Other, Other

Drolma* tells her story to her new friend as they sit on the beach.

My story began in a place very different to here. My family lived on “the roof of the world”. They are extremely religious – even here, my parents are always muttering mantras as they finger their beads, and I’ve had to beg Mum not to walk down the street spinning her prayer wheel because it is so embarrassing. My uncle was a monk,– a really good monk. One problem, though, was that his monastery wasn’t allowed to have monks anymore. As if being an illegal monk wasn’t dangerous enough, one time he stood in his maroon robes on the town square and told everyone who would listen that he hoped that His Holiness could one day come back to lead our people. Of course, my uncle was arrested. It’s good that he didn’t set fire to himself – some monks do, you know, as a public way of showing despair.

My grandfather and dad were questioned at length. The truth is that they were sympathetic to my uncle’s cause, and they knew too much. My grandparents decided that they and my parents should flee.

After careful planning, including getting together as much cash as they could, my parents and grandparents slipped away. They were okay while hidden in the back of a truck that took them towards the border, but when faced with several days of walking at night over snowy mountain passes and hiding deep in the forest during the day, my grandparents turned back. Mum and Dad made it though, despite Mum’s growing belly. Mum says that the night they met their contact near the river bordering Nepal was both the highlight and the low point. They love their homeland, but fear for their own lives as well as hopes for the next generation propelled them on. After handing over a wad of money, they were each harnessed to a wire running across the river. It only took a few minutes to be pulled across the churning water below to freedom and exile both.

They made their way down to Kathmandu then on to North India where they registered at the centre for Tibetan refugees and waited … and waited … and waited. I was born a few months after they arrived, and my brother followed a couple of years later. As we grew older, we went to a school for refugee children where we learnt English. The day our parents heard that we would be given humanitarian visas by Australia they threw a party.

That’s how I come to live near this beach. My brother and I are sort of like Australian teens already, even though the Tibetan community here holds activities to help us remember what it means to be Tibetan. It’s hard for Mum and Dad. Even though they’re adults, they go to English classes every day. There are people who will help them find jobs when their English is good enough.

We’re safe and mostly happy here, but Mum still cries when people talk about our hero monk uncle. We don’t know what happened to him. We did hear that our grandparents made it back safely, but Mum and Dad don’t contact them because they are afraid it will only lead to trouble.

Thanks for listening to my story. I’m sure my parents won’t let me to go to youth group at your church, but it’s kind of you to ask. We’re Buddhist, of course, because we’re Tibetan. The lama says that it doesn’t matter what others believe though, so long as they are good people. Can we still be friends, even though I’m Buddhist and you’re Christian? That’d be awesome.

The author is a CultureConnect team member working with the Tibetan community in Australia.

* Drolma is a fictional character, but her story is based on those of many who have fled their homeland and been welcomed by Australia.

More information about Tibetans in Australia can be found at http://www.startts.org.au/media/Tibetan-Consultations-Report-2016-WEB-2.pdf (accessed 21 February 2017).

Other, Other

Bishop John Reid passed away on 2 January after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. His legacy of leadership within Bible and Medical Missionary Fellowship (BMMF)/Interserve is not widely known but is very significant. John became the International Chairman of BMMF International in 1986 and continued in that role until 1998, when Rose Dowsett succeeded him. In his first two years as Chairman John helped to steer the Fellowship through the difficult transitions from BMMF to Interserve and from its base in India to Cyprus.

John’s interest in cross-cultural mission began in his days in the Melbourne University Christian Union and through his close friendship with Howard Barclay, who left for missionary service in India in 1952. John’s first of several visits to the Barclays was in 1966 when they lived in Amppipal in the remote hills of Nepal. The other strong influence on John was his senior colleague Bishop A Jack Dain who was Executive Chairman of the Lausanne Congress of World Evangelization (LCWE) in the 1970s and concurrently Chairman of BMMF. It was this connection that led to John’s significant roles in the LCWE: from 1981 he took over from John Stott as Chairman of the Theology Working Group and was LCWE Vice-Chairman at the time of the Lausanne II Congress in Manila.

Despite John’s heavy responsibilities as Bishop and Chairman of both LCWE and Interserve, his leadership was characterised by calm, astute wisdom and insight, and a remarkable attention to individuals, which flowed from his love for people. This was manifested in two ways: firstly, in prayer – John and Alison used the Interserve Prayer Diary daily – and, secondly, in correspondence – in his first year as Chairman of Interserve John tried to write personally (pre-emails!) to all Partners. His letters were brief and to the point – insightful, challenging and encouraging. John was a mentor to many a “Timothy” in the fellowship.

