Every superintendent at Wesley Mission has had a huge load of counselling of troubled and distressed people. Often because the Superintendent has a high public profile people come to him from all over the city in order to talk confidentially about their personal issues. When Alan Walker was Superintendent he was overwhelmed by the amount of personal counselling that came to him and an idea came in 1961 to use the telephone to allow a 24hr per day counselling program manned by volunteers to provide someone who could always be there when a desperate person needed help.

The idea of a Christian Counselling service received enthusiastic support from members of the church who undertook training in counselling. The re-construction of a Flinders street Darlinghurst property began in 1961 and became the first LifeLine centre. The title of the service was given to it by the sub-editor of the Sydney Morning Herald who called this new telephone counselling service “LifeLine”. Volunteers trained for 6 months in order to equip themselves to counsel people in all kinds of personal difficulties. Alan Walker opened the Lifeline Centre on Saturday 16th of March 1963.
Immediately the telephones began ringing. Each telephone counsellor worked a four-hour shift once a fortnight and summarized the details of every conversation. The following morning a small committee examined the reports and determined if any follow up support was needed. In the first year there were 11,600 calls. The first call was taken by Eric Adam, Treasurer of the Mission, Choir master, and an original LifeLine Counsellor.

The second call was answered by Ivan Reichelt, an elder from the 7pm congregation who was one of LifeLine’s longest serving counsellors having served for 26 years. Ron Freer was another long serving counsellor. Ivan took the second call in and a man with a tremble in his voice asked “Do you know how many holes are in a crumpet?” The man was not a practical joker. He was a mentally sick man who desperately needed help and he was trying to describe his own feelings about himself. Alan Walker continued to be involved heavily in the training of counsellors from 1963 to 1978. Over 15 years he trained hundreds of counsellors, but training suffered from his long absences.

The genius of LifeLine was that it had about it anonymity – people could ring without revealing who they were. It also had confidentiality because they knew that whatever they said to the counsellor would be kept strictly confidential. There was also the ubiquity of a telephone. People could turn to that phone wherever they were. Soon the 11,000 calls had reached 25,000 when I became the chairman of the Lifeline board and in 1979 took charge of the workings of LifeLine Sydney. Soon it had reached 60,000 calls p.a, then over 100,000 calls. In Australia, Lifeline centres across the country answered 541,450 calls in 2012. Lifeline Sydney and Sutherland, which is run by Wesley Mission, answered more than 23,000 calls last year.

In the 1970’s, I had developed what we call the “Cheltenham Counselling Centre” in my suburban ministry in Melbourne where we brought together people with varying skills and backgrounds and training and established a one on one counselling service. I had also read very widely in the whole field of counselling and human psychology. I had undertaken some courses at the Cairnmiller Institute, a specialized institute for people who are going to undertake counselling.

I had been counselling boys I had on probation and parole from the juvenile justice system in the slums of Melbourne. Many of them had very poor self-esteem levels and I had spent much time in helping them sort themselves out. When I was a country parson I had many people in the rural sector who did not have access to quality counselling or psychologists of any kind in the community and when it was heard that I was working in counselling and was the chaplain in the psychiatric hospital, many people came for counselling concerning their personal and emotional problems.

In the thirteen years as a suburban minister in Cheltenham we had built up an extensive counselling program with hundreds of people from the community finding their way to our doors seeking to be counselled from one or other of our competent staff. I discovered that from the very earliest days I had the capacity to listen, to analyze peoples’ problems and help them discover some answers. Because most ministers are compassionate people, those who came for counselling found that they were helped in an environment that they appreciated. And because we never charged people, there were many who were on very limited incomes for whom this was the only counselling they could afford.

By the time I took over leadership of Life Line we had a large number of LifeLine centres around Australia and overseas. Today that number has grown to 270 cities in the world where there are LifeLine telephone counselling services. When I took over the leadership of LifeLine there were two very serious problems. The first was that the type of counsellor which had been trained in recent years which had come into LifeLine reflected a Christianity that did not truly represent the evangelical commitment of Wesley Mission members. The result was that some of those counsellors were leading Lifeline away from its Christian basis. It was becoming a secular humanist advice line. This was the bane of Alan Walker’s life. This became a constant conflict for us at National and International Life Line Conferences. Usually the vote to continue our practise was won by only a handful of votes from delegates.

The second problem was that LifeLine Sydney was running with poor management which needed urgent attention. A number of important leaders were living immoral lives and others ignoring Christian standards of behaviour.

This second problem was handled quickly. I terminated the existing management and appointed committed Christian management without personal problems and baggage that was complicating the previous management. And to help overcome the secular humanist thrust moved the LifeLine centre from Darlinghurst where it operated as an independent unit into Wesley Centre in Pitt Street where it was under our eye 24 hours per day.
With new staff, new enthusiasm and the direct oversight of Wesley Mission Lifeline Sydney soon began to break all records for the numbers of people effectively helped. Soon we had topped 60, 000 calls per annum. For 25 years I have spent almost every Tuesday Night training a counselling class of 60 – 80 young and enthusiastic trainees who were completing 24 weeks of serious training. Our trainers are mainly Psychologists and Psychiatrists. Each week I opened the theme of the night, (often with a tape recording of a counseling session I had conducted in public on radio, helped the caller to identify the issue, outlined the secular psychological interpretation, and discussed various alternatives to handling the problem, then indicating how Christians could respond with the insights of Jesus on that particular issue, expounding a time in the life of Jesus when he helped such a person. Over the years I’ve had more than 2000 people in my counselling courses. At the start of the twenty first century I find that those coming for counselling training are quite different from those who first came more than twenty five years ago. In general they are younger, more highly educated, most having completed their degrees in psychology at university and most intending to give us a short term of two years only service. In the old days we had some very fine counsellors who served us faithfully year after year but these days, most, younger counsellors want to get the credit on their Curriculum Vitae and then get on with something else.

By 1981 I was taking time to examine the nature of those who were calling LifeLine and the kind of problems that people were facing. Out of that we developed a whole series of new ministries. The greatest reason for people calling LifeLine in those days was what we described as social isolation – people who felt utterly alone, who had no one with whom they could relate or talk. Quite a number of these people were repeat callers who found a friend who was willing to give support and encouragement to them. We quickly learned to encourage those people to come to Wesley Missions Singles’ Society or to become involved in some of the other activities of the Mission where they could meet with others. This had an interesting impact upon the life of the congregation because we very soon developed a large number of people attending services, groups and activities who could be described as being socially inept – good people but just unable to relate well with other people. This was going to be very demanding upon the elders within the life of the church to provide support and encouragement who needed one on one support.

A second group of callers were those who were so depressed with life that they could see no reason for continuing. These people were potential suicides. Some of those people in fact committed suicide after ringing to give a final call and their number was unable to be traced in those days. It is always distressing to a counsellor to find a person who suicidees. I remember receiving a letter at home from a man who simply told me where he had left his will and possessions and asking me to explain why it was he was killing himself to his defacto partner; where his body would be found and requesting me to go and speak to his partner and explain the facts to her. By the time I had received that letter the following day he was already dead. I notified the police about the location of the body. Then I went and told his partner who was worried because he had not been home all night. She was so supported during the time of the funeral and there after that when I looked up on the first week of the next training course that commenced I saw her sitting in the front row. She became one of our regular and very reliable counsellors.

There were many other reasons why people rang LifeLine in those days. Some days there were family issues with people unable to cope with children and we often were able to refer these to our Dalmar Child and Family Care and provide volunteers who would come to their home and help them with the business of bringing up children. Others were suffering from mental illnesses such as Schizophrenia and severe depression or anorexia and we were able to tell those people that help was available in spite of the fact that they had no financial resources. We made it possible for those people to become patients within Wesley Hospital, or Wandine Hopsital, two mental health hospitals run by the Mission.

But I found another group of people who had consistent problems with their money. These were people who were running into debt, who were unable to control the new credit cards that were so freely being given out by banks and those people that were losing money because of increasing gambling on poker machines. I realized if LifeLine was to effectively continue its work it would need to develop a subsidiary series of specialized services, along with a number of highly specialized facilitators to surrport the training and oversee the role plays. We also added weekend, livein training at Vision Valley.

All of our family was involved. Each of our children trained as counsellors, two served as facilitators, another the counsellors’ representative on the LifeLine Board, my wife became a volunteer fundraiser raising over $500,000 to support LifeLine while I chaired the Boards, and gave the weekly instruction. Our son in Law trained as a counsellor, became Chaplain to the Movement and a lecturer.

We had YouthLine that was organised and run by youth for youth. Chris Varcoe was the oustanding leader of this youth ministry. Eventually YouthLine handed over most of its activities to the Kids Help Line where it continues strongly to this day.

CreditLine I established to help bring specialist counsellors with training in financial management, such as accountants, tax experts and bank managers who became counsellors. People who often rang with very deep problems and then came with bundles of unpaid bills and accounts to work out their situation one-on-one with one of our face to face financial counsellors. The task of credit counselling is today an enormous one and the work has spread now to cover the entire nation. Every credit counsellor throughout Australia has access to a special hotline into our CreditLine when they have problems and need advice. CreditLine is today the largest financial counselling service in the nation. Our first director of Credit Line, Dr Betty Wuele deserves all the praise for CreditLine’s great growth over ther first twenty years.

In 1981, there was concern with the large number of immigrants into the community who were suiciding. I decided to establish Ethnic LifeLine, a service where we trained people from a score of nationalities and provided counselling in more than twenty languages plus a free interpreter service. This service took off like wildfire, not so much from people who wanted to commit suicide from different ethnic backgrounds but from people who wanted someone to translate the instructions on a new washing machine that they had purchased or to understand the ingredients in a packet from a supermarket. This free Ethnic LifeLine counselling and interpretation service eventually was taken over by the State Government and run as a free government service providing interpretation to new arrivals who did not speak English.

In the middle 1980’s a chance conversation with the then premier Barry Unsworth alerted me to a growing problem. Barry Unsworth indicated that his advisors had told him that gambling was going to become a major issue in society over the next ten years. He encouraged me to set up specialist counsellors just to deal with compulsive gamblers. These people needed strong psychological training in compulsion as well as general counselling skills. I employed Mitchell Brown as the first full time gambling counsellor in the nation. Today he has built up an enviable record as being the father of gambling counsellors. We have been responsible for training most of the gambling counsellors in the nation. We likewise provide a nationwide telephone service for counsellors in remote and rural areas. In recent days this work has expanded into various ethnic communities and we provide Korean and Chinese gambling counsellors to deal specifically with the problems from those communities. With the opening of the casinos not only has the number of compulsive gamblers increased, but the State Government levy upon casino turn-over has meant that the government through the Casino Community Benefit Trust of which I have been a trustee since its incorporation, has been able to fund up gambling counselling across the state.

The old problem of suicide stayed with us. By 1990 I began to despair at the continuously increasing number of people who killed themselves each year. Because of the effectiveness of a campaign the Wesley Mission had run in 1979 to introduce seatbelts, .05 random breath testing and several other methods, the road toll in Sydney was being reduced year by year. The time came when suicide was the major cause of death outranking that of even road death among healthy Australians. Today 2800 people every year commit suicide and about 14 times that number contemplate or attempt it. That led us to set up a national strategy called Wesley LifeForce Suicide Prevention Service.
Today in conjunction with local community groups we have conducted hundreds of seminars training tens of thousands of ordinary Australians to identify the signs of suicide and to take practical steps to help a person who may be a future victim. We recently conducted seminars in 64 country towns throughout Victoria and are at the moment completing hundreds of seminars covering every community in NSW.

The final area of work, which became a specialist support service to people in need, was the establishment of Wesley Legal Service. This is a service which has brought together a group of qualified barristers and solicitors who work for Wesley Mission and who take up the cause of people who have lost their homes, jobs and personal self worth because of their own stupidity through gambling. The numbers of people who lose their home and who face court because of gambling debts is enormous. Frequently their families are very severely disadvantaged because of the sickness of compulsive gambling. Recently one of the solicitors reported that at she had been preparing with a QC a fraud case where the client stole $900 000 from her employer and lost it all on poker machines. She is only a young woman who has a passion for tennis and loves walking her pet dog. But she went to jail for a long period of time. The Counsellors also working with another prisoner at Emu Plains who stole $76, 000 from her employer and put all of her money into poker machines. She is now doing two years prison . We conducted an appeal on her behalf. The solicitors appeared on behalf of a young father who has three children under the age of five who received an over payment of $60, 000 from Work Cover and did not return it. He spent the money on the poker machines and was to be sentenced to a prison term. Our legal team eventually was able to have him released on a 2 year bond and he went home tearfully to spend Easter with his wife and three young children.

