Aug 2008

Servo- Service station
Heaps- Used like an American might use the word "tons"; the first Aussie-ism you will hear.
Ta- Thank you
Salvo- Thrift store, as in Salvation Army
Far out- man, this sucks. Real life example brought to you by my host familiy:
-Jason: "Man, Jasmin, you didn't have to push me so hard! Far out!"
Fully- Rather than "totally", as in, "That party was fully awesome."
Uni- from the word "University"; a rather ambiguous term for college.
Muso- Musician
Dodgy- shady. ex.- "You better stay out of that dodgy part of town."
Bloke- Guy
Stuffed- Screwed. As in, "I didn't study for the test. I'm stuffed!" or, "stuff this!"
Footie- Short for football, but refers to a different game depending on where you are in Australia. In Sydney, footie is Rugby League.

Got it?

As is the cliched etiquette rule, I have succeeded in avoiding talking about politics and religion, at least in the company of those who might challenge my opinions. I am a Christian, and I love talking about Jesus and my faith, but intense religious discussions have not been my preferred type of conversation. I have remained blissfully ignorant of US foreign affairs, even as opinions raged on either side all around me. Even in the midst of the presidential campaign, I have remained contently apathetic.

Until now.

I can't say that it was by choice or inspiration of my own that I started wrestling with these tough topics. ASC students at Wesley are required to take a class called View from Australia. The class requires lots of political reading and processing. Although we are learning quite a lot about Australian politics, we are mainly focusing on seeing American politics from a global perspective, specifically from an American Christian's worldview. Coming into this semester, I knew nothing about it and no one to tell me what to expect, so this blunt discussion of topics I've trained myself to avoid was alarming at first. I had taken the side of not taking a side, but the more we discussed the issues, the more I realized how important they were, and more than that, how important it was for me as an American to be proactive rather than passive. I'm learning so much about America's role in global affairs and how what we do affects places where I have never been or even considered. In the past I have chosen ignorance when information is abundantly available to me. Now, I realize that by not having an opinion, I was only hurting the situation.

This is where religion comes in. I am learning here that, as Christians, our allegiances are primarily to God. This makes it especially essential that we know what is going on in the world, and make sure that we are supporting programs and policies which align with what Christ stands for. Admittedly, this is where it gets controversial, because even within the body of Christ we disagree as to what we actually does align with what Christ stands for. Neither I nor the ASC program endorse specific opinions on politics which we believe are the "most Christian" opinion. It's probably not news to you that American Christians have opinions all over the chart on political issues. And personally, I think that's ok. Just like being a Christian means something slightly different for every person, Christ's main social causes (love, mercy, justice, and peace) mean something different to each of us as well. However, two things I find true for the Christian: first, we are responsible to be informed and active in politics, and secondly, it is impossible to divorce one's religious convictions with one's political ideas. This is because Christ taught a change lifestyle, surrendering every part of us and holding nothing back.

Christianity is pretty different here. It is far more appealing to me. I guess I should explain.

I am in a unique position being an American Christian in Australia studying politics, culture, and religion. I say this because the discrepancies between Australian Christians and American Christians make a lot more sense when you understand the juxtaposition of the two cultures. Australia is a generally egalitarian culture, valuing all people the same. Those who have an air of superiority about them are quickly chopped down to size (this is called the Tall Poppy Syndrome). This directly effects Christians here: they don't seem to have even a hint of the 'holier than thou' attitude', because culturally it wouldn't be tolerated. Also, the 'unspoken rules of Christianity' are nearly non-existent in Australia (this obviously comes from the more relaxed way of life here). At Hillsong the other day, I saw a woman attending the service who might as well have been wearing only a bra, because her loose shirt covered nothing. Now, I'm not saying that one should go to church that way, but I am saying that there was no usher escorting her out, and there was not even a disapproving glance shot in her direction. Church is not a country club where even those with the courage to attempt to join are weeded out if they don't meet a list of criteria.

I'd like to illustrate another element of Australian Christianity with an example of something that was said by a theology student preaching the sermon in chapel last week. In reference to admitting one is a sinner: "Just say, 'Jesus, I am a bastard. Forgive me.'"

whoooooaaa murmur murmur.. [looks of disapproval]

...now that we have that out of our system:

Before passing judgment, please first consider the Australian culture. Profanity is not a unofficial tell-tale sign that you do not attend church, as it unfortunately (and unfairly) is in America. In Australia, everyone curses: Bible students, professors, men, women, small children, and yes, even pastors. Likewise, drinking is common in the Christian church in Australia. These things do not carry the connotation they do in America. Australians don't really put on a facade when it comes to Christianity. If they felt that cursing was inappropriate from the pulpit, that would mean it is inappropriate all the time, for there is no difference. I find it refreshing actually. Instead of picking the piece of dust from each other's eyes, they are worrying more about getting rid of the planks Jesus was talking about: selfishness and pride, social injustices, hatred of one's neighbor. In my opinion, let's tackle these issues about which Jesus obviously felt strongly, and then we can worry about more trivial things.

