Eternity 80 - Is God Dead? The Case for Christ

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Number 80, May 2017 ISSN 1837-8447

Brought to you by the Bible Society

Coming to Christ 1

How a sceptical journo uncovered the truth page 9

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Tim Winton on his family’s strange turning to God page 5

Why is it that men don’t have friends?

page 7

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NEWS

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MAY 2017

Win to Scripture, loss to Safe Schools JOHN SANDEMAN AND ANNE LIM

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Scripture classes in public schools scored two big wins in NSW and Queensland last month as two mostly favourable government reviews were made public. But the Safe Schools Coalition fared badly as the NSW and Tasmanian governments announced they would no longer support the controversial curriculum.

Special Religious Education (SRE) in NSW enjoys a high participation rate according to the report. Students at 92 per cent of primary schools and 81 per cent of secondary schools take part in Scripture. Another key finding is that there are good working relationships between the SRE providers and the Department of Education.

“I am pleased that the report confirms SRE has overwhelming support, is working well and is an integral part of the holistic education offered by New South Wales public schools,” said the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies.

A review of the three main Religious Instruction (RI) providers for the Queensland Department of Education asked for some minor changes to lesson material.

However, the practice of suggesting children evangelise their classmates was attacked in the report.

A complaint that the “Connect” material published by Anglican Youthworks supported

SRE in NSW and Queensland received mostly positive government reviews. “proselytising” was rejected. In the Queensland system the term “proselytising” means trying to change students’ denominational affiliation.

The “Godspace” material published by the NSW Baptists, attracted criticism for including the story of Daniel eating a diet of vegetables: “This is inconsistent with the balanced and healthy eating promoted under the Department’s Smart Choices – Healthy Food and Drink Supply Strategy.”

Christian commentators have welcomed the rollback of the controversial Safe Schools antibullying programme. At the same time, they warn that the battle

against the ideology behind the programme will continue.

With federal funding for Safe Schools expiring this year, NSW and Tasmania have announced that they will not take over funding of the programme.

NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes announced at the Easter weekend that the state would instead “develop an updated antibullying strategy that will be a new resource available for teachers from the beginning of term three.”

Safe Schools had a particular focus on protecting LGBTI students from homophobic attacks, and taught that gender was fluid rather than set at birth. The curriculum was developed by La

Trobe University in Victoria. Since the programme was introduced in 2014, there has been an epidemic of gender anxiety and confusion in young children, experts say.

Paediatrician John Whitehall believes the Safe Schools programme prepared the way for what he called the “trendy fad” of gender dysphoria in that children are being told to accept gender fluidity as normal.

Whitehall, who is Foundation Chair of Paediatrics and Child Health in the School of Medicine at the University of Western Sydney, said that in his 51 years in the medical profession, he had never seen a case of gender dysphoria.

When he did a straw poll of 27 paediatric colleagues with a combined experience of 931 years, he found only 12 cases.

“Now they say there are 150-250 at Melbourne [Children’s Hospital] and 150, say, in Sydney and 100 or more in Brisbane – that’s multiples more in one year, so I do not believe that the entity of serious confusion is real – I think it is an environmental fad,” he said.

He said there is enough research evidence to show that giving children so-called puberty blockers will damage the child’s brain as will giving the cross-sex hormones.

“And as 90 per cent of the children will grow out of it, they [doctors] should not do anything with them other than be gentle and curb their excesses in the full expectation that they will grow out of it.”

Obadiah Slope WE’RE WRONG: Eternity delights in stories about people becoming Christians. But here’s how one preacher thinks that a reaction of delight or surprise is a strange way to respond. “Do not give up hope for any sinner. Pray for God to save them. Let not any conversion astonish you; be astonished rather that anyone should possibly remain unconverted.”

The Welshman Martyn LloydJones, quoted in a biography about him written by Iain Murray.

HEADLINE TELLS A STORY: At the risk of inviting readers to criticise Eternity’s headlines, here is an interesting set of headlines from a recent Catholic Weekly. In an “In Brief” column, a story is headed “Progress in faith” with the main heading “Leading US Evangelical becomes Greek Orthodox.” It’s about a talk show host called Hank Hanegraaf.

The headings led Obadiah to imagine a kind of ladder, with Evangelical at the bottom, Greek Orthodox further up and, I guess, Catholic at the top.

AN ORTHODOX TREND: Obadiah recently sat through a three-hour Antiochian Orthodox service while meeting his London cousin. He was chagrined to find out that tradition allows you to arrive late and wander in. At a fellowship lunch afterwards, he discovered the founding priest of that church was Michael Harper, formerly a well-known charismatic evangelical. There’s a little bit of an oriental drift!

G’day, you video star BRYCE MCLELLAN Josh Hawkins is the young adults pastor at St Paul’s Castle Hill in Sydney’s Bible belt. But he’s better known as “that guy” who throws things.’ In 2015 Josh became an overnight internet sensation when he posted a YouTube video of a series of incredible trick shots. He throws a knife behind his head into the correct spot on a knife block. He throws a

The dignity of work The nature of work and its place in the Christian life

TICKETS:

Wednesday 17 May 7:30pm – 9:30pm Marcus Loane Hall Moore College 1 King Street, Newtown

Buy tickets online at moore.edu.au/ccl

SPEAKERS:

Chase Kuhn and Peter Orr

Quotable

17 MAY

WHEN AND WHERE:

DVD into the disk drawer without looking. He throws a teabag backwards into a mate’s mug from across the room. You get the idea. Pretty soon he was all over Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, the Daily Mail, NBC in the US and Sunrise.

In each interview he did, Josh found a sneaky way to let people know he’s a Christian. When he was accused of faking the video, he said “If I was that good at video editing then I wouldn’t be working for my church and wouldn’t be a pastor – I’d be in Hollywood.”

Eternity will be speaking with Josh about faith and viral videos, and producing a helpful guide for people looking to become internet sensations themselves. Look out for it on eternitynews.com.au

Keith Garner on Alcohol and Australian culture “The impact of long term alcohol dependence leads to increased rates of heart disease...”

Page 15

Michael Jensen on Martin Luther’s forerunner Jam HUS “A church needs to submit to the Scriptures, the book of Jesus himself, or it is no church at all.”

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NEWS

MAY 2017

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When your dreams are broken God is still there, says Sheridan Voysey BEN MCEACHEN Broken dreams have become a way of life for popular broadcaster, author and speaker Sheridan Voysey. The founder of national current affairs radio programme Open House, Voysey publicly quit his on-air role six years ago due to long-standing infertility issues in his marriage. After living in England, Voysey returns to Australia this month to present several one-day conferences about what God can do with us when we don’t get what we want.

“I think we’re often discipled by Disney more than we are discipled by the Scriptures,” says Voysey, who has become a travelling communicator on the topic of broken dreams. “We are so used to the happy ending: yes, we know there’s going to be a battle but we will get there in the end.”

Speaking at several churches across Australia this month, supported by Our Daily Bread ministries, Voysey knows firsthand there is not always a “happy ending”. He and his wife Merryn tried for years to have children but they could not conceive. Their move to England was to help

Merryn start over after her dream of having a family ended, with Voysey making the difficult choice of quitting his dream job to make that happen.

Author of Resurrection Year (2013), an intimate account of the aftermath of their childless journey, Voysey believes God can mine good from any broken dream. “But I’m reluctant to get too ‘rah-rah’ about this because anyone who has been through a broken dream has already read ‘The Seven Steps to a Better Life’-type book - and found that they are lacking. It’s too easy to just come in and say, ‘Just pray and your broken dream will become a new beginning.’”

“I want to be really sensitive about how the cross shows that the worst event can be redeemed into the greatest event in history. The worst experience that comes to us can, in the hands of God, be turned into something very surprising for the benefit of not just ourselves, but primarily for others.”

Voysey is aware of how unexpected are the ways God has used his and Merryn’s painful experiences to help others. He spent years on radio being a “Christian apologist.” Since leaving

Open House, he’s been helping people understand where God is amid pain, frustration and “unanswered prayers.”

“From Broken Dreams to New Beginnings” will be held in Melbourne on May 6, Sydney, on

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May 13, and the Sunshine Coast on May 20. Free admission but bookings required: www.ourdailybread.org/ newbeginnings or call (03) 9761 7086. More on Sheridan Voysey at www.sheridanvoysey.com

Family First has merged with Cory Bernardi’s Australian Conservatives to form a conservative voting bloc in the federal parliament.

The decision came just days after Lucy Gichuhi was confirmed as the Family First Senator from South Australia, replacing Bob Day, who resigned his position in the Senate back in October 2016.

Cory Bernardi will continue to be the sole Senate representative of Australian Conservatives, with Gichuhi indicating that she will sit as an Independent, telling the media she has no intention of joining the newly amalgamated party.

Neither party is explicitly Christian, but Family First was founded by Andrew Evans, a pastor at Influencers Church, which is one of Australia’s biggest Pentecostal

churches. Bernardi calls himself a Christian, and left the Liberal Party earlier this year to start Australian Conservatives. Both parties appeal to large segments of the Christian population, as well as more broadly conservative Australians.

Posting the news on Facebook Evans said, “Yes it’s true and I’m excited, all conservative minor parties should unite to protect our values. Please join this movement.

“It’s just crazy to divide all the time, so we felt let’s [get] the conservatives [to] unite and make an impact and let them know our values and see if we can have some impact across the nation,” Evans told the ABC. The amalgamation of the two parties leaves open the question of whether or not other conservative minor parties will jump on board.

The Christian Democratic Party has not responded to requests

I think we’re often discipled

by Disney more than we are discipled by the Scriptures.”

Sheridan Voysey

“

All conservative minor parties should unite to protect our values. Please join this movement.” – Andrew Evans

for comment, but in a post on Facebook indicated it would not be joining the merged party anytime soon.

“Is there a difference between a conservative party and a Christian party? CDP are proud to have a track record of being democratically elected to ‘Glorify God in parliament’ for more than

News 2-3 In Depth 5-12 Bible Society 13 Opinion 15-20

In brief PEN AGAIN: After a two-year break Open House is back on Christian radio with a new host, Stephen O’Doherty. He explains the programme’s perspective as “looking for a truth that’s greater than our own society and culture, a truth about what God wants for us as people he made in his image.”

The show is live on Sydney’s Hope 103.2 and Brisbane’s 96Five on Sunday nights and on podcast.

AUSSIE EXPORT: The C3 family of churches now numbers over 450 churches in 64 countries. The Pentecostal church founded by Phil and Chris Pringle in Sydney in 1980, has a claim to be Australia’s fastest-growing church especially if overseas branches are counted.

C3 hopes to plant another 550 churches globally by the year 2020.

Family First goes Conservative TESS HOLGATE

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35 years,” the post read.

Apart from Gichuhi in the Senate, Family First has two other elected members, both in South Australia’s Upper House. Dennis Hood and Robert Brokenshire will continue as members of the new party, with Hood serving as the South Australian state leader, as Bernardi takes on the federal leadership of the party.

With Family First winding up its operations, Australian Conservatives will benefit from Family First’s existing electoral infrastructure, along with its conservative supporter base.

The merger will also have a significant impact on next year’s South Australian election, slated for March 2018, where the newlyminted Australian Conservatives will vie with Independent Nick Xenophon’s team to challenge the major parties. Labor has been in power in the state for 15 years.

REVERSE DANIEL: A pastor in the Middle East reports being saved by lions that prevented a group of Islamic extremists from attacking him and a group of Christians.

Pastor Paul Ciniraj’s story seems as if it came straight out of the Bible. While he was leading a service on Easter Sunday, militants came brandishing weapons.

“We had no idea what to do,” Pastor Paul recalls. “The group of Christians thought they were all about to die.” Just then, lions appeared out of the forest and began to attack the militants. They escaped and ran, but the lions left Pastor Paul’s group alone. “Equally astonishing,” Pastor Paul says, “no lions are supposed to live in that forest.” Source: Christian Headlines TRUMP POPULAR: As his presidency passed the 100-day mark, white evangelical support for Donald Trump remained high. Threequarters of white evangelical Protestants approved of the way Trump is handling his job, according to Pew Research Center surveys in February and April.

This is nearly twice as high as the President’s approval rating with the general public.