We have been to court for a significant number of very elderly women all of whom have been aided by unscrupulous bank and club managers to mortgage their homes in order to get more cash to gamble in poker machines. Those managers were successfully taken to court, the gambling debts cancelled, the homes returned to the very foolish elderly women and the managers concerned both from the clubs and the banks were dismissed.
For 25 years every Tuesday Night I was involved in training over 2000 people for our telephone counselling services. My name was in the telephone book with my telephone number prominently displayed because I believe that I should be available for people to ring in times of crisis. Consequently on many nights of the week I would have calls at 2 or 3 am from people wanting to tearfully tell their tales of woe or of contemplated suicide or of a ruined life. I was glad that I was able to refer these people on to our counsellors who are available 24hrs per day and who have specialized training to help them at their point of deepest need.

By the mid-1980’s I was conducting the most watched Sunday morning television program of all, and every Sunday night the most widely listened to four hour radio program. This media exposure brought in over 1000 letters and calls every week. So we started Tele-Counsellors, trained Life Line Counsellors who had completed extra training in how to lead a person through the Bible, to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, to a sense of forgiveness and incorporation into the family of God. I always preached evangelistically morning and night, and every week some people responded. I would announce the tele-counselling phone number and their calls would be answered in the series of telephone booths we built in Wesley Centre. Later when television stations started telecasting repeat programs, the calls were diverted from the booths to the Counsellors home, so that day and night, our Counsellors were guiding people into the Kingdom of God. That week, literature and letters from me were sent to each caller and local churches were notified asked them to make a home visit to help the called become integrated into the local church.

In general we followed the philosophy of Professor Carl Rogers. We trained our counsellors in the skills of listening and reflecting, paraphrasing and summarizing. The primary role of a counsellor is to listen. By listening to what the client says we can help them sort through the complexity and confusion of their situation, understand their feelings and explore the options available with them so that they feel something useful has been done. After some time I was introduced to the American psychiatrist Dr Frederick Perls, and ‘Gestalt Therapy’. I was taught how to confront certain people with issues in their lives. Instead of merely reflecting what they thought, I would confront them with the issue so powerfully that they were shaken to their roots and their carefully built world of security was rattled. Professor Carl Rogers had said, “Listening, rightly done, is the most significant thing you can do for a person.” Now I learned that for some people, on a rare occasion, total confrontation with them about themselves and their situation was the only way to break down carefully erected walls that gave them security.

I realized that this was what Jesus was doing when he was talking with the woman at the well. She kept asking him questions about where to worship, and the difference between Jews and Samaritans. Jesus suddenly said to her “Call your husband and come here” the woman replied “I have no husband” then Jesus said with perception “You are right when you say you have no husband because you have already had five husbands and the man you are living with is not your husband.” That really shook her! She opened up to Him in the most amazing way so that her whole life was completely changed through His incredible counselling skills.

Sir Alan Walker realized that the telephone was a powerful tool when it was linked to trained committed counsellors. Wesley Mission has provided free counselling services to more than 3 million people who have come to us for counselling through the telephone in the first instance but then in increasing numbers in face-to-face supportive work. We do this because it is part of our calling to provide a mantle of care over the streets of Sydney. It was an expensive work both in terms of hours spent, and dollars that had to be raised. Every year I had a list of speaking engagements with corporations and businesses, to tell them of this work, and of our need to have their financial support. It always came.

When Jesus was to be born it was said by Isaiah “His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Prince of Peace.” In all the years of teaching “Counselling with the Insights of Jesus” I have come to realize what a wonderful Counsellor Jesus was, how practical His teaching is at helping people handle daily pressures and stresses, and what a difference this Wonderful Counsellor can make in the lives of people who turn to Him in time of trouble. – Rev Dr Gordon Moyes, A.C..

I cannot think of another week when decent Australians have had more cause to hang their heads in shame than this week just past. The Australian Crime Commission delivered its report to Parliament, and before a line-up of chief executives from all codes of sport outlined how gambling, corruption and drugs had infiltrated every code of sport, and by not identifying any code, team or player, left all Australian codes and sports persons under a cloud of suspicion.

Two of Australia’s major soccer teams faced each other in an Adelaide match, but $49 million was wagered on the result by Singapore gamblers. This is out of all proportion to what these teams would normally attract from gamblers.

The Fairfax investigative Reporter Kate McClymont, last Thursday tweeted: “OMG! Macca stood to gain $4 million from the Obeid’s coal deal, $330,000 from the forest’s deal; $55,000 from the V8 Supercars, $35,000 cash, and loans.” (which never needed to be repaid). That tweet was just recapitulating part of the saga of corruption that the week before had revealed the Obeid family would corruptly obtain $100 million from bribing the minister to declare their newly purchased farms to be eligible to become coal mines. There was other evidence stating that corrupt practises would bring other corrupt businessmen over $500 million in returns.

What lack of integrity this all reveals among significant and wealthy men. The Bible uses several different words over 500 times declaring that God demands integrity of his people. Sometime it is translated as: “simplicity,” “soundness,” “completeness,” rendered also “upright,” “perfection.” It is translated “integrity” (Genesis 20:5, 6 1 Kings 9:4 Psalm 7:8; Psalm 25:21; Psalm 25:12; Psalm 26:1, 11; 41:12; 78:72 Proverbs 19:1; Proverbs 20:7), in all which places it seems to carry the meaning of simplicity, or sincerity of heart and intention, truthfulness, uprightness. It is one of the words on the breastplate of the high priest (Exodus 28:30 Deuteronomy 33:8 Ezra 2:63 Nehemiah 7:65), one of the sacred lots, indicating, perhaps, “innocence” or “integrity” .

Note how in the drama of Job, God describes Job: (2:3) “Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him, to destroy him without just cause.”

The word “integrity” does not occur in the New Testament, but its equivalents may be seen. In the above sense of simplicity of intention it is equivalent to being honest, sincere, genuine, and is fundamental to true character.

Dr James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, says “integrity is the word for our times! It means keeping our promises, doing what we said we would do, choosing to be accountable, and taking as our motto, “semper fidelis” the promise to be always faithful.” If there are tides in the affairs of men, this is the time to rediscover integrity.

Integrity is the bedrock of social relationships. When we can no longer depend on one another the future becomes bleak. We say “When the time comes, you can count on me.” But we are discovering we cannot trust governments, corrupt police, many friends, and sometimes our church. There is a dearth of integrity.

We despise the person whose private life does not reflect his public image. We despise the politician who misappropriates public money. We despise the policeman who solicits bribes. We despise the school-teacher who is a paedophile. We despise the educated business-woman who tells racist jokes. We despise the family man who abuses his wife and rages at his children.

We do not accept hypocrisy between public talk and private action, between moral claims and immoral acts, between open demands and closed deeds, between inclusive statements and exclusive works. What you are is not what you say you are, but what your deeds show you are. Your word must be your bond. That is integrity. With God, integrity counts! But personal integrity is a rare commodity.

Insurance companies state one out of every five motorcar write-offs are deliberate acts by the owners. Workers Compensation cases are inflated by bogus claims. Female absenteeism for sickness and injury peaks four times a year, just prior to each lot of school holidays. We live in a deceitful society, where truth is hard to find. Apart from the church, few are calling for a new standard of public morality, community behaviour, and personal ethics.

The key is the practice of intentional integrity. You can have a better family life and career success by being a person of intentional integrity who consistently applies ethical standards to conduct. You need to avoid the pitfalls of conditional integrity. You must not compromise personal character, competence, or commitment. Do not capitulate to conditional integrity when under fire, being honest only when it’s convenient. This is promoted as the way to get on in life, marriage, and business. Yet we see the tragic results of selective dishonesty. Small lies, deceptions, and improprieties lead to fraud, theft and serious social problems.

Few professions have fallen so low in public perception as politics. Politicians are suspected of lying, immorality and hypocrisy. The Morgan Gallop Poll (No 1706) reveals only 14% of people trust a politician’s word. Federal Member Craig Thomson has been charged with 154 cases of fraud from his Union’s money being spent on brothels, prostitutes and porn DVD’s. He said to his electors, “Trust me.” They did, and he repaid them with a disgusting lack of integrity.

Former Senator Graham Richardson said lying was necessary about leadership and policy splits. It is “what is required of modern successful governments”. But the Westminster system levies heavy punishment on MPs who lie in the Parliament. The political system in a democracy becomes corrupt if politicians do not tell the truth. Lying makes political management of the news easier, but it also creates crassness, deceit and opportunism. One of the justifications for parliamentary privilege is that the Parliament must be a place where the truth is spoken, fearlessly if necessary. The acceptance of lying as a political weapon corrupts the political process.

There is a new film out, “Lincoln”. Abraham Lincoln, “Honest Abe”, suffered more political defeats than any politician I could name before becoming President of the United States. The one thing that caused people to finally vote for him, was that on a matter of great principle, they knew he was a man of complete integrity.

In a deceitful society people lie and cheat motivated by greed, that is their nature. But those who follow the way of Jesus Christ commit their lives to Him knowing that truth is essential to character, that truth is essential in the fulfilling of our purpose, and that those who listen to truth belong to Jesus Christ. Rediscover integrity through Jesus Christ.

HOW A $55,000 BRIBE CAN REFUTE A LOGICAL ARGUMENT.

Evidence at ICAC indicates that the reason why Minister Ian Macdonald approved the V8 Supercar racing at Sydney’s Olympic Park at Homebush, was that the promoters secretly bribed him with a gift of $55,000 to have him controversially approve taxpayers spending $35 million on the track instead of using the existing race track at Eastern Creek.

While in Parliament I had met with the people who live in Homebush and Newington, with scientists and conservationists, and with the promoters of the Eastern Creek Raceway and frequently argued in Parliament that Macdonald’s decision was illogical and a huge waste of taxpayers’ money. Minister Macdonald abused and sneered at me, always refusing to answer my questions about transparency. Now ICAC reveals I was close to the bone and the envelopes in his pocket were the reason why he rejected what was common sense. Here is part of what I said in Parliament:

V8 SUPERCAR RACING AT SYDNEY’S OLYMPIC PARK HOMEBUSH. NO 1.

Reverend the Hon. Dr GORDON MOYES [2.31 p.m.]: “I speak to the Homebush Motor Racing (Sydney 400) Bill 2008 because it is a matter that has exercised my mind ever since hearing about it. The object of this bill is to facilitate the conduct of an annual motor race at Homebush, to constitute the Homebush Motor Racing Authority and to confer functions on the authority, and for other purposes.

Sydney Olympic Park is a wonderful development of which the citizens of Sydney and the whole State are justly proud. It is a jewel in the New South Wales crown, and it took a lot of time and tax dollars, very careful design for the creation of a green and sustainable site, and effective implementation to bring to life the dream of so many people. Now it is thoroughly established and thriving. It is a masterpiece of excellent planning, enjoyed by over 8.5 million users annually as a place to take one’s family for picnics, jogging and walking, exploring the historical sites and attending various cultural events. It is an excellent facility for bird watching, riding bicycles, and other healthy activities—the kind of activities for which we fund health promotion campaigns to convince the people of New South Wales to participate in. The people of New South Wales have responded wholeheartedly and taken up these activities at Sydney Olympic Park. The people of Sydney and New South Wales love their Sydney Olympic Park, and make excellent use of it.

Changing the essential character and purpose of Sydney Olympic Park by converting it into a V8 supercar racing area is not just a local issue; it is an international one—which may surprise members of the House. Let me explain. Australia has entered into international trade agreements with Japan, China, and South Korea—nations that are otherwise in danger of overdeveloping every single metre of natural space within their borders, even those wetland areas that have been used for millennia for annual migratory purposes by the species of migratory birds that live in all our countries.

Most bird species are seasonal in their habits, and spend the winters in the warmer climes and the summers in the cooler ones. They are transnational citizens, seeing the stretch from Australia up the flyway to Korea and Japan as their home. They deserve acknowledgement from us, and access to their habitats. If not, they will die—because this land is where they rest, feed, mate, raise their young, and prepare to return north when it is time. If this parkland is destroyed or made uninhabitable by pollution or noise, they have nowhere else in the Sydney Basin to go to perform the basic activities of life.

In Asia it has been reported that many birds have been observed simply dropping dead from the sky, starved and exhausted, while flying further in the fruitless search for appropriate sites after theirs have been heartlessly built over. To prevent this terrible scenario from occurring here, Australia has entered into trade agreements with these Asian nations, with all signatories agreeing to protect the environments of the migratory birds that use their areas. Such agreements include provisions that expressly state that the Government shall “seek means to prevent damage to such birds and their environment”. Well these are those birds, and this is their environment that we pledged to protect internationally—here in the ponds and grasses of Sydney Olympic Park. Phil Straw, the Vice Chairman of the Australasian Wader Studies Group, wrote to inform me that:

“A team of ecologists from Birds Australia, the Australian Museum and a number of universities worked in close association with the Olympic Park Authority to coordinate one of the largest development and restoration projects in the world to provide a world-class wetlands, and wildlife habitat in balance with recreational venues, sporting facilities and the commercial sector.

