THE LUTHERAN November 2015

NATIONAL MAGAZINE OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA

Vol 49 No10 P321Print Post Approved PP100003514 VOL 49 NO10

NOVEMBER 2015

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall trouble, or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? (Romans 8:35) Vol 49 No10 P321

EDITOR/ADVERTISING phone 08 8267 7300 email lisa.mcintosh@lca.org.au

SUBSCRIPTIONS

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Maurice the manse dog relaxes as Reta Thiele reads the letters page from The Lutheran to her husband Phil. Phil and Reta, from Dromana in Victoria, enjoyed a cosy winter visit with their daughter Anne and Pastor Frank Rasenberger in Melbourne’s north-west.

www.thelutheran.com.au We Love The Lutheran!

As the magazine of the Lutheran Church of Australia (incorporating the Lutheran Church of New Zealand), The Lutheran informs the members of the LCA about the church’s teaching, life, mission and people, helping them to grow in faith and commitment to Jesus Christ. The Lutheran also provides a forum for a range of opinions, which do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editor or the policies of the Lutheran Church of Australia. The Lutheran is a member of the Australasian Religious Press Association and as such subscribes to its journalistic and editorial codes of conduct.

Photo: Anne Thiele Rasenberger Send us a photograph featuring a recent copy of The Lutheran and you might see it here on page 2.

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People like you are salt in your world [ Matt 5:13 ] CONTACTS Editor Rosie Schefe 197 Archer St, North Adelaide SA 5006 phone 0427 827 441 email rosie.schefe@lca.org.au Executive Editor Linda Macqueen 3 Orvieto St, Bridgewater SA 5155 phone 08 8339 5178 email linda.macqueen@lca.org.au Design and layout Comissa Fischer Printer Openbook Howden

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SUBSCRIPTIONS and CHANGES of ADDRESS LCA Subscriptions PO Box 731, North Adelaide SA 5006 phone 08 8360 7270 email lutheran.subs@lca.org.au www.thelutheran.com.au 11 issues per year— Australia $42, New Zealand $44, Asia/Pacific $53, Rest of the World $62

Andrew Enever

Anne Kotzur

Helen Tukwund

Victory Lutheran College, Wodonga Vic Teacher Enjoys developing apps, and science Fav text: Mark 8:29

Our Saviour, Rochedale Qld Retired Enjoys cooking and reading Fav text: Nehemiah 8:10

Nazareth, Woolloongabba Qld Assistant nurse Enjoys meeting new people and volunteering Fav text: all of the New Testament

Oops. We’re very sorry, but while managing the enormous number of photos published in our October edition we incorrectly identified two people. Jenny Gersekowski’s name and comment on page 25 have been published with Margaret Pfitzner’s photo. Jenny’s photo appears with Margaret’s name and comment on page 26. Our sincere apologies to both ladies.

Surprise someone you know with their photo in The Lutheran. Send us a good-quality photo, their name and details (congregation, occupation, what they enjoy doing, favourite text) and your contact details.

Issued every month except in January

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Vol 49 No10 P322

‘May you live in interesting times.’

At this time of year journalists prepare articles and pieces for broadcast looking back at (please read in loud, echoey voice) ‘The Year That Was’. What interesting events will dominate this year’s offering?

Writing this in the days following the terrorist attacks in Paris, I’m certain they will feature strongly, as will the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. No doubt there will be footage of the earthquake in Nepal, Africa’s Ebola epidemic and the BHP dam collapse in Brazil. I’m sure the rising tide of immigrants desperate to reach Europe will be included. Closer to home, the spread of drought from Queensland to the southern states can’t be ruled out, nor can January’s South Australian bushfires.

FEATURES

05

05 The parable of the storm 09 Life in the hard lane 12 'Dr Grace' 20 'Here I am. Send me!'

22 Big hearts for mission

09

24 Making merry in November

COLUMNS 04 Heartland

Interesting times indeed.

I’ve been dipping into the book of Revelation as the church year closes, reminded of its apocalyptic visions of war, persecution, drought and suffering. Early Christians understood Revelation as the story of their times; its prophecies an assurance that Jesus would return soon.

He didn’t, so the possibility remains that he will return in our time.

