When Anji and I relocated our home to 8 Armstrong Street, Springvale, late in 1992 we had a deep sense that Jesus wanted us to join Him there. It was also a pragmatic decision to be closer to the numerous ‘at risk’ young people and their families living in this multiracial neighbourhood that we shared life with through Youth For Christ. Our run-down weatherboard home was soon packed with young people, some living with us and many more dropping by. Discipleship groups, community run projects and neighborhood based churches were soon sparked too. Little did we know then that this initial impulse to focus the best of our lives on loving God and actual neighbours would lead us to find our vocation and birth Urban Neighbours Of Hope in July 1993 and twenty years later see teams in Aus, NZ and Thailand and discussions for more in UK, US and Sth Africa!

We have experienced extreme highs and lows over the last 20 years. As we sought to intentionally share life with those who suffer, a vulnerable tenderness constantly opened up a rawness in our lives and along with it the possibilities for God’s compassionate solidarity and deep joy to flow through us. As we bonded together, a deep sense of community, even hope was often birthed out of pain. Reminders of our own mortality in a fallen world were never far from the surface, even with the most joyful celebrations and successes. The rolling cycle of pain, despair, compassion, community, hope and then pain again never seems to have stopped.

What has helped us stay involved and even thrive over the years? Christine Pohl’s research found that nurturing gratitude helps sustain community building. ‘When our lives are shaped by gratitude, we’re more likely to notice the goodness and beauty in everyday things. We are content; we feel blessed and are eager to confer blessing. We are able to delight in the very existence of another human being. In a grateful community, individuals and their contributions are acknowledged and honored, and there is regular testimony to God’s faithfulness, through which the community experiences the joys of its members. Expressions of gratitude help make the community alive to the Word, the Spirit and God’s work.’

In short we are sustained because we have so much for which to be grateful. What am I most grateful for after 20 years of the UNOH journey? What immediately comes to mind

are the many lives and places impacted through Jesus that we got to play a part in. Voices of Hope will be launched in July, highlighting some of these lives in stories and photographs. Yet, as I consider further, a sense of gratefulness wells up because we have never had to attempt this by ourselves. As an African proverb says, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.’ There are costs to saying ‘no’ to some things to live a ‘yes’ to focus our lives on others, yet it’s been a cost shared and deep life found together in community. We didn’t achieve all we would have liked, but who we got to journey with in Jesus, means far more than any temporal achievements. This edition of Finding Life tries to highlight this journey of gratefulness, for where we have been, but also the blessing we want to share going forward.

We are so grateful for you. However you have contributed, know we couldn’t get to do what we do without God using you and your gifts. Thank you.

by Ash Barker, UNOH International Director

Grateful for our first 20 years

Baptising Uncle Roy; and Ash with Roy in a recent visit to Australia

by Ash Barker, UNOH International Director

A Grateful reflectionAs the boom gates close we dash across the tracks to the other side just in time. Amy is sitting in her pram, while Denise carries Christine in her arms. We pass the Laundromat and see a young lady slumped over after her hit of heroin. Denise puts Christine down to walk, warning her to watch out for the syringe that lies on the footpath up ahead.

We reach the Kelvin Grove flats, our home, to see two police cars and an ambulance. This is the second fatal overdose in the street this month. We gather around with the neighbors who talk of how they found a guy not breathing under their staircase and called an ambulance. The feelings of hopelessness descend as yet another young life is wasted. This is Springvale in the late 90’s.

 We go upstairs together with that strange sense of unity that occurs when people witness common tragedy. One of the ladies suggested that we pray for this guys family, and another neighbour goes to get his guitar so we can sing. In that moment, the tragedy and the beauty of living engaged with life in a poor neighbourhood is tangible and we experience a comfort and a strength that we had not known before. Since the beginning of the month there had been crazy episodes of police chases, drug overdoses and all the desperation and open crime that goes with needing money to score drugs. Someone had mixed the heroin incorrectly and many more people overdosed by the time that month ended.

Kelvin Grove, our flats and the others along it, were the focal point as people came to use water readily available at the communal taps. The neighbors were overwhelmed, yet we forged a community together to not just survive this but to turn annoyance into compassion.

Many new programs developed as we journeyed together. We were united in our desperation to respond to this crisis, and God made Himself real and present in this crazy time.

I am grateful to have been there for that moment in history, to stand as a Christian with my neighbours and to work together with people from all walks of life, as we saw the hope of Christ breakthrough as a light in the darkness. I am grateful that it wasn’t a program that we started, but a relationship that we followed, that took us to this neighbourhood, turned our lives upside down, and formed the basis of what UNOH still is today.

As I look back over the last 20 years of this crazy journey, I am grateful to God for the companions He has given us both as team and as supporters. I sit in a little slum house in Bangkok surrounded by the noise and chaos that I love, and can’t believe how blessed I am to be able to live this life. So many people have made this dream possible, and so many characters have shaped us over this journey. What an amazing privilege to experience the hope of Christ right here right now in this place He has us. I feel a sense of excitement and anticipation as to what the next 20 years may hold! Bring it On!

by Anji Barker

Amy with friends in Kelvin Grove

The Barker family in Bangkok January this year. Clockwise from top left: Amy, Anji, Ash, Aiden, Tan and Film.

