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LIFE INTERRUPTED As National Director of Interserve Australia, Christine McClintockGobius (1980), is usually explaining the lockdown rigmarole as part of orientation to volunteers bound for unstable overseas zones. Here is her first-hand account of what Melbourne lockdown looks like. CHRISTINE MCCLINTOCKGOBIUS
old scholar
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urfew, restricted movement, roadblocks, police checks and everything else that a lockdown brings is something I am usually explaining as part of orientation to volunteers as they prepare to serve vulnerable communities in some of the more volatile countries across Asia and the Middle East. It had never occurred to me that this would be my experience here in Melbourne, one of the most liveable cities in the world which I now call home.
alongside communities through natural disaster, uprisings, war and many other challenges. COVID-19 was no different. As the weeks and months have passed those decisions to stay or return to Australia have been revisited multiple times. They are revisited each time the local Australian Embassy emails to offer seats on a repatriation flight, or as volunteers struggle to do their work from lockdown or, what can be even more difficult, in places where lockdown is being ignored. Some volunteers have contracted COVID-19 and thankfully recovered, not like many of their neighbours. For me personally, it has been an incredibly intense season, experienced from the confines of our guest bedroom (it hasn’t been needed) at all hours of the day and into the evening as time zones require. I am no stranger to Zoom having used it daily for several years however it saps this ambiverts energy when engaging with virtual meetings all day.
I was visiting Australian long-term volunteers in Nepal in February and March as the impact of the pandemic began to be felt globally. My husband and I arrived back in Melbourne on the day that self-quarantine became compulsory in Victoria. Transiting the deathly quiet Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok was a foretaste of the abrupt changes sweeping the world. As the epidemic curves continued to escalate, I used those days in late March to oversee staff in our Melbourne office transition to working from home and volunteers around the world consider should they stay in their country of service or return to Australia. Most stayed. Interserve, the organisation I lead, is part of an international fellowship that has a long legacy of serving
What has been life-giving is that, in the midst of this I have experienced an even deeper sense of community; yes, even in an organisation that has community as one of its values. I have also realised how demanding travel and hospitality are, much as I am energised by both. After almost six months at home (literally), I have begun to appreciate some margin to be creative in the garden, the kitchen, relearning how to use sewing machine and even making educational toys from whatever I have in the house for my grandchildren. While I love my work and the incredible satisfaction of being part of tangible changes in the lives of others around the world, this season has caused me to ponder whether due to my pace of life I have been missing some aspects of the fullness of life that God promises.
Plus Ultra | November 2020