This work at the Sydney Olympic Park has attracted worldwide attention for its excellence, notably from planners from China and other parts of Asia where similar restoration and habitat creation projects have been underway. That is all under threat now, as extensive research has proven that noise from motorways has a detrimental effect on nesting birds, and the noise from a racetrack is likely to result in species leaving the area. This would be a tragedy after so many years of hard work by some of Australia’s top ecologists and planners.”

Peter Marsh, the New South Wales and ACT Chairman of Birds Australia, wrote to me and I quote:

“All animals depend on sound to communicate, navigate, avoid danger and find food. Human-generated noise can alter their perception and so interfere with their normal functioning, and harm their health, as well as alter reproduction, survivorship, habitat use, distribution, abundance, or genetic composition. Although the noise impact from the proposed supercar races may be over a short period of time, the abrupt disturbance and volume of these impacts may be enough to frighten them away. This would be extremely serious.”

We owe it to the other nations to which we are pledged through treaties, to the people of New South Wales, and to the birds themselves, not to destroy any aspect of this place. To breach those agreements would be very bad form, internationally, and would give the other nations carte blanche in their turn to do the same.

We have to do the right thing, not only because it is right but because of our responsibility to meet and model the highest standards of international citizenship regarding such international treaties. So it is, you see, an international environmental issue. Pointing out that fact should be enough to change the nature of this debate, but it may not, so I shall point out several other drawbacks of the plan to transform Sydney Olympic Park into a raceway.

The removal of hundreds of beloved and beautiful trees, landmarks to the local residents, is a terrible thing. Every healthy mature tree in the urban environment is working hard to filter our pollution-filled city air of car exhaust and industrial fumes, making the air breathable, and making the city liveable. The preliminary estimate of trees destined to be destroyed to make way for concrete barriers and race roadways is in the hundreds. With so many absolutely barren places in this brown land why would we seriously consider the destruction of a beautifully treed area that is considered by all to be an ideal green precinct? That the race organisers promise to replace the trees later means nothing. A mature, living tree now is worth more than all those promises of future tree planting activity that may or may not be honoured. The air filtering which provides a healthy atmosphere, the shade, habitat, beauty and pleasure they provide now, is needed and desired by the affected animals and humans alike on an ongoing basis more than ever. Experts maintain that the removal of the maturing trees will set Sydney Olympic Park back 20 years.

Besides the trees, and the estimated 140 species of birds living in the Sydney Olympic Park area—many of which are considered threatened or endangered—there are also the endangered bell frogs and plant species. Worldwide the health of frogs is used as an ecological indicator of environmental health—something like the canary down a mineshaft—and these creatures are already under threat from human activities. The fact that they have found refuge and are able to live in this area attests to the success of the area as a green and sustainable environment. It costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to make the right environment in the Sydney area for the frogs. Any damage to the Narawang wetlands habitat at Sydney Olympic Park will be exponentially damaging for the frogs.

The State and Federal Governments have a plan that is in effect until 2010 to protect this habitat for the green and golden bell frog. The frog is listed as a vulnerable species under the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and as endangered under schedule 1 to the New South Wales Threatened Species Conservation Act. These frogs breed mostly in the brick pit. The run-off from the proposed race car pit area, which is slated to be located next to the brick pit, potentially will damage this environment with ethanol, oil and gasoline waste. No technology presently exists that can entirely prevent the damage, despite assurances from organisers and the Minister that environmental socks will be placed to soak up the waste. The trees, birds and frogs are all under threat from this proposal.

Hundreds of companion cats, dogs and birds live in the 9,000 homes around this area. These creatures are exquisitely sensitive to noise; many are terrified by thunder. Can members imagine the effect of loud screeching of tyres, careering of racing cars, and unpredictable noises? It would be very harmful for them to be bombarded with the high decibels that are expected. Reacting in alarm, the pets may try to escape and injure themselves in the process. They may be hit by cars or lost, or even fly into walls in terror as they seek to get away from the noise. Even if they stay safely indoors, they still will be at the mercy of the noise, which they perceive as threatening. Such noise easily permeates and penetrates residential walls as if they were not there. The predictable, planned noise of organised motor sport should be isolated from population centres.

The inevitable spillage of oil, petrol and other waste that will seep into the ground or down gutters will make its way into the recycled water plan, which may cause problems that potentially will cost taxpayers millions of dollars to fix. Pollution of that water is unconscionable in our drought-affected State. The air pollution generated from the planned use of E85 fuel, which is a blend of 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent unleaded petrol, is unhealthy for people living in close proximity to the track.

In this era of climate change and in response to the deadly global threats of increasing greenhouse gases, it would be far more sensible to discourage all non-essential human activities that produce massive amounts of pollution. Motor racing should go the way of the gladiatorial games. It belongs to another age, one on which we look back and shake our heads in wonder. Excessive noise pollution will be imposed upon the human population as well—upwards of 95 decibels from 300 cars racing for three days—as well as 1,200 semitrailer movements in and out of the park to set up and dismantle the concrete barriers plus all the temporary stands. This expense will have to be repeated every year. Tax payers have to pay for it all every time.

Exposure to excess noise is known by medical science to raise heart rate and blood pressure and to contribute to human anxiety. It should not be inflicted on the population as if it were of no importance. Using earplugs from a chemist is of no use in such a situation. Commercial tenants who have leases with clauses guaranteeing quiet enjoyment will be barred from seeking compensation under the proposed legislation, as the new authority will be able to circumvent all planning and environmental laws to ensure it can do whatever it wants. The fact that the Government has made this exemption against all planning and environmental laws indicates that it believes it could be sued for compensation over that issue. The Government has not wanted to allow citizens legal action as we had with Luna Park, so has made it unallowable.

Additional concerns have been reported to me in hundreds of emails and letters from appalled residents across the State about issues such as problem driving and street racing. Our city and suburban streets are already deadly to innocent drivers, with deaths being caused regularly by uncontrolled and apparently uncontrollable car racers. But rather than discouraging racing, the Government wants to set up an activity in our streets that lionises racers. Do we really want to inspire more of them? The answer from the public is a resounding “no”.

There are also aesthetic issues. Every year seven kilometres of temporary concrete barriers and fencing are to be erected and dismantled. Other States were promised the same thing, but the concrete barriers were eventually made into permanent fixtures, as it was too expensive and too much trouble for race organisers to continue to erect and remove them every year. Guarantees were made in writing that permanent barriers would never occur, but they did. Members can have a look around Albert Park in Melbourne. The same empty promises very likely will be made in this State. That is their proven modus operandi. Further, many of my constituents have pointed out all the prudent economic arguments.

The State will expend up to $30 million on an activity with no guaranteed economic return or full-scale economic modelling at a time of unprecedented international monetary meltdown. At a time when our State hospitals are desperate for money, when massive job cuts are planned across the area health services, when our education sector is suffering, when pensioners live on a pittance, when the Department of Community Services constantly complains it is under resourced, when the State transport infrastructure is creaking under the weight of an increasing population, when unemployment is on the rise, when public servants, police, fire-fighters, nurses, teachers and ambulance officers are refused a real wage increase, the expenditure of $30 million on a race is not good stewardship. It is appalling for the Government to use taxpayers’ resources to fund a car race at this time.

In this time of financial crisis New South Wales residents believe it is absolutely critical for us to fund core services as a priority. That is the only moral and ethical thing to do. I remind the Minister that this weekend the final race in the V8 Supercars series this year will be held at Oran Park. As only two drivers of two vehicles can win the series, how will this weekend’s final benefit the economy of New South Wales? The history of the V8 Supercars races in other States has been abysmal, leading to regular large losses by taxpayers over the years. We should ask the people of Victoria about their experience with Albert Park.

The Hon. Ian Macdonald: That is not V8s, that is F1s.

Reverend the Hon. Dr GORDON MOYES: They also race V8s.

The Hon. Ian Macdonald: They are invited to participate. It is not their race. It is F1s. Get your facts right.

Reverend the Hon. Dr GORDON MOYES: The Grand Prix did not deliver value for money for Victoria. The Victorian Auditor-General in a 2007 report found that spending by the anticipated big spenders did not outweigh the costs to Victorian taxpayers of staging the event. That is not about the type of cars; it is about the expected expenditure of those who come to see it. The Minister has been unable to give the right figures.

For example, the touted massive television exposure worldwide was found to be a totally false claim as the audiences dropped each year. They predicted 500 million in 1996, but it was only 100 million in 2008. This sport is losing sponsors and supporters. Perhaps that is why the New South Wales Government is getting such a hard sell from the organisers. Even the on-site patronage figures are exaggerated, as they include multiple entries by people who leave the site and return, the media, the police, the security, the race teams, the catering staff, people with free passes and so on. All of them are counted in the attendance list, which was touted by organisers to be 300,000 people.

The real number was the same as for any grand prix-type race around the world, that is, from 80,000 to 120,000 over three days. As far as the expected benefits of attracting tourists to Melbourne, the Auditor-General was unable to identify any benefits from the expected tourists. Visitors staying at overseas-owned establishments are not injecting money into the local economy.

The organisers boasted that restaurants and cafes would be overflowing, but that certainly did not happen for the businesses around Albert Park, which suffered a serious loss of business during the racing. In fact, that is probably the reasoning behind the section of the proposed legislation that blocks compensation claims from businesses around Homebush for the losses they are expected to suffer during the races. This is backed up by a survey of 327 traders around Albert Park that showed that 25 per cent reported increased business, 29 per cent noticed no change and 46 per cent—almost half—reported losses to their business during the racing.

Assurances that there would be a cap on government contributions at $30 million do not take into consideration other costs, which are likely to be many, such as the provision of security services; the major advertising campaign to attract people to the event; infrastructure upheaval such as resiting more than 100 light poles and electrical cables for street lighting and domestic supply; as well as the expected removal and replacement of bus shelters. The people who write to me are appalled at the way their concerns are being ignored and belittled by both the Premier and the Minister for State Development. Their quiet neighbourhoods are being threatened with an inundation of unbearable motor noise, road chaos, crowds and the usual loutish, antisocial behaviours that accompany such spectacles, particularly when there is alcohol available.

For up to 10 weeks of the year there will be limited use of the park by citizens who have incorporated it into their daily lives: six weeks are required before the event for setting it up, and four weeks are required after the event for pulling it down. This involves work crews and their semitrailers coming and going for that period of time and it means that regular users of the park will be unable to access their usual areas, including commuter cyclists using the Bay to Bay cycleway connection to the Parramatta cycleway that passes through the Olympic Park. Residents are also concerned that they will not be able to park outside their homes when the crowds flock in and that the Olympic Park station will not be able to cater for the influx of spectators to the race. The station is far too small and not enough trains run in and out of it.

In general it has been noted that the type of people interested in V8 supercars are not big users of public transport: they want to drive their own supercar. Much more space is available for sufficient parking at Eastern Creek, particularly with the new off-ramp from the M4 and an entrance from Wallgrove Road. Residents point out that if buses are to be provided it will be yet another cost to taxpayers. People are very concerned that residential and commercial property values will decline sharply in surrounding suburbs if this goes ahead, because most people simply would not choose to live next to a racetrack. Residents wonder if they will be compensated for this fall in the value of their properties. We know the answer to that question will be no, they will not be compensated. The Minister suggested to residents that if they did not like having the race in their area they could just rent out their place during that time and leave the area like many people in Queensland apparently do. At least the Minister was admitting that people want to get away from these events if they can possibly manage it.

But that ease of mobility is not how most working or retired people’s lives work. The Government’s attitude is not respectful of residents and families in these areas. This is not social justice. There has been no significant public consultation and the residents have a right to be heard when they say they do not want a V8 supercar racetrack there. The Sydney Olympic Park Authority Act has strong environmental protection measures that will require special legislation to be enacted to bypass it to allow the race to proceed, and that is precisely what the proposed legislation does.

The Sydney Olympic Park Authority has already voted on this issue and rejected unanimously the proposal for the race happening there, but their stance has been ignored. How can that happen? The Sydney Olympic Park Authority is the authority responsible for managing and maintaining the park as a lasting legacy for the people of New South Wales and it is not right that this decision that will devastate the park is being taken out of its hands.

Furthermore, the local councils around Sydney Olympic Park—Parramatta, Strathfield, Auburn, Ryde and three others—have wholeheartedly opposed the Government’s plan. My understanding of the very basic foundational premise of the concept of democracy is that people get a voice, both directly and through their elected representatives, in what happens to them, their tax dollars and their environment as well as the actions taken by their leaders. Is that what is happening here? It is more like the following definition of bullying: to force one’s own way aggressively or by intimidation without regard to the feelings of the person or people on the receiving end.