Anji and Amy on their way to a Free Burma protest with Burmese neighbours

A few very normal looking people talking in an average loungeroom, a big dog called Mandela and a name that sounded like a card game. This was one of the first official meetings of UNOH that I had the privilege in which to share.

While the beginning may not have been that ‘attractive’ to look at, it had grown out of grassroots work that Ash and Anji had been involved with for some years, and as they began to pull a team around them, a new form of mission began to evolve. It was incarnational, missional and focused on the hard places. It had church planting as one of its priorities and almost zero resources!

Over the past 20 years UNOH has seen, and been involved with many things to celebrate, and as is the case with real mission, things to lament. Through it all I have three overriding reflections.

1. UNOH’s total commitment to express the Gospel to neighbours and friends in tough places. 2. UNOH’s commitment to learn and grow as a movement and as individual followers of Christ3. UNOH’s voice for the poor in Urban places around the world.

My last meeting with UNOH was in Bangkok last year. The workers who all lived in the nearby Klong Toey slum were there, with some of their neighbours. The Thai translator made my talk sound a lot better in Thai than it did in English and the food was much tastier than that first meeting. As I cheer from the sidelines, I see this movement of UNOH that started in that ordinary loungeroom continuing to evolve. It’s growing, more people are involved (the workers wouldn’t all fit in one lounge anymore) and yet the core is still the same; it’s local, it’s about friends and neighbours with Jesus as the centre.

“Thank you Lord for all you have done through UNOH, the things we have seen and the things we did not see. Please Lord keep moving in the lives of the workers and their neighbours and may you always be the centre”.

Darryl Gardiner

Darryl has been a mentor, friend and guide since before UNOH began, and continues to encourage the teams through his input.

UNOH gave me the designation as Pastor for Urban Neighbours of Hope, or “PUNOH”. I find many opportunities to be grateful in my pastoral ministry with the UNOH workers and teams. Through individual pastoral appointments, team visits, arranging mentors and counsellors, offering support during crisis times, and pastoral oversight of UNOH as a missional order, I have much to be grateful for.

I am grateful that UNOH leaders care enough about their workers to recognise that they need to be sustained for a faithful journey. They are not cogs in a missional machine.

I am grateful for times of laughter and celebration among the teams where tensions dissolve in enjoyment of life together.

I am grateful for every UNOH worker who has responded to God’s call to live incarnationally with their neighbours, in their neighbourhoods, living out the gospel in obedience.

I am grateful for local people in neighbourhoods who have been empowered to find purpose and meaning in life through relationships of trust and friendship.

I am grateful for Spirit-inspired words from scripture and from other writers that come alive at the right time to strengthen workers in varied contexts.

I am grateful for UNOH’s prophetic voice in the wider church for justice and mercy, expressed not only in words but in sacrificial lives. They need people to be in solidarity with them, partnering, supporting, praying, giving – and living incarnationally.

PUNOH is grateful!

Lynette Leach, (PUNOH)

Lynette has been a mentor, friend and guide for UNOH since before we officially began, and now has a formal role as pastor to UNOH workers.

Punoh is grateful!

Grateful to share in the journey

We immerse ourselves in the life of neighbourhoods facing urban poverty, joining the risen Jesus to seek transformation from the bottom up.

Living and serving as small, responsive neighbourhood based teams in urban Thailand, New Zealand and Australia, we have a vision to multiply UNOH teams in cities across the world.

by Denise Tims, UNOH Manurewa (Auckland)

Boxes of personal files from Community Link (Centrelink), sit on the table and floor surrounding us, as we sift our way through hundreds of pages, reading letters and documents. It’s a 15 year- historical paper war, scanning for evidence to support Teddy’s case against alleged benefit fraud. In a system where I thought one was innocent until proven guilty, I am staggered to find that this perception of mine has been shattered.

In 2007, Teddy received a letter from Community Link (WINZ) to say that they believed she had been receiving the Domestic Purposes Benefit illegally (a benefit for single mothers with children in their care). The case was thrown out of court in 2008 due to insufficient evidence and Teddy, like most of us would, assumed the case was over. She soon discovered this was not the case. Community Link (WINZ) held a Civil Case against her which gave them power to still act. Unfortunately, Teddy didn’t respond to their original letter within a 3 month time frame, so was slammed with a $66,000 debt, due to ‘overpayments’ of her benefit.

Having known Teddy as a fun, cheerful and positive woman, who volunteers with our “Soufpac” Youth Club, I would never have guessed she was carrying such a burden. It was while helping her financially as a trained budget

Perseverance despite the odds

advisor, that I became aware of her plight and found she was at a place in her life where she was willing to address this issue and fight for her innocence. It’s been a 15-month rollercoaster ride for our team and Pania (Labor MP Electorate Advocate) taking this journey with Teddy. But finally, after letters of rejection, a Benefits Review Committee is willing to hear Teddy’s case.

