Because of Her

Dear Inner Circle,

Thank you for the hundreds of kind messages from last week’s note. The outpouring of love for Graham and welcome for me has been truly awesome.

Sometimes it’s the smallest of gestures that can help broken hearts to heal. One of the last things I did in Mt Druitt before coming to the Wayside was to conduct a funeral for the mother of the first family we ever met there. They crowded into her little fibro house to share memories of a life well lived, that was tragically cut short. I left there feeling uneasy about her son’s future and made many attempts to get in touch with him to no avail. I often worried about what would become of him. His mum was a bit of lynchpin holding together the extended family. Not surprisingly her absence hit them hard and the family soon fell out of touch with each other. I got a call recently from the manager of our Aboriginal Program to inform me that this young man had somehow found his way to Wayside. His past 12 months had been tough – he was assaulted and nearly killed during a mistaken home invasion and was now living in his car, too afraid to enter the home his mother had raised him in. Our team showered him with love, affection and kindness. At one point one of them asked if she could give him a hug to which he responded “That’d be nice”. He soon broke down and remarked, “I can’t remember the last time that happened”. I would hazard a guess that the last hug he received was from his mum nearly 18 months ago on her deathbed. We often first meet people through the worst times of their lives. We never try and fix them, instead we meet them with deep love, as equals. When I finally got to catch up with him we embraced and spent the next few hours trading memories and stories. In those moments he wasn’t a suspect, a victim or a charity case, but a brother being walked alongside. Our angels are working furiously to get him out of his car and into a warm bed. I am so proud of all our workers who treat everyone who walks through our doors with such dignity and care.[vc_row columns_on_tablet=”keep” padding_top=”0″ padding_bottom=”0″][vc_column h_text_align=”left” h_text_align_mobile=”left” v_align=”v-align-middle” use_background=”” width=”1/1″][tm_image image_id=”1240″ link_image=”none” textarea_html_bkg_color=”#ffffff” caption_type=””][/tm_image][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row columns_on_tablet=”keep” padding_top=”50″ padding_bottom=”50″][vc_column h_text_align=”left” h_text_align_mobile=”left” v_align=”v-align-middle” use_background=”” width=”1/1″][tm_textblock textarea_html_bkg_color=”#ffffff”]This week we have been celebrating NAIDOC Week and our Aboriginal Program team have been working at twice their usual hectic pace. The theme this year is “Because Of Her, We Can” which is to celebrate the contributions that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have made – and continue to make – to all our communities, families, and to our nation. Yesterday, our festivities extended to Rushcutters Bay Park where our mission came to life as people from all walks of life stood together as one to remember, honour and celebrate. We enjoyed a day of activities including mob lunch, a jumping castle, an elders tent and Oz Tag competition along with lots of stalls with partner services. It was so great to be part of these wonderful celebrations, I even had a quick run on the OzTag team. Next time I will make sure my ambition doesn’t get mixed up with my ability. I would like to personally name and thank Monique Wiseman, the manager of our Aboriginal Program, who’s passion and dedication means that the Wayside Chapel delivers one of the busiest and best inner city spaces for her community. Because of her, we can. Because of her team, we can. Thank you, Mon.

As I was heading home in the dark last night I fell into conversation with a friend who has been turning up at Wayside since it opened and he was a street kid. He reassured me that he prays for me every day. His gesture of kindness stopped me in tracks. Soon we were joined by a group of people who assumed we were in the middle of drug deal. “What are you after, brother?” My friend replied, “Nothing, I have everything I could ever need,” and that is the truth of the matter.

Thanks for being a part of this Inner Circle,

JonJon Owen
Pastor & CEO
Wayside Chapel