Eternity - May 2019 - Issue 102

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Number 102, May 2019 ISSN 1837-8447

Brought to you by the Bible Society

God’s words for first peoples

Celebrating the year of indigenous languages Modern slavery: an urgent battle

Aid for the Bush Church

King Cyrus?

Donald Trump

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NEWS

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Obadiah Slope OLD STORY: Kamal Weerakoon, the Sri Lankan-born leader of the NSW Presbyterians, shared a story online that was set in a country classroom. A chaplain asks the kids who is the special visitor (Kamal) who “has come all the way from Sydney to meet us.” Answer from a kindy kid: “Jesus.” The best online response to Kamal’s story was: “At least they don’t think Jesus looks like a white guy with blonde hair.”

MILD AT HEART: Obadiah was sitting placidly in a cathedral, no less, when a speaker suddenly mentioned Eternity. “A mild paper – one of the least offensive newspapers we have.” Your prophet understands the speaker was trying to say something nice about this august journal, but he couldn’t help feeling we were being damned with rather faint praise. Then he thought “Tell that to some of the people who post on Eternity’s Facebook page.”

U2’s tribute to Smithy DEAN TROTH

News 2,3

In March, the great preacher and missionary to the marginalised, John Smith, affectionately known as “Smithy,” had a memorial service attended by hundreds of outlaw and Christian bikers.

Early in the service, a personal tribute was read from Paul David Hewson, commonly known by his stage name, Bono, lead singer of Irish rock band, U2. The band first met Smithy in Melbourne while on tour in 1984. Smithy made a lasting impression, and Bono met with him several times afterwards.

John “The Baptist” Smith, by Bono My first sense of John “The Baptist” Smith was observing cassettes of his preaching being passed around like he was some kind of obscure indie rock band, which in so many ways he kind of was. But he had hits – John got pop culture.

On one cassette, he uncovered the [William] Blakean influence on Kris Kristofferson; on another his exegesis was on Bette Midler’s movie The Rose – which he opened up like it was a missing Gospel.

On another he broke down talking about an outlaw biker called Ball Bearing whose deep knowledge of the Blues had opened John’s own mind to the possibility of Psalms hiding in the form: the brutal honesty of the Blues made sense to John.

John Smith was the only one not surprised to hear the Hells Angel

Bible Society 5 In Depth 7-10 Opinion 11-16 Simone D. McCourtie / World Bank

ILLUSTRATE THIS: Inner Sydney pastor Dominic Steele made a rash promise on his church weekend away. He promised to mention a winning team’s name in a sermon before Easter. “Tragically for me the winning team name is ‘Surströmming,’” he wrote, asking for help on Facebook. That’s a stinky lightly salted fermented Baltic Sea herring. No one was able to work it into a sermon for him.

Suggestions included opening a can of the stuff to demonstrate the effects of sin. Another was talking about the foolishness of making rash promises.

MAY 2019

Bono speaking at a World Bank event on poverty in 2012. jam Where Were You When They Crucified My Lord?

John quite liked that some churchy people thought of him as a heretic: Big smile across his face.

“You mean like Jesus, matey?”

To John, the Bible was an incendiary tract – not some handbook on religion. It was not a sop for mankind’s fear of death – it was an epic poem about life. It spoke about culture, about politics, about justice.

Yeah so here’s to you, John “The Baptist” Smith, a voice crying in the wilderness.

Let the valleys be raised and the mountains laid low. Make way for the coming of the Lord and make it flat as a freeway please – with no speed limit if possible.

Let the pilgrims know Jesus will take the back seat – but if ye want the ride of your life give him the handles and hold on tight.

When Bob Dylan sang, “always on the other side of whatever side there was” he might have been singing about John: an outsider in an outsider community, an outlaw of a different kind preparing the way for the coming of a different kind of world … speaking truth to power.

In our last meeting he spoke truth to me, gave me a hell of a hard time, thought I had gone soft and become too comfortable around the powerful. Thought I was living too well.

He was probably right. I still think about it.

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Morgan Lee “Of the evangelical leaders who have linked Cyrus and Trump, like Wallnau, many come from charismatic backgrounds.”

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NEWS

MAY 2019

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Life after Folau JOHN SANDEMAN

2019 the year of voting religiously JOHN SANDEMAN With the defeat of Christian Democrat Paul Green in the NSW state election, his party colleague Fred Nile is looking like the last of an endangered species. Which species? MPs from avowedly Christian parties in Australia.

The veteran Nile – just like his eponymous river – just keeps going. He has been in the state upper house since 1981 (with one short interruption).

Lucy Gichuhi, who joined the Senate in 2016, replacing Bob Day of the mostly Christian party Family First – and is a columnist for this paper – has been relegated to the unwinnable fourth position on the Senate ballot by the South Australian Liberal Party.

The Australian Conservatives, with high-profile Christians such as Lyle Shelton on the top of its Senate tickets, does not claim to be a “Christian party.”

So Fred Nile may be the last of his species for now.

But despite this change, this is the first time – in my memory, at least – that a federal election has been explicitly religious.

Religious freedom, whether in the form of which teachers a Christian school can hire, the future of school chaplaincy programmes or issues of free speech, has already emerged as a key issue. This is the election that Eternity as a Christian news service can’t evade.

There are also the old favourites which seem to come up at each recent election: climate change, foreign aid, the Gonski reforms to education funding and the NDIS. Christians have been significant campaigners in all those areas.

Eternity has documented the party platforms and Christian commentary on 11 key areas in our election guide. Visit eternitynews. com.au/election2019

Christian leaders from conservative evangelical to Catholic are calling for Australians to learn to live with difference.

Beyond Israel Folau the individual lies the question of a large-scale Pacific Islander based community in football codes, with estimates of a third of Rugby Union players being Christian, and in Rugby League.

“What people don’t realise is that for every Israel Folau or Kathy Clubb there are many religious discrimination cases you don’t hear about,” John Steenhof, Managing Director of the Human Rights Law Alliance (HRLA) told a religious freedom meeting at St John’s Cathedral in Parramatta in western Sydney. HRLA is a sister organisation to the Australian Christian Lobby.

Clubb is the anti-abortion protester who featured in a recent High Court case that upheld exclusion zones around abortion clinics.

Steenhof gave several other examples: practitioners hauled before their professional body’s tribunal for media comments, and a complaint against a father for failing to use new pronouns for their offspring. “A TAFE lecturer in WA was hauled up for saying to a student who used the Lord’s name in vain, ‘Do you know Jesus? I do and I find what you said offensive.’”

Australia’s Catholic bishops point to Pope Francis’s comment that

John Anderson appears on Eternity’s The Good Vote podcast, interviewed

by Tim Costello and Mel Wade. “politics is at the service of peace” in their pre-election statement.

“We all have a role in promoting peace – which means speaking to our fellow Australians with love not hate, with respect not contempt, with understanding not indifference,” the bishops say.

“Start conversations with people you don’t know; volunteer for community groups; go to public events. We all need to be more open, interested and engaged.”

“We’ve divorced ourselves,” says John Anderson, Australia’s former deputy prime minister, who has been building a new profile as a Christian commentator. “We’ve cut ourselves off from the culture in which we were nurtured.”

Anderson, at the Parramatta meeting at St John’s Cathedral last month, argued that we have lost

the ability to talk calmly to people we disagree with.

Freedom of religion can’t be “disaggregated” from the other freedoms, in his view. Freedom of conscience – the basic freedom – can’t be separated from freedom of religion, speech and association.

“We have to have a way we can live with each other’s differences.”

That should be based on the view that “whether or not you or I agree, we are of equal worth to the higher power.”

The Institute for Civil Society’s Professor Mark Sneddon introduced a cautionary note at the end of the meeting warning Christians to be careful of what they say. “There are many people who are hurt out there, including many homosexuals,” he said. eternitynews.com.au/thegoodvote

MAY 2019

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A Spiritual Journey to Remember GARY NELSON What a privilege it is to travel, whether within Australia or overseas; to see God’s sovereign hand at work in the lives of so many across the world is amazing.

My first trip to Israel provided a truly memorable journey, its importance reinforced when I visited again last year. It is a wonderful blessing for any follower of the Lord Jesus to walk the same roads as he did, to sit on the same hillsides, sail on the same lake and to visit the same towns. As a Bible teacher, personally experiencing the land and its people provides a rich backdrop to my reading and preaching. When I reflect on the view from the Mount of Olives or the diverse panorama offered from a boat on the Sea of Galilee or the barrenness and heat of the Jericho to Jerusalem road, three thoughts arise.