It is stories like Teddy’s that inspire us to continue doing the work of advocating, networking, partnering, educating and empowering those that struggle with issues of poverty. Seeing God’s hand enter into the midst of injustice makes us incredibly grateful for His abounding grace and compassion.

Punoh is grateful!

by Peter Blair, UNOH Dandenong (Melbourne)

After about the 10th time of being sworn at, abused, kicked, punched and general unpleasantness, I had had enough. I had taken my friend, Craig, who has an intellectual disability, overseas to visit Dave and Denise Tims, whom he had grown very fond of in their sojourn in Australia. After much scrimping and saving from washing just about every car in the neighbourhood, he had enough for a ticket to get him there and I had promised that if he saved that money I would take him.

Now, after about 3 days of hostilities I pulled Craig aside and told him that he was being a somewhat ‘ungrateful’ chap (or something along those lines). I said, ‘I have taken time away from my family to take you on this trip; I would much prefer to be with them than to be here with you shouting at me!’ To which he responded, ‘No Peter! I don’t like that!’ and promised that he would behave himself.

And he did! Despite obvious temptations to be grumpy and abusive, he held it in and was good as gold for the rest of the trip.

Every time I see my friend Craig these days he asks when we can go on our next holiday together (to which I usually give an evasive response). I was extremely glad to get home and Craig thanked me for taking him to visit Dave and Denise. Often, we don’t receive a lot of thanks from the people we work alongside and sometimes we are barely acknowledged. Whilst I have learned not to expect it, when I do receive words of gratitude, it goes a long way. Spending time with people like Craig has taught me that its not about me, I don’t do what I do to receive thanks, but simply because God has led me here… and for that I am very thankful.

With us in the boatby Brad Coath, UNOH Broadmeadows (Melbourne)

Times of transition are natural opportunities for gratitude. They are times to look back at all that God has done over a season, and for the people with whom we have journeyed.

As our season in Noble Park has come to a close, that sense of gratitude has been overwhelming for us. As we gathered for a farewell afternoon in mid-December, Colleen and I could see the rich tapestry of people and relationships that had become so precious to us over the last three years; friends from all over the world who have become a part of our lives, whom we’ve shared meals, and laughed and cried with.

‘Bye Brad, bye Brad...’ ‘Niya’s’, enthusiastic goodbyes remain a clear memory. As she piled into the car with her five brothers and sisters, this little girl, one of our beautiful Girls Club girls whose family has been through so much, was another reminder of the redemptive power of simply walking with our neighbours.

We’re grateful also for a new season, and God’s hand on it. As we’ve walked with Him over the past year of discerning a new place for joining in His work, we’re thankful for the ways that He has lit the way - giving us a sense of call to Broadmeadows and opening the way for us to begin a UNOH team here. As I write, we’ve just finished the process of moving into the ‘hood’, and are beginning to build some new connections here.

It’s not without a good deal of trepidation that we begin here, though. I feel perhaps a little like the disciples in the boat with Jesus, heading across to the other side of lake Galilee, to the gentile regions; territory that was unknown and even a little scary. The disciples could not have known for sure whether they would make it through the storm. All they were called to do was place the little faith they had in the person who had asked them to cross to the other side.

Will we ‘make it’ in Broadmeadows? Will we be able to make a difference to those struggling here? Will we be able to look back over time at a new tapestry of relationships that are precious to us? We can’t know for sure. But we’re thankful that the One who has asked us to cross to the other side of the city is right with us in the boat.

Surprised by gratitude

A fragile hopeby Chris MacCartney UNOH Rom Klaow (Bangkok)

In the early days of the Rom Klaow team a young girl grabbed our attention. Maybe it was because she was blind, but probably more so by the way she got on with living, without a care-in-the-world. While other kids chased each other and jumped rope, Duan would sing like no-one was watching. She was free to be who she was. She amazed us with her ability to ride a bike around the open-play area, under the freeway next to the railway line. She knew every inch of this open area, and the narrow laneway that led back to her house. That was her world. That was all she knew. She was confident and assured.

 Imagine then how she felt when she went on her first trip to a park on the other side of Bangkok. While other kids relished the opportunity to ride bikes or play soccer on the open field, Duan sat quietly, under a tree, completely unsure of this foreign place.

 With a lot of encouragement, and cheers from her friends, Duan took my hand, and accepted my invitation to go for a ‘walk’ across the open field. No concrete, no ditches, no obstacles, just soft green grass on her bare feet.

 She gripped my hand firmly as together we walked into the middle of this open field. She grasped my arm tightly as I broke into a slow jog. “C’mon Duan, it’s time to run.” “Chris, Chris, stop, stop” she squealed with laughter. With lots of assurance that she wouldn’t get hurt, 10 minutes later, Duan’s fear was replaced with joy and laughter as she ran and giggled, twirled and danced in the wide-open space. Those who watched were caught up in this priceless moment of sheer joy and delight.

 We are incredibly grateful for that moment. We are grateful for precious lives like Duan who have helped shape us and our ministry here in Rom Klaow. Grateful for the hope within us to see fear and brokenness replaced with freedom, assurance, joy and hope.