Most of my constituents are not against V8 racing—nor am I. But I am against holding it at Sydney Olympic Park when there is already a purpose-built track at Eastern Creek International Raceway, where the population density is much less. I believe that the Eastern Creek site is far preferable for this event for a number of reasons. It is an excellent facility that is already owned by the Government; it already has two large car parks and has room for more, so that any money spent there will be an investment, improving year after year the facility that is already owned by the people of New South Wales.

Eastern Creek is a specialised motor racing area already booked throughout the year by commercial organisations, trade shows, and for driver training as well as racing. It operates at a profit and the accumulated surpluses are enough to contribute to the funding for the desired resurfacing of the racetrack. There is easy vehicle access from both the M4 freeway straight into the car park and from Wallgrove Road. Using the Eastern Creek site will enable a variety of motor races to be held in different configurations without any set-up or dismantling costs involved, and it inconveniences very few local residents.

I was interested to read a V8 fan’s Internet blog called V8central, which has some interesting comments that clearly show that what I have said is also the opinion of many V8 fans. The following comments ware made:
“Let’s face it, the track plan they have in place for Homebush is pathetic.”
Another enthusiastic writer wrote:
“Wait until they see how limited the viewing is at a street circuit like Homebush.”
Another comment was:
“The NSW government has no clue—they go from one bungled decision to another. If they approve a race at Homebush at least we can say they’re consistent, I guess.”
Another blogger wrote:
“Homebush will see the government wasting taxpayers money on an event that is unwanted by a lot of motorsport fans, environmentally unsound and has all the hallmarks of being a very boring track.”
Another V8 supercars fan wrote:
“Still unbelievably frustrating as a NSW tax payer—millions of our dollars are going into a 3 day event rather than our infrastructure and permanent motorsport facilities that have a year round benefit.”

If, as demonstrated by these quotes, even the V8 supercar racing fans are not excited about having the race at Homebush, then there should be a serious review of the Government’s intentions. I will not support a bill that allows V8 supercar racing to be established at Sydney Olympic Park against the will of the park authority, the local councils, the local citizens and the fans of V8 supercar racing. I cannot support the bill.

You must realise that these arguments were agreed to by many Labor politicians, but Minister Macdonald supported by the right wing led by Eddie Obeid, prevents any ALP member publicly agreeing or supporting what citizens rightfully want.

SYDNEY OLYMPIC PARK V8 SUPERCAR RACES No 2.

Reverend the Hon. Dr GORDON MOYES [5.20 p.m.]: “The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts is currently accepting public comment regarding the proposal to convert Sydney Olympic Park into a street circuit for the V8 supercar races. The public had 10 days to submit a comment from when it was posted on the departmental website on 6 March 2009, so only five days remain. Submissions must be directed towards the very specific terms of reference, which include: Is the area of national significance? Is it home to migratory bird species? Would the event damage protected wetlands? Does the area shelter ecological communities or threatened species? In the case of Sydney Olympic Park the answer is a resounding yes to each of these questions.

I have submitted my own comment to the proposal, but today I point out a number of questions left unanswered in the proposal that maybe of more interest to locals. Firstly, I note that no noise impact studies were done for human beings or domestic animals in the area around the parklands and that any noise testing undertaken involved testing during events at the showground or parkland, such as the Big Day Out, which generated no more than 51 decibels of noise and had no effect on the birds. Racing cars generate noise in the order of at least 90 to 95 decibels, so the proposal has purposely glossed over the real noise threat of the supercar event to birds and other wildlife.

Secondly, the timetable included in the proposal has the preparation work starting seven weeks before the race but elsewhere the document states that work will start 13 weeks before the race. I wonder what is supposed to happen between 13 and eight weeks before the race and why it is not detailed in the timetable proposed. In all, I note that the community will be disrupted for 17½ weeks for an event that will only last three days!

Thirdly, the removal of immature trees is part of the proposal. Local councils define immature trees as trees under five metres, with any tree over five metres protected by the Tree Preservation Act. The spotted gums along Australian Avenue, which the proponents intend to remove, are all over five metres tall—I have checked this—so they should fall under the Tree Preservation Act. In any case, the proposal does not stipulate a time frame for removal of the trees nor any mention of where alternative trees will be planted. Residents would like to know exactly how many trees along each median strip are to be removed.

A number of safety concerns have been raised. The proposal being assessed by the Commonwealth department does not stipulate when the road lane markings and cycle lane markings will be removed and replaced. This includes stop and give way signs, which are basic to road safety. These heavily used roads will be expected to re-open at 6.00 a.m. on the Monday following the race, so very little time is being given to have all the signs replaced. That poses a major safety issue for automobile traffic and cyclists. I ask whether that risk is one that road users of the area should be required to face. For whose benefit are we risking their lives?

I would like to raise many more points of concern to the public but instead I encourage residents and all other concerned citizens to read the proposal. Hopefully people can find it on the website of the Commonwealth Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts under “EPBC Act”, which appears in the left-hand column of the site. If people click on “Latest Referrals and Public Notices”, which can be found on the top right-hand side, they will be taken to a page entitled “Invitations to Comment”. They should then scroll down to “V8 Supercar Events”. Those who make it that far should receive a medal!

I ask those who read the proposal to please consider making a comment to the department on the plan to hold V8 supercar racing in Sydney Olympic Park, which was never designed for this purpose. It is my firm belief that this proposal is seriously wrong and I hope the department does not permit the event to proceed. Rather, the event should go to the purpose-built racetrack at Eastern Creek.”

On all three pieces of legislation, the ALP, The Liberals and the Christian Democratic Party (Rev Fred Nile) voted together to support Mr Macdonald. Only the Greens and myself opposed the legislation.

These comments of mine were directed to the then Minister Mr Ian Macdonald who rejected them without consideration. The ICAC evidence now reveals why. Whatever penalty the ICAC commissioner decides will not be enough for those who fleece the taxpayers, accept bribes, and benefit from the proceeds of crime.

REPLY: Thank you Eric. Yes, I have read Frank Sartor’s book, ‘The Fog on the Hill.” Two others on this era deserve also to be read. “From Carr to Keneally. (Clyne and Smith) and “Power Crisis. The Self Destruction of the Labor Party.’ (Rodney Cavalier). All of these are written from inside perspectives and documented research. After 10 years, I summarized my record in http://www.gordonmoyes.com/2010/12/09/vindication

Every day the ICAC investigation into former Ministers Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald shock the nation. But not those of us who spent ten years sitting opposite them. Check out in Hansard my constant questioning of Minister Macdonald, and read his sarcastic, sneering replies without answering the questions. At every vote Eddie would come to Rev Fred Nile and talk in hushed tones seeking the CDP to support the Government. I did not trust the man and rejected his appeals voting against him and Fred Nile who would vote and sit together. Rumours of his private dealings to advantage his family fortune were rife. I kept my distance.

But of course, Obeid and Macdonald were not the only ones. Minister Tony Kelly was found to be corrupt and awaits sentence. The Police Minister Matt Brown was dancing in his underpants and simulating sex acts with Noreen Hay. Noreen Hay was mixed up in the sex for development approvals of the Wollongong Council; Transport Minister David Campbell was Photographed exiting a homosexual massage parlour; Health Minister John Della Bosca was found having an affair with a student; Regional Development Minister Macdonald was sacked over cheating on his air travel expenses by falsely claiming $30,00, Ports Minister Paul Mcleay quit after he was caught using his office computer to access porn sites; Treasurer Eric Roosendaal was sent to ICAC alter being given a $10,000 discount on a new car organized by another ICAC identity, Moses Obeid (a son of Eddie Obeid) with all the financial arrangements hidden in secret deals. Minister Angela D’Amore was found by ICAC to be corrupt as was Karyn Paluzzano, who in 2012 was sentenced for falsely claiming parliamentary allowances, as well as giving false and misleading evidence to an anti-corruption inquiry. And this sad litany was not all. There were others, and senior department officials who were corrupt. By the March 2011 election one third of NSW Labor Members of Parliament had jumped ship or forced to walk the plank.

One bright light was Frank Sartor A.O. I had a great deal to do with him during the 1990’s in the build-up to the 2000 Olympics and thereafter. He was an excellent Lord Mayor of Sydney. Bob Carr persuaded him to stand for NSW Parliament, but he was always regarded by the labor mates as an “outsider’ and “a wog”. He was a Cabinet minister, he came within 2 votes of being elected Premier instead of Keneally, and he was constantly thwarted by his fellow ministers. Sartor’s book is largely self-justification but it also has some good ideas for the Party to rebuild itself. But they will not be considered because they come from him.

As a minister, I felt he was the best. With Government business coming up, he went out of his way to explain proposed legislation to me. He would come to my office or ring personally to check if I had any worries with any part of the proposal, and consequently I would support it and if I couldn’t I would explain why as a Christian I could not support it. He respected my view.

As for his list of qualities for both members of Parliament and Governments above, I wholeheartedly endorse them, and it was their lack in the lives of Labor parliamentarians for ten years that lost the support of the people of NSW.

Pat and Bruce Coventry are legends among Australian Missionaries to India. Now at 96 years, Bruce reflects upon his long missionary service in India, and his remarkable Christian service back in Australia since retirement.

They are people my wife and I have prayed for and whose service we honour. Coming from the home of a railway man, Bruce felt the call to training for the Ministry and so entered the Churches of Christ College of the Bible in Victoria in 1938, before I was born. He had wanted to be a missionary and completed the appropriate training but Australia was fully committed to the War and no missionaries were being sent overseas.

The death of one missionary in India, and the serious illness of another meant there was a crisis in the mission field, so in 1943 Bruce with his new wife Pat sailed across the Indian Ocean despite Japanese submarine attacks

They went first to the Dhond Hospital where the remarkable Dr George Oldfield was Medical Superintendent. Dr Oldfield was the only medical doctor for hundreds of miles. Bruce and Pat’s four daughters were all born there. Bruce and Pat were to serve in a girls’ home and a boys’ home at Baramati and Shrigonda 95 kilometres away. Bruce was involved in well-digging through solid rock, constructing many buildings and stone fences, establishing vegetable gardens. training Indian leaders, teachers, planting and harvesting crops, erecting stone buildings making their own lime mortar, expanding the Mission to new villages, organizing graduate training for potential new teachers, preaching every week in Marathi, baptizing, conducting weddings and funerals, building class rooms for the schools and houses for the teachers. It was nonstop hard work. They saw the Independence of India from Britain, the partition of Pakistan, and once met and spoke with Gandhi.

In 1964, Pat and Bruce returned to Australia to retire. The numbers of missionaries from Australia rapidly increased. He continued to work in the interests of the Christians in India. Bruce established in Adelaide his own small farm growing potatoes and cut flowers all the while conducting interim ministries in churches without ministers. His building skills were again in demand. At an age of 90 years, he retired from ministry and became a property developer! He built a row of industrial units for lease reserving one to generate profits for the first of two financial trusts he established. These trusts have generated significant profits (at least $50.000 p.a.) to support many Christian enterprises, plus a young Indian Christian medical student at University with his University fees and living expenses. Recently he built a retirement home for Pat and himself, and donated the residual land on the property to Churches of Christ for further retirement units.

Pat and Bruce still have much to do. I pray for their good health. If you ever wonder what missionaries do in a developing country, this is a book of incredible human accomplishment and of God’s grace.
ONLY BY HIS GRACE. BRUCE V.COVENTRY. Peacock Publications. 2012 (No charge for this book. but please give a donation to Churches of Christ Global Mission Partners, P0,6454, Halifax St Adelaide SA.

61 years ago this week, 110 boys, all in grey suits, short pants, ties and caps, started in year 7 (form 1) at the Box Hill Boys High School, Victoria. I was one of them. The school had 850 boys in 1951 and recently I joined with over 300 of them at a dinner in the Box Hill Town Hall.

Among the noisy ex-students the most frequent word uttered was “I” followed by “remember”. A few former teachers of that era were also present. In our classes they all used to wear university gowns. One of my teachers of English, now 97 years of age, who watched my television program each week for twenty-five years and writes to me: “Moyes, you said “You and I”. It should have been in the objective case. Obviously it was in the accusative hence you should have said “You and me”. You always had that weakness.” I reply “Yes Mr. Halliday”, the only 74 year-old student in Australia still responding to his English teacher.

World War 11 was close in 1951. Jack Guthrie, my Latin Master was addressed as “Wing Commander Guthrie”, and he wore his Air Force uniform and service ribbons every Thursday, when he took charge of 150 uniformed boys in Air Training Corp. It must have been hard for a man who was such a high-ranking officer as Wing Commander to settle back into “civy” life where his charges were very young teenagers.

My first Headmaster Mr. Moody had a gasping voice from being gassed in the trenches in France in 1916. He had landed at Galipoli in 1915. Our Anzac Day and Remembrance Day parades were very serious affairs.

Sport was real. My second Headmaster was W M (Bill) Woodful, the former Australian Test Cricket Captain, “bodyline” hero, and the man who had Don Bradman in his team. He had great pulling power and at our speech nights I remember: the Governor General. The Prime Minister, the Governor, and famous people like the explorer Sir Douglas Mawson as special guest speakers.