Firstly, ‘it’s all for real.’ It’s often hard to step inside another time and space as we hear the Bible story. But standing where the men and women of the Bible stood, reminds me that what occurred to these people isn’t some imaginative tale. Rather, people like Abraham, Ruth, King David or the disciples experienced events in this land as part of its history, and ours as well. For God works out his purposes in the midst of real people living out ordinary lives, even in and through their failings and weaknesses.

What a faithful and merciful God to

Walk in the footsteps of Jesus in the olive grove of Gethsemane. love and obey.

Secondly, ‘it’s a reality to be appreciated.’ Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount echoed in my ears as I looked down from a green hillside on Capernaum and the glimmering sea beyond.

Sitting there I pondered what those first listeners some 2000 years ago might have been thinking.

From the heights of discipleship blessings like, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are

those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth’; to the demanding challenges of, ‘You are the light of the world … let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven’; along with the call to a radical lifestyle we hear in these commands, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven …

No one can serve two masters, for

either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money … do not be anxious about your life … But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.’

[Matt 5:3-5, 14, 16, 44-45; 6:25, 33] This is the reality of following Jesus - being on the site where His words were spoken, I appreciated this reality more deeply, along with the need for the Lord’s strength to walk His way.

Thirdly, ‘it’s a real hope to depend upon.’ In Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, and his subsequent death defying resurrection, a living hope has been secured for us (see 1 Pet 1:3-4).

As I journeyed through the land of the Bible, remembering those who have travelled this life before me, my hope was rekindled and set alight. I renewed my commitment to heed Peter’s call to ‘set [my] hope fully on the grace that will be brought to [me] at the revelation of Jesus Christ’ (1 Pet 1:13). Reflecting on all the joys and troubles we experience, along with the frailty of this earthly life, draws me closer to the Lord and his certain hope. Nothing else can offer a future so worth relying on; so significant for shaping our aims, priorities and life choices.

In September 2019 I will lead a 17- day “Land of the Bible” tour with Christian Fellowship Tours through Jordan and Israel. I hope you can join me on this wonderful journey, as we hear the Bible in its original setting, as I am sure it will enrich your walk with the Lord Jesus.

Gary Nelson is Bishop of the vast North West Diocese (covering 2 million square kilometres in Western Australia).Part of the tour proceeds will contribute to gospel ministry in this region.

MAKE EVERY HOLIDAY A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY Cook Islands

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MAY 2019

BIBLE @ WORK

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A daily dose of God’s word

KALEY PAYNE The day I speak with Joan she has finished her regular Bible reading for the day: passages from 2 Timothy 1, Proverbs 5, Leviticus 22 and the Psalms. A daily Bible habit is something Joan has cultivated for a lifetime.

“I’m a Bible reader since teenage years,” Joan tells me by phone from her home close to Newcastle on the mid-north coast of New South Wales.

“I try to be systematic in my readings, every day first thing in the morning. I absolutely love it and feel a huge benefit from it. I just thank God that I went into

that habit. He was ever so good.”

Joan says her love of God’s word is what prompted her to become a regular Bible Society supporter 35 years ago.

“I just knew that the word of life – the Scriptures … I wanted them to be available to as many people as possible. I think that was the springboard for my ongoing interest in Bible Society and being a regular giver.”

Joan became a Christian when she was 17, meeting with a group of school friends after work who she describes as “on fire for the gospel.”

“It was like going to a Billy Graham rally,” Joan describes. “I sort of just straight away knew that

this was the thing for me. I had to look into [God] and just go for my life with him.”

That was in 1953, and Joan was baptised the same year. From then on, Joan says, she became a “person of prayer”. Now in her early 80s, she says her passion for God’s word has remained steadfast.

She recites from memory Acts 20:32: “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.”

God’s word, says Joan, has helped her in innumerable ways on her journey towards the kingdom of God. “It has helped me to stay

JOIN BIBLE FOR LIFE BIBLE FOR LIFE is a regular giving programme that supports the translation, production, distribution and subsidy of Bibles across the world. It also supports projects that engage people with the Bible, including through literacy classes.

Vw!YOUR GIVING AND WHAT IT CAN DO

• $11 can give one person a Bible.

• $34 can equip one person with literacy skills using Bible based material.

• $46 can translate a Bible verse, like John 3:16 about God’s love.

Call 1300 BIBLES (1300 242 537) or visit biblesociety.org.au/living

“

Clare Kendall

Bibles bring the word of life to people in the village of Teaktour, Muldolkiri Province, Cambodia.

... The word of life - the Scriptures … I wanted them to be available to as many people as possible.”

programme, which supports the translation, production, distribution and subsidy of Bibles across the world while also helping to promote engagement with the Bible including through literacy classes.

“There’s no better cause as far as I know. By reading the word we find the mind of God and what is pleasing to him.

“I think what Bible Society is doing is a marvellous cause to try to keep us more strongly in touch with God’s word.”

with the Lord,” she says.

Joan is a donor via Bible Society Australia’s monthly giving

+ If you would like more details, visit biblesociety.org.au/living

MAY 2019

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Sharing Jesus in tough places The cost of following Jesus in some parts of the world is high.

Many people do not have access to Christian literature, freedom to read the Bible or the opportunity to meet with other Christians.

Radio programs, audio content on the internet and anonymous conversations through social media are often the only open doors for people to learn more about Jesus.

FEBC is working to expand our broadcasts and reach populations faced with severe restrictions on how they practice their Christian faith. In persecuted countries, with no churches or pastors, FEBC broadcasts are often the only source of spiritual nourishment.

Rev. Kevin Keegan, National Director of FEBC Australia shares, “In places where it is risky to openly follow Jesus, radio is one of the few safe ways to hear God’s word. Only radio can cross all borders and boundaries. Only radio can safely share the Gospel and encourage the faithful, while introducing Jesus to those who are yet to meet Him. Every effort is made so FEBC’s broadcasts are accessible to those most in need of hope and encouragement.”

In some countries, restrictions surrounding Christianity are greatly enforced by authorities, in others, believers who choose to accept Jesus are rejected by family, often chased from their homes. FEBC broadcasts and programs become a lifeline for listeners who are counting the

“

If I accept Jesus, my family will reject me.”

Yanti and husband Irah now look forward to listening to FEBC radio. cost of following Jesus in countries where the Gospel is not welcome.

Alienated, hungry for God’s Word – Yanti’s story.

About a year ago, Yanti1 , a young woman living in Indonesia heard an FEBC broadcast by chance. What she heard instantly brought tears to her eyes. She had

found the lost hope she’d been looking for since she was a child.

Yanti had found Jesus for the first time. As the daily broadcasts gave her new life, she became hungry for more of His Word.

Yanti was raised a Muslim. Her husband and family who adhere to the Islamic faith did not accept

her finding and accepting Christ in her life. She was alienated by her extended family, and her husband stopped her going to church.

Despite everything, her desire to grow more in her faith never wavered. Her refuge and comfort continued to come from listening to daily FEBC radio broadcasts.

She often contacted FEBC to request prayer to soften her husband’s hardened heart.

Recently, staff from FEBC’s Counselling Centre requested to meet with Yanti. Hesitantly, she agreed, though she was fearful of her husband’s reaction if he were to find out. He had made it very clear he didn’t want her talking to anybody about Christianity. On arrival, the team prayed for God’s protection over Yanti and their visit.

Yanti shared the blessings of listening to FEBC and how the programs continually strengthened her faith. She prayed constantly that God would one day turn her struggles with her husband and family into joy. During the team’s visit, Yanti’s husband Irah returned home. Unsure of his reaction, the team welcomed him and shared why they were there. At that moment, a sense of peace

o t n a e m t i s What doe

m e h T t e L Hear?

came over the room and he began to open up - why he’d been so against Christianity from a very young age. During the visit, Irah accepted the offer of prayer and to learn how he could experience God in a greater way, just like his wife Yanti.

Listener support visits are a critical part of FEBC’s ministry.

Our team assist families and communities with counselling and medical support, run educational workshops and distribute radios so more people can hear the Good News.

“God is using radio broadcasts and our mission today as a powerful means to change lives and transform communities particularly in countries where the Gospel is unwelcome. FEBC Australia is committed to using radio and internet programming to inspire the unreached to follow Christ. We will continue to take the Good News of Jesus to people in the hardest-to-reach places, in listeners’ heart languages, in the hope they too will see a different side of Christianity,” said Rev Keegan.