Read more of Duan’s story in the upcoming UNOH publication Voices of Hope (available July 2013)

The village that raised a childby Alisha Faulkner, UNOH Lok 3 Klong Toey (Bangkok)

There is a little boy in Lok 3 that has captured the heart of our team. The distinct sound of the scraping of wheels on the concrete street as he pushes along in his little walker chair is our wakeup call every day. He exudes joy and acceptance as he beams me a smile and melts me with his big, wonder-filled eyes. To look at him one wouldn’t know just how special it is to be sharing these moments with him, or that when he came into the world it was in less than ideal circumstances. His parents, too young to know how to deal with their own lives, let alone a precious little baby, left him in the care of Grandma who was already overwhelmed and tired taking care of many other family members. Desperate, but without a choice, grandma reluctantly took him on.

Here began our journey going deeper, not only with this little boy, but with a whole family who live right on our doorstep. “It takes a whole village to raise a child” is a true reflection of life here, as he is cared for in our neighbourhood, each of us and many other neighbours being involved at some level in his care. This life of only 10 months has been fraught with many challenges from being unwanted to being hospitalised with severe illness and just surviving from day to day, but he is now so full of life and joy. To us he is a reminder of why we are here, not that we can make this situation ok but that we are called to live and share our whole lives with our neighbours. Being a witness to every step of this little boy’s life is such a privilege and we are grateful that we get to do life here with precious ones like him.

Surprised by gratitude

Passing the blessing onby Peter Dekker, UNOH Springvale (Melbourne)

When I first met Mas Mai in Springvale six years ago I would not have guessed at the blessing our relationship would produce. With wife Kha Re Mar and their children, he arrived in Springvale from a harsh refugee camp on the Thai Burma border. The bitter Melbourne cold was a shock to his system as was knowing few people, but somehow we just bonded together. Then over the last two years a new opportunity to serve together emerged. It came from Mas Mai’s passion to help out people from his country, and his amazing ability to attract people.

As the Free Burma Cafe project had its up and downs, Mas Mai’s confidence and self respect has grown, as well as putting him in a unique position in the community where he can meet with people and help them out. Sure, I am there too, to support Mas Mai, and jump in when needed, but its not so much a sacrifice as a privilege. Seeing Mas Mai help new arrivals in the same way that he was helped in his early years of living in Australia, has made me excited by what can come out of trusting God, letting go of things, and going deeper in the lives of a few.

Read more of Mas Mai’s story in the upcoming UNOH publication Voices of Hope (available July 2013)

Diary entry: 16/9/05by Gabriel Hingley, UNOH Noble Park, Melbourne

Tonight at Rainbow everything seemed to be humming and moving in the joy of fellowship. Right from the start I sensed it was going to be a good night, and God’s presence would be amongst us. I could see it in the twinkle of Daniel’s eyes as we prepared the Icebreaker [a funny item] together. I could hear it in Alan’s laughter as he cracked a silly joke. I could taste it in the wonderful mish-mash of flavours that makes up a typical Rainbow Church dinner. I could feel it in the bundle of hilarious energy sitting next to me, that is, my indigenous friend Ray. Finally I could hear God’s presence in the multitude of voices singing “Hey for the Carpenter!”

Everyone, including me, seemed to share in a joyful, exuberant and delightful insanity, as if nothing outside this little room in Springvale on a Sunday night mattered in the slightest. We were here, and that was enough. Despite all our differences in race, culture, beliefs, opinions, lifestyles, sexual orientation and class, somehow God was able to transcend those barriers, if only for a moment. And even this small, humble moment in Springvale, existing within the vastness of time and space, could be a glimpse of eternity, in which the richness and diversity of creation shall be united in singing praises and giving glory to their Lord Jesus Christ.

I hope I can remember this sacred moment, and hold onto it dearly, particularly at the times when I feel a lack of hope or vision for the future. May God always remind me of the preciousness of this little church, and how it is a tiny reflection of the infinite vastness of Christ Himself, Our Saviour and King forever. Amen.

The gift of friendshipby Adam Booth UNOH Bidwill (Sydney)

Renee was one of the first young people from our neighbourhood who I met. At 14, she had a streak of rebellion in her and a mistrust of authority figures. But I soon noticed she was good at listening and often picked up on things that others didn’t notice.

Leading a bible study at youth group one night, I could see that the teenagers were particularly restless. Having trouble holding their attention, I looked around the room trying to find someone to connect with. Renee was one of the only people showing me she was listening as I told the story of Jesus’ encounter with the bleeding woman.

Later on I thanked her for listening, and asked what she’d heard in the story. She simply said that she’d noticed that people weren’t listening and wanted to encourage me in what I was sharing with the group!

Although we didn’t discuss the gospel story then, this moment reminded me of Jesus’ message to the 12 apostles as he sent them out to share the good news. “Anyone who receives you receives me, and anyone who receives me receives the Father who sent me” Mt 10: 40 NLT

I’m reminded of the value of friendship in our ministry. When we remain open to kindness from others and let ourselves be received we are helping others open up to much more than ourselves.