MAY 2017

E BARNABAS FUND SPONSORED PAGE 4

Answering the cries of hunger and desperation “If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it; when the Church in East Africa feels the pain of hunger and starvation, we in the Australian church should feel their pain as well!” urges Jude Simion, Chief Operations Officer for Barnabas Fund Australia.

Hungry, ravenous, starving, famished – these are words that some Australians may use in an off-hand, slightly jovial way to describe their own levels of hunger in day-to-day life. But when used in their truest sense, they only start to tell you the story of the unfolding crisis in East Africa, as people perish and die, unable to find anything edible to sustain them.

“We have seen the devastating impact this drought is having on over 20 million people, their livestock and livelihoods in East Africa,” says Jude Simion.

“Children and women are already dying in South Sudan. In Kenya, the government has declared a national emergency. Over 800,000 children in the region are acutely malnourished and need urgent aid to survive.”

Cries of hunger When Barnabas Fund first heard the cries of hunger and desperation from their brothers and sisters in East Africa, the response, through Project Joseph, was immediate. The first calls were from Kenya where reports were sent to Barnabas Fund of people so desperate that they were eating poisonous wild fruit

also affected terribly by two successive crop failures caused by drought and by abnormally heavy and destructive rains. To make matters worse, the country has had to absorb 700,000 refugees from South Sudan since last July.

“Many people have very little apart from their clothes they are wearing … people were robbed by armed gangs as they were travelling and lost all their possessions,” said Pastor Nason Baluku.

Since February, Barnabas Fund has been sending emergency food aid through Project Joseph to those affected by the East Africa crisis. Their East Africa Crisis appeal is supported by Peter Jensen, former Anglican Archbishop of Sydney. With generous help from Barnabas Fund Australia’s supporters, funds were quickly channelled to projects on the ground run by churches and Christian ministries.

Maize, beans and cooking oil have been distributed to starving Christians from South Sudan, Uganda and Kenya.

Life-saving food aid for Christians in drought-stricken Kenya, made possible by Barnabas Fund supporters. (boiled for hours to destroy the toxins). An added problem is that many of the worst affected areas – in the north and coastal regions – are the places where Christians are a despised, marginalised

and oppressed minority among a Muslim majority. In these areas, Christians are subject to violent attacks and were not getting the aid that the majority received.

Then came news from Uganda,

YOU CAN HELP SAVE CHRISTIAN LIVES IN KENYA AND UGANDA PROJECT

JOSEPH

Barnabas Fund Australia Limited is a Charitable Institution however gifts are not Tax Deductible ABN 70 005 572 485

Messages of joy and thanks “It has been heartening to receive letters of thanks from hungry believers,” said Jude Simion.

“We … are very grateful for your support during this prolonged drought that has caused the death of many livestock and many people who have starved with hunger since this drought started.

People are now happy and

rejoicing for your help, I don’t know how to express this happiness, but what I can say is may God continue blessing you with that heart of kindness and generosity,” wrote Gladys from Chemolingot village, Kenya.

“It really did come at the right time for me personally and to the entire Nginyang village,” wrote Kenyan Christian Linah, “And so with much happiness and joy I would like to say a big thank you for such a warm and good gesture you showed to me personally and others when we were in a critical condition due to hunger.”

The hardest months are still to come But the last months before the hoped-for harvest in June will be the hardest to bear. All food stocks were exhausted long ago.

Most of the livestock are dead, and the crops are not yet fully grown.

This is the period when people die.

Hope for the future Barnabas Fund’s vision is to expand Project Joseph to feed 200,000 people in the coming months. This however is only possible with the continued generosity of Christians in Australia and around the world.

Just $35 will keep a family alive in Kenya for a month.

For more information on Barnabas Fund, Project Joseph and how you can help, please visit http://bit.ly/PJ-Eternity

Donate through barnabasfund.org to help feed starving Christians in the worst drought for decades

MAY 2017

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IN DEPTH

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TIM WINTON

Living in the shadow of havoc

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Steve Kryger on why men have no friends.

Ben McEachen on why you should take a friend to see The Case for Christ.

TIM WINTON I grew up in safety. In our home in the Perth suburb of Karrinyup there was nothing to fear and no one to second-guess. My mother did everything in her power to give my siblings and me a life free of the disorder she’d known as a child and the violence she’d endured as a young woman. She was determined to provide an environment that was predictable and nurturing.

Our father was of like mind. He was a gentle man and he was careful to shield us from the things he saw as a cop. Nevertheless we

lived in the shadow of havoc. There might not have been trouble at home, but trouble was the family business, and ours was a house of accidents.

In December of 1965, as he was riding back from a prang, the old man was hit by a driver who’d run a stop sign. The errant car slammed him into a brick wall with such force it crushed his chest, his shoulder and his hip.

He suffered a massive concussion, and because his ribs were broken and his lungs had collapsed the paramedics found him suffocating and close to death. To save him

they were forced to perform an emergency tracheotomy as he lay in the street.

When Mum was notified, she was told he’d been in a bingle but that it probably wasn’t serious, so she didn’t understand the gravity of the situation until she was mistakenly given the bloodsoaked uniform that had been cut off him in Casualty. She had two small boys, five and three, and a daughter barely six months old. No one had prepared her for what was coming her way. Her husband, the sole breadwinner of the household, was in a coma. And

ARE YOU DEALING WITH GENDER IDENTITY ISSUES? The Anglican Church in Sydney has established a committee to prepare a response to gender identity issues.

The committee wants to understand the experiences of those dealing firsthand with gender identity issues (e.g., gender dysphoria, gender incongruence, transgenderism) – whether experienced personally or as family members, educators, counsellors, healthcare professionals, church staff, friends, church members, or any other relationship. We would be grateful if those concerned could help us by telling their own stories.

A free anonymous online survey can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Genderandfaith The survey will close on 19 June 2017.

If you do not qualify for this survey but would like to comment on gender identity issues, please send your feedback to sic@sydney.anglican.asn.au

she didn’t know it yet, but nobody fancied his chances. For days he lay in the resuscitation room at Royal Perth Hospital. There was an unspoken understanding that he would never “be himself” again, and so traumatic were his injuries that two of his colleagues resigned shortly after visiting him.

Even when he finally regained consciousness, nobody could really offer Mum much cause for optimism. I was not allowed to visit. I came to suspect he was actually dead and that no one had the nerve to tell me. Mum kept up a brave front, and she was

genuinely courageous, but I was there to see the mess she hid from everyone else.

When I think of that long, hard summer I remember the wordless heaviness in the house, the fog of dread we were all trapped in.

My brother and sister were too young to understand what was happening. In a sense it was just Mum and me, and a kid in kindergarten can’t offer his mother much by way of solace. She must have done a lot of hoping. All the same, there wasn’t a hopeful air in the house. Even when they brought continued page 6

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Havoc

From page 5 him home from hospital, a broken man, an effigy really, there was no surge of buoyancy for any of us to ride. The grown-ups who visited spoke in riddles and whispers. I had to imbibe the gravity of our situation the way a dog will, reading the smells and the postures and hierarchies, processing them physically.

I knew that a stranger had ruined my father. I was enraged.

But I had no idea just how grim the prognosis was and how this might shape our future. My mother never let on but it appeared that the police service was expecting to pension him off. Still breastfeeding my baby sister, and with two boys not yet in school, she was now married to an invalid. Someone told her, correctly as it turned out, that insurance and compensation would take years to settle. I couldn’t know the many ways in which the parameters of her life – and my own along with it – had been radically redrawn in an instant, but I did understand that the world had changed for us.

My father’s life had been spared and we were glad, but we were no longer the safe, confident people we’d been before.

As a child I was always something of an eavesdropper.

I was also an inveterate prowler with a peculiar fascination with the potency of certain objects. Sometime during that long convalescence I came upon the helmet Dad had been wearing when he was hit.

Made of laminated cork, it was cumbersome, and it felt unstable in my hands. The crazed pattern of cracks dulling its whiteness gave it an unnerving broken-eggshell texture. For a long time – for years, I think – I continued to seek it out, to turn it over in my hands, to sniff the Brylcreem interior, and try to imagine the sudden moment, the awful impact, and the faceless stranger behind all this damage.

The inside of the helmet smelt of my father, but it was as if you could almost smell death on the outside.

This flimsy artefact had held my father’s living head, his brain, his memory, his jokes; it was all that had stood between him and the void – a crust no thicker than my finger. The older I got, the darker those conjectures became.

By most accounts I was an

MAY 2017

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I had to be ‘wise beyond my years,’ to assume an unlikely authority, to understand what I could not pronounce.”

intense little boy. Perhaps it was wise of my parents to get rid of the sacramental helmet.

How quick children are to absorb the unexpressed anxieties of their parents; how fluent they become in the unconscious art of compensation, and how instinctive is their assumption of responsibility. The margins between coping and not coping, between psychological survival and total collapse, are so narrow and often so arbitrary that it’s uncomfortable to look back and consider what might have been. The months of my father’s convalescence had a lasting impact on me. By these events I was drafted into the world of consequences. I became “mummy’s little helper.” The little man. I was assigned the role of sibling enforcer and family protector. I was the keeper of grown-up secrets, the compensator, the listener. I had to be “wise beyond my years,” to assume an unlikely authority, to understand what I could not pronounce.

During this time Mum was stoic and subdued. Dad lived in bed and obediently swallowed the pills that would chew the holes in his guts.

He had lost a lot of weight but he was still too heavy for Mum to lift.

There was no way she could get him in and out of a bath, so she had to wash him in bed. My parents’

bedroom was perpetually dim and the apprehension within it seemed to infect the rest of the house. With the curtains drawn against the heat, the place was infused with a faint amber light, and in that atmosphere of bewilderment there were times when the only signs of animation were the churn and swirl of dust motes.

That summer there were many visits from family and neighbours, but the person who distinguished himself above all others was a complete unknown. He showed up unannounced and uninvited and offered to bathe my father. It was weird. But his unexpected arrival and strange proposal soon brought a new energy to the house. Also a new awkwardness. I didn’t know what to make of this turn of events.

I took my cues from Mum, who was hesitant at first, even a little resistant. But she was desperate for help and here was a helper, a volunteer from who knew and who cared where. She relented and let him in, and straight away he went to work.

I observed everything carefully, suspiciously. Here was some bloke entering my parents’ bedroom, introducing himself to my father who consented to be undressed, lifted from his sickbed and carried like a child to the bathroom. There the door wasn’t exactly shut in my face but it was pushed to, slightly

ajar. My world was already out of whack, but this new set-up was discombobulating, especially when, after a few minutes, my mother decided to leave the men to it and get on with her many jobs. I stood outside in the narrow corridor listening to the sounds of water and the low, deep voices. It was appalling to think of that guy kneeling at the bath and washing my father as if he were an infant.

Mum caught me camped by the door and tried to shoo me away, but I drifted back. In the weeks ahead, every time that stranger returned, I was there at the door like a sentry, straining to hear, keeping tabs.

I couldn’t really follow what the men said in the bathroom, as they slowly got to know one another.

They always spoke quietly. There was none of the hearty blather you heard blokes falling into at the footy or across the fence. I was wary of this soft-spoken interloper.

No doubt I was threatened by his presence. And yet his brief tenure in our home helped break down the anxious malaise that oppressed us.

His actions taught me something new about strangers – that while they could wreck your life and do you harm they were also capable of mysterious kindness.

By autumn my father began to make progress. His recovery was faster and more complete than

anyone had expected. He was a big, strong man but his injuries were awful, and to some the speed of his improvement was unsettling. It was only as an adult that I learnt some of what had gone on in that tiny bathroom. There was a day when Dad’s helper brought a bottle of oil with him. Olive oil, I gather, which wasn’t common in a house like ours. He anointed the old man with it in the manner of ancient Christian tradition, and he “laid hands on him,” as the saying goes, praying that Dad might be healed.

Neither of my parents was ever keen to talk about this ritual, and they certainly made no special claims for its efficacy, but after the old man’s recovery they became devout and lifelong Christians.

And I’ve thought a lot about this unlikely turning. Because, like the accident, it had a profound effect on my own trajectory. It’s no small achievement to confound a copper’s lowered expectations of humankind, for that’s a tough carapace to penetrate. Still, being unmanned by injury and sidelined from the world of action had to have been traumatic. Dad was an outdoor, hands-on bloke, a practical fellow. Later he said that during his convalescence he’d had a lot of time to think. Perhaps, like the rest of us in the house that summer, he was left without armour, maybe even without hope – I don’t know. I don’t set much store by signs and wonders, but I try to keep an open mind. All I can say is that I witnessed Dad’s swift restoration and renewal and was grateful for it, and in much the same way that I’d soaked up the fear and horror preceding his recovery, I absorbed the new energy and purpose that came into his life and into Mum’s as a result of this stranger’s compassion.