Please consider a gift to FEBC to continue delivering Good News broadcasts and programs to the hardest-to-reach, into countries where the Gospel is not welcome.

Help FEBC to ‘Let them hear’.

Visit www.febc.org.au or call 1300 720 017.

1. Names have been changed for protection.

$45 can fund r egular weekly ra dio programs

It means: + Radio, mobile app and internet programs that inspire more people to follow Christ. + Provision of a lifeline for listeners who are counting the cost of following Jesus in countries where the Gospel is not welcome. + Sharing community content in heart languages in over 49 countries around the world.

Donate today, so others can hear the Good News.

FEBC Australia (Far East Broadcasting Co.) PO Box 183 Caringbah NSW 1495 Phone: 1300 720 017 | office@febc.org.au | febc.org.au FEBC Australia, ABN: 68 000 509 517 FEBC Relief, ABN: 87 617 872 287

$75

face-to d n u f n ca port ner sup e t s li e c fa s meeting

MAY 2019

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2019 IS THE YEAR OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES

Milestones in ‘my language’ Bibles

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Language special: John Harris and the Eternity team, pages 7-9

Members of the Gunbalanya community celebrate the launch of the Kunwinjku New Testament.

A plan to rescue Kunwinjku: the Bible comes home to the Top End Nyoongar “The Bible has come home to us,” Reverend Lois Nadjamerrek, said to Eternity reporter Kaley Payne, with tears in her eyes. As she clutches her new Kunwinjku New Testament, emotion overcomes her.

“I’m thinking of God’s word in my language,” she says when I ask her why she is crying. “It’s so special today. I thank God, that God has a plan for me to finish this work in my own language.

“It’s very important that the word of God is here in my community now. I’m so very happy.”

After 80 years of hard work, the New Testament had come to the Kunwinjku people.

The Kunwinjku language (previously spelled Gunwinggu) is spoken at Gunbalanya in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.

Gunbalanya, then Oenpelli, was first established as a settled community about 1906 by Paddy Cahill, the colourful Northern Territory buffalo shooter. A number of Aboriginal people of the Kakadu region settled at Oenpelli. After Cahill’s death, the community was taken over by CMS in 1925 as an Anglican mission.

Schoolteacher, Ellen “Nell” Harris arrived at Oenpelli in 1933, having married one of the missionaries, Dick Harris.

A talented natural linguist, she immediately set about learning the Kunwinjku language. With Aboriginal translators Rachel Maralngurra and Hannah

Lois Nadjamerrek Mangiru, Nell Harris translated the Gospel of Mark in the 1930s.

The little volume, also containing 1 John, was published by Bible Society in 1942.

For the next 25 years, CMS came under the influence of government language policy, that Aboriginal people had only an English-speaking future. So CMS appointed no linguists to Oenpelli until Peter Carrol in 1967 and Meryl Rowe in 1969. They studied the Kunwinjku language and laid a strong foundation for the linguisttranslators who would follow them.

Steve and Narelle Etherington were appointed to Gunbalanya in 1977 to work at the school in the Bilingual Education programme.

They became CMS missionaries in 1984. They spent the next 30 years working on the Kunwinjku Bible with talented Aboriginal translators including Rev. Lois Nadjamerrek, Ralph and Jill Nganjmirra, Dolly Maralngurra and Peterson Nganjmirra.

A “mini-Bible” was published in 1992 containing Genesis, Exodus, Ruth, Luke, Acts and Ephesians.

The full New Testament was released at Gunbalanya in 2018.

Bible Society Australia’s Jonathan Harris, grandson of Nell Harris, took the first New Testaments north to Gunbalanya, from the Koorong warehouse in Sydney. Little did Nell know that her work would become the Kunwinjku Shorter Bible, printed in China, shipped to Sydney and driven by her grandson to those who had waited eight decades for the Bible to “return home.”

“I was welcomed back into the Aboriginal family that were the descendants of the translators,” said Harris. “God is so kind to allow me to step back into this 80year story of Bible translation and transformation.”

“Bible Society has been privileged to work collaboratively with our mission partners ... to ensure the Kuwninjku people of west Arnhem Land have a New Testament in their heart language.”

In Perth’s St George’s Cathedral on Sunday the choir sang, “Ngala boorda yanganan Birdiyar,” the Benedictus in the Nyoongar language. The service celebrated the first time the Nyoongar people of Western Australia had part of the Bible, Luke’s Gospel, in their own language.

Milestones in this service will go down in Christian history.

Tom Little’s reading of the gospel was the first gospel read in an Aboriginal language in an Anglican Church in Western Australia. The choir singing the Benedictus was the first singing of an Anglican canticle in an Aboriginal language. “The very fact of hearing my own language as Scripture, and as music, was absolutely sensational,” said Tom. Tom’s mother, Lorna, and her sister Vivienne Sahanna, both Nyoongar women, began the project, approaching the Bible Society in 1999. Rev. Dr John Harris, Director of the Translation Division, appointed himself as their translation consultant.

Vivienne led the group including her sisters, Lorna and Joanna, her nephew

WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the following article may contain images and names of deceased persons.

Tom and other members of their extended family. The volunteers worked with Harris for 15 years on the translation. Despite illnesses and the deaths of Lorna, Pastor Len Walham and linguist Wilf Douglas, the Gospel of Luke is finally in the language of the Nyoongar people.

“Even though Nyoongar people read English, it’s not the language to which their emotions, their feelings and identity are attached,” said Harris. “Even those who don’t speak Nyoongar well know they are Nyoongar people. The English Bible is the language of the invader.”

Tom says having a Nyoongar gospel gives him a greater sense of ownership of its message. “It’s our language. I see it and I say, ‘That’s my language, and it’s the gospel.’”

After the service, John Hardy, a Bible Society Director, presented continued page 6 Vivienne Sahanna

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from page 5 Vivienne with the Elizabeth Macquarie Award, the Society’s highest honour for dedicated voluntary service.

The Nyoongar language is spoken in the southwest of WA, including what is now Perth.

No Bible translation had been attempted in Nyoongar until the 1990s. It was decided to translate the Gospel of Luke. The work was slow partly because the translators were volunteers but also due to the challenge of reviving words and their meanings. Finally, the Nyoongar Gospel of Luke, Warda Kwabba Luke-ang, was published in 1994.

There is great power in the gospel being in a threatened traditional language because it says to those who speak it that the gospel is not told only in the language of the invader.

The Yolŋu are the mostly coastal Aboriginal people of northeast Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.

“Yolŋu Matha” means “Yolŋu Tongue.” These are the closely related languages of the Yolŋu including Gumatj, Gupapuy ŋu and Djambarrpuy ŋu.

The Methodist Overseas Mission (MOM) established missions among the Yolŋu people at Milingimbi (1921), Elcho Island (Galiwin’ku) (1922) and Yirrkala (1934). These are now Uniting Church communities.

There was little interest in language and Bible translation for 30 years until MOM appointed Beulah Lowe as a school teacher in Milingimbi in 1951. She quickly realised that learning Gupapuy ŋu enhanced her teaching but it was another six years before MOM released Beulah to work full-time on the Gupapuy ŋu language. With her Aboriginal co-translators, Lowe worked on the Gospel of Mark, which was published in 1967.

As Yolŋu people learned the value of Bible translation, work began on the other Yolŋu Matha.

The Gospel of Mark was published in Gumatj in 1977 and the whole New Testament in 1985. The Gospel of Mark was published in Djambarrpuy ŋu, also in 1977, and the whole New Testament in 2008.

Translation continues in the hands of the Yolŋu people.

MAY 2019

The Pitjantjatjara Bible will bring the “I was thinking for a long time, we should have the whole Bible done,” Katrina Tjitayi told Eternity’s Kaley Payne at Tjitayi’s house on the outskirts of Pukatja (also known as Ernabella), in the Pitjantjatjara community on the APY Lands in the northwest of South Australia. “It was in my heart all the time.”

Katrina is one of a team of more than 30 translators working to complete the Old Testament translation into Pitjantjatjara language.

“When the translators come together to talk and share about the stories we’re working on, it really helps us,” says Katrina.

“It’s a good way for us to have a good relationship and work together to do the drafts.

“We go to the old people and look for words. Sometimes we get stuck with how to translate a word.

I often call my mother and say ‘I can’t translate this word, can you help me?’

