“No, get lost, I’m gonna shoot the gun, not you!”

 If there is ever a good time to make the above statement, it is not when you are just about to enter through the security screens at an airport.

 We all broke out in laughter when he realised where he was. Thankfully, all we drew were a few puzzled glances.

 Thus marked the beginning of our trip to Perth with Jar Jum, an Indigenous Dance Group (we were discussing the offer of a WA Noongar Elder to take us Roo Shooting out near Wave Rock).

As these usually brave and fearless young men nervously boarded the plane, all jostling for the window seat, I relaxed for take off, closed my eyes and thanked God for my life.

Just what my role is here in the Indigenous community is one I’m still trying to work out with fear and trembling.

 As a kid I often despised being so dark skinned in such a white country. Often I asked God why, wishing I wasn’t. I never go to the point of scrubbing my skin at night, but I got close a few times. I would wonder who was that little black kid running along I dashed past mirrors, freezing in disappointment when I realised it was me.

It has taken me a long time to realise that God does not make mistakes. 

Now, I can see it was all part of God’s Divine Plan. Being of Indian origin has been extremely helpful in establishing relationships amongst the local Aboriginal community.

 I enjoy a sense of commonality with fellow brown skinned folk. I am also keenly aware that the best way I can affirm their culture is to be proud of my own. God’s plan takes many twists and turns and has led me to a greater appreciation of the rich Indigenous cultural heritage of this land, as well as healthy appreciation of the richness of my own culture.

 God is shared and encountered in brown and muddy ways here in The Druitt…

 So, back to Perth, where Jar Jum is dancing and I’m preaching at a big Church. No one there could say God is only a God of the white man.

 God is the God of all peoples and nations - all one I Christ, but with different gifts to enrich one another.

 Thankyou for partnering with us in ministry,

 Jon, Lisa, Kshama & Kiera Owen