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The true Spirit of hospitality

As Christians, we’re called to show love and generosity to others. But with so many ethical standards, political sensitivities, cultural customs and dietary needs to be aware of today, is it too hard to invite someone over without offending by how we serve them? Ethics researcher Kimberley Pfeiffer says knowing that all goodness comes from God and that the ultimate ‘social influencer’ is at work in hearts rather than on Instagram, frees us to offer Christian hospitality without fear of faux pas.

by Kimberley Pfeiffer

We live in a time where everyone seems to be ‘ethical’ about something.

Philosophically, ethics is about the pursuit of the good. But for us as Christians, we believe that goodness is God. He’s the giver of goodness.

So, as Christians, we don’t look at ethics as a philosophical framework. We look at it from the perspective of God coming to us in Christ and giving himself to us. He is the Creator of beauty. He’s the truth that informs all goodness. And we come to know all these things about God through Christ.

Out of our faith, we learn what goodness is and we enter into our lives, sharing the goodness that comes from God. We don’t need to try to reach ‘ideal’ standards of living, because that’s all done in Christ. We have this immense freedom to serve others.

When we practise hospitality, we want everyone to feel they belong, and we don’t ostracise anyone because they’ve got particular needs – instead we can pray for them. We can also commend our anxieties to God about getting things wrong when we serve because hospitality is a spirit, not a rule book.

And hospitality is more than food – it’s also about giving our time. So, if preparing a meal seems too fraught due to a person’s needs, we might share a cuppa and a chat.

It’s also helpful to remember that we’re not in control of the Holy Spirit and the way God draws people. That’s not our job.

In contrast, the concept of being a ‘social influencer’ is a big thing today. People who advocate for their brands and ‘ethical’ projects on social media push paradigms such as: ‘Do what I do, look how beautiful I am, you want to be beautiful like me.’

Instead, we trust the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts and those around us. We can confess our faith, share God’s gifts and demonstrate our spiritual posture through hospitality. When we share our table, we can ask a blessing before a meal and give thanks afterwards, so that what we’re saying is, ‘The gifts that I share with you to serve you are actually from God’.

And that spirit of hospitality releases us from a lot of pressure because we’re not trying to push things on people. True Christian hospitality is a gift. We’re sharing God’s love but there are no strings attached. Out of the gifts we receive, we share.

And what you’re really doing through hospitality is sharing life together – and you never know where that will take you.

Kimberley Pfeiffer is the secretary of the LCA’s Commission on Social and Bioethical Questions.

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Sharing care and counsel saves lives

The LCANZ has a long-standing relationship with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Malaysia (ELCM) through LCA International Mission. One of the ways the ELCM serves its community is through the Women’s Care & Counselling Centre, which supports pregnant women who may be considering abortions or baby-dumping. Those who serve there share the story of this life-saving ministry.

In the late 1990s, there was a growing need to help young single mothers facing unplanned pregnancies. The fact they were turning to the church for help meant we had to act. The ELCM does not believe in abortion as a solution for family planning, and to put our beliefs into practice, Bishop Emeritus Dr Solomon Rajah moved to set up a safe home for care and counselling.

Established in 2010, the Women’s Care & Counselling Centre (WCCC) is located in Port Klang, southwest of Kuala Lumpur. Under the able care of Deaconess Elizabeth Gopal, it has been a beacon of hope for many women – more than 100 women have seen the kindness of Christ made manifest in their lives.

Deaconess Elizabeth receives pastoral support from Holy Cross Lutheran congregation’s pastor and council, while WCCC also works closely with Malaysia’s national welfare ministry and has a good relationship with local authorities. We are also thankful for the generous gift from Lutheran Women of Australia in support of our diaconal ministry.

Our primary concern is for mothers to be able to have and raise their child without a stigma attached to being a single mother. Therefore, we provide a safe home for them until they are ready to leave. The women are often subjected to violence and abuse, and WCCC is committed to providing security, counselling and exposure to useful skills. We also help with accessing financial aid from government agencies, legal papers and medical and food aid for the care of the babies.

For mothers who choose to give up their baby for adoption, we assist in the legal process to find a good home.