“We’re always learning about our language through the older people and those around us.”

Katrina wants the Bible in Pitjantjatjara to teach the younger people in the community in their own language and show them

how important it is. “Only God will bring our kids back to him,” Katrina says.

The Pitjantjatjara are one of the Western Desert peoples. They live mostly in the northwest of South Australia, where their main centres include Ernabella, Amata and Yalata.

Their lands extend into the Northern Territory to Docker River and Areyonga and into Western Australia at Wingellina. These people are, unfortunately, best known to Australians because of the nuclear bomb testing in their lands at Maralinga, their forced removal and the continuing effects of nuclear radiation.

A Presbyterian mission was established at Ernabella in 1938.

Schoolteacher Rod Trudinger was appointed in 1940. With the assistance of schoolgirls, he translated the Lord’s Prayer into Pitjantjatjara in six weeks.

Rev. James Love became Superintendent in 1941. With Bible translation experience already in northwest Australia, he immediately began studying the language.

Love, Trudinger and Aboriginal translators Jacky Tjupuru and Nganyintja all contributed to the translation of Mark’s Gospel.

Umatji Tjitayi and Benyi Stuart during a session of translating Scripture in Pitjantjatj Love sadly died in 1947.

Tjukurpa Palja Markaku (Gospel of Mark) was published by the Bible Society in 1949.

Translation of more of the Bible –

Tjukurpa Palya – continued slowly for the next 20 years. The full story has been outlined by prominent translator Paul Eckert – who was himself involved in Pitjantjatjara

Wubuy: Jesus speaks my language, he’ By a campfire in a remote Aboriginal community in North Australia in 1945, the story of Jesus was read in the Wubuy language for the first time. This special moment has happened many times in the world when receptive people first hear the gospel in the language of their hearts. The power of that historic reading is still recalled by the descendants of those who were there. At that isolated campfire, a group of tribal Aboriginal people heard the word of God and the impact is still felt today.

The reader was my father, Len Harris, a lone missionary in Arnhem Land during the dangerous years of World War II, when other missionaries had been evacuated south, away from the war zone. Len was chaplain to the Church Missionary Society missions in the Western Gulf at Roper River (Ngukurr), as well as at Groote Eylandt (Emerald River Mission). Len was a talented

natural linguist with a flair for picking up languages.

Travelling between several Aboriginal communities, teaching, encouraging the small band of Christians and baptising new converts, Len was continually frustrated by the multiplicity of languages and the challenge of communicating the gospel.

Len realised one of the languages, Wubuy, was widely understood around the Arnhem Land coast because its speakers, the Nunggubuyu people, were great travellers by canoe or across country. It was a kind of “lingua franca” in those days, so Len decided that it would be the best language into which to translate the Bible.

He learned Wubuy as best he could and also began to write it down. Len determined to translate the Gospel of Mark into Wubuy and decided to do it at the Roper River Mission (now Ngukurr) where there were Nunggubuyu Christians. This is my father’s

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story.

“I asked the Nunggubuyu Christians to choose two translators, one who could speak English and one who could not.

They chose two outstanding Christian women, Bidigainj, who knew no English, and Grace Yimambu.”

“Grace had been the best English speaker at a mission school but had gone to live in the bush with her husband, a good thing because it kept her Wubuy language skills strong too.

“Every day we sat under a tree outside my bark hut. I would explain the meaning of the words to Grace in English. Sometimes I tried my few halting words of Wubuy. Grace then explained the words to Bidigainj in Wubuy.

Together they would make a Wubuy sentence. Then they repeated the sentence slowly to me and I wrote it down. I then read it back to them. The two women used to laugh at my pronunciation but I didn’t care at all. What we

(Left) Missionary Len Harris in the Wubuy com minister of Church of the Holy Spirit at Numb were doing interested me beyond anything I had ever done before.

Never can I forget those first wonderful words: Anaambalaman ana-lhawu – the Good Story.

“Whenever we finished a story

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Aranda: a Lutheran gift

jara. translation both before and after joining Bible Society Australia.

The whole New Testament was completed in 1999 and published by the Bible Society with some Old

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Testament books in 2002.

Translation of the whole of the Old Testament continues steadily today with support from Bible Society Australia.

Aranda or Arrernte are an Aboriginal people who live in central Australia around Alice Springs. The language spoken there is now called Western Aranda.

A Lutheran mission was established at Hermannsburg (Ntaria) on the Finke River in 1877 by German missionaries in a legendary pioneering trek from Adelaide with flocks and herds and covered wagons.

The Lutheran missionaries gave great emphasis to the Aranda language from the very outset. Carl Strehlow, who was at Hermannsburg from 1894 until his death at Horseshoe Bend in 1922, was a talented and indefatigable linguist. He worked with Aranda speakers on Aranda grammars and dictionaries and Christian materials including Sunday gospel readings, hymns and prayers. His Gospel of Luke was published after his death in 1925 and the four gospels in 1927.

Strehlow completed a draft of the New Testament before his death. It was completely revised by his son Theodore and published by the Bible Society in 1956. The New Testament was revised and republished several times. In

Hermannsburg Mission Church 1997, the Bible Society published Altjirraka Angkatja, the Aranda (Western Arranta) Study Bible.

This is the whole New Testament

plus many parts of the Old Testament that assist readers to gain a true understanding of the New Testament text.

’s not only the God of the white man

mmunity. (Right) Rev. Peter Gundhu was bulwar, when the Wubuy NT was dedicated. about Jesus, the two women got very excited. At night I would go down to the camp near the river to sit with the people and read them the new translation. They too were very excited, keenly discussing the

stories and always insisting that I read them again and again.

“At the campfire one night, listening intently, was Bidigainj’s brother, Madi, a powerful Nunggubuyu elder. After the second reading he got up from the fire and left. No one knew why but he had set off to walk back to his own country, the Nunggubuyu heartland around Rose River, three hundred kilometres to the north.

There Madi and other men made a little fleet of dug-out canoes and in them Madi brought 60 of his people back down the coast and up the Roper River. The journey took them two weeks, living on fish, turtles and water lilies.

“So it was that one night, as I was reading some of the last chapters of Mark’s Gospel by the campfire, that I glimpsed Madi in the firelight, standing just behind the eager listeners. I held up my handwritten sheets of paper. “‘A naambalaman ana-lhawu,’ I said. The Good Story. ‘Yuwai.

Idjubulu,’ Madi replied. ‘Yes. It

is true.’ Then 60 of his people emerged from the shadows to crowd around the fire. Madi had brought them to hear the good news of Jesus Christ in their own language. God’s Spirit felt close to us that evening. I read it and read it again, urged on by the listeners, over and over, long into the night.

When at last my voice started to give out, they let me stop. Madi came forward and asked to hold in his hands the ‘leaves’ I had written on. I knew he could not read. “‘Idjubulu,’ he said again. ‘It is true.’ He tried to speak but I did not understand. My Wubuy was not good enough for such deep thoughts. Madi signalled to Grace and Bidigainj to interpret for him.

Through them he told me that he once used to think Jesus was the God only of the white man but that now he understood that Jesus was also the God of the black man.

“I asked him which stories had impressed him; what had convinced him that the life of Jesus was true. He looked down at the

sheets of paper and looked up at me again, his eyes bright in the firelight. “‘It’s not the stories,’ he said. ‘It’s the words. Now I know that Jesus speaks Wubuy.’”

The Gospel of Mark and the Epistle of James were published by the New South Wales Auxiliary of the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1948.

In 1952, Madi’s dream of a Christian community in Nunggubuyu lands began to be fulfilled with the establishment of the Numbulwar Mission on the Rose River. In 1961, the Church of the Holy Spirit was dedicated.

Many of the descendants of Madi and the people who first heard the gospel in the Wubuy language are active participants in the life of the Church of the Holy Spirit and continue to witness for Christ in the Numbulwar community today.

Never did they lose the dream of the Bible in their own language.

Largely unaided, they struggled to translate it over many years. Few

remain alive who remember my father, but 65 years later the Wubuy New Testament was dedicated in the Nunggubuyu lands in 2010.

An important spin-off from Bible translation is language preservation. The Wubuy language is threatened – but the existence of the Wubuy New Testament and part of the Old Testament will pay a key role in that language’s future. Wubuy is not only being threatened by English but by the spread of Kriol, which is the first language of younger people at Numbulwar (Wubuy remains their second language).