14 Little Church

I could attempt (as others have) to relate many of the detailed images of Revelation to specific people and events in our day. I might discern the angel Michael in the person of Pope Francis (or even Malcolm Turnbull perhaps!), or find reasons to stop using PayPass and my mobile phone—are they the forerunners of the mark of the Beast?

But I’m not sure that acting on either proposition will bring me to any better understanding of God, let alone of the purpose of the puzzling book of Revelation.

18 Directory/Notices

The clear message of Revelation is that Jesus, the lamb that was slain for us, wins the victory against every power that opposes him and his ‘called, chosen and faithful followers’ (17:4). As St Paul says, we who trust the Lamb in every situation are ‘more than conquerors through him who loved us’ (Romans 8:37). The victorious Alpha and Omega, the First and Last, the Beginning and the End is coming, and coming soon (Revelation 22:12,13; paraphrase mine). While others may have good cause to be afraid, we need never fear, because we have been purchased with the blood of the Lamb (see Revelation 5).

Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love (see Romans 8:38,39).

In this edition of The Lutheran we are reminded of that promise in Romans—reminded that God is our protector through disaster (‘Parable of the Storm’, p5); that he is healer and comforter when we face disease and death (‘Life in the hard lane’, p9); that he is our strength to overcome persecution (‘Here I am! Send me!’ p20). We are reminded that he is the constant in our changing, troubled world.

Through faith in him, we shall overcome.

So we don’t need to fear the end of the world. God is with us now and will reveal himself fully in his good time. That’s a reason to look forward, not to look back.

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15 Inside Story 16 Stepping Stones

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19 Reel Life 26 Bring Jesus 28 World in Brief 30 Coffee Break

20 22

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My family once bought lunch at a café which advertised the best fish and chips in the world. Our order took ages to arrive. The chips were soggy and the fish was heavily battered. Since then we have tended to avoid businesses that make such extravagant claims. Just last week we saw a pizza shop advertising the best pizza ‘in the universe’!

It’s quite natural to want to set yourself apart as being better than others. Whether it’s something as routine as buying a meal or as sublime as the arrival of a new child or grandchild, we always want it to be special. And it is, because it’s ours. That doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that it’s better than what others have. Life isn’t about proving that I got a better deal, or that my grandchildren are the most beautiful and intelligent. Life is not a competition. Each of us is special in our own way.

Certainly, God regards us as special.

He loves us and treats us as his children. But that’s not because

we’re better than others. God offers the same deal to everyone. Romans 10:12 says, ‘The same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”.’

God chooses us for the same reason he chooses anyone—because of his grace.

God chooses us for the same reason he chooses anyone— because of his grace. Jesus chose both Judas and Peter to follow him.

Judas betrayed him for money, and Peter claimed not to know him.

Both were offered the same grace.

In his guilt Judas threw the money back and went away and hanged himself (Matthew 27:3–5). He died alone and without hope before he could meet the risen Jesus. When Peter realised what he had done he ‘remembered the word Jesus had spoken’ and wept bitterly (Matthew 26:75). God gave him hope. Peter was still there with the other

disciples in Galilee when they met the risen Jesus. Along with them he was sent into the world to make disciples (Matthew 28:10, 16–20).

Now I know that Lutherans are ‘special’ and that the church is special. We have an amazing Lord and an amazing gospel. We have a history of faithful—some might even say stubborn—endurance. We don’t quit easily. Against the odds, some might say, we have a history of unity. We are a community within which—despite our failures—love does come to life in many special ways.

But let’s not think these things make us better than anyone else, or more worthy of God’s grace. God always turns the tables on that kind of thinking. In one of his parables about the kingdom of heaven, Jesus says, ‘So the last will be first and the first last’ (Matthew 20:16). He said the same thing to his disciples when someone asked what good thing he needed to do to get eternal life (19:30).

I find this message hugely encouraging, and I hope you do too.

When I see myself, I see only what ought to be but is not. When I see Jesus he shows me the truth: who he is and what he has done for me.

The focus is squarely on Jesus. He is the truly special one. Through him—and only through him (John 14:6)—God offers all people a place in his kingdom.

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Photos: Sarah Joy Fandrich

Where was God? He was with us.

The parable of the storm

by Sarah Joy Fandrich

Peace. Sometimes, in a household of six children, it is hard to find peace.