It’s been 5 years since I met Renee, and was told recently that I’m 1 out of 3 older people in her life whom she trusts and can talk openly. What a privilege!

Renee recently gave birth to her first child, and as I held this one day old boy, I was in awe of the mystery of a new life, and the privilege to share in Renee’s life over the past 5 years. A sense of hope comes as I see Renee and her partner care for their precious son, and I’m grateful for the small part I’ve played in their lives, and the affect they’ve had on mine.

Mount DruittThe Mount Druitt Central Team served in their neighbourhood from mid 2010 to the end of 2012. There are so many things to be grateful for in the few years of ministry. In 2011 the Calala Street Community Garden was established, bringing together many who had no access to such positive projects. Volunteering at Mamre House (www.mamre.com.au) in English teaching to Sudanese refugees and helping with creche so that mothers could attend the classes was a highlight and source of great joy. Helping to lead a Kids Club and Youth Group were great opportunities to love the marginalised, and the team also loved having their lounge room and dining table filled on games and movie nights.

Unfortunately, the team leaders Katie and Matt Godfrey with baby Harry, left Mt Druitt for personal reasons. While closing the team was difficult, their work has had a lasting impact and they will be dearly missed by their neighbours and their team mates. Elise Cook did her UNOH Sub-Merge apprenticeship year in Mt Druitt in 2012 and has now relocated to nearby Bidwill, living and serving with the UNOH Team there.

The Godfreys, Elise Cook and all of us in UNOH thank you for the generous support the Mt Druitt Central team received and ask for your continued prayers for the neighbourhood there.

Mae SotUNOH had been asked for many years by our refugee neigbours in Melbourne and Bangkok to start a team in Mae Sot on the Thai/Burma border. At the beginning of 2011, Rod Sheard and Peter “Murray” Taylor started living in a factory neighbourhood, 10 minutes walk from the river border. Their unique location, and being the only westerners in this area on the border, meant they were able to forge deep connection with the hundreds of Burmese migrant factory workers living there. Lexie moved in later that year when she and Rod were married.

It is with much gratitude when the team think back to the many moments they shared with neighbours. There were the cooking sessions with the women, lego and craft with the kids, weddings and premature births, trips to the local clinic in the middle of the night, carols by candlelight in the factory, teaching at the vocational development school and even their desperately poor neighbours collecting clothes for a nearby orphanage where Murray volunteered at.

As the needs of the team changed significantly, they spent time discerning the future, and subsequently finished the team in Mae Sot at the end of 2012. Rod and Lexie are now serving in Bangkok’s slums, while Murray is taking leave to gain further training.

Grateful for our time in...

Current UNOH teams and their journeys

Bidwill - SydneyJon & Lisa Owen, with their daughters Kshama & Keira, pioneered the team in Sydney in January 2007. They continue to lead the team there with Lisa Paxton, Adam Booth, Elise Cook, Liam O’Brien and Joe and Emma Macleod.

Noble Park - Melbourne After a few false starts in 94-95 and 2002, the team was relaunched in 2003 with Lindy Croucher, Sharmila Blair (then Owen) and Jane Morton. The team now consists of Gabriel and Catherine Hingley (with Arthur, Nathaniel and Clara), Jane Morton, Jono and Steph Bailey, Steph Miller, Ange Weekes and Ashlee Planck.

Broadmeadows - MelbourneAfter much prayer and discernment, Brad and Colleen Coath and their boys Sam and Hudson moved to Broadmeadows in January this year, as UNOH’s newest neighbourhood team.

Manurewa - Auckland January 2011 saw the first New Zealand UNOH team established in Randwick Park, Manurewa. Pioneered by Dave and Denise Tims and their family of three teenagers, they are now joined by Eric and Anna Mailau.

Springvale - Melbourne This is the place where it all began with Ash and Anji Barker in 1993. They were joined by Lisa Owen and others in those early years. The team is now run by Peter and Naomi Dekker, with their three boys Jake, Sam & Luke.

Dandenong - MelbourneLindy Croucher moved to Dandenong in January of 2008, and was joined soon after by Dave and Denise Tims in 2009. Since the Tim’s return to New Zealand and Lindy’s departure, the team is now lead by Sharmila & Peter Blair (with their girls Divya & Ashlyn), who moved from Noble Park, Vikki Home, Stephen Young, Abby Weller, Sharon O’Brien (Companions of Hope) and Ashleigh Newnham (currently on leave).

Lok 3-6, Bangkok Ash & Anji Barker (with 5 year old Amy), moved to Klong Toey slum’s 70 Rye neighbourhood in 2002. After supporting the local Ta Rua church and establishing various projects (which continue in 70 Rye), they moved to Lok 3-6 in 2009. Currently in Loch 3-6 live the Barkers (with with 9 year old son Aiden and their foster children Film & Tan), Alisha Faulkner, Camille Beckingham and Kadilyn Del Knief.