At the re-union dinner was our old sports master who represented Victoria in two sports and among our students were two medallists at 1956 Olympics. Every old boy on the tables about me was a University graduate. The general consensus was that our teachers were outstanding for their competence, dedication and strict but fair on their discipline. We sang the old school song with gusto and all agreed in our appreciation of a good public school education.

My association with Toongabbie Christian School and the Toongabbie Baptist Church goes back many years since I first visited. I have been to many parent nights, student presentations, teachers’ conferences and the like.

My Grandson Michael Schepis graduated, attended University, enjoys a senior work position, publishes a world-wide e-magazine with over 1 million subscribers, has built his own house. Yet was the bane of Mrs Helen Blanche who spent six years telling him to tuck his shirt in and straighten his tie. At school he found among his class mates his girlfriend, Georgina Spears who graduated here, then went to University and graduated, and now heads up an important design department for Ikea. She and Michael married, and are expecting their first child.

My grand-daughter, Rachel Schepis, graduated at year 12, spent 4 years at University studying Special Education, graduated and today teachers at St Gabriel’s school, in Castle Hill, an Independent Catholic Primary Special School catering for children with hearing impairment and other special needs such as intellectual disability and autism. While at Toongabbie Christian School, she met and fell in love with classmate Ethan West. He graduated at year 12, then graduated at the Police Academy at Goulburn and today serves in the Police Force. Rachael and Ethan live in Castle Hill.

Another grand-daughter, Emma Schepis graduated at year 12 from Toongabbie Christian School, went to University and studied nursing and is about to graduate as a registered nurse. She has a heart for Christian service since she went on the missions trip to Samoa with Mrs Sloane. So five members of my immediate family have good memories of Toongabbie Baptist Christian School.

This week, son David Moyes, who for the past ten years has been senior Pastor at Belconnen Baptist Church, has moved to the Gold Coast to become Senior Pastor of the large Reedy Creek Baptist Church which has established a primary and secondary college Hillcrest Christian College with over 1000 students. The Christian Church ministry and the Church’s mandate for Christian education is very important to us.

1. I HAVE BEEEN COMMITTED TO CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.

Churches are called not only to help people come to know Christ, but to grow in maturity in Him. So every church should have a Christian education program. I have always been interested in the Church’s education program and expanded its ministry in over fifty years of being a pastor. In each place we have had our Sunday Schools with hundreds of children, hundreds of people in weekly Bible study through hundreds of home groups. Every week I have taught adults on the life and ministry of Jesus. At Wesley Mission we pioneered the City School of the Bible and added courses for tele-counsellors and elders, university students and the disabled. At Wesley I expanded the School for Seniors to 1500 students in our in 120 classes with another 1000 students on our Central Coast Campus.

In 1988 we established Wesley Institute For Ministry and the Arts. Today Wesley Institute teaches at Bachelors and Masters Degree levels, Diploma and Graduate Diploma levels. A number of staff from Toongabbie Christian School have completed their education graduate qualifications at Wesley Institute. Students can gain degrees in theology, music, drama, dance, the visual arts, classical music, theatre, television and film, expressive therapies, and pastoral care. There re inter-campus agreements with Universities in Australia, America, Korea and Malaysia. Wesley Institute today has a fine large property in Drummoyne, a faculty of ninety two committed Christians, and eight hundred students.

While I was pastor I also established the Wesley Institute of Language and Commerce, which has another 500 students.

Twenty five years ago I started going every year or so to Tennessee USA, to teach a class of Ministry students completing their Master’s degree. Emmanuel Christian Seminary added me to their staff as Adjunct Professor of Christian Ministries. Back here I remain a Member of the Australian College of Education. Christian education is important to me.

2. CHRISTIAN EDUCATION IS A GROWING PHENOMENUM.

One of the first public buildings built in Australia was the female orphan school in Parramatta. It was built in 1813, perhaps, the first three-story brick building in the Southern Hemisphere. It still stands as an example of our commitment to education.
In recent years the number of secondary students in State run public schools has declined by 250,000, representing approximately 300 high schools closing. In the same period, some 250,000 new enrolments have been made in church run private schools, representing approximately 300 additional church high schools.

Despite the availability of free education at government schools, having to pay at private schools up to $50,000 just for tuition fees for six years secondary schooling, and larger student/staff ratios at private secondary schools, 43% of full-time secondary school students chose to study at private schools.

The Canadian author Malcolm Gladwell defines a tipping point as “that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behaviour crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire”. Based on the latest enrolment figures for the Australian Capital Territory, where the number of students enrolled in non-government secondary schools, for the first time, exceeds government school enrolments, it’s clear that education is experiencing a tipping point.

Why are parents voting with their feet and why are Catholic and independent schools so popular? Research, both nationally and internationally, concludes that Catholic and independent schools, even after adjusting for a school’s socio-economic profile, are able to achieve stronger results than government schools in areas like academic standards, completion rates and entry to tertiary studies. Students do well because of high levels of “parental and community involvement” with “higher standards of discipline and greater emphasis on academic performance”.

As a result the number of non-Catholic private schools has almost doubled in 20 years to just less than 1000. The major reason advanced by parents for this swing towards private and mostly church-run education, is a desire for their children to be taught in a moral and ethical environment. It has become accepted that people without ethics or morals, or an understanding of the meaning and purpose in life, despite their learning in specialised fields, have failed their education. There is a growing awareness of the need for a fresh emphasis upon ethics. I am not talking about a county in England!

Fundamentally, Christian Education is about encouraging a Christian commitment and a Christian outlook on life; a way of thinking and being in the world that disciplines and directs all our thoughts and words and actions. Christian Education is not a matter of learning new techniques, computers, facts and abilities. It is a matter of how we live.

Christian Education equips for the whole of life. Education concerns the ends of life, the meaning and purpose behind all we do. If we die without unlocking the door to own our reason for existence, we die impoverished and unfulfilled. The ends of life and the meaning behind all we do is fundamentally a religious understanding.

Some may think that is a high expenditure of trust and commitment, but as Professor Eric Bos, the President of Harvard University said, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” Nowhere is that more true that in the realm of your spiritual understanding. The cost of spiritual ignorance is high, but the benefits are eternal.

There is a demand in Australia for leadership – leadership that has grown in its education, knowledge and wisdom, and which holds to ethical, moral and spiritual values. Therefore it is absolutely essential for every student to face the claims of Jesus Christ upon his or her life and respond. We are not teaching technique, skills, religion alone – we are teaching how Jesus Christ makes you a brand new person. We seek to help you be filled with His gifts and graces to become the person He wants you to be.
Some people disparage a Christian Education. They, who never read the Bible, disparage it as a source of great insights for living. My wife and I share every night in reading the Bible and recently reading the book of Genesis, I realised that most of the things I ever needed to know about life, I could learn from Noah.

For example I have learned: 1. Don’t miss the boat. 2. Don’t forget that we’re all in the same boat. 3. Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark. 4. Stay fit. When you’re 600 years old, someone might ask you to do something really big. 5. Don’t listen to critics; just get on with what has to be done. 6. Build your future on high ground. 7. For safety’s sake, travel in pairs. 8. Two heads are better than one. 9. Speed isn’t always an advantage; after all, the snails were on the ark with the cheetahs! 10. When you’re stressed, float a while. 11. Remember you can do it. The ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic was built by professionals. 12. Remember that the termites inside are a larger threat than the flood outside. 13. Don’t leave the church, for like the ark, the stench inside is better than the storm outside. 14. No matter the storm, when God is with you, there’s a rainbow waiting…and so on.

The Bible is the primary source for Christians in learning the major lessons of life. Not the only textbook, but the primary one. To know the Bible is to know the richest resource in knowing how to live.

Our generation has become expert in making money, in displaying greed, in developing technological answers while the real problems are relational! Experts provide us with a wealth of information. They load the table with countless pieces of the jigsaw puzzle. The real task of education is to help people put them together. Our life is like a game of Monopoly as we buy and borrow, avoid jail, advance asking ever more from the rest, putting money and property as the end game. Hence T.S. Eliot asks: ‘Where is the life we have lost in the living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?’

3. HENCE CHRISTIAN EDUCATION IS ESSENTIAL.

The last and greatest command of Jesus was: Mat 28:18-20. “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Our love for Christ carries with it obligations. The first is obedience to His teaching. That is why Jesus said, “If you love Me you will obey my commandments”. (John 14:15). It is not optional. There are some who want to love Him but not obey Him. Others want to do the works of Jesus, but not to love Him. They are busy with good deeds but they do not have words of faith. Some have words of faith, but do not follow them with deeds of kindness. The Christian has both words and deeds. We are incomplete if we have deedless words or wordless deeds. We need always the deed and the Word.

I asked my grandson Michael and his wife what it was about Toongabbie Christian School that in retrospect that impressed them most. They told me it was the pastoral care of Christian staff, particularly of Mr Lawrence who would ask about their interests and pray for them. They say they hope their coming child will attend this school.

Establishing a Christian school is not the only responsibility of Toongabbie Baptist Church. Nor is Toongabbie Christian School the only Christian school this church should support. The church must support Christian education in scripture classes in local public schools, support Christian teachers, run its own Christian education and Bible study programs, groups, Sunday School and vacation school programs.

This church must also fulfil all of the responsibilities of a church committed to the Gospel, evangelism, pastoral care, missions, theological training, social welfare, and so on.

The Apostle Peter told Christians to grow in their knowledge and character “Divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins”. 2 Peter 1:3-9

When we know God through Christ, the believer escapes the corruption of sin, and Christ renews and restores the image of God within. Once reborn, Peter calls for a progressive, active Christianity that sees our knowledge grow and our character change. Peter’s chain of eight virtues starts with faith and ends in love. As Ignatius said: “Faith is the beginning and love is the end”. If we possess the eight virtues he has just listed, they will not be “ineffective and unproductive”.

Christian Education is about the development of a Christian character. It is not about the pursuit of happiness, although we rejoice with those who find happiness. It is not about the development of the well-rounded individual who will contribute positively to society, although we expect that our students to become well-balanced and worthy citizens. It is not directly about the fostering of gifts and talents, although we delight in seeing our students grow in the exercise of all their talents. It is not about achieving excellence, although we see that as a natural by-product of Christian education. It is not about success and self-fulfilment, although both of those things may be evident for many.

In the Scriptures God has commanded two institutions to educate: the home and the church. As an extension of either or both of these institutions, the Christian school has a Biblical mandate to educate and the Christian Church has a mandate to support both.

Ron’s self-depreciating assessment is typical of a humble servant of Jesus Christ, who served him as a AIF Chaplain during World War 2, who accepted the call of God with Shirley his wife and four sons, to minister in half a dozen locations in Victoria and South Australia. None of these churches were great, but his people skills were great and in every place progress and a growing endearment to an ever increasing circle of friends followed. I can think of a dozen churches who desperately need a minister with his skills and commitment.

Ron was a great builder of churches and in their mid –eighties are still at it. He was a keen radio ham with a world wide circle of friends. He was also a professional magician, and could keep audiences enthralled.

If you want to know what a minister of religion did in the twentieth century this is as good an account as you could read. A faithful minister whose focus was God and whose Lord was Jesus Christ. So good and readable was this book, I read all 190 pages in one sitting!

Rev John Flynn pushed the Presbyterian Church into establishing the Inland Mission covering the inland with a mantle of safety through its pedal radio network and flying Doctor Service. The Methodist Church in Australia was far behind but anxious to catch up in its service to the inland.

So the NSW Methodist Conference in 1946 launched the Methodist Nursing Service. This was to be centred in Brewarrina and a double certificate nursing sister, Ethel Helyar (who was also a lay preacher and deaconess) was the founding sister. She was joined by Marjorie Wilkinson (who held similar qualifications) and subsequently by a score of young women who went from the Methodist Leigh College after theological training as deaconesses with additional medical training – to bring medical, dental, accident and emergency nursing, to conduct religious services, youth camps, weddings and funerals and with the practical skills to enable them to survive in such a harsh environment covering a region of 35,000 square miles in an ambulance truck called “Augustus”. This also necessitated the mechanical skills to repair the truck. Their base was in Brewarrina, half way between Walgett and Burke.

In 1950 Shirley Garlick joined them, one of the first of a score of other similarly dedicated and competent young women. Shirley came from a committed Methodist family, very concerned for the Church’s care for the poor. I saw those qualities in Shirley’s mother in her senior years. While working in Brewarrina she met a young wool classer who had developed his own wool buying business and who owned his own wool stores. He kept his property in immaculate condition, which may have attracted the attention of Shirley. He lived on a grazing property, “Fernlee”. He frequently met her when he was fighting floods and the sisters were providing the men with tea.

