One of the things that has been striking us both ever since we arrived, and especially as we’ve been getting to know the city better, is how much need there is in Perth.
Unlike, say, Sheffield there isn’t much obvious physical need. In our limited experience, you have to look hard to find poverty and want. It’s an affluent city and there seems to be plenty of everything to go around.
But Perth is needy. When Steve McAlpine explained that it’s a highly secular city with only very little gospel work going on we believed him. But I don’t think we appreciated the extent of this, certainly in the bit of Perth we are getting to know. One of the church leaders I met with recently told me that this really is one of the the most secular cities in the whole world. Someone recently shared with him that he thought that Perth could be the toughest city in the world for the gospel. That could have something to do with a heady combination of wealth, geographical isolation, a rugged individualism and a radically hedonistic culture. There’s the sense that the church here has only scratched the surface in recognising and responding to how opposed to the gospel this place really is.
The bottom line? The church here, small and isolated in many ways, is in a missionary situation. Most people in this place aren’t being reached by the gospel through traditional churches. As a friend suggested to me yesterday, it could be great if we just see one or two gospel communities reaching out to the ‘unchurched’ effectively. Perhaps they could be an inspiration and model for others. What a privilege and responsibility to be here working with the church.
Please pray that we our love and concern for this city would increase, and that we would be a real encouragement to the church here as we try to address the challenge we face.
At the Local in Ellenbrook we’ve just started looking at Colossians. I taught on the first 12 verses of the letter last Sunday.
It was great to reflect that, as we arrive 12000 miles away from home we can see the truth the all over the world the gospel is bearing fruit and increasing. It was great to remember that it is the same gospel which is bearing fruit here and back home.
As we learnt together I was struck afresh by the absolute centrality and sufficiency of the gospel of Jesus. The growth for which Paul is so thankful is growth which is the result of the gospel.
For various reasons Beth and I are not especially busy at the moment. In Sheffield we were on the go, doing stuff, almost all the time. Now we’re not. It’s tempting for Beth and me to think that without our activity, growth is compromised and limited. We need to remember that, in fact, it is the grace of God and the teaching and application of the truth that will bring growth. As the Ellenbrook Local start to get busy with missionary activity, it was timely to remember that growth will come as the gospel bears its fruit.
It also seemed particularly apt to notice that Paul’s response to this happy news from Collosae was to pray ceaselessly. And it’s logical – if growth is God’s work, then we’ll go to him in prayer.
So please do continually pray for us; that we may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that we will walk in a manner worthy of him, pleasing him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; pray that we would be strengthened by his power so that we would have endurance, patience and joy.
We thought this beach (North Cottesloe) where we went today might tempt you. Not at all bad.
Sand, sea, sky.
Perth is a city whose wealth is built largely on mining. Whether it’s iron ore, nickel, gold or uranium, Western Australia has vast natural resources that countries like China really want to buy.
There are no mining towns to speak of in the whole of Western Australia. So there is a vast army of people, mostly men, who work on what is called a ‘Fly-in-fly-out’ basis.
'Wouldn't you like to travel to work in a plane rather than drive in a car amongst all the traffic of Perth. Does earning big bucks, having heaps of cash to spend on your extensive R&R and racking up frequent flyer points, all as part of the job, appeal to you.'
Sounds good? Well, for many of the army of Perth ‘resident’s’ who now work on this basis it’s a strange lifestyle. Out of the city for 3 weeks without a break, working 12 hour shifts, to return for a week before flying out is the kind of thing that is commonplace here in Perth. The work is tough; working in isolated, hot, dusty places in the desert. But, it’s cheaper to fly people in and out than to bother building a town in the middle of a desert, after all.
Here’s how an article in The Australian newspaper described some of the problems.
‘ONCE you’re in, it’s hard to get out. The seductive pull of fly-in, fly-out work in the mining and resources sector may not be obvious: shifts up to 14 hours, harsh and isolated locations, and an industry awash with broken relationships caused by sustained separation.
But the pay, starting at about $110,000 a year for unskilled labour, is hard to resist.’
At the Local in Ellenbrook this morning, one of the members of the church noted that the families of these workers need a lot of support. Sounded like good missional thinking; something for us to think about for the future.
Firstly, however, we’re putting on a Christmas party for the neighbours. Wonder if there’ll be any Fifo’s there?
We’ve been trying to get a feel for this place. When you look at Paul’s famous speech in Athens, it’s clear he’s been checking the city out. He’s been looking at the idols the people worship and interacting with the culture.
We’re trying to do something similar, however incompetently! We want to understand the story the people tell about themselves and their city. What, for them, is the story of the fall? Where will they find salvation and future hope? We’re in the process of thinking about those questions, so that we can be effective here in bringing the gospel to bear.
We’re new here. That brings a risk of ignorance, but also carries the opportunity of a fresh pair of eyes, a window into the culture from outside. The idols in the hearts of people here may never be as obvious as in the first few weeks.
So here are some thoughts.
The god of plenty and abundance.
Perth is a city of plenty and abundance. The food in the shops looks great. The houses are generous in size. The cars are shiny. The city is proud of this. At its best it’s a city that feels generous. There’s plenty for everyone! At its worst it is prideful and complacent. Like a modern Babylon, the city thinks it’s invincible and that the goodies will never stop being produced.
The god of affluence.
Perth is the most affluent city in an affluent country. Financial Crisis? What financial crisis?! We barely paddled in recession! As Ronan Keating said to the TV audience at the Melbourne Cup – “no recession here, I’m impressed!” The cameras then cut to champagne being poured into glasses already overflowing.