Sadly, baby-dumping still occurs, and we have staff to care for babies while we arrange legal adoptions. Thankfully, however, there have been no recent cases.

Since government COVID-19 restrictions on movement and gatherings were introduced in Malaysia in March 2020, WCCC’s ministries have expanded. These include monthly food assistance to single mothers and their families, transportation for medical care for single women and help for single mothers to procure cheap housing in government projects.

We don’t advertise our services, but WCCC has developed a community presence through activities such as medical camps.

This puts WCCC on the radar of the local medical community, who are often first to encounter pregnant mothers in distress.

In 2021, WCCC has extended its premises to accommodate more women and to provide sufficient space for activities.

God has been good to us, and this ministry is a rich and rewarding experience. We serve our Lord with joy and respect for life.

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Ethical shopping – How do our choices demonstrate love?

by Nick Schwarz

When you consider buying something, what factors do you weigh up? Necessity? Price? Quality? Style? Features? Benefits or usefulness?

These considerations and others may come into play whether we are looking to buy a small item or service such as a book, fresh food, movie tickets or a haircut; a more costly purchase such as a mobile phone, household appliance, furniture or holiday; or even when we make a major financial commitment in buying a car or house.

Advocates for ‘ethical shopping’ encourage us to also weigh up the ‘ethical status’ of things we buy. They say that some products are morally better than others and that where possible, we should choose them.

By ‘ethical status’ they most commonly mean how ‘responsible’ a product is in terms of its:

  1. environmental impact (at all stages of the life of the product);
  2. social impact (its effect on people, relationships and morals); and
  3. corporate governance (does the producer of this product deal honestly and fairly with suppliers, employees, contractors and consumers?)

How nice that by just shopping we can benefit people and the environment!

Christians look first to Jesus’ life and teachings and the Bible more generally for guidance on ethical matters. Concerning business practices, the Bible teaches that:

  • bosses are to treat their workers with respect and pay them fairly (see Deuteronomy 24:14,15; Colossians 4:1; James 5:4). (Slavery was common and accepted as part of life in biblical times but is never presented in the Bible as ‘God-approved’. The prophets warn that God will judge harshly masters who treat their slaves as mere possessions and exploit and abuse them. Christians have always been at the forefront of campaigns to eradicate slavery);
  • primary producers are to take care of the land and waters so that they remain fruitful (see Genesis 2:15; Leviticus 25:2–5); and
  • merchants are to deal honestly with their suppliers and customers (see Deuteronomy 25:13–16; Proverbs 11:1).

Jesus weighed up our lives and found them so valuable that he gave his life to save us. Now he calls on us to love others as he loves them. He wants us to help people in need – including people who are strangers to us and people we are accustomed to thinking of as enemies (see Luke 10:25–37).

Jesus said that God will bring into his glorious presence forever people who follow his example of helping the needy, but people who could help, but don’t, risk being left out (see Matthew 25:31–46).

Lutherans also look to the confessions of our faith for ethical guidance. In Martin Luther’s explanations of the Fifth, Seventh and Eighth Commandments (against killing, stealing and lying) in his Small Catechism and Large Catechism, he says that in positive terms, these commandments call on us to treat our neighbours with dignity, respect, honesty and fairness.

So, it seems we can make a good case for Christians to demonstrate love for their neighbours and care for God’s earth by considering the environmental and social impacts of the products and services they buy and the way the companies that produce them do business.

However, discerning a product’s ethical status is not always easy or straightforward. Sometimes it is confusing and disheartening. Let’s consider three ways that this can be so, then look at the motivation for shopping ethically.

  1. THE ETHICAL PICTURE IS INCOMPLETE OR A MIXED BAG

Producers know that ethically minded shoppers are a growth sector with substantial spending power, so they advertise their products’ ethical virtues prominently. Some make environmental claims, e.g. ‘organic’, ‘non-toxic’, ‘unbleached’, ‘compostable’, ‘biodegradable’, ‘recyclable’, ‘sustainable’, ‘earth-friendly’, ‘climate-friendly’ and ‘ozone layer friendly’.

Some describe how well they treat their suppliers and workers or how well they treat any animals involved in production, e.g. ‘fair trade’, ‘slavery-free’, ‘child-labour free’ or ‘cruelty-free’. Some tell us that money from the sale of the products will go to good causes, such as schooling for poor children, cancer research, or the preservation of endangered species.