Rom Klaow - BangkokChris and Jodie MacCartney (with Grace, Ruby and Millie) started a new team in Rom Klaow (part of Klong Toey slum) in September 2008. They are now joined by Rod & Lexie Sheard and Tim & Jess London.

Voices of Hope is a collection of stories from each UNOH neighbourhood. It is a celebration of 20 years of sharing life, heartbreak, love, tears, joy and especially hope with those on the margins. UNOH workers are blessed to have witnessed and shared in many of these stories, and we are so grateful to all our supporters for helping us do so. This book retells some of these amazing stories, and celebrates God’s hope that is found in the lives of our neighbours.

We hope you will enjoy reading it as much as we have enjoyed putting it together!

www.unoh.org/unoh-publishing

For more UNOH Publishing titles and

electronic versions of publications, go to:

BOOK LAUNCH

Saturday July 6

see inside back page

for further details

A new series of eBooklets from UNOH PublishingLoving God and neighbour well is not intuitive. This is especially so in urban neighbourhoods with complex and hurting relational ecosystems. There is work that God needs to do in and through us if we are to see real change happen here without causing harm. Who can help guide us beyond good intentions? UNOH Publishing has brought together, in this new series of Kindle Singles, experienced urban Christian activists and thinkers to share their hard won practical insights on topics that can make a difference in seeing lives and neighbourhoods transformed through Jesus. These eBooklets are designed especially for activists to read and pray through in one sitting, engaging with some of the most essential issues activists face in the places where God has called them to share life.

www.unoh.org/unoh-publishing

New Urban World JournalNew Urban World is the official journal of the International Society for Urban Mission (ISUM). This magazine-style journal aims to amplify voices for urban Christian discipleship and transformation in cities within the broader Church and society. It especially seeks to engage and inspire emerging urban Christian leaders and highlight the new challenges urban slums pose for Christian faith and mission. New Urban World looks for solutions and develops viable models that can be adapted and multiplied in multiple urban contexts. This is accomplished by publishing scholarly articles, news, stories, opportunities for involvement, reviews, poetry and pictures from diverse urban Christians.

ISUM Briefing PapersLook out for 7 eBooklets on important aspects of integral urban mission arising from the ISUM Summit:

• Develop Urban Communities Economically

• Empower Urban Children and Youth• Recruit, Equip and Sustain Christian Leaders• Fuel Church Movements• Transform Urban Neighbourhoods• Multi-faith Cities• Release the Oppressed.

Assoc Prof Darren Cronshaw - New Editor!We are excited to officially welcome Darren as our new Editor in Chief to UNOH Publishing! Darren’s vast experience and skills will bring new depth to UNOH’s publishing. We look forward to the many new publications in the pipeline that will benefit from this new addition to the UNOH family! Contact: editor@unoh.org

For information and subscription:

www.newurbanworld.org

The 2013 Submerge group is one of the most

international we have had, with students coming from

the UK, the US, Canada, New Zealand and, of course,

Australia. Since UNOH’s beginning we have offered

training and equipping of new workers, with the humble

genesis of this project beginning in the shed of Ash

and Anji’s house in Springvale, moving to becoming a

Registered Training Organisation (RTO), which was then

known as the Gospel Ministry Course. Since that time

we have partnered with Tabor and Stirling Colleges to

provide our newest training course called Submerge.

Both colleges have been gracious with us as we have

experimented and trialled modes of delivery. We have

been approaching a format that suits our aims and

goals and provides flexibility for the students’ unique life

circumstances and ministry context. Please pray for the

12 students doing the training this year as they

experience the highs and lows of community life, and are

challenged and inspired to love and serve the poor and

marginalized in their neighbourhoods.

More information on them and their teams can be found

on the UNOH website www.unoh.org

Far beyond a ‘course’...

a year of deep engagement

with God’s heart and a unique

neighbourhood. Incredibly

worthwhile. Laura

Upcoming intensives:

Shalom and the People of God: This intensive focuses on the nature of cities and the competing visions for their projected futures. Biblical and theological understandings will be explored and used as lenses through which the city’s future can be envisaged. With Ash Barker and Mary Fisher. This course can be taken for credit, please see http://stirling.edu.au/dadm128022s/ for more information.

April 26th - 27th (+3 days Mon 29th - Wed 1st May if studying for credit)At 2/6-12 Airlie Avenue, Dandenong (Melbourne) Cost $100 ($70 Conc.)

Transforming Urban Neighbourhoods:This intensive aims to equip participants with practical insights, frameworks, tools and strategies to effect transformation in local neighbourhoods facing urban poverty. With Ash Barker, Terry LeBlanc, Michael Duncan, John Steward, Ray Minniecon, Merryl Blair and more. This course can be taken for credit, please see http://stirling.edu.au/dadm128002s-15/ for more information.

July 5th - 6th (+3 days Mon 8th - Wed 10th if studying for credit)At 2/6-12 Airlie Ave, Dandenong (Melbourne)Cost $100 ($70 Conc.)

The Triune God and Community Building:God, by nature, is community. How can this theological reality inform the way we engage fractured and alienated individuals in our neighbourhoods?