This has been a ‘full on’ year for the Fandrich family. After an interstate move into a 130-year-old house we had a few renovations to complete. At the same time we were getting to know my husband’s five new preaching points and continuing with homeschooling. But by the end of Easter I was done with renovations and starting to think about getting into a routine.

I was enjoying the work that I had done and how beautiful our new home now was.

By July’s General Pastors Conference we were all in need of a good long holiday; but travelling 1680 kilometres with six kids isn’t ideal, even though we enjoy listening to audio books along the way. We arrived home, exhausted, just after midnight on the morning of Saturday, 11 July—with colds.

So the car remained unpacked, the washing unwashed, and the house was a mess. After much prodding from Christian, I finally took myself, one-year-old Noah and Thomas (six) for a sleep in our room at the front of the house, just before afternoon tea.

Noah fell asleep quickly. Thomas and I lay talking until we noticed how loud the rain was. So loud, I thought, it must be cricket-ball hail. I opened the curtain and saw trees flying Vol 49 No10 P325

past. I suddenly wondered whether the other kids were in their bedrooms, as they were supposed to be. As I walked through the old part of the house I looked out the window and saw a water tank on our veranda (not where it was meant to be). Sophia (four) started screaming in dreadful fear, and with all the noise I couldn’t hear myself shouting.

I opened the curtain and saw trees flying past. I suddenly wondered whether the other kids were in their bedrooms, as they were supposed to be.

We gathered everyone in the lounge room, and the noise stopped. We opened the door to assess the damage.

Only two or three minutes had passed since the noise had started. We were in shock. Massive branches from the The Lutheran November 2015

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From the back of the house it is possible to see just how close the tornado came to where the family was sheltering.

When we feel like everything is falling down we need to be vulnerable, to pray our fears, and cry on Jesus’ shoulder—because when we are vulnerable, we can have true relationship with him.

100-year-old backyard tree were down over our patio. The two-car garage, where our unpacked boxes, school supplies and gardening things were stored, was completely flattened.

Trees were down all over our yard. Then one of the children pointed out the storm to the south of us. It was clearly a tornado, 40 to 50 metres wide, and it was right over our neighbour’s property. It looked much like those tornados in the movie Twister—and yes, we do have tornados in Australia.

We prayed and I grabbed my camera and began taking photos.

I managed to get a shot just as the tornado died over a second neighbour’s property.

While Christian assessed the tree damage, I did what most girls do; I called my mum. She promptly told me to call the police and State Emergency Service (SES). So I made my first 000 call. Then I called neighbours, parishioners and my brother (who lives nearby). Most of this was done while cuddling and calming one or two of our children. I feel as though I spent most of the afternoon on the phone. Christian and Enoch checked on our neighbours, and the others went to check on their animals. The sheep, ducks and chooks were fine, but one of our two girl geese was dead, and the other died shortly after, while the gander stood by 6

The Lutheran November 2015

protectively. He was quite bereft when she died, honking and looking for the other lost goose for the next 24 hours.

That first day we were so grateful for the help of the SES, Albury & Border Rescue, parishioners and locals. There was such incredible damage to the big century-old trees on our property that we now look back and are extremely grateful that no-one was hurt.

Without help we wouldn’t have made it to our two church services on Sunday morning. Sitting in church that Sunday was amazing. Both services had music which had been organised by someone else during the week, yet every single song had something to do with standing firm through the storms of life. I think my favourite was: When peace like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.

How is it ‘well’ when life is falling down around us? It’s because we know that God is in control, even when we aren’t. He has promised that he will never separate us from his love in Jesus, not even in death. Horatio Spafford knew that when he wrote this song. Seeing how the Holy Spirit had Vol 49 No10 P326

inspired others to care for our spiritual health—even before we needed it—was an incredible encouragement.

That evening, as we had family devotion together, the children asked the pertinent question: ‘Why? Why did this happen to us? Where was God?’ And here is a reason to thank God for our tornado (and for other troubles that come upon us); it’s an opportunity to help our children work through these difficult questions. Surely they are questions that come to us all.

So, where was God? He was with us. He was protecting Abigail as she opened her outside bedroom door to see 130-year-old trees falling down around our gate. He was keeping Christian awake to make sure the children were safe (yes, this too is a miracle). He was keeping the kids and me inside the house, instead of unpacking the car. He was there, moving the tornado just a bit to the side, so that it didn’t hurt the children in the back rooms.