Lance Dunbar built up the grazing property and it became a substantial property. He and Shirley became engaged and eventually married. But the Methodist Church and Far West Mission leaders in Sydney took a dim view of the marriage of one of their nursing sisters becoming married, so Shirley was terminated causing her deep hurt which lasted 60 years. She told me often of her wish to receive an apology from the Church, but I did not think it would come, as apologising for their errors was not a habit the Methodist and subsequently the Uniting Church practised, as I also knew from experience (see above).

But if it was to be done a campaign had to be led by an outstanding negotiator. We had one on the staff of Wesley Mission and we gave the task to Dr Keith Suter. He argued and badgered until he was able to arrange the first Pastoral Concern Service of Forgiveness and Reconciliation for a married deaconess forced into resignation. A formal apology from the Church President was read out by the then Moderator at a special service organised for Mrs Dunbar in December 2005. It took half a century for the church to recognize its error and apologise for it.

Lance and Shirley made “Fernlee” a centre for the community with Shirley being the unsurpassed hostess. Their three children all attended boarding school. But their property had conservation areas for brolgas, wild birds, emus and kangaroos. Occasional church services were held in the open air on the homestead lawns, surrounded by the orchard and gardens.

Eventually, like many outback graziers, Lance and Shirley sold up and came to live in Bellevue Hill Eastern Sydney in a grand house with superb views over Sydney Harbour and the Heads. It was here that Beverley and I, in the late seventies, first became guests at a dinner party to meet some of Sydney’s “rich and famous” who lived nearby.

Shirley was a gracious hostess, but she was just as much at home among Wesley’s homeless and derelict people. She was a great supporter of Wesley Mission’s ministry to the poor and homeless, and a long-time supporter of Rev Noreen Towers. Every Christmas Day, my family and I spent the morning with two hundred homeless people at Edward Eagar Lodge, and Shirley was also present talking with our residents as they had a cup of tea. She knew many by name and took a real interest in their welfare.

That was also true every Sunday night in Wesley Theatre or in the Lyceum Theatre before the new Centre was built. She never missed a service of either Dr Alan Walker or of myself over a period of 40 years. The poor, the disabled, the unemployed, the homeless had in Shirley a true friend. Over time she visited all of our various congregations including those beyond the inner city. When Lifeline was commenced she became a life-long supporter. In the 1990’s when I was opening a new building or service centre every month of the year, Shirley was always present.

She was an elder who took her congregational activities seriously. The congregations regarded her as the most loved and well-known of members. She was an elected member of the Parish Council and Presbytery. For thirty-five years she was a Board member oversighting every decision made during our huge years of expansion and rebuilding. She was among the first committee of 8 Board members who came to Melbourne to interview Beverley and myself in 1977, before issuing a recommendation that we be appointed the new Superintendent. She sat at my invitation at many interviews I conducted to appoint senior staff. She mixed and mingled as a Board member at Staff planning days, and staff retreats. The staff deeply appreciated her presence and interest. I had lunch with her and some others over 250 times and we attended over 100 dinners together. She always was good company, and interested as we discussed developments and plans together. She was every year among our major donors and received from the church every honour we could bestow.

When Lance suffered a stroke in 1984 that was the start of a long period nursing her husband. I visited him regularly at home and hospital and later in two nursing homes. Shirley was totally committed to his care. They sold their house in Bellevue Hill and lived subsequently in a large unit overlooking the Harbour at Darling Point. Later, Shirley, who decades before fought cancer with radical surgery and chemotherapy, came to need assisted care herself. She continued to trust God and to thank visitors and staff for every attention.

A monument stands in the centre of Brewarrina recalling the ministry of those Far West Mission Sisters and Shirley’s name is carved into that monument with those of her colleagues. Wesley Mission will shortly conducted a service of thanksgiving for the life of Shirley Dunbar ( 14th January 1927 – 19th January 2013.)

We miss her greatly and thank God for every memory. We extend our condolences to her children and grandchildren of whom she was so proud.

At a meeting in Gosford this week, I noticed all the vans and cages of Lennon Bros Circus featuring performing Canines, lions, horses, monkeys, the Flying Trapeze, Clowns and much more. (Tickets Adult Ringside $40, Child $30 etc…) What brilliantly lit and brightly painted city of entertainment!

Near our place is a lovely sports oval and it is occupied with a dozen red and white tents and fifteen caravans. Another circus is in town. Webers Circus has a long history in classic and modern circus shows featuring the dangerous Wheel of Death, High Wire, Trapeze, Miniature Horses, Performing Dogs, Aerial and Acrobatic acts, Clowns, and heaps more.

The circus has always been part of Australian life since the 1850’s. From the 1850s until the introduction of television in the 1950s, travelling shows brought to Australian people an extraordinary diversity of popular culture including opera, variety acts, minstrels, moving pictures, magicians, magic lanterns, waxworks, bell ringers, Negro gospel singers, and bands of musicians, marionettes, boxers, merry-go-rounds, menageries and carnivals. However, the earliest example of an Australian travelling show was the circus specializing in displays of fine horses and horsemanship.

Sergeant-Major Philip Astley, in London began a long and eventful history as an open air riding school in the 1770s. When Australia was first settled by the British in 1788 it was not long before a colonial circus industry – performers, entrepreneurs, audiences and prosperity – fell into place. Initially, colonial circus troupes were presented in immovable “amphitheatres”.

An English-born publican, raconteur and expert horseman, Robert Avis Radford built and pioneered the first successful circus in Australia. Radford’s was a timber building adjoining his drinking house, the Horse & Jockey Inn, Launceston, and opened in 1847. Radford presented feats of horsemanship, dancing, vaulting, gymnastics, acrobatics, clowning, and pieces of equestrian burlesque.

Almost every Australian circus may trace its origins directly or indirectly to Radford’s pioneering enterprise. James Henry Ashton, who gave his first Australian appearances as ‘the renowned British horseman’ in Radford’s in 1848, founded his own touring circus a few years later. His circus is still going strong today, seven generations later, arguably making it the oldest circus company in the English speaking-world. A contemporary of Ashton, and a former employee of Radford, was the London-born acrobat and equestrian Matthew St Leon (c1826-1903), who established one of Australia’s’ famous circus companies in the 1850s.

Very soon, however, the Australian circus acquired the characteristics of mobility with which they are today identified – tents, touring circuits and transportability. The first great Australian gold rushes, beginning in 1851, provided an impetus for the spread and growing popularity of circus entertainments throughout the Australian colonies. Gold dust or a nugget was sufficient to admit the ‘diggers’ to a circus tent. As tributes to their charms and talents, female riders received showers of nuggets tossed in their direction by enraptured diggers.

The circuses of Australia became itinerant affairs that rolled from town to town in covered wagons and showed in large tents. Each circus carried its own brass band, comprised whenever possible of authentic German musicians. In the bush, the great Australian family circuses – Ashton’s, St Leon’s, Sole Bros, Perry Bros and others – plied their trade well into the twentieth century.

When the size of the population warranted a stay, everyone in the district would turn out to see the circus, some having a three-day journey in bullock teams and making a week’s picnic excursion for the show.

It was customary, particularly if a travelling circus had been well attended in a country town, to give the last night’s stay for a ‘benefit’ performance to assist in the building of a school, Masonic hall, school of arts, hospital, town hall or church. The generosity of the early circus proprietors, however, was usually of the unsolicited kind. ‘Free and open handed with his money’ was the old man St Leon, while Ashton rarely missed a chance to play a benefit in aid of a local charity, flood relief or building fund.

By the early 1900s, Wirth Bros Circus was the largest circus company in Australia. Their use of standardized routes, imported companies of artistes, lavish promotion and programming, large circus bands of professional musicians and electric lighting distinguished this great era of Australian circus. Touring by rail and steamship, Wirth Bros was firmly established as Australia’s largest and most prestigious circus company until challenged by Bullen Bros Circus in the 1950s. Wirth’s built their own Olympia amphitheatre in Melbourne on the site now occupied by the National Art Gallery. I visited there regularly as a kid and later it was used for large scale evangelistic rallies for churches. I was baptised in the circus ring before thousands of people.

The dominant features of the early circus were horses and horsemanship. Then came acts drawn from the music hall – jugglers, trapeze artists and specialties such as mind readers, high divers and talking horses. A third stage was animal-based acts. We then had international circuses, such as the Great Moscow Circus and Cirque Du Soleil – “Circus of the Sun” ,Cirque Du Soleil is one of the most unique and amazing spectacles you will ever witness.

Finally, there is a group of new Australian circuses such as Circus Oz, based in Melbourne, and the Flying Fruit Fly Circus with the ‘Fruit Flies’ some 100 children. The company has performed at the Edinburgh Festival, and at Italy’s Veneto Festival, while its aerialists have appeared with the Great Moscow Circus during its Australian tours. These new circuses have won acclaim in recent years, not only in Australia but internationally and will assure the continuity of Australian circus into the new millennium.

These days there is much public opposition to exotic animal acts with lions, tigers, seals, and elephants. I have described the activities of one of these circuses in Australian Short Stories: http://www.gordonmoyes.com/2006/02/10/the-greatest-show-on-earth

Animal cruelty is an important issue. In Parliament in a debate on proposed legislation relating to animal cruelty, I made reference to the fact that there is much truth in the saying in the biblical book of Proverbs 12:10 that “a righteous man cares for the needs of his animals but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel”. The Bible never fails to provide insight into the human psyche, and is as relevant today as it has been to past generations. Instances of animal cruelty are heart wrenching and offensive to civilised standards of conduct. It is a reality that many instances of animals subjected to cruel and inhumane treatment go unnoticed.

Twenty five years ago Tom Regan’s landmark book “The Case for Animal Rights” awakened many people. Yet little has been done since to reduce the suffering of farm animals in Regan’s native US, or in Australia, for that matter. While this book was regarded as a pioneer in animal welfare, the most eloquent and forceful argument on behalf of animals was expressed 200 years ago:

“The day may come when the rest of the animal creation may acquire those rights which never could have been withholden from them but by the hand of tyranny. The French have already discovered that the blackness of the skin is no reason why a human being should be abandoned without redress to the caprice of a tormentor. It may one day come to be recognised the number of legs, the villosity of the skin, or the termination of the sacrum are reasons equally insufficient for abandoning a sensitive being to the same fate. What else is it that should trace the insuperable line? Is it the faculty of reason, or perhaps the faculty of discourse? Isn’t a full-grown horse or dog a rational as well as conversable animal? But suppose they were otherwise, what would it avail? The question is not, “Can they reason?” nor “Can they talk?” but “Can they suffer?”

With those words, the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) nailed why mistreating animals diminishes people. While animals can’t speak in ways we understand and their intellect is lacking, they are entitled to be treated with concern because that possesses the most important attribute that qualifies an entity for moral standing: the capacity to feel pain.

The focus on animal welfare issues has been greatly sharpened by a number of increasingly sophisticated, commercially savvy organisations such as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), Voiceless, Animals Australia, RSPCA, NSW Animal Welfare League, and WSPA (World Society for the Protection of Animals) just to name a few.

Such groups have dropped the hyperbole and extremism that was symptomatic of earlier animal welfare movements. They are measured in their approach and intent on connecting with mainstream Australians. They are also becoming an entrenched feature of the top end of town. Indeed, some of them are led by corporate high-flyers, such as former BP Australia boss Greg Bourne, who now runs WWF Australia.

The maturity and increased effectiveness of the new breed of animal welfare groups is marked by a central tenet: public opinion and behaviour cannot be shaped by jarring people into action, even with factually sound information. People will follow only if you find common ground with them. In terms of animal welfare, ‘pain is bad’ is the common ground. Against this bedrock of concern, the movement is winning people over with facts about the enormity of animal suffering.

For instance, factory farm pigs are confined in concrete pens so small that the animals are unable to turn around. They are denied contact with other pigs and suffer painful ailments through standing on hard floors. Their confinement results in depression and a range of other dysfunctional behavioural traits.

In the wool industry lambs have their tails cut off and males are castrated, and anaesthetic is not an option. Also, most battery hens never have the chance to spread their wings and are painfully debeaked, causing much pain.

When I was in primary school. I had been to the circus and felt sorry for the tigers and the lions and the poor elephants. I remembered the poem:
“T’would ring the bells of heaven
The wildest peel for years,
If the parson lost his senses
And the people came to theirs,
And he and they together
Knelt down with angry prayers
For tamed and shabby tigers,
And dancing dogs and bears,
And wretched blind ponies,
And little hunted hares.”
Ralph Hodgson

I am not thrilled to see the circus tents and cages. Certainly we will not be taking our grandchildren.

The induction of a new Minister of Pastoral Care with special responsibilities as Chaplain for the Retirement Village is a high moment in the lives of church members and village residents alike. If the Chaplain has a successful ministry in the Retirement Village, the relationship established today will last through the life-time of most present residents. The last time I inducted a Chaplain here, was with Pastor Jordan who has served faithfully these past thirteen years.