I think of it as an act of grace.

Maybe that’s just a fancypants way of appreciating the loving-kindness of humans. But when there’s so much opportunity for people to be vile, it strikes me as a miracle that they choose mercy, restraint and decency as often as they do.

Excerpt from “Havoc” in The Boy Behind the Curtain by Tim Winton, published

by Hamish Hamilton, an imprint of Penguin Books.

From riches to sleeping in her car to serving others TESS HOLGATE

Anglicare

Thi Nguyen was in her early 60s when she returned home from work to find her house locked up, and her husband and son nowhere to be found. Eventually finding them at the casino, she asked her husband what was happening.

Sobbing, Thi tells me, “He said the bank took over everything.

He lost all our money on the sharemarket. The bank reclaimed everything to pay for it, but they couldn’t, so they had evicted us.”

Eight years earlier, Thi’s now ex-husband had decided to give up being an architect and become a stockbroker. He set up a home office and, as Thi describes it, “He managed everything. I made the money. I didn’t know anything he did with the shares.”

Her husband had whittled away their money on the sharemarket.

Their five investment properties and family house were taken.

Thi was left with well over half a million dollars of credit-card debt.

To add insult to injury, her son

An Anglicare volunteer helps a woman select her groceries.

– then in his 20s and working fulltime – blamed her. “He was crying and he said, ‘your fault, your fault, you’re never home, he just does whatever he wants. You don’t check on him, you only work, and work and money are your main things,’” Thi says through tears.

With every credit card declined, and nowhere to go, Thi slept in her car. Even though she was homeless, Thi continued to go to work. In the

evening she would go to the gym, wait for it to close at 11pm, and then drive her car into undercover parking nearby and sleep. “I slept in the car for 14 months,” says Thi. Unable to keep up the facade, Thi resigned from her job. With dwindling finances and rising debt, Thi approached Centrelink, who forwarded her to homeless services. After a month of living in women’s refuges across the city,

she was helped to rent a unit in inner Sydney by the Centre for Affordable Housing.

After Thi moved into her new apartment, Centrelink realised she was spending a lot of money on food, and so pointed her in the direction of the Anglicare Mobile Pantry held every fortnight at St Mark’s Anglican Church in Malabar, in Sydney’s east.

On her third visit to the Mobile Pantry, Thi met Alison Roberts, the wife of the church minister. “[Alison] was sitting with me, talking about Jesus. She explained it to me. I did the Christian Explorer course. Then I understood. She gave me also a Bible. I read [it] and I saw the difference, and that’s how I became a Christian,” says Thi. Since becoming a Christian, Thi now volunteers at St Mark’s two days each week. “I have something to do, I come here, and I feel happy.

I made a lot of friends. And Alison supports me a lot, mentally. She calms me down, she prays for me.

“I’m really glad to have become a

Christian. I can see my life getting better and better because I had bad thoughts to commit suicide all the time. Each time I didn’t want to live any more, and I never thought I’d end up like this.”

Thi admits that she was heavily focused on money and status before she lost everything.

“Now I realise that money comes and goes, but your family is very important. I never had time for my family; I kept thinking money was the most important thing in my life before, but I was so wrong.

“Only one thing helps me now: I come to God and ask God to forgive my sin and realise that money isn’t everything any more.”

Alison says St Mark’s has run the Mobile Pantry for less than a year, but already it has helped church regulars to chat with more people and talk about their faith.

“It’s been very encouraging seeing Thi and her openness to Christianity and Jesus,” says Alison. “Her joy and willingness to help at church have been a great witness to everyone.”

IN DEPTH

MAY 2017

7

Why men have no friends STEVEN KRYGER In Australia today, 80 per cent of suicides are men and suicide is the leading cause of death for men under the age of 44.

This statistic is the pointy end of what is a long list of health issues experienced by Australian men. “A quiet crisis is underway in men’s health,” declared a 2012 study published by the Australian Psychological Society. Men are more vulnerable to various disorders at all ages across the lifespan, engage in more health risk behaviours but less helpseeking, and are less likely to have strong and supportive social networks.

Or, in my layman’s summary, men are more likely to experience difficulties and less likely to get help. It’s a bad combination.

Here are five observations about the challenges facing men in Australia today. Yes, some of these challenges overlap with those faced by women, but for the purpose of this article the focus is on men, and particularly those under 45 years of age.

1

“

It would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.”

– C.S. Lewis

a problem.

Surely too many men (myself included) have, as C.S. Lewis put it, become “far too easily pleased” with the things of this world?

Lewis says, “If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Men need to be given a Godexalting, all-consuming vision for their lives that puts in their place the lesser aspirations that the world dangles before us.

MEN DON’T KNOW WHAT A MAN IS.

“

Whose life do you observe and think ‘I want to be like him when I’m 70’? How many men come to mind?”

“

Pixabay / skitterphoto

Within the church, biblical definitions of male identity and headship have been misused and abused to the point where many churches won’t even go near the topic of biblical manhood.

In the culture at large, confusion and shame abound and being a man is frequently communicated as an identity not to embrace but to apologise for. In the media, men are accused of male privilege, male chauvinism, mansplaining and misogyny. A friend is currently enrolled in a gender studies class at university and he told me that in every class the lecturer provides the same reason for the world’s problems – men.

And yet for all this condemnation, men are provided with few if any role models of what a “real man” actually looks like.

Eric Metaxas observes in his book Seven Men: And The Secret of Their Greatness, “in our culture, we’ve skimped on providing role models – for young people especially – and I’m convinced that this is tremendously important. We learn by observing the lives of others, whether the people around us, or figures we observe in the media, or figures we read about. We need to see the lives of real human beings lived out in ways that help us figure out how to live out our own lives.”

If you are a Christian man let me ask you: Whose life do you observe and think “I want to be like him when I’m 70”? How many men come to mind? Who do you look to as an example to guide you as a father, a husband and a Christian at work?

There has never been a greater need for men to be served with a clear, biblical and unashamed

E

Australian men could do more to seek help with struggles and temptations they face. vision of male identity along with inspiring examples of how to live this out.

2

MEN HAVE GREATER DEMANDS ON THEIR TIME.

As recently as just two generations ago family roles were straightforward – men went to work and women looked after the home. This observation of the past may sound quaint to some (and will no doubt infuriate others), but the reality is that lines of responsibility have become blurred and family life is more complex than ever before.

Men are more involved in the lives of their children and taking a more active role outside the workplace. Men aren’t doing this reluctantly – in fact they relish these opportunities to spend more time with their children and to support their wives as they pursue work outside the home.

But this involvement comes at a cost. It is in addition to, not instead of the significant (and ever-increasing) demands of paid employment. For all the talk of “flexible workplaces” most men with children need to work later to compensate for the hours missed while doing school drop-off or attending the school swimming carnival. This juggling of responsibilities comes at a time of unprecedented job instability – Australians today will have on average 17 different employers in a lifetime and five careers.

Demands on time extend beyond the home and workplace. There are cultural pressures – to exercise more, to get more educated, to be more involved at the school or sporting club. But there are also

Most men I speak with feel that life is a zero-sum game – to succeed in one area is to fail in another.” pressures as Christian men – to serve more, attend more events, read the Bible more (yourself, with your wife, with your children), be more involved in the community, share the gospel more, etc.

Most men I speak with feel that life is a zero-sum game – to succeed in one area is to fail in another. They are burdened by an exhausting, nagging guilt that they are simply not doing enough – as a husband, father, friend, neighbour, employee, Christian.

Men need help to navigate and prioritise the demands and responsibilities of life, and to find rest in a restless world.

3

MEN ARE CRIPPLED

BY SEXUAL TEMPTATION.

Temptation to sin existed long before the internet but this age of constant connectivity makes sin, and especially sexual sin, an ever-present threat. Sexually explicit content is everywhere, all the time.

Men are exposed to pornography from a younger age (12 years is the average age for first exposure), to more violent and depraved content, in more places and on more devices. According to Covenant

Eyes, 64 per cent of Christian men say they view pornography at least once a month, with pornography being the topic of 20 per cent of all searches on mobile devices.

It is difficult to overstate the significance of this struggle. Every statistic points to the prevalence of this problem. Every story reveals the growing cost to society, the participants in the sex industry, families, marriages, productivity, ministries – and above all, the glory of God. Men (and boys) need to be equipped to fight this great battle of our day.

4

MEN ARE FAR TOO EASILY PLEASED.

I spoke with a pastor recently who shared that he believes the main goal for many men in his church is to purchase a house. If they cannot do this, they feel that they have failed as a man, a husband and a father.

Of course, men don’t say this out loud and probably couldn’t even articulate it if they were asked, but it is a powerful desire that subconsciously drives so many of the decisions men make. In practice, life’s purpose has become little more than home ownership.

In less affluent areas, the aspirations are different. One pastor I spoke with in western Sydney told me that the men in his church couldn’t dream of purchasing a house – instead they are driven by the aspirations of getting a job, having a family and staying married.

Of course, it’s not sinful to own a house, be employed and enjoy marriage and fatherhood.

However, if men are driven by a purpose that is no greater than achieving these goals, that’s

5

MEN DON’T HAVE FRIENDS.

Finally, research continues to reveal the dire state of male relationships. Research by Beyond Blue discovered that 25 per cent of 30 to 65-year-old men had no one outside their immediate family they felt they could rely on.

Even where men have friends to spend time with, a recent study by McCrindle research observed that “whilst nearly all men (97 per cent) agree making time for their mates is essential, the majority (85 per cent) of Aussie males are struggling to find enough time for much needed ‘man time’ with their friends.”

The risks are more significant than we might first think. An article earlier this month in the Boston Globe was headlined “The biggest threat facing middle-age men isn’t smoking or obesity. It’s loneliness.” The author explained the consequences of isolation: “Loneliness has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke and the progression of Alzheimer’s.

One study found that it can be as much of a long-term risk factor as smoking.”

In fact, isolation and loneliness increase the risk of premature death by 26 to 32 per cent.

But, vital as these friendships are, as the McCrindle study observed, time together keeps falling down the list of priorities: “Career driven, family focused and health conscious Aussie men are crowding their lives with commitments. As a result of these pressures and competing priorities, the time available for men to kick back and relax with their mates has begun to erode.”

And yet, when the time is made, men are greatly impacted.

This is an edited version of an article originally published as “5 Challenges Experienced

by Christian Men Today” on Communicate Jesus. Read the full version: eternity.news.com. au/blokes

MAY 2017

E RIDLEY COLLEGE SPONSORED PAGE 8

Equipped for life, not just for church What difference does the Christian faith make to life? We perhaps know how faith shapes life when God’s people are gathered. But what about the remainder of life when God’s people are scattered in neighbourhoods, workplaces, homes and cafes? What difference does being a Christian make in those places?

It’s a question many Christians are asking of their faith. Maybe it’s a question that you are asking.

According to a 2016 Australian survey, 80 per cent of Christians believe their faith helps them to face challenges at work. But many of those surveyed were unclear about the specifics of how this worked in practice. 39 per cent admitted to struggling with temptations at work, while 63 per cent said that they did not feel v ery comfortable talking about their faith1.

Ridley College trains students for all of life. Together we explore practically how the Christian faith connects with all of life. Why? Because as the Gospel impacts all spheres of our lives, so it also goes out into all spheres of life. The experience of many graduates is that Ridley has trained and equipped them to bring their Christian faith more fully into their homes and into their working lives.

Ridley student, Shu-En Wight, has been working as a dentist in general patient care and with students at Melbourne University for six years. Studying part-time

‘Work which was corrupted by sin is now being redeemed for God’s good purposes’- Ridley student, Shu-En Wight on campus and online deepened her understanding of how her faith makes a difference to her working life. ‘Studying foundational Old and New Testament subjects and early church history gave me gospel confidence as I saw how the one God of mercy, love, grace and justice has been acting to carry out his plan of salvation and redemption throughout history’, Shu-En explains. She says what

this has meant for her daily labour is she now sees how ‘work which was corrupted by sin and the curse of the Fall is now being redeemed for God’s good purposes.’