But what if one of us had been hurt. What about that? He is still with us. And after all things, whatever my lot, it is well with my soul! I cannot demand a ‘happy’ life; I deserve hell. But God has graciously given us life through Jesus.

And why did it happen to us? God does not promise a fantastic, easy life. Life is hard because sin is in the world. But God continues to use these events to keep teaching us to glorify him in everything. This has been so hard for me to learn.

On Monday I fielded interviews with two TV reporters, then ABC Drivetime rang and set up a live interview, and, finally, the insurance assessor came. According to him, ours was the most damaged of the three properties hit.

At 7.30 am on Tuesday a team of blokes arrived to move and order the mess that had been our garage. We had to move quickly to save what we could, list what was there and note all the damage. Christian is the ‘cool, calm, and collected’ type, so we decided that he would do this task. By lunchtime, with most of the garage dismantled, he admitted that he too was feeling overwhelmed (he had only written down six things). We ended up taking copious photos.

A working bee was organised for Saturday, a week after the tornado, to remove all the tree debris. We lost more than 20 major trees; at least three of them would have been more than 100 years old. At one stage I counted seven chainsaws going at once. Two parishioners arrived to work solely on fencing until lunchtime. More than 20 adults and a bunch of kids were there working. It was an amazing day. Blessing: we now have firewood for years to come.

After a week, Christian went back to fulltime work, and for me reality struck. There was so much to be done, and I already have days filled to the brim. My parents paid for a cleaner to take that burden off my shoulders while I continued with the insurance claim, schooling the children and feeding everyone.

Patience. If you ask God to give it to you he gives you the opportunities to learn it! It was hard work, living among the mess of life. I wanted to have everything done yesterday, but this job was clearly going to take months. Sometimes I found it so overwhelming that it was hard to make the first step. But Vol 49 No10 P327

little by little, area by area, we have gained ground. It’s like our walk with God: we are not sanctified overnight; but daily, little by little, Jesus is changing us.

Insurance claims require a lot of patience. My van sustained major damage in the tornado and it took eight weeks to get this fixed. That’s a lot of time to be without the family car.

When I have frustrations like this, I really appreciate the book of Psalms. The psalms teach us that we can share our frustrations in life with our heavenly Father. It’s not about squashing our feelings or giving in to them; it’s about talking to Jesus about our feelings because he went to the cross and suffered for us. And when we feel like everything is falling down we need to be vulnerable, to pray our fears, and cry on Jesus’ shoulder—because when we are vulnerable, we can have true relationship with him.

The house claim has been tedious and we have still not finished with it. But God is gracious. We are still able to see so many positives. In one of the old trees we have found a huge hollow trunk for the children to play in. I can now replace the old, ripped-away patio roof with something I like.

It’s like our walk with God: we are not sanctified overnight; but daily, little by little, Jesus is changing us.

Job 38:1 and 38:3 says: ‘Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: … “Brace yourself like a man”’.

Whirlwind does actually mean tornado and they do indeed put ‘the fear of God’ into you! This is no ‘God whispering’ event; this is loud and in your face! The children have been nervous about wind and storms since the tornado, and it takes a bit for me to feel calm about the weather. But we take courage in the fact that these events are few and far between, and that our heavenly Father is taking care of us in all things.

Our story has been an up-and-down ride and we are not over it yet. A parishioner recently told us it took them ten years to recover from their tornado (most of our farmers have experienced at least one). The work has now begun in earnest and will be finished before Lent. The landscape around us looks so different. No longer are we a house hidden in the trees; we are out in the open. A lot of extra stuff has been culled from our lives and we now have a wonderful opportunity to start again, with a clean slate.

Lamentations 3:22-23 says: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

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Seeing how the Holy Spirit had inspired others to care for our spiritual health—even before we needed it—was an incredible encouragement.

ZWECK TOURS Above: A message? Christian Fandrich finds an undamaged copy of the Serenity Prayer in the wreckage of the garage.

How true these verses are for us. We were not consumed, even though the tornado really was headed straight for our house. He has not allowed us to be destroyed, but instead we can see his compassion and faithfulness in the torn trees as they send out their emergency leaves to show that they too are still alive.