The god of free time.
The TV adverts and mainstream shows, and people’s conversations, suggest that a high premium is put on having and making time to enjoy what the bountiful city has to offer. Time really is considered precious, as that which you need to enjoy the good things on offer, whether it’s family, the beach, food or drink.
The god of busyness.
It’s an irony that everyone is busy. In the nation of plenty, with the laid back culture everyone is ‘maxed out’. We suggest it’s a cultural marker, by which people assign themselves value. It’s that value that they chase by being ‘busy’. Based on our observation, it doesn’t seem that there’s a marked increase in busyness here compared, say, with Sheffield.
The god of food and drink.
I’m pleased to report that Perth is a city for food and drink lovers to enjoy. The word ‘gourmet’ attaches itself to every pizza place and burger bar, as well as the fancy restaurants. Breweries and wineries are ‘micro’ and ‘boutique’. I wonder if this isn’t an example of the pride in plenty, but it’s such a big theme that it seems worth a mention in its own right.
Those who know me will know that I have a bit of a penchant for crisps, and that by some considerable margin my favourite flavour is salt and vinegar.
I wondered how I would fare in Australia in this regard. Would anything as good as a simple British Walkers Salt and Vinegar crisp be readily available?
I am delighted to report that a salt and vinegar crisp as good, nay superior, is indeed on sale in this city. Indeed I would like to boldly put it forward as the ‘best packet of crisps in the world’.
It is the Smith’s Crinkle Cut Salt and Vinegar Crisp. Scores very high on both crunch and flavour, reminiscent perhaps of the McCoy’s crisp in the UK. Down a few marks for the packet colour (all a bit Prawn Cocktail, really), but you can’t blame them for that. The waters were muddied on that issue years ago when the traditional light blue of salt and vinegar was superseded by the green of Walkers, and the anger and bewilderment I felt at the time has long since dissipated.
Back in autumnal mid-September Sheffield, we packed seven cardboard boxes to be sent to Fremantle, Western Australia, on a big boat.
Today, we went with a trailer to a gloomy warehouse at Bibra Lakes, and there they were, waiting for us, in a corner. They were somewhat battered, and one was upside down. It was strange to think of their journey, which began long before ours and involved weeks and weeks of sitting in containers on the high seas. We had overtaken them at 10000 metres on October 21st and finally they had caught up with us again.
We opened up three of the boxes, as required by the friendly customs inspectors.
And what did we find, as Beth scrunched an old throw into her face? We found that the contents of the boxes, all undisturbed and pristine after their journey, smelled of home. Home. We breathed it in by the lungful and we missed it.
This last weekend we’ve spent a lot of time with the small group that make up The Local, Ellenbrook. We spent Friday evening with them as well as Sunday morning. Beth and I are going to be getting involved with them over the next few months, as they link in and network with the Swan View Local. Tbey’re a small team of around 8 or so, led by Dave Mullender. He’s in his twenties. What’s encouraging and impressive about him, to us, is that he’s managing a full time job making the lawns of Perth green, has a new baby and is going about leading the team with great energy and commitment. As with the team in Kwinana, it’s exciting and reassuring to see others with the same convictions and distinctives as us about the centrality of the gospel and the community in mission.
They’re making good progress. Their bible learning over the last 10 weeks has been the Crowded House Values, and it’s obvious that they’re being shaped by them. Particularly striking is their commitment to loving one another and sharing life together in the form of family meals. It’s also beautiful to see their obvious love of the bible. They read the bible aloud on Friday evenings, as well as at their ‘formal’ teaching and learning time on a Sunday. God’s been good to them, causing them to relish and desire his word. You can pray for them as they think about ways of bringing their non-Christian neighbours into relationship with them.
They’re based in an area called Ellenbrook. If you’re British, it’s a fascinating, brand new place. I’ll blog about it another time. We’ll be visiting often. Rob will be helping with some bible teaching, while we’ll both be looking to help out with whatever they try to do in any way we can.
It’s been a great 3 weeks in the most lovely accomodation, but it’s time to move on. Our hosts, the Laugharne family, need our room to put up visiting family. They’ve been a blessing to us, helping us to settle in, and involving us in their family life.
There’s a delay on our spanking new flat. Apparently it’ll be the end of the month. Locals keep telling us that, with ‘Aussie Builders’ we’ll probably be waiting until the end of January. We hope they are joking, or wrong. We’re itching to get in and settled.
In the meantime, we’re now staying at the McAlpine’s place. Again, we have much to be grateful for. It’s cramped with us staying and they’ve moved Declan out of his room to share with Sophie to make way for us and all our suitcases. We hope that the next couple of weeks will give good opportunities to be a blessing to the family and to have fruitful conversations!
It feels like we’ve passed a milestone. Out of our first ‘home’ in Perth. And we’ve been here more than 3 weeks, which feels significant because it’s longer than a holiday. And whatever else this is, it’s not a holiday!
We pick up our shipping tomorrow.
Aaargh… a simple task of re-painting a couple of cane garden chairs for our hosts turned into a spider festival of a terrifying kind for nervous arachnophobes. In the process of cleaning the chairs down for painting we saw no fewer than 3 redback spiders. We didn’t wait for any of them to pose for the camera so this picture is from google image. They’re not enormous but they do pack a bite:
One of these beasts was stoically despatched by 11 year old Joey while we looked on with apprehension. Then we virtually fumigated ourselves with insect spray dealing with the other two. Hmmmmmm… red in tooth and claw or should that be fang?