Brad Wells tells a similar story.

He works as a postdoctoral researcher at CSIRO and also studied at Ridley part-time. He explains that ‘my study gave me the opportunity to think through what the Bible says about work,

and how I could serve God in my work. This helped me to see that my work was not disconnected from my faith’. Brad’s study at Ridley has also equipped him to engage with his colleagues in conversations about life and faith. ‘None of my co-workers are committed Christians, but we have time to talk about lots of different things over lunches and at other social events.’

For Andrew Laird, Dean of the Ridley Marketplace Institute, connecting the Christian faith with ‘everyday life’, especially paid employment, has been a particular passion for a number of years.

‘I was one of those Christians who for many years knew that my faith should impact all of my life, but didn’t really understand the mechanics of how.

So in my role at Ridley College, which includes teaching students like Shu-En and Brad, I’m especially keen to make sure that we don’t simply explore what the Bible says about work, but that we also ground this in the nittygritty details of everyday work life.’

Andrew spends a large part of his week working in the Melbourne CBD with City Bible Forum and interacting with Christians in their workplaces. ‘It helps keep me grounded in the realities of daily work life’, he says, ‘but often it’s the students who have come straight from work for a class at Ridley who actually help me most in doing that!’

Shu-En’s and Brad’s stories are not unique. They are shared by many who have decided to study at Ridley, on campus in Wednesday evening classes or online, to be equipped for life, not just for church. And it can be your story too.

Find out more at: ridley.edu.au/work

1. ‘The state of work in Australia’, afuturethatworks.org.au/reports

IN DEPTH

MAY 2017

9

E

Making a different case for Christ BEN MCEACHEN No matter what stream of Christianity you swim in, Lee Strobel has made a splash there.

When conversations inevitably arise about whether the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is a matter of fact, Strobel’s bestselling book The Case for Christ has been one of the goto resources since it was first published in 1998.

Almost 20 years later, Strobel’s blend of investigative journalism, personal storytelling and evidencebased apologetics has moved from page to screen. The Case for Christ movie is at cinemas across Australia and, just as Strobel’s written work has had an extraordinary impact upon the world, the big-screen version could be a game-changer.

Speaking to Eternity ahead of The Case for Christ’s Australian release, Lee Strobel is humble and relatable. Even though he’s the guy whose famous book has not only launched 10 million copies, it’s also generated a Christian movie that could change the way Christian movies are made. Before Strobel shares more about his steadfast passion – evangelism – he happily agrees that The Case for Christ movie is a different proposition to a lot of its peers.

“I think we’ve set a new highwatermark for Christian films,” Strobel says, modestly. And he’s not wrong. The film genre labelled “Christian” has a poor reputation among viewers, whether they profess to follow Jesus or they don’t. While every single movie created by Christians with the intention of sharing the good news of God’s Son is not a dud, too many are belligerent (God’s Not Dead), sappy (Heaven is for Real) or preach only to the choir of devoted believers (Fireproof ).

“The response we’ve been getting from critics, as well as everyday moviegoers, is that so many Christian films tend to have little moments of cheesiness or that they are embarrassing or cringeworthy.

But this film really doesn’t have that,” says Strobel, who is a professor of Christian Thought at Houston Baptist University in Texas. And when Strobel says “critics,” he means it: far from any Christian art ghetto, Variety, Hollywood Reporter and Forbes all praised The Case for Christ.

“We try to treat people not as cardboard characters but as multifaceted people. We didn’t paint all the atheists as evil, awful people.

We didn’t paint all the Christians as perfect. We tried to be balanced in the way we looked at things.”

One of the big things going for The Case for Christ movie is it’s not just re-enacted interviews between Strobel and the 13 scholars he consulted on various aspects of the evidence for Jesus. The reason Strobel, a leading reporter with The Chicago Tribune, conducted those interviews in 1980 was he wanted to prove his wife Leslie was wrong. A vocal atheist, Strobel wasn’t pleased that Leslie had become a Christian. The hardboiled journalist went on a secret, personal mission to debunk what she claimed to be true.

While you probably know how the story ends – during the past few decades, Strobel has written more apologetics books, and been a pastor at renowned Willow Creek Community Church – his faith journey demonstrates how compelling it can be to go beyond the facts or persuasive arguments.

“

Various scenes from The Case for Christ, a new “high watermark for Christian films,” according to Lee Strobel.

“The vision for this film was to tell a fuller story, to tell the personal story,” explains Strobel about why audiences are encountering Lee and Leslie’s painful and pivotal experiences enmeshed with the evidence he assembled. “To tell about the marriage and to tell a love story.

To tell a detective story … and a big city newspaper story, as well as a story of spiritual discovery.”

Written for the screen by Strobel’s friend, Brian Bird, The Case for Christ stars Mike Vogel (The Help) and Erika Christensen (Parenthood TV series) as the Strobels. Screen royalty Faye Dunaway (Bonnie and Clyde, Chinatown) shows up in one brief scene as an atheist academic but The Case for Christ succeeds on its commitment to quality elements across the board.

“I think the production quality of the film is high. The acting was very well done; the script was great,” Strobel gives his invested yet accurate verdict. “The most common response we have had, especially from Christian leaders, is this is a film they can be proud of and can confidently invite nonChristian friends to attend.”

It begins an entire lifetime and eternity of experiencing God on a personal level.”

To put that another way: The Case for Christ is an evangelism movie that’s not an evangelism movie. There is only one brief on-screen sermon that distils the gospel of Jesus Christ and what it means. Otherwise, unlike so many Christian movies you are thinking of right now, there is no “altar call” scene directed at audience members. There’s not even a sense of inevitability that crusading doubter Strobel will “see the light.” Yet the decision audiences see Strobel make is a potent presentation of what the case for Christ can lead to.

For decades, The Case for Christ book has been a shared gospel tool as Christians are “excited” by it and feel comfortable giving it to their friends and family. “We have had

thousands come to faith through it,” Strobel says about the flow-on effect of his book reaching people who are just like he once was. And he has heard the movie adaptation is generating similar momentum.

“What we have been finding is Christians have been going to the movie, getting excited by it and thinking of three or four people they know who don’t know Jesus.

People who are spiritually confused or curious. They are calling them up saying, ‘hey, I want to see this movie a second time and why don’t you come with me?’”

“I think it’s that relational pull that will help the film to reach people,” Strobel suggests.

He happily shares how four young people in North Carolina “came to faith in Christ” at a special screening of the movie. He rifles through his latest emails to find another update. “This church called Urbancrest in Ohio, they had 26 salvations and 15 rededications,” reads Strobel. The former newsman turned Christian communicator describes himself as an “evangelist at heart,” someone given by God a “passion to see people come to faith in him.”

Little wonder he’s keen for

The case for The Case for Christ movie Why you should get over your prejudice about Christian movies and see The Case for Christ: 1. NO PREACHING The Case for Christ includes only a handful of scenes inside a church service, with one featuring a minister explaining core elements about the Christian gospel. But that’s about the extent of this movie’s lobbying for our beliefs. Instead, the weight of communication falls to what journalist Lee Strobel digs up during his investigation into Christian faith, and his debates with his wife.

2. NO ALTAR CALLS Incredibly for a Christian movie, there is no moment when audience members are effectively asked to

give their life to Jesus, right there in the cinema. REPEAT: here’s a Christian movie that DOES NOT explicitly demand viewers make their own choice to repent and believe.

3. NO SHONKY FACTS The real-life Lee Strobel did a respected and considered job of examining key pieces of evidence for the existence and claims of Jesus Christ. Without turning into boring or clunky debates, scenes of Strobel interviewing boffins about the truth of Jesus are strong showings of substantial stuff.

4. NO DEMONISING The main character in The Case for Christ does not believe in Jesus. When his wife, Leslie, announces that she does, Lee

Strobel is enraged. He argues with Leslie, hits the bottle, and secretly schemes to destroy his wife’s “false” beliefs. But at no point is Lee Strobel made out to be the bad guy. He’s not a cartoon character of dumb prejudice or aggressive ugliness. He’s just a guy, struggling to believe God and Jesus could possibly be real.

5. NO PRESSURE Most people surely know what happens to Lee Strobel by the end of his investigation. But The Case for Christ has no sense of inevitability about his decision.

The same is true of how it treats audience members – there’s no strong-arming or mind games.

There’s no manipulation to make you believe the good news Strobel comes to glowingly report.

The Case for Christ movie to help anyone develop the kind of relationship he has found lifechanging. But Strobel easily tempers any fears you might have that he believes intellectual understanding about Jesus and God is the same thing as having heartfelt belief in them.

“All that apologetics does is lead people to that point of receiving Jesus as their forgiver and leader.

The apologetics part becomes helpful to encouraging us in our faith and helps us to share our faith with others. But, our faith is just beginning when we walk through that door; we knock and we receive Jesus – our faith is just beginning.

“It begins an entire lifetime and eternity of experiencing God on a personal level.”

However, Strobel is not talking down the benefits of apologetics, particularly when it comes to proclaiming the significance of Jesus Christ beyond Christian circles. “Evangelism in the 21st century is spelled ‘apologetics,’” states Strobel. “People have questions and the internet has exposed people to a lot of claims and counter-claims about Christianity; a lot of allegations and misinformation. So, apologetics is becoming ever more important for helping people to understand Christianity is true and, therefore, worth taking a step of faith in that same direction that the truth is pointing – to receive Jesus as our forgiver and leader.”

Strobel vividly remembers the exact day – November 8, 1981 – he accepted what Jesus’ resurrection meant for him. More than two decades later, having sold millions of apologetics books and sparked a high-quality Christian film, his personal belief in Jesus has changed. “If you ask me today why do I believe, I don’t give you all the evidence because that’s not the basis for my belief. It’s still valid and got me to the point of putting my trust in Christ. But, if you ask me why I believe today, I believe today because I’ve met Jesus. I’ve known him for these 35 years.

“Now, that doesn’t negate the importance of the evidence in getting me to putting my trust in Christ but, ultimately, Christianity is a relationship with God.”

MAY 2017

E FEBC SPONSORED PAGE 10

Beautiful feet deliver radios Most Christians aren’t aware that more than two billion people have never heard about Jesus. If they do know, they don’t know what to do about it. It’s overwhelming.

Only one percent of resources given to Christian causes goes to reaching the unreached. Only five percent of the missionaries serving in foreign fields are in places where the gospel has not yet been.

These are sobering statistics when there are hundreds of people groups worldwide where there is no Christian presence. Almost 1800 people groups still have no Scripture in their language. In just one people group, the Hmong, nine million still remain unreached.

As Paul wrote (Romans 10:14), “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?”

As believers, we know the hope and salvation of Jesus. As believers, we know the miracle of answered prayers and the joy of witnessing God in action.

But what of those unreached billions of hearts around the world crying out for hope? The opportunity exists for us to fulfil the Great Commission in our generation if every believer does their part.

Go and make disciples FEBC Australia, part of FEBC International, uses radio and internet programming to inspire people to follow Christ. We take the Good News to people into the

“

The last two instructions Jesus gave us had to do with reaching the unreached.”

Preparing more than 1000 radios with FEBC stickers, program information and frequency. hardest-to-reach places, in their heart languages. We raise up ethnic language broadcasters and programmers so all people groups may hear God’s Word in their own language.

Currently FEBC broadcasts in more than 50 countries in 130 different languages for more than 2500 hours daily. Each year more than nine million listeners’ call, email and SMS our radio stations to tell us how their lives have changed as a result of what they hear and see from FEBC. But there are still more people to be reached. As Jesus commanded us: go and make disciples.

This is not a burden, but a gift of opportunity. Making disciples isn’t only about going somewhere

to share Christ. Nor is it limited to those who ‘go’. It’s about a Christian lifestyle that says, “Wherever we are, we will make disciples. Wherever we give, we will make disciples.” Jesus offered us one of the greatest promises in Scripture: “Surely, I am with you always to the very end of the age.”

As we go and share the Good News with those who have never heard, we are not going alone.

He is with us.

This transforms Jesus’ words from a burdensome command into an empowering proclamation: we are given all the authority and the very presence of the Living God as we represent Him to a world in need of His message.

The last two instructions Jesus

gave on this planet had to do with reaching the unreached. That’s how important they are to Him. That’s how important they should be to us.