John had many leadership qualities. He had a tinder-dry wit and could tell the funniest stories with an impassive face; his levity often diffused tense discussions in meetings. He was deeply thoughtful, wise and humble and he had the ‘personal touch’, a quality that is often lacking in more charismatic leaders. John loved the people he led – not in a superficial way, but with genuine interest and prayerful concern.

I experienced this myself on several occasions. I will never forget the way John led the concluding communion service at the Interserve Quadrennial Conference in Kathmandu in 1994. He commented on what a remarkably gifted and competent group of people was present representing the wider Interserve fellowship, but then continued on to make the point that we were flawed and frail and in need of God’s grace and sanctification (how true that was).

After John retired, he and his wife Alison joined United Mission to Nepal as personnel counselors and they were both instrumental in helping me professionally (Alison) and pastorally (John) to survive two very difficult and challenging years (1994–95) at Gandaki Boarding School. One of John’s letters to me during that time referred to the “tottering fence” imagery in Psalm 62; it has been a consistent source of encouragement over the years when times are tough.

John wrote recently to Dr Saphir Atyal, “I often reassure myself when the going gets tough that I do not have anything that a good resurrection will not fix”.

John Barclay (returned Interserve Partner)

Other, Other

In the past 12 months, South Australia has farewelled three wonderful saints of prayer. Since the early ‘70s, in prayer meetings in people’s homes and church halls, prayer warriors represented anybody who toured through Adelaide on deputation before the Father’s throne. They sent care parcels, wrote letters of encouragement and committed to memory the prayer and praise points in partner’s letters. These prayer heroes were, in the main, lowly educated women who developed outstanding knowledge of geography and world politics. They teamed with returned partners and short-termers, mentored younger people in the passion for prayer and launched seekers into careers overseas. The influence of Bible and Medical Missionary Fellowship (BMMF), and later Interserve, was extended because of their intercessions and encouragements.

Win Carson was generous in her prayer for overseas mission and, when she died this year, South Australia lost a Christian woman of great influence and Interserve lost a prayer warrior. Win shared with her husband Cec the lifetime habit of a breakfast prayer time dedicated to many missions and people, including Ramabhai Mukti Mission and Interserve. They believed God answers prayer and boldly claimed righteous territory for the Lord. They welcomed missionaries into their home and after Cec’s death, and even in increasing frailty, Win still clung to the privilege of offering her home for the praying circle so that she too could be included. Win was an inspiration to all and we give thanks to God for her life.

On Easter Friday this year, the Lord welcomed Bessie Eames into his presence. She first became involved with BMMF when her daughter did a short-term stint overseas in 1978; from then on she supported prayer meetings, attended events and more latterly offered her home as a prayer centre. As technology developed, she took a seniors computer course so that she could connect to the internet and print off prayer requests for her monthly gathering. She plodded along using one finger to write emails but much preferred to write in her flowing cursive script. Bessie loved prayer and exercised her spiritual gifts and discernment in intercessory warfare. She rejoiced in breakthroughs and tenaciously never gave up when answers were delayed. Partners enjoyed being ministered to by her nurturing embrace and deep insights.

Within weeks, Jean Illman, a stateswoman for God, also went to be with the Lord. Jean was a visionary and facilitator for all things mission. Under her prayerful care, BMMF was launched in Adelaide in 1959 and through her passionate commitment it grew. She served as secretary for 30 years and as mission representative. Jean supported each partner with monthly letters and treasured their letters, filing them away for prayerful reflection. Her house was the centre for prayer gatherings and fellowship meals, and she hosted every visiting missionary. Jean could see with clarity the needs of emerging mission and prayed to that end. She wrote letters and campaigned to implement strategies that would enable Interserve to flex and adapt to the changing mission culture. Mrs BMMF, SA, has left a legacy of devotion to mission.

These three women were passionate about their walk of faith, knew the power of God’s forgiveness and salvation and understood God’s open invitation to every person. Each was convinced of her calling to prayer and to make intercession for people and places, and was totally confident that God was more than able to hear and answer her requests. We thank God for their lives, their example and the heritage they have laid down.

Now it is time for the next generation to step up and assume their positions.

Tributes by Carol Eames, Aileen Pike and Geoff Pike.