Led by Andrew Menzies, Mary Fisher, Brian Edgar, Ash Barker and other UNOH workers. This unit can be taken for credit, please contact equipping@unoh.org for more details.

Dates: September 27th-28th (+3 days Mon 30th - Wed 2nd Oct if studying for credit)At 2/6-12 Airlie Ave, Dandenong (Melbourne)Cost $100 ($70 Conc.)

28th - 30th June 2013 Adanac Camp, Yarra Junction

Cost: $150 (all inclusive)

Online registration at www.unoh.org/thecrossingor email thecrossing@unoh.org

The Crossing is an exciting new camping

experience for young Adults (aged 16-25).

The Crossing seeks to inspire & connect a new

generation of young people for a life of radical

discipleship and a call to engage in practical,

cutting edge mission.

UNOH Equipping 2013

Other Courses:

Missio Deo Discernment RetreatBirmingham, UK: May 17th -18th

Bangkok, Thailand: June 14th -15th

Sydney, Australia: - July 19th -20th

Auckland, New Zealand: September 20th-21st

Melbourne, Australia: October 4th-5th

Email: equipping@unoh.org for all enquiries

Mission Exposure CourseMelbourne September 20th -26th Please email peterd@unoh.org for all enquiries

BangkokJune (only those interested in long-term vocation in Bangkok)Please email chris@unoh.org for all enquiries.

For more details on any of our Equipping courses, visit our website www.unoh.org or contact equipping@unoh.org

So grateful for those behind the scenes!We are so grateful for the many volunteers and resource staff UNOH have had over the past 20 years. We cannot begin to name you all, for there have been too many, but we thank YOU, and we we give thanks to God for the selfless hours you have given in the often thankless tasks that needed to be done.

We want to thank some of our current resource people who work tirelessly to enable us to love our neighbours. We are truly grateful for all you do for us.

Russell Kilgour has been UNOH’s accountant SINCE 2004, somehow managing the chaos and mess of most UNOH workers account keeping skills. We are SO grateful!

Les Colston is responsible for the amazing artwork and design that goes into all UNOH’s website, publications and Finding Life updates. His generosity and skills have been an enormous blessing to UNOH.

Liz Maher has been a wonderful advocate for Klong Toey Handicrafts, sharing their stories and selling the fair trade wares around Australia. She is also responsible for selling UNOH publications.

Carter Quinley is currently serving as Ash’s PA, and had the complex task of co-ordinating the process of UNOH becoming a foundation! Carter has added so much to our resource team with her exceptional admin skills - she makes admin look easy!

Kook Panush is a wonderful addition to our team here in Bangkok. She looks after the administration and manages many projects (and Anji!).  She is incredibly gifted and has a great vision for what she wants her community to be.

Noi Praserttham currently takes care of the accounting side of UNOH being a foundation in Bangkok. She is the most willing learner, and somehow makes accounting seem fun!

Nicole Dekkers has been such a blessing to the team in Bangkok, resourcing us with her skills in administration, as well as her photography and creativity. We are so grateful for her commitment to the people who her gifts really benefit.

Andy Steele keeps our website and online information up to date and functioning on a volunteer basis. We are so grateful for Andy’s tech-savvy generosity!

Davina Yee manages and maintains the UNOH Library in Dandenong. We are so grateful for her commitment to keep this important resource running so smoothly!

God brought together 200 urban Christian activists, thinkers and leaders for the first International Society for Urban Mission (ISUM) Summit. Hosted by the Evangelical Church of Bangkok from January 26 to 29, 2013, participants came from every continent determined to extend further God’s reign on an increasingly urbanized earth. While a diverse gathering, a real sense of God bringing trust, collaboration and solidarity together emerged.

When ISUM was first formed in Klong Toey slum, January 2012, we knew something of the needs of our new urban world. What we didn’t know was who shared our willingness to find new ways forward with others. That within a year the inspiring journal New Urban World was launched and our first Summit drew so many confirms we are onto something urgent and important to God at such a time as this.

Seven ISUM Briefing Papers were generated by the seven working groups at the Summit. These became collaborative efforts, detecting what the Spirit might be calling the people of God to given the 30 immersion interviews as well as shared stories, workshops, panels, discussions, prayers and insights experienced at the Summit. These findings will be published as Kindle Singles (eBooklets between 10,000 to 15,000 words) and distributed with the help Micah Network, World Evangelical Alliance and ISUM. Videos and articles of key note addresses from Shane Claiborne and Rosalee Ewell, as well as interviews with activists from around the world will also be available on www.newurbanworld.org and New Urban World journal. We look forward to seeing what God does through ISUM and the potential for the next ISUM Summit to be held in Kuala Lumpur in late June 2014. So grateful for all who helped make this dream a reality!

First ISUM Summit exceeds all expectations

Much bigger!When I first joined UNOH in December 1997 it was just getting started. We had a deaf receptionist, Grandpa Roy (affectionately known as Uncle Roy) who used to answer the phone and then proceed to hear little else, usually assuming the line was dead.