Who are unreached? ● People groups that occupy the inaccessible mountain regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar & Thailand – that’s why short-wave radio is still so important; ● Some of the most religiously intolerant nations in the world, where the persecution of Christians is often severe – praise God for FEBC internet apps and church by radio; ● Famers who live in poverty and remain untouched by globalisation & technology; ● The marginalised and

forgotten: FEBC broadcasts into brothels to help women escape sex trafficking; ● Those in poverty: FEBC broadcasts education and training to empower individuals to set up business for economic choice; ● The illiterate, the blind, the deaf. FEBC develops innovative ways to reach them. In Vietnam, despite serving in a restrictive country, FEBC uses TV Boxes to train church leaders in Bible studies, with children eager to watch animated Christian programs and with the deaf.

Three thousand have been distributed through churches and more are in production.

Effective communication of the Good News needs to reach people far and wide through frequent contact. FEBC’s listeners tell us the more they hear, the more familiar they become with the saving message of Christ. The more time FEBC can be on air, the more frequently they will hear that message, meaning more people come to know and love Jesus. Let them hear with FEBC.

YOU CAN HELP FEBC

CHANGE LIVES

What does it mean to

m e h T t e L Hear?

FEBC Australia PO Box 183, Caringbah, NSW, 1495 P 1300 720 017 E office@febc.org.au W febc.org.au

It means

A Frequency recurring monthly donation:

+ Using radio and internet programming to inspire people to follow Christ

+ $45 per month - Delivers 12 radios AND funds six hours of programs that reach and change more than 24,000 lives.

+ Raising up ethnic language broadcasters and programmers

+ $75 per month - Delivers four radios, four face-to-face listener visits, and eight hours of programming time that changes more than 30,000 lives.

+ Producing community content in heart languages + Giving so others can hear the Good News

FEBC Frequency Partners access special, live webinars with our field directors. Hear direct from Mongolia in May. SIGN UP TO BE A FEBC FREQUENCY PARTNER TO JOIN IN.

+ $30 per month - Delivers 6 radios AND funds programs that reach and change more than 12,000 lives.

To become a regular giving Frequency Partner call FEBC on 1300 720 017 or visit https://febc.org.au/frequency/

IN DEPTH

MAY 2017

11

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Why the good news is getting faster Global Scripture update

JOHN SANDEMAN Here is the good news about Bible translation around the world: it is getting faster. This means more people groups are getting the Scriptures in their own language each year than ever before.

The global increase in the rate of Bible translation has led to a startling prediction.

“Some people alive now will see some portion of the Bible available in every language on earth,” says Michael Perreau, Director General of United Bible Societies (UBS).

“They might have just the Gospels or the New Tewstament and some others the whole Bible.

“By 2033, if we keep the momentum up, we could see all languages having some Scripture.

“I am not sure if I will live till then, but it is very exciting to think my children and grandchildren will live to see that.”

UBS, which represents Bible Societies around the world, has an updated snapshot of how the Bible is reaching more and more language groups.

There are some 6000 languages with 1000 minor languages – a total of 7000 languages.

“We have translations in 2000,” Perreau says, “We are working on 2000. There are 2000 we have not even begun.

“A third, a third and a third is a good way to put it.

“Of course the populations are different for these languages. That tells a more optimistic story. But God wants all to have his word.”

Some languages have only a few hundred speakers, notably some of Australia’s Indigenous languages.

But a language group can be up to 2 million strong and not have a single verse of the Bible. This would be one of the larger groups falling into the third of Michael Perreau’s thirds.

Currently, UBS is engaged in 451 translations and is committed to full Bible translations for these people groups.

The length of time to produce a Bible translation is reducing; according to Perreau we are accelerating towards the target of having the Bible in every language.

“In 2011 we used to complete some five translations a year. Now, each year we complete between 25 and 30 translations.

“This means millions more people get the full Bible each year.”

According to Perreau, four factors make possible the increased pace of Bible translation:

Languages

648

Bibles

1,432 Languages

New Testaments

1,145

Por:ons & Selec:ons

3,655

No Scriptures

UBS Global Scripture Access report, April 2017

“

Four key factors are helping to accelerate the rate of Bible translation around the world.

By 2033, if we keep the momentum up, we could see all languages having some Scripture.”

1) Digital technology is making the task quicker, putting translation helps in the hands of locals.

Paratext, a joint product of UBS and SIL, accelerates the translator’s work. They can input a first or revised draft of the text and check and review that draft against the biblical source texts and a selection of model translations and resource

materials. Another programme called Publisher’s Assistant enables fast layout.

2) Bible translators are no longer just the experts from rich countries.

Mobilising local translators, makes the task faster and creates a Bible reading community. UBS is currently mentoring 1200 local translators, who might be local pastors and other workers on the ground. Perreau points out this means these days a Bible translation begins when a local group of churches demands it, rather than when a mission group from overseas decides to do it.

3) Christian groups are working together on Bible translation better than before. An example is the Digital Bible Library run by UBS. It stores electronic texts, futureproofing the Bible against being stranded in obsolete computer

and media formats. It now holds 1400 languages and 1500 texts.

It’s the place other Bible agencies, like Bible app Youversion, get their texts. Global print-on-demand is on the way.

4) “Every Tribe Every Nation” (ETEN) is a core group behind the changes. “For the first time it brings together significant components.

The business community who have a heart for the work, and all of the key Bible agencies, to the same table,” says Perreau. “We look at ourselves as joint problem solvers.

“There is a respect for every partner. That is the unique thing about ETEN. They release God’s treasure, the talent and the time for the work being done.” They meet every month.

“We want to fund mission projects – but only one of everything” is how one of the

philanthropists explains it to Eternity. The result has been one place to put digital texts (the Digital Bible Library), one group developing the software and so on. Cutting out duplicated effort has been important in focusing on the translation effort – and this has been part of the push to speed things up.

ETEN began as a US-based group but is spreading a web of partnership around the world, becoming more and more multicultural in the process.

Perreau describes his job running the United Bible Societies: “It’s both a blessing and a burden. A blessing because you hold on to so many opportunities that God presents to you.

“But the burden is that there are so many who still wait and it is on your watch.”

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IN DEPTH

12

MAY 2017

NSW Police Commissioner Scipione: Family and Jesus ‘matter most’ ANNE LIM

Provided / Youtube /Pixabay

Former NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione says he decided early on in his career that his leadership style would be modelled on that of Jesus Christ.

While studying for a Master’s degree at Macquarie University in Sydney, he had come across Robert K. Greenleaf ’s theory about servant leadership – based upon the way Jesus led – and decided to adopt it.

“He was the modern father of servant leadership,” he said. “It was a copy of what Christ was, in terms of you lead by serving and that’s about enabling people to reach their goals. It’s about making sure that you’re doing what you can to help them get there.”

Speaking to Eternity just before he retired last month, Scipione said he had “a million” leadership books in his library at home, “but the one that’s most important is the one that sits next to my bed every day and it’s my Bible. Because most of those theories have come from that source, the ones that work.”

Scipione said he turned to the riches of Scripture for “everything from dealing with the day-to-day pressures, the concerns, the fears, the worries … ‘Fear not, I am with you;’ and in terms of the ability to do what’s got to be done – ‘I can do all things through Christ.’

“I guess every part of my day,

Andrew Scipione based his leadership of the NSW Police Force on the Bible. either knowingly or unknowingly, is captured and is driven by what is in Scripture. That’s the greatest leadership tome you could read.”

Scipione said he and his wife Joy had decided when they married at age 20 that they would put God first, family second and work third.

“So work really didn’t sit up there as the No. 1 consideration, never has. But, having said that, working as a police officer you get a chance to intersect with lives on a daily basis, people you would never otherwise come into contact with,” he said.

“You cross paths, you’re there dealing with the worst of the worst; you’re also there dealing with the saddest of the sad situations.

People are often in desperate need

of help, you’re … part of what was happening to those people as a victim – and you can impact by caring for them, and just explaining to them what’s happening. Looking after them at a time when they had no idea what was going on.”

Similarly, with offenders, Scipione would go out of his way to help them turn their lives around and make a fresh start.

As he progressed through the force, serving with the CIB, Gaming Squad, National Crime Authority and Counter Terrorism, Scipione said a big part of his mission was supporting injured officers and families who had lost loved ones who worked in law enforcement.

“Unfortunately, I’ve had far

too many of those instances on my watch,” he said, citing police accountant Curtis Cheng in 2015 and Inspector Bryson Anderson in 2012, among others.

Scipione explained that the reason he continued to press hard in fighting crime was the biblical principle of justice.

“It’s about making people understand that justice is important; not for justice’s sake but also because it’s a biblical principle,” he said.

“So, whether it’s trying to reduce the number of people that are addicted to ice or whether it’s managing terrorist threats that have come in this day and age, where terrorism is such a problem, I would choose to bring every one of those problems under the authority of the teaching that I adhere to.”

Scipione cast his lot in with the teachings of Christ at the age of 14 when he was converted through a youth group at his local church. Invited by his next-door neighbours, the Italian-Irish migrant was captivated by their happiness and sense of identity.

“They were still 14-year-old kids that had all the problems of 14-year-old kids but they were happy in themselves. They had a good identity; they were comfortable in their own skin,” he explained.

About six months after he came to Christian faith, Scipione’s father died suddenly. This plunged the teenager into a crisis that challenged him to become the man of the house.

While it was hard to lose a father, Scipione met his wife Joy through that youth group and they began dating at 17 and married at 20.

“But through all of that, those people [at church] cared, and it wasn’t just the kids but the extended families. I really needed some strong, male guidance and leadership in my life and I was getting that from men in that church. There were four men in particular who taught me how to be a man. They did what my dad would have done – they taught me how to be a father and a husband and a leader.”

As a leader and effective advocate for the police force with politicians, Scipione says he never found it hard to be a Christian in a public leadership role.

“See, it’s not about me. This whole journey is not about me. I was a Christian before I became a commissioner and when I retire as commissioner, guess what? I’ll go back to the things that really matter, which is my family and Christ. That is the priority order that we set and, again, that’s biblical; we took that straight out of God’s word.”

Personal identity

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Tuesday 12 September Opening Event – 6pm | Complimentary canapes will be served.

Lecture 1 – 7.30pm Identity Angst: Unstable Foundations

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MAY 2017

13

BIBLE @ WORK

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Leonie*, Elise* and Aimee* who are part of Bible Society’s Esther Project, have such harrowing stories that we can’t use their pictures. This woman in Cameroon has suffered as a refugee.

ANNE LIM Imagine you’re a girl on the cusp of puberty in the West African nation of Cameroon. In a country with a high rate of literacy, you would hope to be able to complete school without being raped and the risk of becoming pregnant.

Shockingly, though, children barely into their teens are all too often robbed of their innocence and end up having to make a horrible choice – to abort the baby or marry the abuser.

UNICEF estimates that about 20 per cent of girls aged between 15 and 19 are raped or sexually abused in Cameroon. This may be an underestimation because the issue is rarely talked about and the girls are stigmatised or even blamed. Some estimates put the figure as high as 40 per cent.

A survey by GTZ, a German NGO, found the average age of rape victims is 16, while the rapist is on average 25; 12 per cent of victims are less than 10 years old.

To make matters worse, parents and victims often don’t speak out, in an effort to avoid stigma and

disgrace. Meanwhile, the rapists are rarely punished.

A pregnant girl will usually drop out of school and be ostracised by her family and community while being vulnerable to physical violence and sexually transmitted diseases. Many go on to have several children before the age of 30, bringing them up alone. Illequipped to protect their daughters from the same fate, many fall into the same destructive cycle.

It is against this background of horror that family members may iron the breasts of their unsuspecting pubescent daughters to stop them developing and attracting male attention.

Without warning, mothers, grandmothers and aunts pin the girls down and rub their budding breasts with hot objects such as grinding stones or pestles, which have been pulled out of fireplaces.

The sessions, which are done in secret to avoid social stigma, can last 15 minutes or more and be repeated for months.

As well as the obvious physical damage such as burns, scarring and infection, the girls suffer

lifelong psychological trauma, including internalising blame.

As abusive as it is, breast ironing is not an effective prophylactic against sexual abuse.

Leonie’s story is particularly harrowing. Her three uncles raped her many times when she was only seven or eight.

“The second one used to tie my hands, close my mouth before abusing me sexually.”

