Repairing The Breach

Many years ago, when I first started working with ABM, I had a well-intentioned but misinformed view that ‘mission’ was done by us for the benefit of them . It didn’t take long for ABM’s partners to teach me that the reality was entirely different. Mission is about listening first and then working together, with God, to achieve what is most important to the people most affected. The other thing I learnt is that the most effective mission work is always done by the local community. Local people who speak local language and understand local concerns. Outside experts can be very useful – if they’re asked for and they’re humble enough to listen. I’ve tried to adapt this learning to all my ministry positions since then. Hence, these studies have not been outsourced to a brilliant theological mind operating in another stratosphere. This year, I looked inside my parish (Holy Innocents, Belair, SA) and among my ABM team, and realised that I was surrounded by people with deep theological and missional understanding. People of real faith and courage. So, I asked them to write. Stacie and Chris, Mike, Matt, Carly and I are part of the same small parish. Brad and Jazz are colleagues and friends of long standing. I am grateful to them all. Carol Aust, whose work I discovered online, has been appearing on the walls of my parish (via projector) for years. She is an old but distant friend. When she agreed to allow us to use her paintings in this book I was thrilled beyond words. I am grateful. Annette Zanker has been designing ABM resources for years. She was the friend of a friend and is now part of the family. Her no-nonsense, utterly professional, artistically sensitive and compassionate approach to all the ABM resources she has designed has lifted them to another level. I am grateful. This book is the work of a local community. It is the result of ABM being always willing to do things differently and well. This is mission. I am grateful. Steve Daughtry 6-1-22 Acknowledgments Campfire with Blue Smoke - Carol Aust 110