The Wubuy New Testament is now extremely important for language preservation. It is a solid volume in the traditional Wubuy language and is the model for now, and the future, of how Wubuy is spoken.

Together with the grammars and word lists, the Wubuy Scriptures provide an invaluable resource for language preservation and renewal.

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IN DEPTH

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An important man in an overlooked town ANNE LIM As the minister in a small coal mining town in central Queensland, Luke Collings enjoys being seen as a positive force – an authentic witness of Christ – in the local community.

“When there are opportunities for Christians to be a good practical and personal support to families, it does get noticed,” says the minister at St Francis Anglican Church in Moranbah, a remote town inland from Mackay – the sort of lesser known regional Australian town that isn’t at the top of lists as an in-demand destination.

“A number of times we’ve had families in a crisis or difficult situation and … we still have that role to play which is well accepted and even encouraged.

In a small community, there are opportunities that you just wouldn’t get in a big suburban parish.”

Luke and his wife Julia, with their three children, left the comfort of a parish in West Lindfield on Sydney’s north shore to take up ministry in Moranbah in October 2017. The Collings family is supported in Moranbah by Bush Church Aid Society, which will celebrate its centenary in May. Collings says it is wonderful to be part of a ministry that was founded to serve Christ in the sorts of places which can be overlooked.

“The ministry of BCA was set up because of a real conviction

Luke and Julia Collings with Bede, Tabitha and Silas moved to Moranbah in October 2017 to minister in a rural area. that reaching really remote communities and places which might not look to the world as ‘strategic’ or ‘important’ was actually important in God’s plans for the world,” he says.

“I think that’s what everyone in BCA does have a conviction for – we go to the remote places, the difficult places. We keep on preaching Christ and the gospel is still going in many of these places that have been supported by BCA for many years. It’s wonderful to be part of that and, if this is where we are at 100 years, it will be amazing to see what happens at 200 years and beyond because it has such a wonderful role in seeing Christ go out into this country.”

Collings says he was always open to the idea of going bush with his ministry. He spent a lot of his

formative years outside Sydney and also acquired a broad occupational background, including working with Anglicare in a regional capacity and finishing a masters of theology degree.

“So ministering in Queensland felt like a really good fit for my experience and the sorts of things I was interested in. I’m ministering in an environment where I feel very happy and where I can use the best of my gifts,” he says.

He gives the example of working with a young man referred to him by a member of a community group because Collings previously worked as employment consultant for the long-term unemployed.

“His name is Wayne* and he had a pretty rough trot over the last few years including some troubles with the law. He’s trying to put his

life back together, trying to get sustainable employment and to move on from the problems that have [sent him] down bad roads.

“So that was where our conversation started, but the conversation led on to the nature of faith and what God means for our lives. “Those conversation are ongoing, but Wayne is now helping us out quite regularly at our op shop … and being a great help there. I’m continuing to try to meet up with him one-on-one and I’m hoping he will agree to take a more focused path of discipleship.”

Collings believes it is such individual discipleship rather than “whizz-bang programmes” which will build his church in the longer term. “We’ll just be looking to see how we might directly speak Christ into people’s lives and be the authentic witnesses of Christ into our community. That’s going to be the pattern that will sustain the church’s life over the longer term.”

Another reason he has to put people before programmes is the town’s population is very transient, ebbing and flowing with the fortunes of the mining industry.

Since the Collings family arrived 15 months ago, the population has grown from 6500 to 8000. Many young families move in for a few years to save enough to buy a house back in their home city.

“While they’re there, they’re looking for community and connections ... It means they’re open to conversations and experiences they might not

have taken up in their home communities, where they [were] close to family – they’re looking for connections in new ways.

“That’s what in our ministry we’re trying to offer; we try to put the people and relationships first so that we can show Christ in how we relate to them.

“It means that you’ve got to be ready to think outside the box. To think in terms of people rather than programmes, to be ready to respond to different challenges that come up and to be the minister who is viewed as a positive community force.

“One thing we’ve done is we’ve found other community partners as well, in a way that might not be usual in a big city parish.”

Collings says while the number of regular attenders at church is fairly low, at about a dozen, it is slowly improving.

“There was a period of about a year when there wasn’t a minister in the town,” shares Collings. “We lost a couple of people, but we have had a few others join the church, so in this last 12 months we’ve had a net gain of people and so there are encouraging signs.

“The ultimate aim would be where the parish was built up to a level where it didn’t need BCA support.

“Whether that’s feasible is a question mark. All we can do is minister how we can and try to grow and we’ll see what God does with it all.” *Name changed

Celebrating100 years

of reaching Australia for Christ on the 26th May 2019.

Visit our website to find Centenary events, videos, resources and purchase our new book – Never Too Far, Never Too Few, 100 Years of Bush Church Aid

bushchurchaid.com.au/100

MAY 2019

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OPINION

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wikimedia / Gage Skidmore

The King Cyrus ‘anointing’ of Trump

On boredom Michael Jensen page 15

What does a Gentile ruler from the sixth century have to do with the President of the United States of America?

Morgan Lee on looking for a leader from God One month before the 2016 United States presidential election, the charismatic leader Lance Wallnau published an opinion piece, “Why I Believe Trump Is the Prophesied President.” To make his case for the controversial GOP candidate, Wallnau offered several Republican political points, noted the impression that Trump had personally left with him, and invoked Scripture, specifically an Old Testament royal.

“From my perspective, there is a Cyrus anointing on Trump,” wrote Wallnau. “I predicted his nomination, and I believe he is the chaos candidate set apart to navigate us through the chaos that is coming to America. I think America is due for a shaking regardless of who is in office. I believe the 45th president is meant to be an Isaiah 45 Cyrus.”

Historically, American Christian conservative leaders have largely championed presidential candidates whose character they could laud and whose policies aligned with their own political convictions.

(Indeed, Trump was not the first pick for most of those who later backed him, among them Charisma magazine publisher and founder Steve Strang. Now the author of God and Donald Trump, a book that looks at whether there was a “supernatural element” involved in the president’s victory, Strang originally threw his support behind Texas senator Ted Cruz in an editorial entitled “Why Would Any Christian Back Trump When Ted Cruz Is in the Race?”)

But when explaining their shift in support for first a celebrity whose divorces and infidelity have made national news, who has made flippant remarks about casually sexually assaulting women, and whose disparaging comments about minorities have been widely condemned as racist, some of his loudest supporters have offered a different logic. They have invoked a Gentile ruler from the sixth-century BC. Cyrus the Great was a Persian king who took over and expanded the Babylonian Empire. Despite his short reign – he was only in power from 539-530 BC, Cyrus had a significant impact on the Jewish exiles who had been taken into captivity in Babylon. He granted

the community the freedom to return to the Promised Land and rebuild their temple. Mentioned more than 30 times in the Bible, Isaiah 45:1 refers to him as God’s “anointed.” It’s this title that many have seized upon. “[God] makes that very clear in the Bible where he tells us that he raises up kings and destroys kingdoms,” the Australian-born creationist Ken Ham told Religion News Service in 2017. “He even calls a pagan king, Cyrus, his anointed, or his servant to do the things that he wants him to do.”

These metaphors have turned up in a recent film, The Trump Prophecy, and last year from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I want to tell you that the Jewish people have a long memory, so we remember the proclamation of the great king, Cyrus the Great, Persian king 2500 years ago,” Netanyahu said in the wake of the US announcing it would move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “He proclaimed that the Jewish exiles in Babylon could come back and rebuild our Temple in Jerusalem … We remember how a few weeks ago, President Donald J. Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Mr President, this will be remembered by our people through the ages.”

(While Trump himself has yet to comment on these parallels, for his work in establishing the modernday state of Israel, US President

Harry Truman famously declared “I am Cyrus.”)

Of the evangelical leaders who have linked Cyrus and Trump, such as Wallnau, many come from charismatic backgrounds.

Several from this world who serve as Trump’s faith advisers include South Carolina pastor Mark Burns, pastor and author Jentezen Franklin, and Texas ministers Kenneth and Gloria Copeland.

It’s this group of “hardcore true believers” in Trump that the metaphor probably carries most resonance, says Kristin Du Mez, a historian at Calvin College, Michigan.

“There is a much wider group of more mainstream evangelicals who wouldn’t necessarily be drawn to that rhetoric and hardcore prophecy type of language but who are going to sympathise with the underlying values or motivation,” said Du Mez. During his election and presidency, white evangelicals have consistently been Trump’s loudest and most faithful supporters. Of those who voted, 81 per cent of them cast their ballots for the 45th president. In a recent Washington Post-ABC poll, 60 per cent of white evangelical Protestants said they would “definitely” consider reelecting him.