When she became pregnant as a young single, the father wanted her to abort the baby but she refused.

After she gave birth, she discovered the father was a married man.

“I was not the only one who was pregnant for him. We were four of us, his wife included. I discovered again that my best friend was also a victim of his abuses. She got pregnant for him two times and aborted them.”

Luckily for Leonie, she was introduced to the Esther Project, a programme run by Bible Society of Cameroon. It helps single mothers and victims of sexual exploitation heal from their trauma and live healthy, independent lives based on biblical principles.

As well as Bible study and prayer, the programme encompasses psychological counselling and training in income-producing activities such as bead-making, soap-making and bag-making.

When Leonie arrived at the project she feared God couldn’t accept her “as dirty as I was.”

“One of the good news I got from there was that God accepts us the way we are,” she says.

“And I was assured. I felt relieved and free from bondage, captivity and trauma. The Bible transformed me. The Bible is my life. It’s everything I need for better living – I can’t do any more without it.”

This year, the project is being extended into refugee camps to help women who have fled the deadly terror group, Boko Haram.

Bible Society Cameroon also wants to start literacy classes in the Minawao and Wack refugee camps, where education levels are low. This year, the aim is to teach more than 1000 people to read

but funds are urgently needed to provide life-changing Bible-based trauma healing and literacy.

Esther Project participants speak powerfully of the impact the programme has had on their lives.

“I was captivated by the quality of teachings and workshops in the project,” says Aimee*. “My life that was so sad has become more joyful.

I have started appreciating life.

Moreover, I have started reading and meditating on the Bible every day. My life has become light and peaceful … Jesus is my solution.”

Says Elise*: “Project Esther is the best thing that has ever happened in my life. I was in total despair when I came as a beneficiary in the project. That was when I opened the Bible for the first time.

“The seminars that were organised after that helped me to radically turn to God who is my father. My life has a new meaning.”

+ To donate to help women like Leonie, Aimee and Elise, please call 1300 Bibles (1300 242 537) or visit biblesociety.org.au/itstime. * Names changed to protect identity.

One in five teenage girls in Cameroon * have been raped or abused.

One of them was Leonie**, who says: “I thought God would not accept me, ‘dirty’ as I was. But now… I feel free from bondage.”

Your gift to Bible Society’s Esther Project will help more girls like Leonie to heal, while protecting others from the same fate.

We also want to start Bible-based literacy classes at the border, for refugees fleeing Boko Haram insurgents.

$43 helps a girl heal and prepare for the future. $70 will teach two refugees in a literacy class (Tax deductible).

1300 BIBLES – 1300 242 537 | biblesociety.org.au/cameroonep *One in five teenage girls aged 15-19 have been raped or sexually abused in their lifetime (UNICEF). ** Not her real name.

UN Women/Ryan Brown

Exploited women find their value

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CHARITY FEATURE

MAY 2017

Compassion provides lifesaving surgery TESS HOLGATE Three years ago, eight-year-old Joshua had a sore eye and regular headaches. Not long after, he was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Joshua’s mother Josie says, “the doctor came at 11pm that night to tell me that Joshua needed an operation as he had a big tumour growing. He said that if this grew larger and reached the oxygen pathway, it could cause his death.

“The doctor said we needed surgery at the soonest possible time. I didn’t think much about it as I thought we couldn’t afford it,” says Josie.

If it weren’t for Compassion, Josie’s only option would have been to take Joshua home and care for him until he died. But when she mentioned his condition to the project where Joshua went, Compassion agreed to pay for the AU$17,000 surgery out of their medical fund.

The medical fund is a lifeline to children in Compassion’s programmes facing ongoing sickness, pain or even death. It goes beyond what sponsorship can cover, to ensure children like Joshua don’t have to continue suffering.

“I can’t explain the relief when Compassion told us Joshua’s surgery would be paid for. I felt like I mustered the courage. I told myself ‘there is hope’,” says Josie.

Joshua had one year of healthy

E

“Visiting and entering the homes and eating food together and playing UNO or shooting basketball hoops; it puts flesh on what we were doing [as sponsors],” says Mason.

“

It’s a small thing we can do to extend the hand of compassion”

Joshua and his mum Josie are grateful for the help from Compassion’s medical fund. life, but when his symptoms returned, the doctors ordered chemotherapy. Compassion decided the chemotherapy would also be paid for through the medical fund, to ease the burden on a family that had already been through so much.

Today, Joshua is still undergoing chemotherapy. He is tired while he

recovers but enjoys playing with his sisters and attends the Compassion centre when he can.

Guy Mason, a pastor at inner city Melbourne church City on a Hill, visited the Philippines on a Compassion trip and ended up sponsoring Joshua after discovering he didn’t have a sponsor.

“There’s much to love about Joshua. He’s an eleven-year-old kid who is softly spoken, enjoys studying maths, has a huge smile and absolutely adores his mum and two younger sisters.

“He has a trust in God and a love for his mum,” Mason says about Joshua.

“It’s a small thing we can do to extend the hand of compassion.”

Though Josie acknowledges there are still times that are hard, she overflows with gratitude for what God has done in snatching her son from the jaws of death.

“All I want to say is, for the staff of the project that handles Joshua’s case, to the church, to God, to those in Manila, and to all those of you who support Compassion: our unending thanks and gratitude.”

Joshua is by his mothers side playing with his favourite toy, Batman. He says he loves him “because he’s brave”. “Jesus saved my life. He is the best in the whole world,” beams Joshua.

You can help stop the suffering of children like Joshua by giving to Compassion’s Medical fund. Go to www.compassion.com.au

Each month, Eternity will highlight a charity from the group bringing you this special page.

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MAY 2017

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15

OPINION

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Natasha Moore asks ‘Have we lost the ability to disagree?’

Why Keith Garner defies Australia’s popular wisdom As Australia and India recently battled an enthralling test series on the subcontinent, brewer Carlton & United announced it would be ending its 20-year sponsorship of Australian cricket.

The declaration almost snuck under the radar: the NRL and AFL seasons were well underway and the sports pages were full of footy.

The Australian team were half a world away.

For 20 years adults and children have been exposed to the Victoria Bitter logo from 10am to the close of play. The logo has appeared on the shirts of Australian cricketers, advertising banners, boundary ropes, fences and electronic scoreboards.

Like sports betting, alcohol advertising has been an allpervasive and all-consuming part of the Australian summer.

It’s hard not to think of national cricket without alcohol. It is also a key strategy in making alcohol consumption a normal part of life.

Cricket Australia has already lined up a new national sponsor – and yes, it’s believed to be another

alcohol company. As a nation, we seem to accept alcohol and its use and abuse as a right. Much has been made of our “drinking culture.” It appears that such a culture dates back to the early days of the British colony.

The Australian educationist and author Dr George Mackaness noted: “The population of Sydney (circa 1806) was divided into two classes. Those who sold rum and those who drank it.”

The Rev. Richard Johnson, the nation’s first Christian minister, penned his concern at how the colony’s constituents spent their hard-earned money on brew. He hoped governments would act to curtail the problem. Johnson, however, was a lone voice.

If Johnson was alive today he would probably conclude that the spigot of the vat remains open, and that perhaps the early colony of which he had oversight has never really grown up.

Today the voices who challenge the booze culture are touted as “wowsers” or “moral cops.” The change to the lock-out laws in Sydney drew a similar chorus despite the rapid decline in street assaults, violence, anti-social behaviour and hospital admissions.

Sadly, public drunkenness and anti-social behaviour is indicative of a larger problem: alcohol abuse has become a rite of passage for a growing number of young Australians.

Grog has become a measure of identity, consumed on the false premise that it can reveal our “true” and underlying personality.

The one-punch drunks who have killed and injured innocents on our streets belie the idea that there is anything affable or friendly in this spurious reasoning.

“

There is an urgent need to tackle the problem of alcohol marketing in Australia with robust policy and stronger regulatory oversight.”

Public drunkenness and subsequent violence is only one part of the problem; the issue goes to the heart of every Australian. It is simply false and destructive to believe our personality teeters on the balance of a beer and that our national character is defined by our collective love affair with the bottle.

It also erodes our character, resilience and collective capacity in other ways. The social and economic cost of drinking is well documented: alcohol costs Australians a staggering $36 billion every year, according to research by the AER Centre for Alcohol Policy Research.

The estimated cost of alcohol abuse by drinkers in Australia is $15.3 billion.

The centre also found that the overall cost of alcohol-related harms to someone other than the drinker such as motor vehicle accidents, lost productivity, family breakdown, child protection costs, domestic violence, and crime and policing was $20 billion.

The impact of alcohol on our Indigenous communities is a major

justice issue in which we all share some responsibility.

The personal health costs are all too apparent. The impact of longterm alcohol dependence leads to increased rates of heart disease, stroke, mouth and throat cancer, diabetes and brain damage.

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) has called for an end to alcohol sponsorship of sporting teams and tournaments and a ban on alcohol promotion during live sport coverage during the day.

This call followed the Australian Medical Association’s plea for a prohibition on alcohol sponsorship of sport. The Association’s report found that there was “convincing evidence supporting the link between alcohol marketing and alcohol consumption by young people... There is an urgent need to tackle the problem of alcohol marketing in Australia with robust policy and stronger regulatory oversight.”

Since 1991, France has had a complete ban on alcohol advertising and sponsorship.

Sport has not been impacted and alcohol consumption has dropped.

Other nations like Norway and Turkey have strong restrictions. It is time Australia took this lead and showed the same commitment to restricting alcohol advertising and sponsorship as it has done with tobacco.

Each day at Wesley Mission we deal with the broken lives caused by addiction and substance abuse.

Our work in this area has spanned many decades – from two major hospitals specialising in recovery to a myriad of counselling, family and youth services.

Alcohol dependence does not discriminate: we have people

from all social and economic backgrounds engaged in our recovery programs – from senior executives and professionals to trades people.

Colleagues also see alcohol abuse in the homes of families facing overwhelming challenges, on the streets as young people struggle to find their place in life and in the lives of former soldiers besieged by Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

As a Christian minister, I have also had to deal with the shattered lives that ensued through the abuse of alcohol. I have offered support and consolation to families as they have watched loved ones waste away and I have taken the funerals of people who have been killed as a result of drunk driving.

I am not a prohibitionist but the decision many of us take is by choice not law. We have a freedom in Christ and those of us who make decisions with regard to alcohol most often do so out of regard and concern for others. This is the position we continue to take at Wesley Mission even though it may be considered outdated and unpopular. In point of fact alcohol remains a major social issue.

We cannot afford to be careless when discussing the consumption of alcohol. We must be considered and never destroy the work of Christ in a person’s life by abusing our freedom. Our identity as a nation requires us to take stock, to look to a greater common good and a sense of self and meaning that rises above the brand of a bottle to a reality that has its origin in the one true God “in whom we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

The Reverend Keith Garner is CEO/Superintendent of Wesley Mission, Sydney.

Pixabay / jarmoluk

Alcohol and Australian culture

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OPINION

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MAY 2017

Rebuilding Nepal with grace

Alex Barwick on Nepal’s tragedy and its aftermath Sixty-two-year-old Dambar Kumal lost everything he owned when the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal in April 2015. It had been a day like any other: Dambar was hard at work planting seeds in the fields of Gorkha District, the epicentre of the tremor, when the earthquake struck. He hurried home to find his house flattened and his entire grain storage ruined by the country’s largest natural disaster in 80 years.

As the second anniversary of the earthquake approaches, Dambar and his family finally have a new house. They have been living in a temporary bamboo shelter, a cramped space without protection from the elements. International Nepal Fellowship (INF) staff assessed their needs and organised funding and the construction of their new earthquake-safe home.

Rebuilding has been slow in many of the areas affected by the earthquake. Accessing adequate funds, sluggish government bureaucracy and the geographical challenges of construction in such mountainous countryside provide ongoing hurdles. Almost 9000 people were killed in the 2015 earthquake; nearly 22,000 injured; and many more lost their homes and livelihoods. The rehabilitation and rebuilding required remains immense.

“The majority of people are still living in old houses and temporary shelters since the earthquake,” admits Bishnu Giri, Manager of the GRACE project, INF’s post-

“

Dambar Kuma stands in front of the bamboo shelter. earthquake rebuilding project.

“Two years on, many still feel ongoing insecurity in their homes due to potential flooding or attacks from wild animals. Others have ongoing trauma from having lost loved ones or their homes.”