Today we induct a new Chaplain who also will have responsibility for the pastoral care of church members. If the Pastoral Care minister has a successful ministry then church members will be delighted. It is absolutely essential for every church to have good Pastoral care available for members for there are times when every member of the church can have need of pastoral care. Obviously that includes times of sickness and hospitalization, times of family trauma and accident, birth of a new child, retirement from work, times of change of direction of family members, marriage stress and personal challenge.

Personally, although senior minister of two very large churches with specialist ministers on staff for every need, I always felt I had to fulfil a pastoral care role for my ministry to be rounded and for my preaching to be relevant. For over fifty years I visited members in every time of need known to me, and celebrated a private communion with those in hospital or frail and housebound. (A description of my understanding of how every minister should be a Pastor is found in my autobiography, “Leaving a Legacy” Chapter 8 Pastor)

1. A CHAPLAIN AND PASTORAL CARE MINISTER.

The Chaplain is an integral part of the caring team, in every Retirement Village, Church, hospital, school and prison where so appointed. A chaplain is a clergy-person authorised to perform religious functions for a family, a royal court, a school, a unit in the armed forces, prison, or other institution. A chaplain leads religious services in a public assembly, legislative body, or fraternal organisation. But what is the primary role of the Pastoral Carer in an aged care centre and church?

2. THE PRIMARY ROLE OF THE CHAPLAIN AND PASTORAL CARE MINISTER.

Over the years I have had to direct Chaplains and Pastoral Care ministers to their primary focus. One thought his ministry was to be an advocate for residents before management, the chief bearer of complaints. Another thought his role was to improve the management and administration. Another thought her role was to help staff grieve in the passing of a resident. Another thought his role was to earn his keep by walking around and chatting while his important work was done elsewhere. For all the conferences chaplains have attended, you would think a role definition was simple.

Yet I have had to remind chaplains to encourage prayer among the people. An aged care facility and the church can be the power house of the whole community if people are encouraged to spend time in prayer. I have had to remind chaplains that a retirement village is a field white unto harvest for evangelism. When I was a chaplain to the four retirement villages I built in Victoria in the 1970’s, I had the privilege of leading many residents to Christ, and to baptising many in advanced years. Chaplains who do not lead residents to Christ and baptism are failing in their responsibilities under their ordination. Their worship services will not grow.

But the primary task is to bring comfort to residents. For some this will mean a sense of hope in a world where many despair. I never visited a unit without reading a passage of scripture and praying with the resident. For others it will mean sitting with them in their units and listening in friendship, bringing from the Word of God some assurance that will hold them long after the chaplain has left.

For others, it will mean the binding up of a broken heart, for as Tennyson said, “Never morning wore to evening, but some heart did break.” For others it will mean the discovery that their sins can be forgiven, or of an assurance of heaven and reunion with loved ones who have died in faith.

Even the most adventurous of us need comfort. Even the most Christian of us needs comfort. The Apostle Paul was a trail-blazing, courageous, pioneer missionary. But after years in the work, and endless hardships endured, he needed some comfort.

2 COR 7:2-7 “I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you. I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you. I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds. For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him. He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever.”

Paul had expected to meet Titus in Macedonia, but he was not there. Paul’s body had no rest. In 2:13 he had said his “mind” had no rest at Troas. “Fears within” alludes to Paul’s persistent apprehension about Titus’s reception at Corinth, his safety in travel, and the Corinthian response to the “severe letter” he had written to them. “Conflicts on the outside” points to violent quarrelling that focused on Paul and to persistent persecution that beset him in Macedonia.

It seemed to Paul that from the human point of view his whole future as apostle to the Gentiles was related to the Corinthians’ reaction to his assertion of authority in the letter delivered by Titus. And now the non-arrival of Titus tended to confirm his worst fears. God used three means to dispense comfort to the depressed or downhearted apostle: the actual arrival of Titus; Titus’s positive experience at Corinth (“the comfort you have given him”); and the reassuring news he brought.

It was of great comfort for Paul to hear the Corinthians’ attitude toward him, of their “affection” for him, their desire to see him and be reconciled to him, their “deep sorrow” over their disloyal behavior, and their “ardent concern” to defend Paul’s cause and to discipline the guilty party in Corinth. Titus’s safe arrival from Corinth brought Paul joy and comfort.

Many Church members and residents of a retirement village can know distress and discouragement. Sometimes it is a result of the forgetfulness and lack of care from their families or from other residents or staff. But their minds have no rest, their spirits are depressed, and they find conflict wears them down. The coming of a Pastoral Care minister or chaplain at the door, like the unexpected arrival of Titus, brings them comfort. That ministry, like that of Paul, can be augmented by the training of others to be Pastoral Care Team members. In my ministry I have insisted that in every hospital, prison, retirement Village, School or other centre of ministry, the Chaplain or a Pastoral Care minister in the Church builds a Pastoral care team to care for the needs of people.

While writing this, I rang a close friend who is one of the best Chaplains and Pastoral Care ministers I know. We trained together fifty years ago, worked together in evangelism and mission, and for the last twenty years, Rev Ian Richer has been Chaplain to the mines of the Hunter, both deep long wall underground mines and the huge open cut mines. He has been on hand for every accident, every tragedy in the mines, has been in the homes of those hurt, in the hospital of those crushed and injured, has buried the dead, and stayed in the homes of the grieving, he is the marriage counselor, celebrant, and carer for many mining communities and the first person people turn to. He is the chief burden bearer on the Hunter mines.

When Titus brought comfort to Paul, how much this comfort meant to him can be seen in that in this Epistle, 2 Corinthians 1-9 paraklesis “comfort” occurs nine times and its verbal form parakaleo, “comfort” eight times.

Christian leaders have always known the essential nature of bringing comfort to people. John Wesley encouraged every believer to join in a class meeting. He saw the class meeting as the cornerstone of the whole edifice of the young Methodist Church. The classes were in effect house churches, not classes for instruction, as the term `class’ might suggest.

These groups met in the various neighbourhoods where people lived. The class leaders could be men or women. They were effectively pastors, chaplains and disciplers. The class system, introduced in London in 1742, became the world-wide Methodist pattern.

The duties of the class leader as given by Wesley were twofold: to see each person in the class once a week at the least, in order to inquire how their souls prosper; to advise, reprove, comfort, or exhort, as occasion may require; and to receive what they would give toward the relief of the poor. I know of no better job description of a Chaplain in a Retirement Village or a Pastoral Care minister in the Church. But the Chaplain/Pastoral Care Minister has an even more significant role.

3. THE CHAPLAIN/ PASTORAL CARE MINISTER MINISTERS FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT.

The Chaplain is to be the chief comforter among the village residents. “Comforter” was also the name given to the Holy Spirit by Jesus. The Holy Spirit was described by Jesus as our always available comforter. The comforter was first seen as Jesus’ representative after his death (John 14:16) and His successor in His teaching role (14:26), of witnessing (15:26) and of convincing or convicting the world (16:7).

The word “comforter” can be translated as “Helper”; “Counselor”; “Advocate.” The background of the Greek term lies in the law court where the Paraklete helped someone. The Holy Spirit is another “Helper” alongside Jesus for the believer. As Jesus helped disciples during His earthly ministry, so the Spirit helps them after the ascension as they face a hostile world. Jesus promised that when He left this earth He would send a helper, a comforter, to be with us to strengthen us. The Latin “cum fortis” means “with strength”. The Holy Spirit comes alongside of us to comfort us with strength.

Bible translators of the Miao Hill tribe in Western China could not find an equivalent word for Comforter. Then one of the missionary translators heard a local man say he was going to visit a woman whose son had died in order to “get her heart round the corner”. Instantly the missionary translator knew he had the word for the work of the Holy Spirit: “The Comforter – one who comes to you and gets your heart around the corner.” The Holy Spirit convicts, converts and comforts the believer. The Chaplain is the person on staff in a village or minister in the church who can help you, when you are faced with great difficulties to get your heart around the corner. The Chaplain is the embodiment of the Holy Spirit coming to each resident to convict, convert and comfort.

The New Testament meaning of “comfort,” is “to come alongside with strength.” So in the Old Testament, “Comfort ye my people” Isaiah 40:1 means not only to give the power of calm endurance of affliction, but also the brightest hopes of the future and the gifts of Divine grace. This would be the result of an attentive Chaplain or minister: the people would receive the power of calm endurance of affliction, the brightest hopes of the future, the gifts of Divine grace, and be as the Holy Spirit the presence of the Living Christ with the person upon whom the Chaplain has called.

“Comfort my people” said the Lord. That is the primary task of the chaplain/ pastoral care minister. May you fulfil it well.

In Australia we have the Shooters Party supported by the Christian Democratic Party (Fred Nile Group) pushing the Government into line with their policies of more gun ownership, younger age for shooters and permission to shoot animals and birds in National Parks. Yet the facts say that since the courageous stand of the Parliaments following the 1996 mass shootings in the U.K. and Hobart, the anti-gun legislation passed then has had a lasting, positive impact in both countries.

In an attack not dissimilar to what took place at Sandy Hook, a shooter burst into a gymnasium of a school in the Scottish town of Dunblane on March 13, 1996, and turned his four handguns on a group of unsuspecting 5 and 6-year-olds assembled there. Sixteen children and one teacher were killed; the gunman, a deranged unemployed shopkeeper, then turned his weapon on himself. Among the dazed pupils forced to take cover during the assault was British tennis champ Andy Murray, then 8 years old. The outcry in the U.K. was immense. What followed was a drastic overhaul of existing British gun laws by the sitting Tory government. There was a ban on handguns and automatic weapons, as well as an onerous system of ownership rules involving hours of paperwork, criminal reference checks, and mandatory references designed to reduce as far as possible the likelihood of guns falling in the wrong hands.

Despite a surge in gun-related offenses in the early 2000s, the past seven years in the U.K. have seen successive drops in gun crimes — a consequence, some argue, of the country’s tougher laws on gun ownership

Just a month after the 1996 Dunblane attack, a shooter in the town of Port Arthur, Tasmania, went on a rampage, killing 35 people in what is the worst single episode of such slaughter in Australian history. The then months-old old government of conservative Prime Minister John Howard — who would go on to rule for over a decade — initiated a sweeping set of reforms, even in the face of opposition from allies in Australia’s right wing. The new measures banned the sale and possession of all automatic and semiautomatic rifles and shotguns. Moreover, the government instituted a mandatory buyback scheme that compensated owners of newly illegal weapons. Between 1996 and ’98, some 700,000 guns were retrieved by the government and destroyed.

The results have been tangible: gun-related homicides in Australia dropped 59% between 1995 and 2006. The firearm-suicide rate dropped 65%. There has been no mass shooting in Australia since the Port Arthur attack.

Americans often argue that their country’s unique political culture and ubiquity of gun ownership make similar anti-gun measures unthinkable. The 700,000 firearms Howard’s government retrieved from its citizenry was a fifth of the total possessed by Australians at the time — in the U.S., that equivalent figure would mean confiscating some 40 million to 50 million guns.

Yet while the scale is vastly different, the politics ought not be. Like the U.S., Australia is a frontier society built on a rugged, pioneering individualism. We have our own armed outlaws and bushrangers from Ned Kelly to the latest Outlaw Motor Bikie gangs in South Western Sydney who almost weekly shoot up houses and murder enemies.
But, in the wake of the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado., Howard, a staunch conservative, voiced a criticism seemingly still too subversive for anyone in Washington to repeat. John Howard, whose personal courage in facing down angry gun-owners without the protection of a bullet proof vest won him a vast following, said: “The US The Second Amendment, crafted in the immediate post-revolutionary years, is more than 200 years old and was designed to protect the right of local communities to raise and maintain militia for use against external threats (including the newly formed national government!). It bears no relationship at all to the circumstances of everyday life in America today. Yet there is a near religious fervour about protecting the right of Americans to have their guns — and plenty of them.”

Whether American politicians can muster the same compassion and courage as John Howard remains to be seen. It all depends on whether Americans love guns more than their children.

Read more from this week’s TIME : http://world.time.com/2012/12/17/when-massacres-force-change-lessons-from-the-u-k-and-australia/#ixzz2FSTelGUk

Yet Australian politicians are similar to US politicians. In 2006, after speaking in Parliament against the opening up of the restrictions on gun use, even by children as young as twelve, I voted with only four others against the Bill. Since then the gun lobby has targeted me. That includes some of the most deranged Christians I have met who tell me of the joy they have in killing God’s creatures.

They demand I have a change of heart about gun ownership. Gun owners are very passionate, and many express very emotional viewpoints. The psychological reasons why some people get pleasure in shooting animals with highly sophisticated weapons, or from shooting representations of creatures such as on targets and clay pigeon shooting is quite worrying. The shooter mentality is a dangerous one.