“I’ve been interested in seeing how many evangelicals are drawn to Trump, whether you call him a ‘Cyrus’ or not, as a strongman, as a leader whose own personal values

and personal faith don’t really matter very much. In fact, whose lack of traditional values actually make him a better leader because the threats are so great or the fears are so great,” said Du Mez. For some, the Obama administration offered a good taste of what evangelicals had to fear. Many in the evangelical community sharply disagreed with the Supreme Court’s affirmation of same-sex marriage and federal mandates that offered protections for transgender students seeking to use their preferred bathroom and required employers to offer contraception to employees and protections. Invoking Cyrus to talk about the political climate is a way of signalling just how significant the stakes are for American evangelicals, according to Du Mez. “Frankly many of American evangelicals wonder if traditional Christianity is up to the task because the threat is so dire,” she said. “That’s why they want a strongman and if the strongman doesn’t follow traditional Christian virtues so be it, because they really need a fighter right now.”

The white evangelical fervour for Trump reminds Du Mez of their support for the 40th US president, Ronald Reagan. An actor who went on to serve as the governor of California before serving two terms in the White House, Reagan today is one of the country’s most popular recent former presidents. continued page 12

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Why you should be in ministry

Matthew Prater on stepping up and going full-time I believe there are many people who are called to “full-time ministry,” who haven’t yet taken the step of faith to fulfil their destiny. There is a stigma about being a pastor. People think it’s only for the special chosen ones, or the ones with a “higher calling” – one so high that not many will ever reach such a height.

Let me clear up some misconceptions first. I believe every Christian is called to “full-time ministry.” Wherever we are in life, all Christians are called to minister to people. In our marriages, our homes, our workplace, in the sports arena, on holidays. Wherever we are, we should be ambassadors for Christ.

However, I believe there is a crisis in the body of Christ. I believe many are called to leave their secular jobs and be trained and equipped to serve full-time working for a church or a parachurch ministry. But many people haven’t stepped out, or won’t step out, in ministry because of fear, or they are following a shadow mission, or they just haven’t been asked …

I remember as a 17-year-old, chatting with my youth pastor. I told him I wanted to go to Bible college, and go straight into ministry. He suggested that I should get a job in the secular marketplace for a season first. It was great advice! After Bible college, I spent time selling advertising at radio stations, building relationships with business people, learning the ropes of the way the corporate world worked. But then I felt a calling to lay it down and step into youth ministry.

I remember the Scripture that came to me, “Those who do not take up their cross and follow in my steps are not fit to be my disciples. Those who try to gain their own life will lose it; but those who lose their life for my sake will

Pastor Matthew Prater in New Hope Church, Brisbane. gain it” (Matt 10:38-39). Think about the disciples and the price they had to pay. They had to give up their fishing businesses, their tax-collecting business; regardless of their professions, the disciples immediately left behind everything to follow Jesus.

There is a price to pay.

Financially, it doesn’t look like a smart decision in the world’s eyes.

But do we truly trust in the Lord to provide for our every need?

Some are called to work in the secular marketplace and to shine a light in that arena. Colossians 3:22 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.”

But at this stage in life as I continue to do the work of the ministry I am in, I also see the crucial importance of raising up other leaders. And not just young

people! Some churches write people off if they are over a certain age. Now I do believe we need to raise up young leaders, but as C.S. Lewis said, “you are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

English evangelist Smith Wigglesworth was in his late 40s when he launched into ministry. I think one of the beautiful things about the body of Christ is that whether young and old, black or white, male or female, we are all called to work together in unity.

Are you willing to die to your own agenda and plans and fully surrender yourself to the Lord?

I often wonder if the model Jesus used should be the way we should do ministry in 2019. Find 12 men, and teach them everything you know, and commission them to ministry.

Some people mightn’t be sure of their calling. Nothing ventured,

Trump

nothing gained! American selfhelp guru Norman Vincent Peale said, “shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” Or remember the Aussie saying, “Have a go, ya mug!” What have you got to lose? If you do step out in ministry then, potentially, souls will be saved from a Christless eternity, marriages will be strengthened, lives will be transformed, the poor will be cared for. Who knows what might be accomplished? If you don’t step out in ministry, you will keep getting the fruit you are seeing in your life.

I remember a preacher once saying whatever is your holy discontent is probably what you’re called to. If you can’t stand people going to hell, you’re an evangelist; if you can’t stand seeing people with no Bible knowledge, you’re called to the teaching ministry.

I used to be frustrated when I had to work for secular companies and do ministry on the side. I just wanted to preach and minister full-time. I know it was an important season for me, but then the Lord opened doors for me. Is the Lord opening doors for you?

Will you be obedient and walk through them?

Serving full-time in ministry doesn’t have to be in a church.

It can be in a parachurch organisation, in Christian media, as a chaplain, as a missionary, at a rehab; you could start a new ministry. They say that many of the jobs that will be available in the workforce in the future haven’t even been invented yet!

I took one of our young guys from New Hope on an eight-day mission trip last year. We preached 14 times, and saw more than 150 people come to Christ. Along the way, we prayed, we worshipped, we spoke about the things of God. I was able to speak into his life. I felt the Lord challenge me that I need to raise up many more people in ministry, and that this is a great model. He then got inspired and organised a trip back to India to his hometown to preach. He preached several times and saw about 150 people get saved!

John Wesley said, “Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen, such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven upon earth.”

Matt Prater is a minister at New Hope, Brisbane, and presenter of History Makers on Vision Radio.

from page 11 “If you look at the evangelical embrace of someone like Ronald Reagan, he was divorced, his faith was a little bit iff y, his moral values did not fully align and his political values didn’t either, but they came to embrace him in a somewhat similar way,” said Du Mez. “A saviour figure, a strong man, a masculine man who could lead this nation, who could stand up.”

Reagan beat a Southern Baptist and Democrat, Jimmy Carter, for the presidency in 1980.

“The fact that [Reagan] wasn’t upstanding evangelical, they knew he was the right guy for the job,” said Du Mez. “It’s the idea that it’s not always going to be the person who shares our values that’s going to be the best defender of these values.”

Old Testament scholar Daniel Block examined the arguments for comparing Trump to Cyrus in a 2018 piece for Christianity Today.

“In both situations, an outsider rose to the supreme political position in the state. Cyrus was a Persian and a foreigner to Babylonian politics,” wrote Block. “A career businessman and entertainer, Trump’s rise involved eliminating a series of establishment Republican candidates before defeating the establishment Democratic candidate.”

Further, Cyrus arrived on the scene as a sort of saviour figure, not only for the Jews but also for the Babylonian population, said Block.

“Trump’s rhetoric recalls Cyrus’s promise to restore the proper worship of (the local deity) Marduk and to liberate the citizenry from the exploitation and abuse they had previously suffered,” he wrote.

But the parallels mostly end there. For starters, Trump isn’t an emperor nor inheriting an empire and hasn’t authorised any reconstruction of the temple. And while the Bible gives readers a divine context for Cyrus’s actions, there also aren’t contemporary prophets or historians who can speak for God in the way that Isaiah or Ezra did, said Block.

“Nevertheless, within weeks of the presidential election, some American pastors were using biblical texts about Cyrus to declare confidently that President Trump’s election was God’s answer for a nation off course,” he wrote.

Block warned: “Christians’ eagerness to understand God’s will in real time can cause them to overlook fundamental biblical and divine principles.”

Morgan Lee is the host of current events podcast Quick to Listen.

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OPINION

MAY 2019

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Am I not a brother or sister?

Simon Smart on ending slavery – again

Wikimedia /British Abolition Movement

When Harriet Beecher Stowe published Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852, it sent shockwaves through American society. The best-selling novel of the 19th century gave many people their first real view of the institution of chattel slavery and the day-to-day horrors of the life of an enslaved person in America’s south.

Lincoln called it “the book that caused the Civil War.” It was a powerful vehicle to create empathy for a whole class of people who had been abandoned to the vagaries of brute market economics. Stowe claimed that the book came to her through a series of visions and that it was literally inspired by God. Those engaged in the battle to end modern slavery may feel the need for an equally dramatic moment of divine intervention.

Late last year, barely noticed amid the infighting of the Liberal Party, Australia’s first federal Modern Slavery Act (MSA) was passed with bipartisan support.