INF has been working in partnership with the people of Nepal since the earthquake struck, to help rebuild lives through practical construction programs and capacity building for future natural disasters.

Within 24 hours of the earthquake, INF drove a medical team and support workers into Gorkha District, the epicentre, to distribute basic medical supplies and non-perishable food to more than 2000 households. In the months that followed, INF built

I started feeling almost helpless as I was reminded how big the task of reconstruction still is.”

119 Temporary Learning Centres (TLCs) for local children to attend school. These centres are still being used as communities wait for permanent schools to be rebuilt. INF has now formally signed an ongoing agreement with the Nepali government to deliver wide-ranging reconstruction

and training to communities affected by the earthquake with a particular focus on people with disabilities.

Across Gorkha District, where the earthquake flattened village after village, INF’s GRACE project is now well underway. GRACE stands for Gorkha Rehabilitation And Community Empowerment.

Construction has begun on more than 100 houses for people with disabilities; five residential centres next to schools that are accessible to children with disability; and one public building in a remote village.

Future works include modification to an additional 40 households and the reconstruction of three public toilets that are accessible for people with disability. The GRACE project also involves providing community

based earthquake rehabilitation support to almost 1500 people with disabilities.

“This part of the project aims to improve and increase access for people with disabilities to health services, education, work opportunities and meaningful social participation,” says Bishnu Giri. “GRACE’s approach to rehabilitation is combining empowerment and inclusion.”

The GRACE project has also engaged the support of the local churches. The Gorkhali Christian Society, an umbrella organisation, has brought more than 140 local churches together to partner in the community based rehabilitation activities of the GRACE project.

As the rehabilitation and rebuilding phase gets well underway, Bishnu describes the mixed emotions of the locals.

“Many people feel excited that their new houses will be safer, and that new public infrastructure and roads are being built,” he says. “Others feel frustrated by the lengthy process involved in accessing long promised government assistance.”

CEO of INF’s Australian office, Phil Morris, recently visited Nepal. He was both encouraged by the progress, and struck by the enormity of the task ahead.

“I was privileged to travel to Gorkha recently with Bishnu and his team. I started feeling almost helpless as I was reminded how big the task of reconstruction still is,” reflected Phil. “Driving into Gorkha you pass countless houses that were damaged in the quakes and which are still waiting to be rebuilt. And yet, when meeting individuals like Dambar who have received help, and seeing the compassion of Bishnu and his team, I knew that this was really important work, and that every house rebuilt meant security and hope for a family just like mine.”

Alex Barwick, International Nepal Fellowship (INF) Australia.

Alex lived in Nepal with her family for 12 months in 2014 and worked with INF. A Christian mission, INF serves Nepali people through health and development work.

Additional reporting by Ram Prasad Sharma, INF Nepal. For more, visit www.inf.org

When Harry met Jo: ‘Are you my wife?’

Jo Armstrong Our Agony Aunt is taken by surprise I have to admit that I really enjoy playing badminton; I really do. I am a competitive, energetic, fastpaced person and so badminton is truly the perfect game for me. I love playing it, even if I lose.

At a Christian social event, I had been explaining to “Harry” my passion for badminton. I had known him for about three years and had seen him around at various Christian events over that time. We had always had a good chin wag. Harry was quite an affable fellow and seemed nice enough from our brief encounters over the years. It turns out that Harry hadn’t ever played badminton before but instead had a passion for squash. We eventually agreed to a badminton match!

I was very excited by this

prospect because my last badminton buddy had just given birth and the problem with badminton is that you really can’t play by yourself!

I won the first set, lost the second set, but came back and won the third set and crowned myself the champion. Harry said he was surprised I was such a good player!

I found this brutal honesty quite rude but at least he was honest, I suppose. I exercised my self-control and refused to expose my surprise that his squash skills were not as evident as he had made me expect.

I was hoping to get more of a work out to secure my win.

Happily, I did have quite a few opportunities to ensure that Harry got to run about across the full area of the court and by the end of the game he was covered in sweat and an interesting beetroot colour.

I wasn’t sure if I should call an ambulance for him but, in the end, we decided to get a drink instead.

We moved to the little cafe, just at

the entrance to the sports centre.

There were kids running around everywhere and the smell of chlorine from the pool was really strong. Suddenly Harry looked at me directly and in a stern tone asked, “Do you know why I want to spend time with you?”

This felt like a trick question.

Is this a test? We were playing badminton, which was obvious, so weren’t we there to play badminton? Is it that simple?

Does he think I am stupid? I felt my eyes roll left and then to the right for any clues. “Ummmmm,” I cautiously replied hoping that perhaps if my ummmmmmmmm was long enough the Lord might quickly take me back to him so that the awkward moment would soon be over. I fidgeted in my seat and suddenly it felt like I was being interviewed.

“I want to know if you are my wife?” Harry announced. What?

Who? I looked over my shoulder to check if there was someone else

he could have been speaking to.

He couldn’t surely be asking me such an absurd question. Then it dawned on me, there was no one behind me; in fact, the only thing behind me was a wall.

I was the person he was talking to. Was I his wife?! Me? No! I am not even married.

How did we go from badminton to wife? Wife! What happened?

What have I missed? We aren’t even dating and he hasn’t even asked me to go on a date.

Then it hit me. This was a date!

I had been on a date for the last hour and didn’t even know I was on a date! How had this happened to me? Badminton is the most undate-like date there could possibly be; there was no romance, not even candles or Celine Dion singing in the background. This date was disguised so well I was totally fooled into thinking that playing badminton was indeed playing badminton.

Ladies, beware! Because, since

when did a game of badminton turn into a wife hunting exercise for Christian men?

I had actually really enjoyed the game and would have met up with Harry to play badminton again. I don’t know the guy too well but the Bible does talk about not despising small beginnings and we all need good friends, which is the basis of good relationships, and which, I suppose, could develop into something more.

Harry, however, made it very clear that he was only looking for one thing from his time with me, yet sadly we hadn’t got the chance to get to know each other and instead he simply freaked me out.

His desire to find his wife was so strong that it was at the expense of everything else. I was sad that Harry only wanted to spend time with me to see if I was his wife.

While I could have been his wife, I am also a number of other things as well and that includes a pretty good badminton player.

OPINION

MAY 2017

17

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Can we talk? Or is that too much to ask?

Natasha Moore on how we might disagree better

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CHOOSING GRACE

In a culture of offence, suspicion is default and grace is in short supply. And grace is a resource that followers of Christ need never run out of; it’s the thing we should always have

to offer a conversation, issue, or relationship. “But he gives us more grace” (James 4:6)!

It’s tempting, especially on social media, to “pounce” on everything we could possibly find anything to quibble with. There’s always someone or something to criticise, on any side of any issue.

But against the prevailing Twittertides, we should seek to give others the benefit of the doubt; to listen well, and be awake to people’s hurts and fears; to believe their motivations are good, however strongly we might disagree with their choices or conclusions; and to want the best for them. “Bless those who curse you, pray for those who ill-treat you” (Luke 6:28). How can we speak and enact blessing for people we disagree with?

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TAKING RISKS

For the record, I really enjoyed the Bible Society’s “Keeping it light” video.

But maybe you hated it. Maybe you thought it naive or tone-deaf or too male or too white or ill-judged in some other way. Maybe you jumped

into the Facebook feeding frenzy without even watching it in the first place!

Maybe it’s not how you would have done it. But historically, Christians try lots of different ways of getting their message across, with differing (and hard to predict) rates of success. Though some options are certainly wiser than others, and we should exercise caution and gentleness, there’s always some level of risk involved.

If it’s totally “safe,” it’s probably not got much to do with Jesus or the Bible.

Dorothy Sayers wrote a halfcentury ago about pastors that “if [they] are to refrain from saying anything that might ever, by any possibility, be misunderstood by anybody, they will end – as in fact many of them do – by never saying anything worth hearing.”

We have different methods and we’ll get it wrong sometimes. But let’s support one another, insofar as we possibly can: “To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand” (Romans 14:4).

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Flickr / Newtown grafitti

Have we lost the art of disagreeing well? Is it recoverable? Laments over the incivility of our public square seem to appear almost daily now, and the genre is not an optimistic one.

Take the sudden furore back in March when Bible Society Australia (BSA), as part of a campaign associated with its 200th birthday, released a video featuring two Liberal politicians debating same-sex marriage. Its message was that civil discussion of heavy issues can be part of what it means to “live light” (the tagline of BSA).

Same-sex marriage advocates denounced the video as (at best) disrespectful. Everyone from The Guardian to the Tele, from The Drum to Charlie Pickering, weighed in. In the immortal words of Ron Burgundy: “Boy, that escalated quickly. I mean, that really got out of hand fast.”

There’s a lot to say here about free speech, outrage, conscience, social media, how to change minds and so on and so forth. But, now that the dust has settled, a more pertinent question might be: how should Christian people specifically respond to these kinds of meltdowns?

I’m not at all sure I know. But here are a few thoughts that should hardly be controversial for Christians (famous last words!)

LOSING WELL

The natural human response is to meet hostility with hostility, outrage with outrage. It’s a predictable process, one we’re all too familiar with in the current climate. How can Christians break that cycle, rather than perpetuating it? Well, we look to Jesus, who said “love your enemies” and submitted to indignity, torture and death at the hands of his.

(Of course, it’s also worth reminding ourselves that these local kerfuffles are a completely different ball game to the serious persecution faced by Christians around the world on a daily basis.)

Christians should be bold and courageous – but never jerks, let alone sore losers. We don’t meet a boycott with a counter-boycott, or abuse with abuse.

We keep articulating a case for religious freedom and freedom of speech, but we don’t mobilise for battle.

As John Dickson writes in an article on the “art of losing well”: “No group in society should

be better losers, more cheerful sufferers, than followers of the crucified Lord.”

4

LIVING LIGHT?

The law of unintended consequences applies to everyone. But Christians should be especially aware that we do not control outcomes – that whatever our efforts and intentions, God alone is sovereign over what happens, above all over the ways his word will take root and grow and achieve the purpose for which he sent it.

This means we can relax! We don’t live and die by the news cycle; we don’t need to participate in the culture of confected outrage. We can afford to be generous, humble, and unruffled, because we know the One who directs the course of people’s hearts like streams of water in his hand (Proverbs 21:1).

The Lord of Hosts is not thrown by the fluctuations of public opinion – and nor should we be.

Natasha Moore is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity. publicchristianity.org

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OPINION

18

How to not lose hope in our broken world

Tim Costello responds to our national shaming I recently had the privilege of meeting with the committed men and women who have been working on the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Abuse over the past four years.

I was asked to address them on how to stay positive, resilient and effective when dealing with trauma victims.

Their obvious sense of justice, integrity and compassion in the demanding work of bringing evidence of systemic sexual abuse into the light was impressive.

I was moved to see the receptivity of people buried for years in the worst muck of institutional abuse still wanting to hope and believe.

I personally find it sad that many of the crimes have been committed within our churches – about 60 per cent of abuse survivors reported sexual abuse at faithbased institutions.

Too often, these institutions had put their corporate reputation above the welfare of the children to whom they had a duty of care.

The abuse by what is – in reality – a small percentage of church authorities, has damaged the trust

in those many who served the community with integrity.

There is deep sadness and considerable disenchantment among the faithful. But we can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Our faith communities still serve and heal, even when some of their leaders fail.

It would be easy to fall into pessimism and allow cynicism to take hold and for hope to die.

I draw on my faith to handle that temptation.

It is why, at World Vision, our Christian faith is so important – for it is this which gives us the sense that God hasn’t given up on a broken world. So what right would we have to give up?

We should never underestimate the power of evil. But we shouldn’t believe that evil has the last word.

It is not enough to feel outraged by the crimes of the past.

We must continue to proclaim the preciousness of every child. We owe survivors not just truth and justice, but also a genuine faith-led hope for the future.

Sexual abuse of children is a national shame.

A society that does not protect the vulnerable, the children, the aged, the handicapped and the poor is a failed society.

I suggest a national day of repentance, prayer and fasting when the Royal Commission’s final report is handed down in December.

Our nation, including our churches, needs healing and hope.

In the Old Testament’s Second Chronicles, it is written: “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (7:14).

