MInisters Desk 8 July 2012

Barry Jardine, Maureen Witheyman and I have returned from our mission and service trip to our partner church, Noro in the Solomon Islands.  To say that we had an amazing, challenging and faith stretching time would be an understatement.  I won’t speak for Barry and Maureen, but during the trip I discovered new things about God, about other people and about myself. We had time to sit and talk to people, ask questions and gain some limited understanding of a different way of living.  Being exposed to another culture shines a light on our own and exposes things that we would not otherwise see, both good and bad.  These new discoveries are part of the ongoing journey of life and our growth as disciples of Jesus Christ.  Barry, Maureen and I will be sharing about our trip in the morning worship services on 15 July.  Today (8 July) we are at Newlife Uniting Church at Robina meeting the Moderator of the United Church in the Solomon Islands who is in Australia to attend the Assembly meeting.

Our partnership with Noro is important for both our church and theirs.  Whilst we were in Noro we provided training in computer skills and bookkeeping, we encouraged them through our presence and we provided a computer and bibles and some other resources.  From our position of relative wealth what we did may seem inconsequential.  Yet to our partners in Noro we have provided them with access to training and equipment that they would find extremely difficult or even impossible for them to access.  In doing this we have built their capacity to serve in the church and to gain better employment.  We have enriched their lives.  This is a key aspect of the gospel and a key calling of Christ’s disciples.  To bring freedom from the things that imprison and impoverish God’s people. 

Yet I believe, that the people of Noro have enriched me even more.  As I said above, our partnership with them gives us a different way of seeing the world.  We are shown what it means to trust in God, when the trappings of wealth and ability are absent.  We are invited to participate in worship that is vibrant, inspiring and wholehearted.  Questions of time do not matter, and a worship service can last up to four hours, but it doesn’t appear to.  We are given the opportunity to learn new ways of valuing others, displaying patience and taking time to understand meaning, rather than merely words.  In our busy and time poor society these are learnings that we often miss.  These again are important elements of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.  In Christ we are called into community with him and each other.  The very nature of the Body of Christ means that we must rely upon each other and live in an ongoing giving of self for the sake of others.  Our society is developing an increasingly individualistic orientation that takes us away from our Christian principles of holy community.  In the Solomons we learn again what these principle looks like and how we can implement it in our society.

Our partnership with Noro helps us move forward with our church’s purpose of Growing Disciples who Exalt, Explore, Embody, Engage.  It challenges our assumptions about life and discipleship and helps us look at these from another angle.