Sarah Joy Fandrich is married to Pastor Christian Fandrich, of the Burrumbuttock Lutheran parish (Bethel, Burrumbuttock, Gerogery and Jindera) in southern New South Wales.

LUTHERAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA

SERVANT OF CHRIST AWARD The Servant of Christ Award honours lay people of the church by recognising those who give outstanding service. Districts, committees, agencies and congregations are invited to submit nominations for the award.

Award guidelines and nomination forms are available from the LCA website or the Office of Bishop. Click on the slider on the LCA website www.lca.org.au Please submit nominations to larissa.helbig@lca.org.au or by post to: Servant of Christ Award, Lutheran Church of Australia, 197 Archer Street, North Adelaide SA 5006, no later than 29 April 2016.

For inquiries, please contact Larissa Helbig by email or phone 08 8267 7300.

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The Lutheran November 2015

HOLY LAND EASTER TOUR

HOMELANDS TOUR

Bible stories come alive with a professional local Lutheran guide and are even more enhanced when one is there for Easter. Our hosts are the Bethlehem Lutheran Centre (three nights) and we stay there, as well as in Jerusalem for all of the Easter days (six nights), and Tiberius (three nights) on the Sea of Galilee.

Our most popular annual tour, featuring homeland areas of Silesia, Saxony, Posen, Mecklenburg, Neckla Hauland, Brandenburg and the Spreewald. WWI battlefields are also visited. Towns and cities included are Paris, Ypres, Ruedesheim am Rhein, Oberammergau, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Munich, Rothenburg, Bautzen, Eisenach, Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Gruenberg, Klemzig, Zuellichau, Wittenberg, Hamburg and Amsterdam. Worship is in Luther’s churches and in Berlin. Other areas and towns are always available on request. An add-on Europe river cruise is also available. Be early, river cruises book out well in advance.

March–April 2016 (15 days)

Among other places visited are Jericho, Caesarea, the River Jordan, Masada, Mt Carmel, the Golan Heights, the Dead Sea, Capernaum, Hebron, Nazareth, an old Templar settlement, the Dead Sea Scrolls Museum, Mt Nebo, Amman and Petra (Jordan).

We see Bedouin shepherds tending their flocks as they have since biblical times and there will be free time to explore the bazaars of old Jerusalem. Our hotel is in the old city, a unique experience. Most other tour hotels are kilometres away from the main sites.

There are worship services in English or Deutsch, and walking in the Palm Sunday procession and Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. On Easter Sunday morning, worship is at dawn on the Mount of Olives with fellow English-speaking Lutherans, with a fellowship breakfast in the Lutheran World Service grounds.

This is the only tour where you are able to meet and worship with local Lutherans, their church leaders and other Christians, who need and appreciate our support. Most other tours support the people who oppose them. There is opportunity also for an add-on river cruise or homeland areas tour in Europe. A tour to Greece and Turkey, including Ephesus and Patmos, is also available. This is a busy time, when the world visits Israel for the Jewish Passover. Early registration is essential to avoid disappointment.

Sep-Oct 2016 for 32 days

LUTHER 500 TOUR

11 Oct–4 Nov, 2017 (25 days) $8000 per person, twin share You will be present in Wittenberg on 31 Oct when the world will celebrate the 500th anniversary of the nailing of the 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in 1517. You will also visit Katharina von Bora’s grave, Luther’s ordination church in Erfurt, his birthplace in Eisleben, the Wartburg where he translated the New Testament into German, his ‘Wohnhaus’ in Eisenach, plus other Reformation sites. Also visiting Worms, Torgau, Coburg, Augsburg, Ruedesheim am Rhein, Oberammergau, Salzburg, Neuendettelsau, Rothenburg odT, Bautzen, Berlin, Leipzig, and Dresden. Worship is in Wittenberg, Berlin and Dresden. Included also is a Rhine Cruise; from Berlin an optional excursion to worship in Klemzig, visiting also Grünberg, Züllichau and Schwiebus. An add-on Europe river cruise is also available. Be early, river cruises book out well in advance. All tours are fully escorted by David Zweck and use local guides. Please register your interest now.

