Now I can go on and on here, but I don’t need to do that if it is of no benefit to the body of Christ. Simply put, it is from an Indigenous perspective that we are asking the Church to accept that our gift to you is the diversity, inclusivity, and deeper understanding of spirituality that First Nations theology can bring. It honours Indigenous cultures and creates space for healing, reconciliation, and justice while fostering a more holistic expression of faith. To conclude I wonder if my faithful, cultural contribution here will help towards the Church approaching God in different ways. I don’t know, only our God of heaven and earth knows. But our “Voice” will still be raised to fight with love and compassion. From my Torres Strait Creole perspective, we are to show, “Good iLan Passin”1, or from an Eastern Island perspective “Debe Tonar”, or from our Western and Central Island perspective, “Kapu Pawa”. We love you, but we seek to be seen and we seek to be heard. The Reverend Canon Victor Joseph 1 This can be translated as “A good way of behaving within the Fruits of the Spirit”. 65
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