mission strategies; we went to conferences that inspire vision and build faith; we studied history, anthropology, culture and language: all important pursuits.

However, none of it was meaningful until we

started meeting people face-to-face. Only then were cultural barriers broken down, misunderstandings and hesitations overcome, and new friendships formed. We made a point of going outside the gate as much as possible: going to the market, frequenting the same shops, stopping for cups of tea, home visits at times of sickness and loss, attending celebrations and invitations for meals. There is no substitute for face-to-face time with people.

We made a point of going outside the gate: going to the market, stopping for cups of tea, home visits at times of sickness and loss, attending celebrations and invitations for meals.

It’s the same strategy that Jesus taught his disciples. When he was sending the twelve out to spread his Kingdom message, he prepped them by saying, “Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave” (Matt 10:11).

He repeated this strategy almost word for word to the seventy-two in Luke 10. “Get out among the people,” is basically what Jesus was saying.

God’s business is the people business!

met the others who lived at the yard: a motley crew, yet very friendly and open. On our third visit we started a Bible study in their little shack.

Jesus’ strategy can be summed up in three tiny words: “As you go...” (Matt 10:7). No options. No negotiation. “As you go,” is what he said... and there were no arguments from the disciples! Jesus literally dispatched them... he pushed them out the door and into the community. Now, I’m sure they had the same apprehensions you and I have when we’re pushed out of our comfort zones. They would have felt comfortable inside the gate with Jesus—learning from him, watching him perform miracles, organising the crowds, doing whatever he said—just a long as Jesus was the front man.

But this time Jesus shoved them out the gate all alone, “like sheep among wolves,” to encounter people on their own.

A few months ago, before this lockdown happened, we were out walking in our area looking for a God-opportunity. We had no plan but had committed our time to Jesus and were praying as we went. We came across a rag-nbone yard, a very unlikely looking place, and were prompted to go inside. We met the guy in charge, a man with deep emotional needs.

He invited us in, we drank tea, and eventually prayed with him. We returned a second time and

Another day we were called on to help a neighbour assemble her Ikea bookshelves: not a task anybody relishes but it increased our connectedness! At a later date, we organised a community meal and the same woman came with her children, her grandchildren, her sisters and their families. We ended up with 17 guests from one extended family! Fast forward a few months, and she and Liz walk together every day in the park. Often other ladies spontaneously join them. A walking group has started simply because we pushed ourselves outside the gate and got face-to-face with neighbours.

Jesus challenges us to get out the gate! We are convinced that ninety percent of fruitful ministry happens outside the front gate. Other pressing tasks and important activities will always jostle for attention and we can strategise behind the walls until the cows come home. However, when we follow Jesus’ way and get out among the people, there’s no telling what will happen. His business is the people business.

Allen & Liz live at a community house, in a major city of the UK.

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Loving my neighbour

Once again, Sarah rather unconvincingly tells me, “I know the universe is looking after me."

If this lady spends all day at home, then we should be friends.

In our first year here, whenever we looked out our kitchen window to the apartment building opposite, we would see a couple smoking together on their balcony. In excitement at the prospect of making friends in a new land, I thought, “If this lady spends all day at home, then we should be friends.” When I was buying vegetables from the truck in our street, I finally met Sarah. She is a migrant from Ukraine with an Orthodox background and she married a local man five years ago.

Perhaps I was a nosy neighbour but one day it occurred to me that Sarah and her husband no longer spent time together on the balcony.

When Sarah and I were walking together in the local forest, she was pretty down and began

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sharing deeply about the difficulties in her life.

“My husband is drinking heavily again and says horrible things to me. We haven’t spoken properly for weeks.” I listened and the only thing I could do was reassure her that she is valuable.

I promised I would pray for her and her marriage.

A week later I caught up with Sarah and asked her how things were going. She explained, “When I got home after our walk, my husband was not home and didn’t come home that night.

So, for the first time in a long time I prayed to God for help.” She was surprised God answered her prayer: the next day her husband returned home with a renewed commitment to stop drinking.

“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8 Recently, Sarah once again exclaimed, “The universe is looking after me!” But this time she paused and then said, “Or, as you say, God loves me.”

Penny lives with her family in West Asia long term.

All names have been changed.

I promised I would pray for her and her marriage.