The basic fact is that everyone who is killed by a gun is killed by a gun owned by somebody. The ownership of guns is in direct proportion to their use in killing people. I will examine the statistical evidence.

First let me state this is not an academic exercise. My life has been seriously threatened by persons wielding a gun. You can read about threats to my life in my autobiography “Leaving a Legacy” p 192- 202. You can read more details for yourself on http://www.gordonmoyes.com/2006/01/01/media-presenter

After a series of threats to kill me because of my support for the Family Law Court on my four hour radio program for seventeen years heard on 2GB and the Macquarie network, the radio station had to change its procedures to prevent access to radio studios. Deranged men with guns visited our home in the daytime and at5 midnight.

A US National Institute of Justice Survey found that 2.5 million citizens used guns in self-defence in one year, and lived to tell about it. [It did not include numbers of people who died trying to defend themselves with their guns.] A Florida State University study found that 322,000 women had used guns in the previous year to defend themselves successfully from threatened rape. It also found that 466,000 Americans had successfully defended themselves and their homes from robbery. [It did not collect data on how many women with guns were raped despite having the weapon, nor how many homes of gun owners were burgled despite the presence of weapons.]

Some of these people reported defending themselves merely by reaching for, or brandishing the gun, not actually having to fire it, in order to frighten off the would-be attackers/robbers. So, the guns protected these people even without being fired.

One is ‘now six times more likely to be mugged in London than New York’, because armed individuals can protect themselves and criminals are less likely to mug people who may be carrying guns. But without even carrying a gun, if it is in a jurisdiction where it is legal to do so, that possibility wards off the would-be muggers.

Murder with guns is committed more frequently in the US than anywhere else in the developed world. For African-American males age 14-25 guns are the leading cause of death. Every 2-½ years guns kill as many Americans as died in the Vietnam War. Last year over 12,000 US citizens died from being shot with a handgun.

There is no social consensus on gun control and there are 300 million known guns in the USA. Some lawmakers have been trying to put more of them into the hands of law-abiding citizens to help offset the ones in the hands of the criminals. But is arming the citizenry the best way to go?

Health and gun ownership is not as simple to study as health and smoking. The studies that show that ‘homes with guns are more likely to be the scene of a homicide’ can be interpreted in different ways. First, it can be interpreted to mean the guns were dangerous to have in the house and led to a death. But it could also be interpreted to mean the householder obtained a gun in the first place because where they lived was dangerous. Ambiguities abound throughout gun research, and seem to reflect the worldview of the interpreter more than stand as objective fact.

Personal interpretation cannot change the fact that the 8 leading causes of violence-related injury deaths, for all ages, races, and sexes, are dominated by ‘homicide by firearm’ and ‘suicide by firearm’. Firearms are the 8th leading cause of violence-related deaths of babies under 12 months, the 3rd leading cause of death for 1 – 4 year olds, and the top cause of death of 5 – 9 year olds. These are all homicides (intentional or accidental), and unbearable to think about; but do think about them. If guns were not readily available these babies and youngsters would not have been shot by playmates, schoolmates, intruders, siblings, or parents.

The top causes of violence-related death in American 15 to 65 year olds are firearm homicide or firearm suicide. The highest rates of all are the over-65 year olds using firearms to suicide.

Research conducted by Kellermann found that there were many differences between households ‘with guns’ and ‘without guns’. Those households with guns were often found to also contain a family member who abused alcohol or drugs, and had a history of domestic violence, which were each independent risk factors for homicide independent of the existence of guns.

Kleck’s research findings report that 2.5 million times every year somebody in America is using a gun in self-defence. Critics point out that these occurrences were loosely defined, and included merely reaching for the gun when they felt threatened, with the result that the aggressor withdrew. And behaviour that survey participants may have called defensive may technically have been an assault, as only one side of the story is being told. Gun critics point out that assaults, robberies and rapes almost always occur so quickly that the victims are taken by surprise. Even a firearm was available in the home, or in a handbag, the opportunity to get at it and use it in time would be minimal.

Statistics are not collected for crimes that were averted due to guns. However, other research shows that victims who used guns for protection were less likely to be attacked or injured than victims who responded any other way, including not resisting. In fact, 88% of robbery victims who protected themselves with a gun were not injured in any way, while remaining passive resulted in injury to 25% of victims. That difference in outcomes impresses many as an excellent argument for carrying a gun.

Kellermann found that a gun in the home is 43 times more likely to kill a family member or friend than it is to kill in self-defence. Back and forth the statistics support both pro-gun and anti-gun interests. One thing I do know is that my American friends tell me what a wonderful relief it is to walk down a city street in Australia, knowing that everyone they see is not armed like they are at home.

What I believe is that if you and your family avoid personal gun ownership, hunting or other gun-related sports, and gun-owning friends, you are not likely to be injured in any incident involving guns. Every person killed by shooting was killed with a gun owned by someone. Every person who illegally owns a gun got from a legal owner, either a shop keeper, a licensed person such as an armed guard or policeman who had their weapons stolen, or from criminals. Ownership of guns increases the likelihood of their use against a person or people.

The presence of a man with a loaded shotgun on my doorstep at midnight waiting for me to return to kill me and of a violent drunk waving it at me in the street, is never far from the front of my mind.

Cook, Philip J and Ludwig, Jens. Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms. U.S. Department of Justice.
Guter, Fred. Gunslinging in America – risks of gun ownership
Kellermann, A.L. and Reay, D.T. (1986) New England Journal of Medicine. 314

But is this talk of gun control and the massacre of children out of place at Christmas? Not at all! Gun advocates like the status quo. The last significant change to national gun control laws in the US was in 2004 when Congress allowed a ban on military style weapons, such as the AR-15, to expire. Since then, the US’s most formidable lobby group, the National Rifle Association, has won so many victories it hardly knows where to turn its sights next.

With gun sales barely regulated, the gun lobby has been fighting for laws that allow its members to carry their weapons more freely. In various states it has won the right to carry loaded concealed weapons in bars, schools, malls, churches and even airports. Earlier this month four states voted in favour of employees bringing guns to work.
It is not that a majority Americans don’t want to see new gun controls – polls show a small majority do – but that those who support gun control tend to cast their vote based on a variety of issues. But gun advocates can be relied on to vote in defence of their right to bear arms. In a country where voting is not compulsory, this makes them an almost invincible electoral bloc.

In his tearful address to the nation, Mr Obama appeared willing to take the lead. ‘’We’re going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics,’’ he said. There are 310 million Americans and they own about 300 million guns.

Christmas is a time of joy for all children. Ask anyone. The community responds that Christmas is a wonderful time for children. We go to so much trouble with parties, presents and special gatherings to make children happy at this time of the year. But is there another side to this thought that Christmas is a time for children?

1. THE FIRST CHRISTMAS SAW CHILDREN KILLED.

Consider the event consequent upon the coming of wise men. Matthew (2:1-23) records the coming of the Magi from the East. The church celebrates the Epiphany, the showing forth of the Lord to the wise men, not at Christmas, when we are so eager to see the meaning of God’s gift of Christ, but twelve days later. The twelve days of Christmas refer to the coming of the Wise men.

Note how their visit afected children.(v1-8) “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.”

When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. “In Bethle¬hem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: “’But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.’ “Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

The holy family was experiencing the suffering of all homeless poor. They were pawns in the bureaucratic machinations of the Empire. Caesar Augustus wanted a census regard¬less of the inconvenience to an unknown family on the fringe of his Empire. King Herod was paranoid and evil, having murdered two of his sons and his wife, and he was determined no other king should be a threat to His throne.

The little family at Bethlehem suffered loneliness, far from family and home. They suffered the inconvenience of having to obey the census laws. They suffered from poverty, the threats of evil men and the greed of others. But God came to them in their sufferings. In the presence of the Magi from Persia, with their fine robes, haughty camels, expensive gifts, and very determined purpose that had taken them over far deserts in the dead of winter, the holy family realised that God was with them in their sufferings through the presence of the Magi. Their presence was as important as their pre¬sents! Joseph’s despair of inadequacy was ended by God’s resources.

(v9-12) “After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.”

Think of what that little family thought after the visit of those wise men. They pondered the meaning of the angels, the arrival of the shepherds and the star. Now the arrival and homage of learned as¬tronomers and Kings from Persia confirmed God’s promises and comforted them.

As they reflected on all that had been said and on the way those wise men had prostrated themselves on the floor in worship the hearts of the carpenter from Nazareth and his wife would have been lifted and comforted.

God has special ways of providing for our every need. We have only to pray and believe and God contri-butes to the meeting of our need, often in ways beyond our imagining. Joseph was far from Nazareth, was poor and without resources.

He did not know that shortly the whole family would be in danger from a homicidal king who would cause the massacre of the infants of Bethleh¬em in his mad search to destroy the newborn king. How could Joseph possible finance their emergency?

Matthew understood the position clearly, because if there was one thing Matthew had been trained in it was balance sheets, income and expenditure, taxes and customs. This young family would need money to escape the murderous king, to travel to safety in Egypt, and to establish themselves in a proper home. Who but God could have possibly thought of having the wise men offer to the Christ child gifts of gold, expensive frankincense and costly myrrh?

Those gifts enabled Joseph to travel immediately to Egypt and so save the family from the mad king. So the holy family knew of God’s presence, His encouragement, His provision, and His guidance. God warned Joseph in a dream to leave the place immediately and to escape to Egypt.

God’s guid¬ance may have come earlier that day in some word from the wise men, but often it comes in the middle of the night when our subconscious is open to insights and suggestions that have their origin only in God. (v13-15) “When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

One direct result of this was the birth of the Egyptian Coptic Church. The story of the coming of the Magi, contains significant truth for us today. They are not insignificant details in the story of the Incarnation. In their coming lies a message of hope and encourage¬ment to us. That even in the worst of our sufferings and troubles, our needs and uncertain¬ties, we are not alone for God comes and comforts, contributes and counsels. But central to this story of the first Christmas is the terrifying way in which children are treated. Matthew continues to tell of the holocaust of children.

(v16-23) 16 “When Herod realised that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accord¬ance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfil¬led: 18 “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” 19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.” 21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: “He will be called a Nazarene.” So the story of the first Christmas is a story of suffering of death for many children, and only God’s warning saved the Christ child.

2. AND OUR ERA IS NOT SAFE AND SECURE FOR CHILDREN.

Children suffer from neglect by even the most civilised and affluent countries. Just one hundred years ago in London, at the height of the British Empire, baby selling was common. Salvation Army lassies on the look-out by the gin shops could pick up a baby from its mother in exchange for a sixpence in the same way that Aboriginal babies were purchased for sixpence in our country.

But more people have died from diarrhoeal dehydration in the last 2 days than have died from AIDS in the last 2 years! The number of AIDS-related deaths in the world is less than the 20,000 child deaths caused by dehydration every two days. Dehydration is caused by diarrhoea. In almost all cases, it can be prevented or treated by oral rehydration therapy, a therapy simple and cheap enough to be administered and afforded by almost all parents if they can be in¬formed and use it (UNICEF Report). Yet there seems no interest in telling the story of slow, painful death by diarrhoeal dehydration for children are expendable.

3. NEITHER IS AUSTRALIA’S CHILD CARE RECORD BLAME¬LESS.

Consider this simple fact: we are living in an era of family breakdown and marital divorce. It is established that children pay the increasing cost for divorce. Drs. Judith S. Wallerstein and Joan B. Kelly’s current book, “Surviving the Break-up: How Children Actually Cope with Divorce” notes a change in conventional wisdom, which used to say “unhappily married people should remain together for the sake of the children.” Today’s conventional wisdom holds, with equal vigour that an unhappy couple might as well divorce for the good of the children and that divorce that promotes the happiness of the adults will benefit the children as well.

But the authors’ research into families at the time of divorce, one year later, and again five years later is reflected in their many conclusions: “At the time of the family disruption, many of the children considered their situation neither better nor worse than that of other families around them. The divorce was a bolt of lightning that struck them when they had not even been aware of a need to come in from the storm.” The children’s continuing feelings reflect hope: “Hardly a child of divorce we came to know did not cling to the fantasy of a magical reconcili¬ation between his parents.” Those children are paying the price.

That is to say nothing of continued child abuse. NSW alone had 22,682 reported and suspected cases of physical, emotional or sexual abuse last year, with 11,000 cases later con¬firmed. Horrific though these number are studies indicate that only 10% of child abuse cases are reported to the authorities.

The shameful child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and Christian Brothers is one of the worst scandals exposed. The national Commission of Enquiry this year will provide evidence that will make us sick.

When God sent His Son into the world, He gave loving parents and wise adults to protect and provide for the needy family. Instead of the King Herods who abuse children, we must be wise men and women, who at the instigation of God, use our time, our resources and wisdom to protect and help the children of the world. And one of the best ways of avoiding the massacre of children is to control the ownership and use of guns.