I've decided to start afresh with a new blog - focussing mostly on my/our involvement in the community development (missional) side of things.
I've signed up with Missional Tribe and that's where you'll find me from now on, if your interested.
The address is: http://caught.missionaltribe.org
Hope to see you there.
Andrew
I've been enjoying Snow Patrol's new CD - A Hundred Million Suns - over the last few weeks. My taste in music is varied. I like hard rock - was once in a pub band that played hard rock, and I still enjoy AC-DC, P.O.D., Creed and other heavier bands. But I also enjoy other stuff. The John Butler Trio is good, I'm a Crowded House fan from way back (was really upset by Paul Hester's untimely death). I enjoy blues and get into a bit of BB King and John Lee Hooker and recently have been listening to a new, young UK artist called Newton Faulkner with the album Hand Built by Robots.
But there is definitely something about Snow Patrol that keeps me coming back for more. The first album I bought was Chasing Cars. The palpable yearning that exuded from the lyrics hooked me. I don't know any of their earlier music, but their latest album, while very different to Chasing Cars, has grabbed me in a similar way. Lightbody's lyrics are poetry. He captures something of the human condition in a way that is rare.
A great new collective of EMC church types has hit the netwaves in the form of Missional Tribe. This place has an amazing collection of blogs from many of the well known, and not-so-well known missional practitioners and commentators. It's fantastic to have such a rich resource so readily available and I fully recommend checking it out and, signing up and setting up your blog.
Within a day of joining I had Frank Viola send me a "friend request"!
Lastly, you should check out Hamo's latest post. It is a quote from Eugene Petersen on the mistake of falling into the trap of believing the mission of God is immediate in its effect.
Tomorrow will mark the last time I speak at Binningup Beach Christian Fellowship in my paid role as the churches "pastoral worker". I accepted an offer to work with the City of Bunbury as their youth development officer earlier in the week.
I had already resigned from the church but was not due to finish up until April, so this has brought the finish forward a bit. The new position is full time and involves the development in implementation of youth focussed programs and projects for the City. I'm excited about starting, and also a little nervous.
I'm also a bit nervous about finishing up with the church. I've been working for the church for 4 years now -3 in a paid capacity. I feel like I have invested a lot of emotion and time into this community of Christians and while in some ways its difficult to let go and move on, I am also looking forward to a change of scenery, away from some of the restrictions and difficulties of church work.
Alternate[Or] Community continues to be a focus for Alyssa and I. We both envisage this taking over as our primary "church" from now on. Although we will still maintain ties with Binningup and will be holding a house meeting here around once a month which we hope, one day, might turn into something more regular in the town.
When I first starting working for the Binningup church I had a few goals. One of them was to catalyse a movement of the church away from the fringes of the local community in both the minds of the members and the community itself.
Back in 2005 we published a flyer with information on the church. Yep, the thinking behind was probably a little more attractional in focus than we would like to admit now, but it included the slogan "A part of your community". This was the first outward expression of this goal. Even though the majority of the members and most of the leadership at the time had no idea how that would work.
The front of our original brochure
The community in action at the 2009 Aussie Day BBQ
The West Australian Newspaper published the results of a joint study between the paper and HBF (a health insurance organisation) in WA where more than 650 people between the ages of 15 and 30 were questioned on their attitudes toward alcohol, drugs and binge drinking.
76% of those polled admitted to regularly binge drinking*.
This afternoon (after reading the survey results in the paper) I was told a 16 year old boy died on the weekend after "sculling" (rapidly consuming) a bottle of whisky on Saturday night. This boy was a part of the extended network of young people we work with through Alternat[Or] and his death has hit hard. But not hard enough to change young peoples drinking habits.
Our attitude to alcohol is killing our kids.
This is something we need to take incredibly seriously.
Through my work professionally, and informally, in working with, mentoring and diverting young people involved in problem drug and alcohol use, I have found the number one most effective way of achieving positive change is via meaningful, genuine, ongoing relationship.