How can we trust that these claims are true? Fortunately, Australia and New Zealand have advertising standards and consumer protection bodies to investigate suspicious marketing claims and penalise companies for falsely labelling products with ethical certification.

We live in a fallen world, however. If we look hard enough, products marketed as ‘ethical’ often turn out to be tainted in some way.

We will never have all the information about products we need to assure ourselves that ethical claims are absolutely true. Still, that shouldn’t make us throw up our hands and reject ethical considerations as a waste of time.

  1. COMPETING GOODS

We can also find ourselves stuck trying to decide between products that make different ethical claims. There may be no obvious ‘right’ answer to the question of which claims carry the most ethical weight. For example, should I prioritise environmental responsibility by buying my fruit and veggies from local growers (on ‘food miles’ grounds) or from growers who farm organically (on soil protection grounds)? Or should I prioritise social responsibility by buying them from poor growers (on charitable grounds) who may not farm organically or live nearby? What if there are no poor local organic farmers to make my choice easy?

Again, this is a situation in which there is no clear answer. We are free to weigh things up for ourselves, and we should be slow to judge others who choose differently from us.

  1. OTHER VALID WAYS OF DETERMINING WHAT IS ‘ETHICAL’

If you have a low income and/or a family to support, the cost of goods and whether they are essential or optional will loom large in your thinking. You will likely prioritise your duty to your family over your duty to distant strangers, wild animals or future generations. The reality is that ethically certified products are unlikely to be the cheapest on offer. Ethical production comes at a cost and ethical certification adds to the cost. If ethically certified products are just as affordable as others, the case for choosing them strengthens. But if not, the ethical (or morally right or good) choice for a low-income shopper is probably to buy the cheaper items so that their money stretches to buy as many of the essential items on the shopping list as possible.

Wealthier shoppers who want to be able to maximise their charitable giving might also feel justified in buying cheaper options.

Will you judge them and tell them they are wrong?

Some people might argue that it makes no practical difference whether I buy an ‘ethical’ product for altruistic reasons or selfish reasons. That’s true. In either case, the purchase of the product (hopefully) contributes to some environmental or social good. Christians believe, however, that motivation is important. We think there is virtue in buying an ethical product out of a desire to make some small change for the better in the world. But we also think the virtuous act loses its shine if it is done to bask in a glow of moral superiority or show off our virtue to others. Advertisers of ethical products don’t make this distinction, however. They flatter shoppers by saying every ethical purchase is virtuous.

In Matthew 6:1–4, Jesus warns against making a show of our righteousness so that others may see and praise us. Luther’s explanation of the First Commandment (we are to fear, love and trust God above all things) warns against making an idol of our reputation.

So, yes, even show-offs do good. And they often receive the feel-good praise they want. But Jesus encourages us to do good without fanfare and leave any rewards up to our Father in heaven.

Christians seek to please God by making good choices. But they realise that a few (or even a lot) of good choices don’t earn us our salvation. Our ‘best ethical life’ falls far short of God’s standards. We try to please God out of gratitude for saving us already through the death and resurrection of his Son Jesus, and because we want to follow Jesus’ example.

So, take some time to think about how you spend your money. Reflect on your motivation for buying what you buy. And be slow to judge others who might choose differently to you.

Nick Schwarz is the LCANZ’s Assistant to the Bishop – Public Theology and a consultant to the church’s Commission on Social and Bioethical Questions.

 

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Scattering the light of hope

Last month Walk My Way Barossa brought 650 walkers together for a common cause – helping to build a brighter, more hopeful future for refugee children through education. We asked Australian Lutheran World Service (ALWS) Community Action Manager Jonathan Krause to share with us how Walk My Way is scattering the light of hope.

by Jonathan Krause

Walk My Way was born inside a refugee camp in the desert in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa in 2016.

A group of teachers from Lutheran schools in Australia was there on an ALWS leadership tour. They met people who had lost everything. They saw a bare block of land that in six months our Australian Lutheran family would turn into a school for 2000 children through a partnership with the European Union.

