Lost in translation!

I was about to head out of the office to get my six monthly haircut when someone asked me to go and try a new place that had opened up. I got a sob story about how this lady had been in the country for a month and was worried about getting her business off the ground. So I went… (nothing to do with the $15 price tag!). It was a really interesting time. Kristina had moved to Adelaide from Poland 4 weeks ago with her husband and 3 year old daughter. Her husband was studying English and she was trying to keep them afloat financially by cutting hair. The only problem was … she didn’t speak a word of English! Luckily I have pretty low standards for my haircuts, so we muddled along trying to communicate as best as we could.

But it got me thinking…! What are the obstacles in the North-East for us sharing the gospel with people? If it is hard to explain to a new Australian how to cut my hair, what barriers to I need to overcome to share the gospel with someone in post-Christian Adelaide who has had little if anything to do with Christian things before? Here are my initial top 5:

Obstacle #1: Most people in the North East don’t know any Christians, so are never going to hear unless we raise up local missionaries (Romans 10:14).
Obstacle #2: Most people in the North East have been blinded by the gods of this age, and worship these false idols rather than the living God (idols in the North East = work, family, sport?).
Obstacle #3: Many Christians feel too time-poor about meeting and befriending their neighbours, let alone sharing the gospel with them. Someone said to me the other day, ‘the problem is, I don’t really see the need to make more friends. I have enough as it is’.
Obstacle #4: The Christian ghetto is pretty comfortable. Christians friends, Christian schools, Christian sports clubs…
Obstacle #5: Many Christians do not feel suitably equipped or trained to do the work of an evangelist.

So what is the answer? The apostles Paul’s response to the Christians in Colossae was to keep tell them about Jesus:

We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

The perfect venue?

We have signed a 12 month lease with Modbury Hospital for the Education Centre from January 2010. This is fantastic is so many ways. The Centre includes a 220 seat auditorium, a conference room (for kids ministry), a smaller room for creche, a kitchen and has at least 120 parking spaces. It places us opposite Westfield Plaza and in the midst of Modbury triangle: the regional and retail hub of the North-East. We are close to the O-Bahn exchange and even Water World! The hospital community includes a Residential College for over 200 overseas students (Torrens Valley INternational Residence), so the opportunities for us to have a global impact for the gospel is exciting.

And yet… it was really hard to find a venue for church meeting. After looking at over 65 places the biggest obstacles were:
1. Sunday sport: this is the religion of the North East! Any gymnasium/hall/etc has a waiting list of sporting groups trying to get their place in the sun. The Council is inundated with requests for funding from Sporting Clubs as well as pleadings to build new facilities.
2. Seating capacity: There were plenty of small halls and rooms for hire, but very few (2 in fact!), that could lease us a space for 50+ people.
3. Our standards: I quickly realised that our standards we quite high! We required seating space for 50+, ample car parking, kitchen facilities, 2+ rooms for creche/kids/youth ministry and somewhere to land my learjet!
So we are very thankful for the provision of the Modbury Hospital Education Centre!