Sadly, three years on, things haven’t improved.

Sarah now finds herself in a desperate situation as her husband is an alcoholic, verbally abusive and now in a relationship with another woman.

Their marriage has fallen apart. Sarah is living in this country with no friends except me, is unemployed and has a very limited ability to communicate in the local language. Her husband has filed for divorce, but she is totally dependent on him for money and a place to stay. Her only other option is to return to the war zone in Ukraine where her dad lives.

Seeing her desperate situation, I did what little I could: cooked food for her when she had none, gave her bedding when her husband took all the furniture away, and took her to the city law association to apply for a free lawyer. She has had a tough life and my heart breaks for her.

Some things have fallen in place. Sarah now has a lawyer and she often claims, “Oh, I know the universe is looking after me." To which I respond, “I believe it is God looking after you.

He loves you.”

I sometimes feel frustrated that Sarah won’t acknowledge that God’s love is the reason that I care about her. She mystically believes that it is the universe who loves her. However, I must remember that even before I acknowledged Him, God also loved me.

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You came back!

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“What? WHAT? Wow! Wow! WOW!!” Silence followed; a deep, intentional silence from my friend, Mawar. “I’m crying!” she eventually said.

I had texted Mawar earlier to let her know we were back in the country after four months in Australia due to COVID-19 border closures, and she was now in disbelief. “You came back, from your safe country to this scary situation?” she asked. She told me that she had not worked out in the community for this time, keeping herself safe at home.

Chickens squawked in the background, and I remembered when she and her husband moved into their house last year and transformed it from a clothing factory to a self-sufficient oasis in the capital city of this country. If I close my eyes I can still vividly see the lush plants and taste the bountiful mangos from their front tree served from a bottomless plate. Mawar is vegetarian and we ate lavishly from the fruit and vegetables that grew in her garden.

I have known her for fifteen years, having met on a medical team after a natural disaster. She is a well-known researcher, advising the government and World Bank on micro-finance projects and is much sought after for her research skills. For years she has travelled to remote regions of the country advocating for the needs of the poor.

Our journey from Australia back to Asia began with that deep call to be back alongside those who are suffering after thinking we had retired from field work. We began to ask ourselves, often prompted by other people’s questions, “while we can do good remotely, what can older people who are willing to leave the safety of life in Australia do to serve others overseas?” We knew from experience that walking alongside others in their pain is much more powerful than what we can do from a distance. Isn’t this what Jesus did, after all?

national friends to teach and model what good member care and self-care could look like for local Christian workers who laboured tirelessly in remote areas away from their support systems for long periods. We felt that ‘still, small voice’ calling us out of retirement to take this work further to the remaining provinces.

It was so encouraging to find that our act of obedience motivated Mawar to in turn take the risk to return to field work. She was acutely aware of the increased suffering of her fellow citizens from the pandemic. She had been writing a paper to publish on this topic and my first job was to proofread it for her. “We are not called to be safe,” she wrote. “We are called to be whatever God wants us to be to help others.”

What we had been able to do as older Australians is mere loaves and fishes compared to what our local friends become inspired and encouraged to do through our commitment to take risks to serve others. It’s been such a joy and honour to see workers who face isolation and burnout becoming healthy again and able to continue to do good in these communities.

Praise God! We are more convinced than ever that ‘doing life together’ with local people is such a powerful way to show that God loves the world, and we do too.

Sharon and Len recently returned to the South East Asian country where they lived and served in member care for many years.

Names have been changed.

“You came back, from your safe country to this scary situation?”

While Australian authorities were working hard to keep us all safe and near to home, the deep call back to Asia grew in us. Just before retiring to Australia, we had been working with our 25

Keeping watch

I like the idea that God is alert, not disinterested or neutral. He is taking a good long look at evil.

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“The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.”

Proverbs 15:3 This verse recently caught my attention. I had always thought of God keeping an eye on good but absent when evil is present. I remember being taught that God can’t look on evil. Now I am not so sure. This verse points out that God is in every place and he is not inattentive to evil.

It describes him as “keeping watch on the evil” as well as the good. In the phrase, “keeping watch”, I think of a military officer whose job it is to be alert and give constant, disciplined attention to a situation. I like the idea that God is alert, not disinterested or neutral. He is taking a good long look at evil.