I have seen many young people completely change their attitudes and behaviour to drug and alcohol use through an ongoing process of engagement and mentoring/discipleship.
Unfortunately, there are not many of us willing to invite young people into our lives, and even fewer willing to critically assess their own liberty - their own social use of drugs - and they way it impinges on the development of the next generation of Australian adults.
What are you prepared to do? What are your answers and/or experiences in dealing with the cultural of heavy drinking that exists in our society?
*Just a quick disclaimer! I'm working from memory. If this isn't the exact figure, it's pretty bloody close. I can't find the results online and don't have a copy of the paper as I read it while having a cuppa in the cafe this morning.
English blogger, Chris Goan, posted this yesterday on the current atheist advertising campaign on UK buses. I posted on this back in October last year, when the campaign was first announced.
Chris draws a couple of interesting conclusions at the end of his post, including pointing out the unfortunate way aspects of Britain's evangelical right seem to be dealing with it - adding fuel to the atheist's fire in the process. Chris also links to an interesting story on the BBC website about a Christian bus driver who refused to drive the buses featuring the atheist'
s bill boards.
I wonder how long it will be before the same campaign is run somewhere in Australia? How would you react if it did run in your home town? Should Christian's hold the monopoly on use of the media for evangelistic purposes?
Picture nicked from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/hampshire/7832647.stm
Those with a Facebook account, check out this photo album from Michael Prysner.
Hamas are in the wrong. They should not be firing rockets into Israel or attempting to provoke war. But, Israel is so, so incredibly wrong in retaliating in the way they have. So much devastation, so many deaths. The cycle of violence and hatred is perpetuated.
I can not even begin to understand the blind, biased attitude of those who support Israel in this action. Look at these photographs and then tell me that Israel is doing God's will!
Yesterday arvo Alternate[Or] met for the first time in 2009. We are changing the way we are doing things a little this year.
Last year we met on Thursday afternoons in an office in Bunbury. This was ok, and meant that we were easily accessible to some of the younger crew we are involved with, but it also meant that, for those of us with families (which was just Lyss and I for most of the year) we couldn't all meet together regularly at the same time and with the kids.
This year we have a new family, with kids (yeah!) joining us and so we are moving things around a bit. We will now be meeting alternate Sunday afternoons in team members homes. The format is going to be similar to our Thursday arvo gatherings, but we are also going to share some tucker and incorporate communion into this.
Social Sunday's will continue every second Sunday as a purely endeavour and as a means of introducing people to our community and offering support and engagement in healthy aspects of community for those on we are invloved with, the youth and some of the families that are now starting to join us for our fortnightly BBQs.
"Action" continues to be an important part of our community and we will kick off the year in this regard on Australia Day. We have volunteered to help out Binningup Beach Christian Fellowship (where I am currently employed in a pastoral role) cook and dish out the Aussie Day breakfast for the town. Should be fun with anywhere between 150 and 250 people expected to attend!
The mentoring I've been doing for the past 18 months or so will also continue, although a number of the young blokes I have been involved with have found their feet and are working and doing ok at the moment. This will change the way this side of things operates, with less of the street work and probably more time spent socially. Although there are still a couple of guys needing ongoing support and advocacy with court cases coming up, and with alcohol and drug issues, trying to get straight and find work.
So that, I think, has most of our bases, as a Community Development/Urban Mission project covered. Here's to what should be an interesting and, hopefully, fruitful year!
I've just uploaded a new mini-doc showcasing Day 4 Community Aid & Development Inc's Self Help Group networks in Rwanda.
These groups are amazing in what they achieve for their members. We are trying to replicate these networks and the sustainable business projects that have come out of our experiences with these networks elsewhere in Africa (we are currently working with a community in Bungoma, Kenya and in Kampala Uganda on similar development projects).
So, check out the video!