He would occasionally hang up in frustration and then say with a glint in his eye, “this UNOH thing is going to get so much bigger!” His faith often belied his actions.

We are thankful that we have never sought to grow through large systems but rather through a commitment to making the small faithful decisions consistently.

As we look back we can see how God has been guiding us all along the way.Grandpa Roy’s prophetic words have come true. From the first couple of people who piled their lives into a rusted-out cream Sigma and orange bumper-less corolla to move

into an unknown future in Springvale we now have teams across Melbourne, Sydney, Bangkok and Auckland. The caravan of dodgy cars doesn’t stop there either and we are in serious discussion about what it would take to have teams in Perth and Queensland in the next few years.

I believe that we will continue to prove Grandpa Roy correct, as long as we never forget to place Jesus first in our lives, families and neighbourhoods.

To ensure that we see hope where many only see despair and hold our founding charism central we gather regularly as team leaders around the campfire to keep telling the stories of how God has provided and sustained us and our wonderful teams through many turbulent times, to see lives changed and the seeds of hope sprouting in the lives of communities as they are slowly transformed through the risen Christ.

I am so proud of what God is doing through our teams, please continue to pray for our leaders. I can’t wait for the stories to be told in another 20 years time!

Jon Owen, UNOH Australia-Pacific Director

Grateful to be part of the movementThere are those that relocate, others return, while some remain in neighbourhoods to join with Jesus in bringing peace to the city. This is the pattern we’ve seen over the years as UNOH has grown from one neighbourhood to eight. Each of these responses has required, from workers and teams, the same deliberate commitment to faithful love and obedience to serve Christ in neighbourhoods crippled by poverty, where people are often too exhausted simply surviving to notice the signs of the present kingdom, and hear the invitation to a new way of living with Jesus.

Friday nights, for the past 6 years, have been a time to gather with Thai friends to stop, taking time to reflect and notice the wonders of Jesus we’ve encountered. It’s a time to hear afresh the invitation to follow Jesus. Together we acknowledge and celebrate that we are not just witnessing the kingdom of God in our midst, we are participating with Jesus, “proclaiming good news to the poor....” From within this sacred space we have been incredibly grateful at the response of our Thai friends. There are those who are deliberately choosing to ‘stay-put’ in their neighbourhood, when moving up and out is no longer just a dream, but a real possibility. They’ve caught a vision of what Christ is doing in their city and want to remain to be part of the adventure. Others are asking, “What would it take to start a new neighbourhood team in Klong Toey and even other slum communities throughout Bangkok?”

Our hope is to see neighbours deliberately choosing to remain behind. We dream of others who will return to places they (or their families) have come from. And we long to see workers relocate to mega-cities throughout Asia, to interrupt the daily grind of those living in slums, and point to a new way of being human.

With millions struggling to survive in slums throughout the world, “the harvest is indeed plentiful.” But as we pray for more committed workers to join with Jesus to “set the captives free,” we remain incredibly grateful to be part of a movement of the Spirit that is ‘making all things new.’

Chris MacCartney, UNOH Asia Director

Jon Owen and Chris MacCartney when they were much younger! Taken in Springvale 2006.

Urban Neighbours of HopeFactory 2/6-12 Airlie AveDandenong VIC 3175

PO Box 2711Dunearn LPODandenong North VIC 3175

Phone: 03 9701 7114 Fax: 03 9701 7115 Email: unoh@unoh.org

www.unoh.org

Finding Life is the newsletter of Urban Neighbours of Hope

Editor: Jodie MacCartney

Proof readers: Hugh MacCartney, Camille Beckingham and Ash Barker

Design: Les Colston - les@zealartstudios.com

UNOH 20th Anniversary Celebration Night A special night to give thanks for God’s work through UNOH will be held 7pm, Saturday July 6th, 2013 at the EAST Alliance Campus, 44-60 Jacksons Road Mulgrave, Victoria. All current UNOH workers from teams in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand will be there with special guests, “Vox Congo”, Mick Duncan and Darryl Gardiner. The latest UNOH Publication, Voices of Hope, will be the launched with many of the ‘stories’ sharing live. If you have been part of UNOH’s story so far please come and enjoy the celebration, ready for what God can do through us in the next 20 years! The night is free, but an offering for UNOH will be taken. A light supper will be provided. If possible, please RSVP unoh@unoh.org to assist us with catering.

Coffee for Change CampaignLove to drink high-quality coffee? Believe in fair wages for coffee growers? Want to support God’s work through UNOH?Now you can do all three at once through a new partnership UNOH has with Soltura Specialty Coffee!

UNOH foundation We are excited to announce that UNOH Thailand has officially become a registered foundation! This is an exciting step forward for UNOH Thailand, as it opens up several new opportunities and possibilities, such as tax deductability options for our local donors, allotted visas for our international workers and apprentices, and official recognition and affirmation from the Thai government of our work in Klong Toey!

www.solturacoffee.com.au

Order online today, and enjoy good coffee while supporting the work of UNOH.

Ash receiving the official documentation with the amazing team that made it happen: Lek, Carter and Kook.