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Eternity, an old-fashioned idea There’s a clear assumption behind Eternity. It’s that simply reporting the news will honour God. Put simply we have faith that God is at work in the lives, hearts and minds of Australians. We don’t have to fake news to make God look good or that he is at work in the lives of local churches.

The truth is sufficient.

Call us old-fashioned journalists. The stories of people being found by God, or finding that he gives purpose to life is news to us. This is the sort of news that the Italian philosopher-novelist Umberto Eco described when he wrote “News tells what we already know”. We already know people come to Christ, we already know that he gives life meaning. But we love writing, and we know you love reading,

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those truths again and again clothed in different people’s life stories.

God is still calling light out of darkness, as people cross from living in one kingdom to another. “Live light” is the Bible Society tagline, and you could say our role is to give example after example. That’s the news always fit to print.

In this issue of Eternity, from the longest piece of writing – Tim Winton’s story of how his family came into the kingdom of light – to one of the shortest – a news brief noting the growth of the C3 church family – we are telling real news, about real people, with real names when we can.

(Because in some places it is dangerous to be a Christian we have to be careful.)

Sometimes people read

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and think they discover a different agenda. Some Lefties got upset when we got Lyle Shelton to report what it was like to attend (actually nearly attend) the Trump inauguration. Some Righties got upset when US Christian journalist Katelyn Beaty analysed some of the pain Trump has caused the Church.

But we simply think what a range of Christians think and feel is of interest to all of us.

We are one body and Eternity will do our best to talk to the hands, feet, and all the rest.

Our masthead Eternity has one great advantage for those of us who bring the paper and online news service to you. It reminds us constantly that Eternity – the real one – is our ultimate destination.

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OPINION

MAY 2017

19

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Good for the Goose, hero of Prague Michael Jensen on Martin Luther’s forerunner

“

Painting of Jan Hus in black robe at the Council of Constance by Václav Brožík (1883) and doctrine of the church should be tested at the bar of Scripture.

He also attacked the traditional view of the Lord’s Supper, writing that the bread and wine were not changed into the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist but remain bread and wine.

A movement sprang up around him, called the Lollards, and a translation of the Bible into English followed. This mysterious movement included some of the gentry, apparently; but it was repeatedly suppressed in the turbulent years of civil war that followed Wycliffe’s death.

Nevertheless, Wycliffe had a surprising influence in a far-off place: in the kingdom of Bohemia, which we know now as the Czech Republic. His writings came to the notice of the Czech-speaking Dean of the Philosophy Faculty in Prague, Jan Hus, who was growing more and more cranky with the institutions of the church. There was already a bit of ill-feeling at the university between the Germans and Czechs. But more of that in a moment.

Hus was from a town called Husinec, or “Goosetown.” Like many people of the time, he was called by the town he came from – so his name was literally John Goose, which caused him and his friends quite a bit of amusement.

Hus had studied to be a priest not because he was overcome by spiritual fervour but because he wanted a way out of poverty. He was ordained in 1401 and became the preacher in the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, which was a very large and well attended centre of faith. Sermons there were preached in Czech and not in Latin! And already it was known for the rebellious attitude of the Czech leaders towards the established church.

During this period, Hus experienced a conversion of a kind.

... territorial churches, each protected, regulated, and supported by the territorial lords and princes.”

It was a discovery of the Scriptures, at the prompting of Wycliffe, that moved Hus to be alarmed at what he saw were the unbiblical practices of the church of his day. One of his colleagues, Matthew of Janov, once said that the clergy were “worldly, proud, mercenary, pleasure-loving, and hypocritical. ... They do not regard their sins as such, do not allow themselves to be reproved, and persecute the saintly preachers.

There is no doubt that if Jesus lived among such people, they would be the first to put him to death.”

This was fighting talk. But Hus and the others were protected because they had a strong advocate in King Wenceslas IV and Zybněk Zajic, the young reform-minded archbishop of Prague. They wanted the Czech nation to be free of European and especially German control. The appeal for reform sounded well to them.

Many of Wycliffe’s teachings sounded pretty good to Hus, from his reading of the Scriptures.

For example, he began to teach that the true church was all of those whom God had chosen for salvation, and was not the same as the Roman Catholic Church.

Wycliffe had also taught that there should be “territorial churches, each protected, regulated, and supported by the territorial lords and princes” rather than one large institution. Hus did not agree with Wycliffe on the Lord’s Supper, but

did not condemn him.

And this became significant, because the Germans at the university organised a push to get rid of the Czechs. They drew up 45 points from Wycliffe’s writings, and condemned them as heresy.

Either you agreed with them, or you couldn’t teach at the university anymore.

Then, in all the confusion surrounding the three popes, Archbishop Zybněk decided that he could not cover Hus anymore, and excommunicated him. Worse was to come, because King Wenceslas wanted to profit from the sale of indulgences. Indulgences were a way of buying merit from the church – so that you could effectively purchase your way to the kingdom of heaven. Hus angrily protested against this as a “traffick in sacred things.” But he lost the protection of his king as a result.

Don’t forget, we have the problem of the three popes going on as well at this time. To resolve the mess, the Council of Constance was formed in 1414 – with a brief to rid the church of heresy, too.

Jan Hus was invited to attend, with a guarantee of safe-conduct from the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund. Would he go? Hus hesitated, but was reassured that all would be well. It wasn’t. Once he arrived at Constance, Hus was imprisoned and then interrogated at length. The conditions of the prison were so bad that he nearly died. A public hearing was set for June 5-8 of 1415, but Hus was not given permission to respond. His accusers presented him with a list of 30 articles – a mish-mash of his writings and Wycliffe’s. If he would not renounce them, then he would be condemned.

Hus replied that unless someone could show him from Scripture where he was in error, he would not recant.

His final opportunity to recant

“

A church needs to submit to the Scriptures, the book of Jesus himself, or it is no church at all.”

came on July 6. He refused, and so was declared to be an arch-heretic and a Wycliffite. His soul was handed over to the devil.

He was then taken outside the city walls and burned to death.

As he died, the story goes that he committed his own soul to God by singing: “Jesus Christ! The Son of the living God! Have mercy upon me.” After he had died, his ashes were scattered in the Rhine River.

That was not the end of the story, because a Hussite church grew up and flourished in the Czech lands for many years afterwards. And when the Reformation took place in the 1500s, the Reformers looked back to Hus with admiration at the stand he had taken on the authority of Scripture, at great cost.

That is the great testimony of Jan Hus for today’s church. A church needs to submit to the Scriptures, the book of Jesus himself, or it is no church at all. It needs to humbly give itself to be reformed by what it reads there. It should not be satisfied to do what an institution or a tradition tells it, but must inquire of the Bible to know what it should look like. The Bible creates the church, after all, not the other way around. Let not Jan Hus, and so many others like him, have died in vain!

Michael Jensen is the rector of St Mark’s Anglican Church in Darling Point, Sydney, and the author of several books.

wikimedia / W.Rebel

If we were to take a pulse-check of the church in Australia today, what would we see? We would see that in many places in our nation, the church is held in disrepute as a place in which great evil was concealed and even permitted.

We would see sections of that church known for exploiting people’s spiritual vulnerability.

And behind it all, we would see a church wrestling over the issue of spiritual authority.

Is it a church which listens to its traditions, to its institutions, to religious experience, or to the Bible? While the massive gulf of five centuries separates us from the church of the Reformation, far more deeply embedded as it was in the culture and politics of its day, the questions of the church’s identity, mission and authority were as vital questions then as they are today.

One hundred and two years before Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany, a Czech preacher and theologian, Jan Hus, was burnt at the stake for heresy at the Council of Constance.

His career was an inspiration to Luther, and, Luther also noted carefully, Hus’s fate. To challenge the authority of the medieval church was no small thing.

To tell the story of Jan Hus, we need to tell the story of the church of his day. It was governed, at least in theory, by the Pope in Rome, a single church under a single powerful head. Only, since 1309, the Pope wasn’t in Rome, he was living in Avignon in France. And then, in 1378, after an attempt to restore the papacy to Rome, there were two Popes elected to succeed Pope Gregory XI – which split Europe almost completely, because everyone chose to back one Pope or another.

In 1409, a council held in Pisa in Italy tried to break the deadlock by electing yet another Pope. But since not everyone recognised this new Pope, there were now three Popes trying to preside over the Catholic Church!

It’s hard to understate the confusion and anxiety that this situation caused. In the Middle Ages, the Papacy was a bit like Google is now: it was just an unmistakeable part of life. To think that it was divided and possibly corrupt was a shock to the whole system and an embarrassment to faithful Christians everywhere.

Could it be that the whole way the church had been organised was mistaken?

It’s not surprising that dissenting voices began to be heard, starting with the Englishman John Wyliffe. Wycliffe contrasted the church that he could see around him, which was wealthy, powerful and hierarchical, with the heavenly church which exists for all Christians. Wycliffe wrote powerfully that all the institutions

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OPINION

20

MAY 2017

Time to listen to the ‘aliens’ Greg Clarke on where Australian values come from Like a rapidly poured lemonade, Australian political gas has bubbled up yet another discussion about ‘values’. This is completely understandable, given the changing backgrounds of Australian citizens over the past century or so. Who are we? How united are we in how we think of ourselves as a nation? While we wait for the 2016 census data to emerge, we can still toss these discussions in to the air and see where they land.

Politicians from the Prime Minister down have been talking ‘values’ as shorthand for several abstract terms, among which you would have to include beliefs,

ethics, policies, laws, and most Australian of all, the ‘vibe’. It’s a philosopher’s dream to untangle these terms and a commentator’s dream to find a soundbite that does the trick. But they are very resistant to analysis and most efforts to do so default into one political corner or another.

Taking an historical approach to this has its benefits. If we can show where a value came from, we may be able to say more about whether it is still suitable today.

Unless all values are universal, history will make a large difference to the values we seek in Australian community life in mid-2017.

And clearly all values are not universal. To give a clear example, in India a cow is valued culturally and spiritually in a different way to how it is in New Zealand or Fiji.

Why? Because the view of the cow has come from a previous view about the nature of the world, the specialness or otherwise of human beings, the nature of the spiritual realm, and what happens to your body and soul as time unfolds.

In short, we are talking about an historical worldview. Worldview is a concept celebrated in European thinking in 17-19th Centuries and clarified by philosophers such as Kant and Hegel. But that hefty

This multicultural BBQ features in this year’s We love our Lamb campaign. heritage shouldn’t put us off: it’s a handy way for today’s debate to make progress.

Worldview thinking makes the assumption that everyone holds views about serious, unavoidable issues of reality. And these views haven’t just popped into people’s hearts and minds; rather, they emerge from the historical stream in which people find themselves.

These ideas usually include a view on the essence of the world, the essence of human beings, what happens to humans and other life beyond death, what distinguishes right from wrong, and whether there is a God and the nature of that God. It’s hardly a BBQ conversation list, and yet it should be. For sentient beings, these are the things that occupy our minds,

whether constantly for some of us, or now and then for people less bothered. Definitely at your mother’s funeral, or when you stand before the magistrate, or when your baby dies in childbirth.

Definitely in quiet moments with a best friend and the second glass of red. Definitely for everyone at some point.

Values emerge from worldviews, and we need to get into the details of these worldviews if we are ever to build a society that works. Because people genuinely have different worldviews. They have different historical shaping, different experiences, different ‘inputs’. They genuinely disagree on the answers to these big, serious questions.

And these genuine disagreements generate different values, beliefs, ethics and yes, even vibes.

Australians disagree on these things, perhaps more now than fifty years ago. It’s ridiculous to pretend otherwise, as doctrinaire secularism attempts to do. We can’t pretend we all agree on all things, or even most things. We can’t, as I heard one radio commentator say, “just go with our collective gut’. We have to find a way to enact society without having those agreements in place. Or better, we have to enable a discussion where we can assess whether one worldview has more going for it than another.

Overall, parliamentary democracy does a fair job of this, as does the rule of law. And that’s pretty much all we have as a body politic. The rest is up for BBQ discussion. And it also highlights the need to allow muted voices to be part of that discussion. Voices that are disconcerting to hear, voices that people react against viscerally. This will include the voices of religion, of ancient texts, of supernatural thinking. Such views are often received like alien intrusions in contemporary Australian discussion, but the ‘aliens’ must be heard. They might just be closer to reality than the noisy earth-bound folk think.

Greg Clarke is CEO of Bible Society Australia.

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