Reconciliation week kicks off this Sunday!

Two weeks ago I watched the film Song Keepers (trailer below). At it's surface, it's a film about an indigenous women's choir taking Lutheran hymns that had been translated into indigenous languages 140 years ago on a tour of Germany.

But below that are deep themes about how the gospel meets culture, about the lows and highs of white and indigenous relations and powerful testimonies to the way grace works in the lives of these women.

Part of the tour was to say thank you to the churches who sent missionaries to central Australia all those generations ago. What was beautiful was to hear the Germans saying "thank you for bringing the gospel back to us." These women were missionaries in the other direction.

I've been thinking about the book of James and the process of indigenous/non-indigenous reconciliation. Films like Song Keepers help believers in humble circumstances to take pride in their high position (James 1:9). Watching it, I was delighted to be able to honour our sisters and the way they honoured Christ.

PS. Last week's Australian story was about this same tour, and it's absolutely worth a watch - it'll make your heart sing (link below).

PPS. If we can get 59 people together, we could put on a screening of Song Keepers at Limelight and have a QandA afterwards with Australians Together (a group of indigenous Christian evangelists who can talk with us about the gospel and reconciliation). Interested? Have you got friends you could bring to this? Tell me.

grace and peace,

Steve