They met Kalsuma, a refugee for 16 years, who fled the war that destroyed her home and farm in Somalia. ‘We welcome you with open hearts. We have not before seen visitors like you, interested in education’, she said. ‘We really appreciate that you put aside all your things and come to be with us. It seems to me an illiterate person is like a person who is blind. We who are parents see education as the light. We need that light of education to scatter. We are thanking all those who support education. Please keep telling our story to your people.’

One of the teachers from that leadership tour was so inspired, that they decided to walk from Melbourne to Adelaide to raise money to help refugee children go to school. When the logistics of that proved too difficult, ALWS instead created a walk down the Adelaide Hills from Hahndorf, following the trail taken by pioneer Lutheran women in the 1840s. The trail was 26 kilometres long, which ‘matched’ the average cost of supporting a refugee child in school for a year – $26.

So, Walk My Way was on the way.

That refugee camp in Djibouti and those at Kakuma in Kenya where our Lutheran church works through ALWS, are a long way from South Australia’s Barossa Valley, which was host to this year’s Walk My Way. And the original hope for the first Walk My Way in 2017, that perhaps 50 people might be persuaded to take up the challenge to walk 26 kilometres, is a lot different from the 650 people who walked on Saturday 1 May.

Yet, for me, being both in that refugee camp in Djibouti and at Walk My Way in the Barossa Valley, there are many things that intersect.

First, when people arrive in a refugee camp, our Lutheran-supported team welcomes them with a friendly face and three good meals a day.

ALWS aimed to do this at Walk My Way too – with a donated big box Barossa brekkie, a sausage sizzle lunch and ‘Made-It’ munchies at the finish line at St Jakobi Lutheran School Lyndoch.

Second, Walk My Way welcomes everyone, and especially celebrates the gifts of those the world sometimes overlooks – those who are senior, young children, those with a disability.

This is what happens in the refugee camps too, where our ALWS family works hard to make sure no-one is forgotten, and those who may be overlooked or ignored are instead welcomed with open arms, just as Jesus asks of us in Matthew 25:40.

Third, Walk My Way has the simple goal of supporting refugee children to go to school – like 14-year-old Sebit, who says: ‘When I am in school, I forget that I am a refugee.’

Of course, throughout our Lutheran history in Australia, we have known the importance of a values-rich education. The 40,000 students in Lutheran schools parallels the thousands of refugee and displaced children who receive a Lutheran-supported education in places like South Sudan, Somalia and the refugee camps at Kakuma.

Fourth, Walk My Way asks people to take on a challenge, to do something hard, in order to make a difference for others.

In this, we seek to echo the courage and commitment of parents who carry their children out of warzones in the hope that they may find safety, and perhaps even the hope an education can bring.

At the Barossa Valley Walk My Way, I spent some time at the 24-kilometre mark with my 85-year-old dad, Colin, and his four-legged best friend Oscar, as they directed weary walkers across the road. By 4pm, all but two of our 650 walkers had completed their walk.

Thirty minutes passed. Not a walker in sight.

Then, two figures appeared in the distance.

Slowly they stumble-walked toward us, clearly exhausted.

Sharon is a retired nurse, Fiona a farmer. They told us that cars had slowed regularly to offer them a lift. Each time they said no. ‘We want to do the full 26 kilometres, so our sponsors help out’, Fiona explained. ‘We are doing it for the girls.’

I walked with Fiona to the finish line. Telling her that, as Christians, we know the first will be last, and the last will be first.

By this time, the band at St Jakobi had played its last song. The food vans had closed their windows. Stalls were being packed away.

Yet, as Fiona reached the finish, the cheer that greeted her was the loudest of the day.

Last. First. Jesus turns the world upside down. Seeks the lost; the overlooked; the forgotten.

That’s what the 650 walkers in the Barossa Valley … and the 200-plus walkers in other walks across the country … and those who sponsored them or donated … and the volunteers who prepared food, marshalled traffic, took photos, or emptied rubbish bins … did too.

Quiet humble service. Courage to care. Willingness to give the best they had, no matter what they had to give. Stepping out … so refugee children can step in to school.

Through Walk My Way, people like you do just what Kalsuma begged us to do. You make the light of education scatter. In doing so, you are a blessing ALWayS.