Thanks for reading. You are a really good friend (either that, or you're my mom) if you have made it this far in this blog entry. I'd love to get some feedback so let me know what you think about it. I love you guys!

When I first let everyone know that I was going to Australia for the semester, the first thing 90% of people said to me was, "are you going to the Hillsong school?" Sorry to disappoint. However, I do want to let you all know about my very interesting experience with Hillsong so far.

There is a misconception of Hillsong in the states. It seems so glamorous, and honestly it kind of is. There are tons of different campuses, and they have cutting edge equipment and the cream-of-the-crop in every single ministry you can think of- children's and youth ministry, worship, audio/visual, outreach, etc. The main Sydney campuses are the City church (the one I attend), and the Hills, which is a long train ride outside of town. The latter is the biggest, and it is where most of the recording for the worship albums takes place. Hillsong City Church, however, is in the middle of the ghetto of Sydney, where mostly Aboriginals live in utter poverty. Their kids are often neglected and likely malnourished, as alcoholism is such a problem in modern Aborigine culture.

With the Australia Studies Centre, we are required to complete 35 hours of volunteer work at our service placement; mine is a ministry of Hillsong, called Impact Kids. The program goes around to the poorest neighborhood in Sydney on Saturday mornings and picks up children with whom Impact Kids has been networking already, and takes them to nearby parks. There we play with them, feed them, and have a short Bible lesson with them before we take them back home around noon. My job is to help pick up kids on the weekly routes, play with them, and, if the opportunity arises, talk to them about Jesus. The apartments where we pick up the kids are so run down. One woman, a child's grandmother, inquired as to when Hillsong would be supplying their groceries again. I had a great time playing with the kids and getting to know them. They are wonderful kids, but they do come with all sorts of issues usually related to neglect and other family problems. There actually aren't very many kids at the parks on Saturday: maybe 15 or so at each park where we minister (Impact Kids ministers at about 3 any given Saturday). However, what we do makes a huge difference. You see, the ministry of Impact Kids is based completely on consistency; this is a point that the Hillsong leadership mentions a lot. The fact that these volunteers are there EVERY Saturday, and come to the kids' home to pick them up when they say they were going to, is what ministers to these kids because they are often made empty promises; as the hands and feet of Christ, we must represent He who never breaks a promise.

This type of real ministry was not what I expected from Hillsong, an internationally renown school of ministry. Perhaps I was wrong to expect anything less. I realize that most churches don't have the sheer man power of Hillsong, but I have seen many a church turn a blind eye to huge problems that exist in their own backyard, or worse, in their own congregation. Hillsong is one of the most well-known Protestant churches in the world, yet they are not too good to do whatever it takes to reach out to the poor and hurting right at their doorstep. If you think about it, a congregation of Redfern residents would not be convenient for Hillsong. To begin with, the children at Impact Kids are not your average church kids: they smell bad, hit each other, and curse like sailors. Furthermore, residents of Hillsong could not give the church money even if they wanted to. The fact that Hillsong would rather have a church full of the poor and hurting rather than the glamorous and clean is, to me, a testimony in itself. This is what I mean when I say that it was not what I expected.

Sunday was my first time actually attending Hillsong Church. It was the kick-off to a month of creative arts services that will be taking place Sunday nights through the month of August. This part was about what I expected: it was larger than life. It was perfect. The music was incredible, and the message, depicted through visual art, illustrated sermon, film, and awesome visual effects, was a feast to my senses as well as my spirit. Worship was led by Brooke Fraser, a well-known singer/songwriter and worship leader. One might think (well, at least I thought) that Hillsong only does the newest, loudest, coolest songs all the time. If the song was written a week ago, it's too old. Well, you can imagine my surprise when I heard "Open the Eyes of My Heart, Lord" and "This Is My Desire", in the most simple arrangements. Now, you might think this is silly, but to me, this suggests that Hillsong's passion is less about impressing man, and more about pleasing God. Of course, I was impressed. I was impressed by the heart that they have for people.