“Several Syrian families started coming to our church,” says assistant minister the Rev Nathan Cheung. “They kept coming because they enjoyed the warm fellowship and because of their faith in God, even though they understood very little of the service.

“It was really important for them to be included in the service, and God’s word is given to us to understand so we really wanted them to have it in their heart language. We had a contact from another church who very generously came to translate for us, and so we bought headsets!”

The full script of each sermon is sent to a translator a few days prior to preaching, and a full translation from English to Arabic can take four hours. During the sermon, the translator speaks into a small microphone that is then wirelessly transmitted to the earpieces. “It means I need to speak slower as well, which I am trying to learn!” Cheung says.

Buying headsets online has been revolutionary for the Syrian families at Chester Hill.

“The first week we tried it, they had massive smiles across their faces and they were nearly in tears,” he says. It’s allowed us to actually interact about the Bible now, as opposed to just small talk over morning tea.”

 ‘I used to understand 0 per cent, now I understand 100 per cent’

Since introducing the headsets, one of the Syrian ladies in their congregation has stepped up to help with translation, and a Mandarin speaker has taken the initiative to start translation and a Mandarin Bible study, too. The parish team is looking at a range of creative ways to implement this during the service.

“Last month we trialled live Mandarin translation using hands-free on mobile phones and conference calls to each person as a makeshift solution!” Cheung says.