The MSA introduces mandatory reporting for large corporations with annual global revenue above $100 million. These entities will be required to publish annual statements on their actions to address modern slavery in their supply chains and operations. The hope is that the reporting will mean modern slavery risks will be considered at the highest levels within the largest businesses in the Australian market.

It’s a start.

Modern slavery is a huge contemporary problem most of us would prefer to ignore – so

The official medallion of the British Anti-Slavery Society. remote as it appears to be from our everyday experience. The International Labour Organisation and Walk Free Foundation estimate that 40.3 million people are held in slavery today. That’s more than at any other time in history. About 24.9 million of that group are victims of forced labour slavery, where they are coerced, underpaid or unpaid, and where, under threat of violence, workers are compelled to stay in their roles where conditions are often abusive and unsafe. The horror stories are many and varied.

And modern slavery is closer to home than we like to think. About half the world’s slaves are in our Asia-Pacific region and many are buried in an ecosystem of goods and services we end up accessing

through grocery stores and clothing outlets. Think surf wear produced in North Korean sweatshops or prawns for your weekend barbecue being brought to you by trafficked fishermen on Thai trawlers. Walk Free Foundation estimates that $12 billion worth of goods and services come to us each year via the misery of an abused and exploited underclass.

The parallels with the 18thand 19th-century abolitionist movement in the US, and its precursor in the UK, are not hard to find. Slavery at that time was a foundational and essential part of the economic prosperity of both Britain and America.

“Econocide” was a term used to describe what people thought would be the impact of losing what

most considered to be a necessary, if unpleasant, part of their nation’s economic success.

Victory for the abolitionist cause required then, as it does today, more than legislation. People’s hearts and consciences had to be captivated. William Wilberforce, the English politician who doggedly and repeatedly brought anti-slavery legislation before the parliament, his friend and fellow campaigner Grenville Sharpe, and indeed Harriet Beecher Stowe across the Atlantic, were all driven by the fundamental belief that every person, regardless of status, capacity or rank, was made in the image of God and therefore of inestimable value.

It was a powerful basis, with a long history, on which to inspire a

movement. It’s true that the Bible was used, perversely, to support the institution of slavery. It was also essential in its eventual demise.

In the 1780s, Josiah Wedgwood, the manufacturer of bone china, and friend of Wilberforce, released what would become a well-known image featuring the profile of an African slave in chains. Inscribed around him was a question: “Am I not a man and a brother?” There was also a female equivalent with a woman asking: “Am I not a woman and a sister?” The brilliant simplicity of this morally freighted question demanded a response.

The image became widely recognised as it was incorporated into plates, jugs, tea caddies, bracelets and hairpins.

In the 1790s, about 300,000 people (mostly women) boycotted sugar grown on slave plantations, reducing sales by up to a half.

The boycotts – a precursor to the contemporary fair-trade movement – were repeated in the 1820s and ’30s. These were important steps and signs of a growing recognition that any purchase we make contains an ethical dimension.

It didn’t make economic sense to end the slave trade in the 19th century. But, when it became clear the whole institution was morally unsustainable, it couldn’t last.

Only when a compelling vision of human dignity took precedence over economic expediency did the institution begin to unravel.

The defeat of modern slavery is equally urgent. The suffering, humiliation and brutality contained within it are immense, as is the task of dismantling its foundations. Governments and legislation can help. Essential, though, is a widely held attitude that recognises our obligation to the powerless and oppressed, and a belief that, yes, we are “our brother’s keeper,” even and especially when it costs us something. That means a willingness to forgo a bargain for ourselves that in truth is costing someone else a great deal. Only time will tell if we still have the moral imagination and commitment to do what it takes to overcome a modern stain that, shamefully, touches us all.

Simon Smart is the Executive Director of the Centre for Public Christianity and co-presenter of the documentary For the Love of God: How the church is better and worse than you ever imagined.

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OPINION

14

MAY 2019

The best quotes of Senator Lucy

Lucy Gichuhi Her beginnings The Good Vote podcast features Tim Costello interviewing expert guests, hosted by Mel Wade (left).

Casting the good vote

Tim Costello vote with your heart Australia will soon go to the polls in one of the most hotly contested elections of the century.

What is the best option for conscientious Christians? How can we channel our votes into meaningful acts of faith?

The Bible doesn’t directly speak about who we should vote for, or whether we should have to vote at all. But a verse in Jeremiah states: “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

In other words, we are

commanded in our choices to seek the common good for those around us and our nation.

Voting has biblical precedents.

The book of Acts describes that the early Christians elected elders by voting. Our freedom to vote is a Christian responsibility and a privilege.

We cannot define and delineate a single, distinctive “Christian” line on every issue. We are diverse, and we won’t always agree among ourselves about everything.

We should not be so concerned about going Right or Left, but going deeper.

It’s possible to bring a definite Christian personality and perspective to issues without becoming slaves to a kind of party discipline or feeling we can only speak if we speak in unison.

Our situation is very much like that of the first Christians 2000 years ago. They were outsiders who had to learn the most effective ways to interact within society.

We should vote with the poor, vulnerable and forgotten in mind.

Even as we Christians serve in missions of mercy and compassion, we must also speak for justice.

We recognise that Australian society is increasingly postChristian and pluralist like that of the Roman empire. We can learn a good deal from how the early church followed Jesus in responding to poverty and justice.

Ask questions of every party and go beyond the three-word slogans and sound bites that dominate the airwaves. We need to be more than skin deep when thinking of social and political issues. We need to rise above sectarian viewpoints.

So what can we do to advance Australia’s best interests? And God’s interests?

Jesus calls on us to confront reality. He challenges us to see the world as it truly is, in ways that unambiguously and enthusiastically reaffirm the sometimes “uncomfortable truths” of his gospel message.

With the Holy Spirit guiding us, we can have a tremendous impact.

To assist your deliberations, go to Eternity’s podcasts page and listen to The Good Vote, where I interview leading voices on the economy, environment, Islamophobia and religious freedom. eternitynews.com.au/thegoodvote

St Jude’s Anglican Church

“I believe that Jesus found me, knew me before I was formed in my mother’s womb,” says Gichuhi in an Eternity interview. She grew up with Catholic parents in a poor village on the slopes of Mount Kenya. “That is where my journey began,” she says, referring both to her journey as a believer and her journey from Kenya to a seat in the Australian Senate.

On policy

“In my short political life as a Liberal senator, I would say the real enemies are policies that don’t acknowledge we are created in the image of God, as well as policies that create victims, destroy initiative and fetter freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

These are our true enemies.”

A migrant

“I had to understand the new culture I came to when I moved to Australia before expecting my host culture to understand me. I was like the Berocca tablet that has just been dropped into the liquid mixture. I learnt that this shows respect to my host culture. It does not mean I agree with everything in the new culture; it just means we can communicate effectively.

It begins to create a culture of honour.”

Civility

“I recently had an opportunity to disagree agreeably in the Senate.

I did not agree with the idea of

requiring hardworking Australian permanent residents to pass an expensive university-level English test to become citizens. However, I am a strong advocate for everyone to become proficient in English.

The way that I disagreed agreeably was to personally appeal to the minister to lower the test to the everyday conversational level, which he did in part but not sufficiently.”

Seizing the moment

“Sometimes it feels as if we need many people, certain skills, positions, colour, creed, gender to bring about change. But Christians only need to obey and trust that right now, wherever or whoever you are, God has positioned you for the next part of his grand plan.

Just do it with focus, courage and a keen eye so you don’t miss your watershed moment.

In the partyroom

“During the leadership challenge week, I found myself in a position where it was difficult to know who to rely on. Everyone seemed confused and under pressure. I came to realise that I could not face the unfolding drama by myself or rely on my own strength. What was happening was out of my control, but the important thing for me to remember and reflect on was all the other times I had faced life’s storms. When I turned my eyes to him, regardless of the storm going on around me, I knew he would lead me through the valley.

I chose to reflect on the voice of God instead of the voice of humans and this helped me get through the day.”

On her family

“When I was just 12 years old, Mum left home for precisely four weeks ... leaving behind nine children aged between one and 12 and a very confused husband ... It took the whole community to look for her; luckily she was found happy, well and alive and came back home gladly. After this event, I never saw Dad hit Mum again.”

E

Female Care & Connections Pastor – Parkville St Jude’s is an evangelical Anglican church in inner Melbourne. We’re seeking a Care and Connections Pastor with strong pastoral and leadership skills to join the St Jude’s in Parkville team for 2-4 days/w neg.