We are hearing about a lot of negative things at the moment. The COVID-19 pandemic, the plight of refugees, economic crises, land border tensions, floods, earthquakes, locust plagues, racism, sparring world leaders and people careless with the resources of God’s world. God is alert and watching all these things.

A Christian friend recently told me that, “God has given Satan control over our world.” That statement has some truth but it made me cringe a little, for it leaves me with the hopelessness of deism – that God has walked away to let the world run itself under Satan’s control. This made me rethink how I would describe the current situation. Satan is indeed busily bringing harm.

But God is not absent, and evil will not stay active forever. God is unchanged by evil but not unmoved.

God sees all of this – separated and distressed families, unexpected funerals, loss of salary, sickness and death – and because he sees it, he sent Jesus. God is keeping watch over the evil and the good. It is a privilege to show through our words and deeds that he so loved the world that he sent Jesus.

Amelia has served in South Asia for more than 15 years.

Names have been changed.

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You can give a gift of Love in action

The Gift of Understanding Build peace by helping young people step across Cultural, Faith and Language divides. This gift creates spaces where Love is made tangible, barriers are broken down and strangers become friends.

2020 has brought our world closer together than ever before.

This Christmas, why not give gifts that shares the Love through Australian Christian workers serving in Asia, Australia and the Arab world.

The Gift of Faith Equip followers of Jesus with learning and resources to authentically live out their faith. As a teacher, Jesus taught in a new way, making God accessible to people from all walks of life. He taught of Love that takes risks, gives selflessly and forgives others.

Suggested price: $40 helps facilitate one-on-one discipleship for believers.

Suggested price: $20 helps raise awareness of intercultural understanding.

The Gift of a Healthy Environment Help rural communities and the urban poor tackle environmental challenges that directly affect them. This gift is Tangible Love that cares for nature and people.

Suggested price: $5 helps provide a coffee sapling, creating a sustainable income for a family.

D E

?

D E

Make a donation

D

Receive a Gift Card

Share the Love

The Gift of Tangible Love

The Gift of Community

Support Interserve workers serving in marginalised communities. We prioritise locally-led projects, meeting needs and building capacity among the most marginalised people. This gift is Love in action that can make the greatest change in communities – through work that impacts on all areas of life.

Help refugees and asylum seekers in Australia and Asia to find places of rest, hospitality and healing. For people who have endured the trauma of conflict, loss and displacement, this is Love that shares the journey of hardship and hope.

Suggested price: $520 helps equip a counsellor who can train other counsellors.

Suggested price: $75 helps cover a day of hospitality at a refugee community centre.

The Gift of Respect

The Gift of Health care

Support women and men to overcome violence and abuse, and to work for peace and respect within communities.

Where people feel broken, hurt and unseen this gift brings Love that sees, heals and restores.

Provide health care for people in remote or poor communities. We are compelled by the example of Jesus, who brought healing and dignifying love to those who were sick and marginalised. This gift brings Tangible Love that heals.

Suggested price: $50 helps provide online coaching for women leaders.

Suggested price: $100 helps deliver an online lecture for medical students.

Your donation to a gift will be used to support Interserve workers in the areas described above.

Any extra funds will be used where most needed.

Shop now at love.interserve.org.auu

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With this magazine, we’re launching a new campaign – all about how God’s love for the world compels us to Go Love The World.

We are inspired by John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16 Our hope is to encourage more Australians to pray and give toward the work God is doing in Asia, Australia and the Arab world.

You can help! Please pray for this campaign, share our Facebook posts with your friends, give gifts of Tangible Love … and stay tuned for more ways to get involved.

Learn more

love.interserve.org.au

Stay in touch Follow @interserve.australia

Sign up for regular updates at interserve.org.au/3strands

Is God inviting you to start a new journey?

As we move through this pandemic, there are many ways we can show Love to our neighbours, to our community, to our world.

You can use your skills, passion and heart to serve cross-culturally.

Pray with us, in person or on zoom. New prayer groups in Canberra and in NSW! interserve.org.au/pray

Let’s work together to

#golovetheworld interserve.org.au/contact

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God loves the world.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16

Go love the world.

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

1 John 3:16

Interserve Freecall 1800 067 100 info@interserve.org.au PO Box 231 Bayswater VIC 3153

interserve.org.au