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The LCA’s Reconciliation Action Plan … Are we there yet?

by Marilyn Wall

Almost 12 months on from the endorsement of the LCA Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and six months after copies were distributed to all congregations, schools and agencies of the LCA, we might ask: ‘Are we there yet?’

That depends how we define ‘there’. One way is to measure our progress against the RAP’s four objectives, which encompass building relationships through listening;

understanding what is important to Aboriginal people; providing a culturally appropriate mechanism to address recognition and representation; and developing appropriate ways to encourage and enable Aboriginal people to serve and lead in church life. While we have made a start, there is much to be done before such matters are embedded into the fabric of the church.

We can still improve our awareness. For example, did you know that more than 80 per cent of those who identify as First Nations or Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia live, work and raise families in urban areas? So, we may have First Nations peoples in our local communities and ministry spaces.

Also, as Aboriginality is not just a matter of skin colour, would we know this is the case? Unless we build strong relationships and provide environments that are culturally inclusive, safe and welcoming to First Nations people, they may not identify as such.

Remember, every journey starts with a first step. But genuine cultural inclusivity takes time to embed, so such actions need to be ongoing.

Perhaps your ministry has a story of engagement with and growth of relationships between First Nations peoples and others. We would love to hear and share your stories and photos – email them to rap@lca.org.au

Marilyn Wall is the LCA’s RAP Project Officer. For more information and resources, go to www.rap.lca.org.au

Want ideas? Here are some initiatives being undertaken by Lutheran ministries:

  • Utilising worship resources shared by the Commission on Worship through its Worship Planning Page (lca.org.au/wpp), for occasions of significance for First Nations peoples
  • Discussing, researching and identifying the traditional country upon which a ministry is happening and including this information on signage or websites
  • Including Acknowledgements of Country in publications
  • Incorporating stories and resources from the LCA RAP website (rap.lca.org.au) into ministry programs
  • Experiencing the relationship and awareness rewards of connections with remote Lutheran Aboriginal communities
  • Developing or investigating a Narragunawalli (a RAP for schools)
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Walking Jesus’ way is a daily challenge

by Reid Matthias

‘After this, the Spirit drove Jesus into the wilderness’ (Mark 1:12).

This verse strikes my funny bone. Reading it in a 21st century context (and out of biblical context), it sounds like the Spirit and Jesus pile into the ute for a drive into the bush where the Spirit kicks the door open and says, ‘Alright, have a good time camping!’

No, Jesus is not driven by car into the dusty outback of Israel, but he is motivated by the Spirit to walk into the wild where he will encounter temptations, struggle and critters. As I read about Jesus’ time in the wilderness, I wonder if there aren’t some similarities between God’s invitation to his Son to ‘Walk My Way’ and what I encountered in 2021.

As we drove through what could easily be considered something of a dusty wilderness, vast stretches of summer dryness now in different shades of yellow, ochre and brown, I was amazed at the landscape through which we’d walk. I tried to imagine the early pioneers who had to walk down the hill to the eastern parts of Adelaide from Hahndorf and back up again or the refugees who fled for their lives on foot in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

If I’m truly honest with myself, I don’t know if I could have survived very long doing any of those walks.

Imagine, though, if you could have been on the trail with the pioneers or the refugees. Imagine the stories you would hear if you only begged the questions: ‘Tell me your story. Tell me about your life. Help me to make the connection.’

These musings were what Jesus was very, very good at. As he wandered the dusty trails of Palestine, people followed him – throngs of people, multitudes. Pressing up to him, many wanted to touch him, to hear him, to see him. As they walked his way, they all desired a sign or wonder, yet time and time again, Jesus does not give them a miracle, but a question.

For it is in the questions that we find the miracle of walking together. This is where we find that Jesus has an interest in us.

In Luke 10, after Jesus sends 72 people to go walkabout two-by-two, he encounters a teacher of the law who wants to know how to put the cherry on top of life: ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’

Certainly, as their paths had intersected, Jesus could have simply told the man, ‘I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life’, brushed his hands and said, ‘Alright, have a good time’. But what does Jesus do? He comes alongside the lawyer and asks two questions. ‘What is written in the law? How do you read it?’

What do these questions do? Two things.