PO Box 494, Glenside SA 5065 M: 0429 447 821 T a/h 08 8431 5468 F 08 8431 8224; E zwecktours@adelaide.on.net Aust-wide Freecall: 1800 814 559 after hours

212 Belair Road, Hawthorn SA 5062 Lic No: TTA 150304 Member AFTA. Member Travel Compensation Fund

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Photos: Zweck family

Life in the hard lane

By Richard Zweck

Above: Richard and the family dog Hamish out for a walk on Kawana Island, Sunshine Coast.

In 2009 I spent three unforgettable days with the Taizé community in France.

I shivered as I re-read my diary recently: ‘There are only three other Australians here at Taizé and I have talked to two.

One is a lawyer … and the other is a Sydney doctor with the early stages of motor neurone disease. She has been to Lourdes with her husband and is now spending time at Taizé’.

I understood little of her plight then but I sensed her desperation. Now I understand.

My pilgrimage with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) began in 2011. I noticed that while speaking, my mouth didn’t move properly and my speech came out slurred. Major problem for a pastor!

I was embarrassed and, for a long time, wouldn’t admit my problems to anyone, even my family. (My wife Susie, of course knew something was wrong.)

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I finally made an appointment to see a neurologist.

I have MND. I didn’t choose that— it’s a given—but I can choose whether to live my life or roll up and die.

He explained the possibilities and sent me to have an MRI. The MRI confirmed I had no brain tumour. I was very happy. Later I realised it was really bad news as it meant I had MND. A tumour

can sometimes be treated but MND has no cure.

Finally the neurologist called me in for the prognosis. He simply said to me, ‘Rick, you seem to be a nice person so I’m sorry to tell you that it is 95 per cent certain you have Motor Neurone Disease.’

My jaw hit the ground. While I’d known it was possible it was still a terrible shock. In a fog I drove to Pacific College to tell Susie. She rang our six children and I contacted my brother and sister.

None of us really knew much about MND other than it was a terminal illness.

For a week we struggled. At Susie’s prompting we decided: ‘Okay: I have MND. I didn’t choose that—it’s a given— but I can choose whether to live my life or roll up and die.’

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I was first struck by how much I had taken God’s gift of a fully functioning body for granted. I felt ashamed I had never fully thanked God for the health I had enjoyed.

Richard is grateful for having had the opportunity to baptise Sebastian, his first grandchild, following his diagnosis.

With God’s help I made the choice to keep living.

The Theory of Everything, about the life of Stephen Hawking.

This does not mean that my MND pilgrimage is not very hard and distressing. It is.

I see MND as a pilgrimage—a difficult one! A pilgrimage is ‘an outer journey with an inner meaning’. What is the meaning of my pilgrimage?

MND is difficult for everyone. For your spouse it means becoming a carer and then facing retirement alone. For the children it is the pain of watching your parent decline. For the sufferer it means continual fatigue, losing many of your body functions and a premature death.

It also meant the end of my parish ministry.

I miss it greatly, although in the end this was a relief. My occasional prayer of ‘Lord, bless this mess’ had become a weekly cry of, ‘Lord open my lips and my mouth shall declare your praise!’

What’s it like, having MND? It’s like growing very old—very quickly.

I can do less than my mum could in her 80s and I’m only 62. MND begins in the legs, hands or face and gradually spreads throughout your body. Motor neurones die and muscles waste away.

There is no cure and no one knows the cause. You know what muscles will be hit next by sudden weakness and vesiculations (involuntary twitches of the muscles near the skin). This progression is accurately portrayed in the recent film 10

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As my muscles weakened I was first struck by how much I had taken God’s gift of a fully functioning body for granted.

I felt ashamed I had never fully thanked God for the health I had enjoyed.

For a long time I could speak reasonably well but now I mainly use an iPad voice app to communicate. It’s good, but my two-finger typing is slow.

By the time I’ve typed my contribution, the topic is ancient history. MND can be socially isolating for many sufferers.

MND also affects your ability to swallow and eat. My lifeless tongue means it is hard to chew properly. Combined with the deterioration of the little muscle that sends the food down the right tube, it is very easy to choke. I also find it very hard to drink anything. I always loved a good red, but now I gag on wine.

I have to use intinction when taking communion or I can’t breathe.

These struggles made me sink from 96 kilograms to 77 kilograms in a few weeks. I have always loved cooking

and eating. But now, instead of pizza, pasta and ribs, it’s five bottles a day of a milk-based liquid. I smell the wonderful food Susie cooks as I inject this liquid straight into my stomach.

