The Parker Family - Joshua, Darrell, Andrew, Jonathan, Eleanor, Elizabeth
By Bishop Darrell
I grew up playing and watching Aussie Rules Footy. I played for the Mighty Holbrook Grass Hoppers up until I was 13 years of age. Understandably, having a Grass Hopper as our mascot rarely struck fear into the hearts of our opponents – I often wished we could have been the Holbrook ‘Tigers’ or ‘Taipans’, but both of those mascots were taken. Perhaps that’s part of the reason I adopted the Richmond Tigers as my AFL team (VFL in those days) at the tender age of 6. They were winning at the time and ‘Tigers’ of course are scary and dangerous. I’m now a committed for life ‘Yellow and Black’ junkie.
I love the fact that wherever I go in Australia, if I meet another Richmond supporter, …. we have an instant connection. We might not have a single other thing in common, but we are instantly friends – we share a ‘Tiger’ fellowship. My new friend might be an atheist, have body piercings on every available body protrusion, he or she might vote differently than I do, believe in radically different things, come from an entirely different part of the country, belong to a different culture and people, speak a different language, and they might even like Brussel Sprouts – a green veggie I consider not worthy of being called a ‘food’. We could be the world’s two most different people and yet, we are ‘one’ in the name of our chosen Footy Team.
How radically different it is when it comes to our fellowship together as Christians. When I meet a fellow follower of Jesus whom I’ve never met before, I already know so much more about them than I do my fellow Tigers Fan. Yes, we might still be very different, but our fellowship goes immediately so much deeper than any other fellowship this world knows. We have surrendered our life to the same Lord – the same person rules both our lives. We trust the same Saviour to pick us up from sin and death and to pay the price for our rebellion against our common Father. We both look to serve Jesus, we pray to Jesus, we believe Jesus defeated death, and we are utterly convinced that Jesus will one day return and the whole world will be made subject to him. Our earthly circumstances might in fact be very very different, but we share deep life fundamentals that bind us together in ways that transcend time and place.
Many people have expressed much care and concern for Elizabeth and myself knowing we have left many close family and friends on the other side of the country to come and live and serve in the North West. That is true, we have, and we value the concern shown to us enormously. And yes, we miss our loved ones ‘back east’. Not a day goes past when we do not feel that distance. However, in another sense, and I say this most sincerely – we haven’t really left ‘home’ at all. As we have met followers of Jesus here in the North West, though we might be quite different in some ways (way too many Eagles and Dockers supporters here), we immediately share a profound bond that puts our differences in the shade. There are Christians here serving Jesus in deeply sacrificial and faithful ways, and we are profoundly thankful to God for bringing us here, even though the task ahead is difficult.
We’ve left home to come and serve among you – but ‘home’ is anywhere the Lord and his people are. It’s good to be ‘home’.