Churches serving asylum seekers are now being networked together through an initiative headed up by Anglicare.

Dave Baker, who is currently leading this specific effort at Anglicare on a volunteer basis, says his work is basically about directing funds donated to Anglicare to the churches that need them, and helping connect resources to needs.

“Really, a good portion of it is simply communicating those needs to other churches around the place that might be able to help,” he says.

The initiative began last year, with Anglican Aid, along with Anglicare, organising a meeting for some churches involved in ministries to asylum seekers, in order to share ideas and stories.

“What happened last year was we tried to help the churches that were doing work with asylum seekers, and we ran a meeting jointly in Parramatta that was attended by seven or eight churches,” says Anglican Aid’s Office and Africa Project Manager, Eddie Ozols. “We handed that over to Anglicare in the end because it wasn’t really part of our remit, but we did provide some funds to two churches for the emergency work that they were doing. That initial meeting highlighted, I think, that everyone was in the same boat, and that there was suddenly this need.”

The Rev Clive Buultjens, currently the pastor at St John’s West Strathfield, attended the initial meeting in 2013.

“I’ve been in contact with asylum seekers for about two years,” he says. “I’ve been trying to help them with clothing, furniture, internet connections, that sort of thing, but also visiting and reading the Bible with them. Often they are non Christians as well, so it’s been a great opportunity to extend the kingdom. Two people have come to Christ already, which is fantastic.”

He says the increased networking has been useful to the ministry he has been conducting, particularly in terms of sharing resources and filling needs. ”That networking has been really useful,” says Mr Buultjens, “meeting people who are doing this ministry in other churches, being able to find people who can transport furniture and do those practical things. Sometimes I have furniture that I want to give to people, but I haven’t got transport. Manoj [Chacko, rector of Liverpool South] has been able to provide us with Tamil Bibles. It would actually be great to work together more closely, in terms of doing evangelistic endeavors and services, as well.”
Mr Baker says, while political changes barring new arrivals of asylum seekers into Australia has changed some aspects of this ministry, many churches are still doing the same work they were doing 8 months ago.

“There’s been a bit of a shift, but not as much as you might think,” he says. “Early on, there were some churches who were dealing with dozens to hundreds of new asylum seekers regularly because they were next door to a hotel [in which asylum seekers in community detention were being temporarily housed] ... But a lot of the churches, especially out west, continue to deal with asylum seekers in much the same way that they have been. The waves of asylum seekers we’re currently helping are those who came throughout 2013, who came before the change in policy [under the Rudd Labor government] and were released into community detention, and can’t work, and are in temporary and uncertain conditions.”

He says having these people in our country represents a significant opportunity for Christian witness that would otherwise be impossible.

“It’s such an awesome opportunity to have people from otherwise closed countries actually coming to us, living among us, and being able to hear the gospel,” says Mr Baker.

“From my experience of working with the churches, you can offer all sorts of ministries and run programs, but the very best thing that can be done, the most effective ministry is to just provide friendship, to provide Christian friends who aim to share the gospel with people. Through that, they can practice English and find out basic things about how Australia works anyway, but it’s most important to have friends who love them and share the gospel.”