I am thankful, however, as it has greatly reduced my stress levels.

My other great recreation was walking and cycling. Now I struggle to move with a walker from my seat to the kitchen to make a coffee. Fortunately modern technology helps. I traded in my car on an electric wheelchair and received a scooter from a special fund.

So I learnt the old truth, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone! My prayer is now, ‘Thank you God for all those years that my body worked so well. I am sorry I wasn’t more grateful.

Thank you for what I can still do.’

Another lesson learnt is that God cares for his children through the kindness of others. I have been overwhelmed by the love of my family and the random kindness of strangers.

A recent example involved my scooter.

I was zipping along with my dog Hamish on the leash, when the scooter came to a dead stop, a kilometre from our house. It was freezing cold and I had foolishly left my phone home.

I was totally stuck.

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I saw a father and his little boy playing some distance away, so I waved.

I hoped he might have a mobile phone.

He didn’t, but he popped his son on the scooter and pushed us both all the way home! He refused the bottle of wine I wanted to give him as a thank you, and headed home. As the little boy left, he said to Hamish, ‘I will miss you!’ I don’t even know their names.

Not all the kindness is from strangers.

Susie and our six children have been absolutely wonderful. We have always been close, but the love we share now has a special intensity. The children visit me frequently and that means so much. I have been blessed with a wonderful sister and brother and some amazing friends. I have also experienced the kindness of people at the hospital, St Mark’s Caloundra, the Pacific Lutheran College community and the church where we now worship: Immanuel, Buderim.

St Paul wrote in Romans that the genius of our loving God is to draw good from bad. I have experienced the truth of that promise.

St Paul wrote in Romans that the genius of our loving God is to draw good from bad. I have experienced the truth of that promise.

The other truth I have discovered is that God still does miracles.

That may seem strange when the miracle we have prayed for—my healing—has not happened. On reflection, I see a series of miracles I am truly thankful for.

Miracle number one is that I am still here! Plenty of sufferers die within twelve months. Quite a few live for several years, and through God’s grace, I am one of those. I have certainly learnt that ‘carpe diem’ (seize the day!) is a good Vol 49 No10 P331

Richard performs the wedding of his daughter Kiri to Heath Lynch (right) with his son Chris acting as Richard’s voice for most of the ceremony. motto. I am especially grateful I was able to baptise Sebastian (my first grandchild) and a son-in-law, and to perform wedding ceremonies for my children Michael, Anna and Kiri. Kiri’s wedding in September was a combined effort with my son Chris. I was ‘pastor in charge’, wrote the service and mumbled the marriage pronouncement, while Chris acted as my voice for the remainder.

I am especially thankful that Susie, my children and I have gone on some wonderful holidays. All were special, but walking the Camino to Santiago de Compostela with my son Jon in 2012 was miraculous. Eight months after my diagnosis, we walked over 100 kilometres of the Camino Portuguese (the story recorded in The Lutheran, February 2014).

Another miracle was winning Lutheran Education Queensland and LCA scholarships to study ‘leading children into stillness’. Through these I learnt to facilitate ‘the labyrinth’ as a means of teaching Christian meditation to children. I believe that God, in love, gave me a ministry I can still do. What better ministry is there for one who can’t speak than to teach people how to be quiet?

I also love to write and this article is one of a number of surprising documents I have been asked to produce. I am

convinced that Jesus always calls us to ministry, no matter how disabled we may become.

For all this, MND is a tough pilgrimage.

There are tears and sad times and I have asked the question, ‘Why me, Lord?’ However, to my own amazement I continue to be positive and adapt to my illness.

That can only be the Spirit at work in me.

God’s promise is that he will never let us be tested beyond our ability to cope.

What does the future hold for my family and me? It’s uncertain, but I am certain we are in God’s hands. We all are. You are too!

This beautiful prayer resonates with me: More than ever I find myself in the hands of God. This is what I have wanted all my life from my youth.

But now there is a difference; The initiative is entirely with God. It is indeed a profound spiritual experience to know and feel myself so totally in God’s hands.

(Pedro Arrupe, SJ) Pastor Richard Zweck lives on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast with his wife Susie. Despite living with Motor Neurone Disease, his ministry continues.

The Lutheran November 2015

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