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OPINION

MAY 2019

15

E

The gift of boredom Michael Jensen on what can come from malaise

Pixabay / Free-Photos

The great English poet Philip Larkin (d. 1984) once wrote: Life is first boredom, then fear.

Whether or not we use it, it goes…

He must have spent a lot of time stuck in traffic, or on the phone to the bank.

That we human beings experience boredom seems like a kind of sick joke on us creatures.

We have the exhilarating gift of life and all the colours, tastes and sounds of the universe, and yet we are so often stuck not quite knowing what to do with it all.

So many of our experiences are grey. The interminable queue. The tedious work meeting. The days in a hospital bed.

And don’t we fear boredom more than almost anything else? The endless fidgeting with our phones is evidence of that. What if I am stuck with nothing to do, and no one for company – nothing to read, watch or hear? The thought induces a feeling of nausea, a horror at the thought of hours passing without stimulation.

There is something spiritual about this malaise. On the one hand, it shows how even the wealth and beauty of the creation are not enough to satisfy our hearts. For that we need the Creator. There is an element of toil in our wrestle with this life that is evidence of the fall. We are frequently blind to the source of the beauty and goodness of the world around us. Our senses are dulled to them, and because we have forgotten to give thanks for them to the great Creator, we have lost the sense of wonder and awe and curiosity at the world.

We think the antidote to boredom is freedom. We imagine that complete freedom to do anything and to experience anything will keep us excited and stimulated and delighted. And yet, the opposite turns out to be true.

Complete freedom turns out to be very boring indeed.

How could you make sex boring?

Not, it turns out, by having it with the same partner for years.

You make it boring by making every kind of pornography freely available to young people, and see what happens. According to several studies, between 14 per cent and 35 per cent of young men now experience erectile dysfunction.

Until 2002, the incidence of men under 40 with this condition was about 2-3 per cent. What’s happened since? Pornhub. Pornhub has made real sex a yawn-fest.

This inability to find delight in the world is the source of deep human anxiety, too. As is pretty well now an axiom, we are living in an age of personal and communal anxiety. It is fascinating that Larkin connected boredom with fear – because our inability to absorb ourselves in the things and the people around us is both caused by and produces a deep anxiety. We know that prison – a place of deliberate boredom – produces deep anxiety in those who experience it. Why? Of course, living with possibly violent people doesn’t help. But the inability to frame a future – the loss of hope in other words – causes us existential worry.

From boredom springs all manner of human vices. Do you remember that scene in Gladiator when Russell Crowe, having engaged in the bloodbath of the arena, screams to the fascinated crowd, “Are you entertained?”?

I felt that question coming out of the movie screen to me in the audience, having just watched the (admittedly not real) dismemberment of human beings for my own entertainment. Was I any different from the Romans of long ago? Was watching cruelty simply more entertaining than doing nothing?

We are addicted to drama, and we want diversion from the everyday grind, and so we invent entertainments. Reality TV is just the latest way of feeding on our yearning for diversion. But I’ve seen people’s thirst for drama play out in churches and in families.

We’d rather destroy relationships than be bored. The drama of a conflict – even a completely trivial one – at least gives me something to feel passionate about and outraged about. What would I do if I didn’t have that grievance to occupy my mind? As a pastor, my sad experience is that a church without a vision and task will become toxic, because there’ll be enough people who need some kind

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of drama to keep them interested.

But boredom may actually be a gift. In moments of boredom, without entertaining distractions, we can contemplate the reality of our existence. Boredom can be (in a sense) revelatory. As the German philosopher Martin Heidegger (d.

1976) once wrote: “Profound boredom, drifting here and there in the abysses of our existence like a muffling fog, removes all things and men and oneself along with it into a remarkable indifference. This boredom reveals being as a whole.”

What I think he meant (you always have to say that with Heidegger, because his thought is so complex) is that the experience of boredom is one to be sought, because in it we start to understand what life is really about. For in boredom you finally face reality. You finally peel away from all the dramas with their apparent meanings and you realise just how much nothing matters.

As Freddie Mercury would say: “Nothing really matters, anyone can see …”

I think I half agree with Heidegger. Boredom may indeed be a gift. When we are absorbed in entertainments and diversions and the relentless pursuit of scintillating experiences, we are shielding

ourselves from profound truths that it takes stillness and pause to see. That is why so many Christian thinkers have sought moments of solitude and quiet. In those moments, though, we can start to see what we are truly like. We can finally begin to contemplate the creation and the creator who made it. We can find in that, not blank indifference, but extraordinary love.

The world that we inhabit can only have arisen from the determination of God who loves.

And boredom may reveal to us, not hopelessness, but hope. That we are restless in this life is, in a sense, right. We are not as yet at rest. While boredom may be a sign of our ingratitude to God, and our fear of boredom a sign of our hopelessness, it may also be an experience that reveals that this world is not enough. The greatest Christian virtues – patient endurance, faithfulness and hope – sound boring because they involve the passing of time; but they anticipate the new creation, which is better by far. Somehow, eternal life with God is not boring; though we cannot imagine it, it is endlessly delightful and always fascinating.

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

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OPINION

16

MAY 2019

Making a lot of promises

Christianity makes a lot of promises, in both senses of the phrase. The teachings of Christianity promise believers nothing short of eternal life beyond the grave, forgiveness of wrongs for anyone who asks, and a glorious future in a renewed universe for those who faithfully wait.

And in the other sense, promises are a really big deal in Christianity: they are the basis of faith. We make a lot of them.

Sometimes called covenants or testaments in the Bible, the promises God makes to various chosen people are to ensure a wonderful future. With Abraham, he “covenants” that his people will be as numerous as the stars and a blessing to everyone on earth.

With the ark-building Noah, God

www.becauseIsaidIwould.com in 2012 in honour of his late father.

In composing his eulogy, Sheen realised that his father’s finest quality was that he made and kept promises. Sheen turned this into a global charity committed to helping people “bridge the gap between intention and action.” He began by sending “promise cards” to people so they could write down their intentions.

The internet has since helped record promises more instantly and broadcast them more widely; check out Because I Said I Would on social media to see the kinds of promises people are making in public in order to be accountable to them.

The record of one’s promise seems to help overcome the common human trait to stop caring. We make promises with good intentions, but our intensity of care fades with time or changing circumstances, and we find ourselves stuck in Sheen’s “gap.”

Writing it down seems to help. Just ask Moses.

In fact, the whole Bible is a record of promises made and kept by God, along with promises we still cling to, waiting for their fulfilment.

But we mortals need to take immense care with our promises.

If we can’t keep them, we shouldn’t make them. The impulse of the

“I promise you I will eat vegetables.”

politician is to make the promise regardless, for the loyalty it brings.

Make the promise, walk it back, keep the loyalty deposit anyway.

But over time and if repeated, a broken promise is worse than a promise not made.

Fortunately for us, God seems to recognise that we frail and failing human beings simply show promise. We are a long way from perfect, although we are required to give perfection a crack (“Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount). “Showing

promise” is a comforting report card for the Christian muddling through this life.

Making careful promises that we have the intention, ability and opportunity to keep is a great way to do this. They should start small, and build as we develop our moral muscle. Meanwhile, as we try with baby steps to be like our perfect Heavenly Father, we can be confident that what he has promised, he can, does and will deliver.

Greg Clarke is CEO of Bible Society Australia.

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Greg Clarke on keeping our word

covenants never to destroy the earth in flood again. And with Moses, God promises never to abandon his chosen people. And the promising continues.

When Jesus arrives, his message is that he is making a new covenant, a new set of promises from God to all people.

His promises go beyond Israel, beyond the physical realm, into eternity with all of those incredible promises to those who believe in Jesus.

It’s all about trusting promises.

I find this sobering during election campaigns, which are also all about promises. It’s an open secret that no one believes the promises politicians make.

The spin, the “walking it back,” the “circumstances have changed:” we don’t expect politicians to do what they tell us they will do. There are always exceptions, when we really do get what we voted for, but we don’t hold our breath waiting.

And yet promises are all we’ve got. Our laws depend on writing down our promises as clearly as possible (for example, in contracts).

Our social practices rely on people keeping their word. “I promise you I will bring home the milk tonight,” is the basis of many a marriage.

Promises are the guarantee of actions. That’s supposed to be the deal.

Alex Sheen founded the website