  1. Jesus establishes that he values the expert in the law enough to ask questions. ‘How do you read it?’ is a perfect way of asking, ‘So, tell me a little bit about your experience. Tell me about your own learning journey.’
  2. All of life is a dialogue. If we are open enough to ask the question, why not dig deeper?

What captures me most about this short incident is that Jesus paused in his own walk to interact with someone who could easily have irked him. But he doesn’t keep to himself, checking his pedometer, making sure he’s getting his steps in and his calories counted. No, he invites people onto the road with him. Even people who are different from him.

To me, this is the difference between walking with and coming alongside someone else.

Walking with someone else means that you are travelling in the same general direction, but might not have the same goal. Walking with someone means that you might smile politely, nod and put your headphones back in your ears. Walking with someone might mean that you walk a little faster so that you can finish before they do. Walking with someone doesn’t necessarily imply connection, only sharing space.

But walking alongside? Well, that’s a Jesus-kind-of-walk-my-way. It’s a choice. You opt to speed up or slow down so that you can match the other walker’s pace and go in the same direction. Walking alongside necessitates a kindred goal and spirit. Walking alongside is about greeting and creating relationships, asking questions of history and future.

Walking alongside is about the journey, whereas walking with is about the destination.

As the hordes of walkers gathered together for Walk My Way in the Barossa Valley, I was interested in how people separated themselves. Talking with people before, during and afterwards, I noticed those from congregations or friendships tended to walk with each other. Theirs was friendly banter, maybe an occasional jog. It’s natural. The day was designed for the relational journey and connecting with people who have the same goal.

But then on the way back, being driven through the wilderness by bus, back to the very beginning, I met a couple who were come-alongsiders. After having spent years living abroad, they told me the story of different cultures, different struggles, of being a stranger in strange lands, and they asked the same questions of me. For the journey, we found similarities and differences, common bonds of Christian understanding.

Which brought me back to opining about pioneers, refugees and Jesus himself: how are we called to come alongside people? In what ways do we slow our pace to match step with others along the road?

After Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan to this expert in the law, he asked, ‘Which one of these three do you think was a neighbour?’

The expert replied, ‘The one who had mercy’.

Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise’.

Maybe what I learned most about the Walk My Way experience of 2021 was that it didn’t finish on 1 May. Walking Jesus’ way is a daily walk alongside him and other people so that they can experience his grace and love on their own journey.

Go and do likewise.

Pastor Reid Matthias serves the flock at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Para Vista in suburban Adelaide. He completed Walk My Way Barossa Valley with his wife Christine, daughters Josephine and Greta and family friend Madison Watts.

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‘We have nothing, but education is riches’

We know Walk My Way raises money to support refugee children to go to school in East Africa, and that each $26 of support helps to provide a teacher, textbooks and school desks for one child for a year. Deng (pictured), a Year 7 teacher in Kakuma Refugee Camp, explains how the education Walk My Way supports changes lives …

I arrived in Kakuma in the early 2000s from South Sudan with both of my younger brothers, who were very young when we arrived. We lost everyone in the family whilst travelling to Kakuma. I am the head of our household. I never had any formal education and neither had my brothers.

Here at Kakuma, I had a chance to go to school. I went right through to Year 8. I was able to go to school here, at Shabelle in the camp, where I am now teaching! And now I am teaching my brothers as I work here in this same school in Kakuma!

One of my challenges is riding my bike here each day on a dusty, bumpy, difficult road to get to the school. It takes me over half an hour to get here. If I am walking it takes over an hour.

My brothers and I have nothing, yet education is so rich, and no-one can ever take that from us or anyone in the camp. I feel very privileged to teach. No-one can ever take an education away from a child. All possessions can be taken away, but not what’s in your head.

We are so grateful for all the support we receive.

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Walking the talk

Lutheran schools have been part of Walk My Way from the start. And 19 schools are walking in 2021. Associate Professor Lisa Schmidt, executive director of Lutheran Education Australia, explains why our schools are walking the talk.

by Lisa Schmidt

One of Lutheran Education Australia’s values is justice. Through genuine concern and developing a conscience for the rights and wellbeing of everyone in the human family, seeking justice requires understanding and responding to the reasons behind injustices as well as responding to unjust conditions.

