07 June 2018 / Inner Circle / By Graham Long / No comments

Dear Inner Circle,

The recent rain brought back strong images of how our visitors used to have to shower in the back alley of Wayside. All day long we’d walk people out into the street, sometimes in the pouring rain, wearing only a towel, down to our only shower in the alley. It was humiliating to say the least, but it was all we had. Our attitude was tender and hearts were warm but it was a public display of desperate neediness. We longed for proper facilities but with no money, our feelings seemed only to mock us. In those days, I think our love for those who needed a shower, a sense of humour and the hope for better days, somehow sustained us. Seeing people today collect a towel and toiletries from the front desk and walk straight down the hallway to one of three showers fills me with joy.

A woman who volunteered with us in the old days told me this week that she had been working in Europe for some years. She reminded me that our old café was a kitchen from what used to be a one bedroom flat. Two people serving at the same time had to be rather friendly just to reach for items around the kitchen. She told me about her first visit back to Wayside after her stint overseas. The volunteers at the front desk told her that I was on the fourth floor at that moment and directed her to the lift. By the time she found me, tears ran down her cheeks just because there was a fourth floor and there was a lift.
I’m noticing an overwhelming desire to look back and tell people of days they never knew and celebrate achievements that are just history for them. This is a mistake. The only reason we lived such astonishing history was that we were always forward-looking. Our mission is forward-looking and our vision is so strong that when it captures us, the present becomes just an artefact of the future.

So let me tell you something about our future leader that he will probably never tell you. Jon is married to Lisa who in her own way, is a force of nature. When they married, they spent their honeymoon with Mother Theresa in Calcutta. Think about that for a minute. Their honeymoon was spent in total dedication to the poor, the sick and the dying on the streets of Calcutta. As a married couple, Lisa moved into a house with Jon where he was running a refuge for refugees and asylum seekers. They all called Lisa, “Mum” even though she was younger than all of them. Jon and Lisa have spent all of their lives together, living with those who were doing it the toughest in Melbourne and in Sydney. They chose to limit their personal income to a maximum of $28,000 per annum, which was roughly equivalent to what they’d receive on unemployment benefits, so they could truly understand what it was like to live on the poverty line. Supporting a young family at the time, as well as providing support to other people in need from their home, would have been challenging to say the least. Wayside will never make them wealthy but it’s so lovely to see how they think they’ve been made wealthy. Jon holds a degree that could have achieved a good income and Lisa holds a PhD in pharmacology and could have pursued her own career. These two are an extraordinary couple who have chosen an unusual path and thrived. I’m full of hope for the future of Wayside.

Thank you for being part of this forward-moving inner circle,

Graham

Rev Graham Long
Pastor & CEO
Wayside Chapel

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