At a certain point in John the Baptists ministry, the Jewish authorities decide to investigate this man who seems to be gathering quite a few followers and baptising them in the Jordan River.

Men are sent out from the temple in Jerusalem to ask him who he thinks he is and what he is intending to do. John doesn’t hesitate in explaining his purpose: that of preparing people to meet Jesus, even announcing that the man himself is amongst them in the crowd (Jn 1:26).

My experience of moving and settling into Mount Druitt has involved the blessing of being introduced to many people. People understandably want to know who I am and why I made the choice of moving into their neighbourhood. Some friends from Mt Druitt Indigenous church find it strange that I would move away from family in Melbourne as many of these guys have a deep sense of connection with family and place of birth.

So as I get to know my new neighbours as friends, we get to have those conversations about why I would choose to move interstate, into a high density public housing estate.

I can relate a little bit to John when he is asked who he is, what drives him and what on earth he is on about.

A quick answer that dodges what the person is actually asking is to reply with a sentence that has the words ‘community work’ in it.

Bidwill, the Mt Druitt suburb in which we live, is heavily serviced, with many community groups involved in our neighbourhood. To the person trying to locate me socially on a map, these phrases would easily pin me to an identifiable point.

Yet, sharing this way only gives part of the answer as to why I’ve moved into their neighbourhood and why UNOH Sydney exists as a team.

I need to find ways to communicate to my new neighbours and friends that we are on about something much more. We want to help our neighbours see that Jesus isn’t far away, sitting in heaven with angels hovering around his throne. The living Christ is just as much down here in this mess, as much as he is anywhere else.

We want to testify to a God who loves us so much, and never stops longing to see individuals and their communities liberated from everything that causes destruction and dislocation. We want to introduce our neighbours to Jesus, who invites us on this adventure of following him, as groups of people committed to each other and the vision of seeing the kingdom of heaven come on earth.