It requires integrity between beliefs, words and actions.

It may necessitate taking a stand and acting with courage.

It is wonderful to see students and staff from Lutheran schools and early childhood services making that connection and responding to the needs of other children through Walk My Way. This is one step on the shared road to justice that we can walk together.

My dad was born in a refugee camp but came to Australia and spent time in Bonegilla Migrant Centre (from which ALWS was born), before receiving an education, including at a Lutheran school. I have been the beneficiary of that as a good education changes the lives of generations.

All children should have that chance, no matter where or when they are born. I want these children in Africa to have the education my dad had, and their children to have the opportunities I’ve had. That’s why I walked. And I wonder about the stories of other walkers too. You can’t tell people’s stories under the sun hats and bright blue T-shirts, but we’ve all got one.

Walk My Way Barossa was a wonderful day of getting together and trying to make a difference for someone we will never meet. For one day, we were all part of that same story.

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‘Privileged and proud’ to walk

Lutheran Disability Services (LDS) Support Worker Julie Green hadn’t heard of Walk My Way before the lead-up to last month’s event in South Australia’s Barossa Valley.

But now she says the LDS team of clients and staff – the Wheelie Great Walkers – ‘can’t wait to do it again’.

Like her fellow LDS walkers and wheelers Julie, of Hamley Bridge, north of Adelaide, was encouraged to take part in Walk My Way by fellow support worker Tamara Martin, wife of Barossa North Parish Pastor Damien Martin.

LDS clients David, Chelsea, Jeanette and David were among 650 participants who walked or wheeled along the 26-kilometre trail from Nuriootpa to Lyndoch to support refugee children to go to school. The quartet was joined by five LDS staff, six of their children and two dogs.

‘It was extremely special for LDS family to feel the unity and inclusiveness of their community for this worthy event, as they talked, laughed, sung, and walked through the Barossa Valley’, Julie says.

‘They have expressed how proud they are to support Walk My Way and to help so many strong and resilient refugee children in East Africa to go to school. They can’t wait to do it again!’

With two members in wheelchairs and the rest on foot (or paw), the team also sang along to music played from a speaker Julie provided. Each client walked or was wheeled along for at least five kilometres; two did 13 kilometres and four staff, including Julie, and some of the children, completed the full trail.

‘When any of the clients had had enough, we had someone pick them up’, Julie says. ‘They’ve said since how wonderful it was. Personally, I felt so privileged to be a part of such a movement.’

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We’re having how many coming for breakfast?!

When Walk My Way volunteer Julie Slaghekke agreed to coordinate breakfast for this year’s Barossa Valley event, she thought ALWS organisers were overestimating how many people would take part.

‘When they said, “I think we’re going to have 600 walkers”, I thought, “No you’re not; you couldn’t possibly have that many”’, Julie, pictured, says.

Ultimately there were 650 registered participants, along with volunteers who would need sustenance. That meant sourcing food for 700 COVID-compliant breakfast boxes while utilising promised donations.

Julie, who has a small catering business and helped to coordinate the LCA’s Longest Lutheran Lunch project, baked 700 muffins and made 700 muesli balls. Together with Julie Krause, an ALWS community action officer, Julie made yoghurt granola berry pots for the breakfast boxes and added fresh fruit, breadsticks, mini kransky sausages, cheese, dried fruit, nuts and fruit juice. The two Julies were supported by student volunteers from Redeemer Lutheran School Nuriootpa and teams of adult helpers.

‘It’s amazing; 650 people chose to give up their Saturday to go for a walk and raise money for ALWS. That’s mind-blowing’, Julie Slaghekke says. ‘The other thing that was astounding was the level of support in the Barossa – from the churches, individuals, businesses and the community, who chipped in and said, “We’ll help with that and we’ll donate this”. It was inspiring.

‘It was a great team effort, too, and nice to be a part of a bigger ideal.’

For Julie, a member of Our Saviour Aberfoyle Park in suburban Adelaide, her faith is a ‘huge’ motivation for volunteering. ‘I think that’s what we are here on this earth to do’, she says. ‘We’ve all been given something to offer, and it gives you so much enjoyment when you use your gifts in a way that helps others.’

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