Reading Mission

In episode, Mitch and Emily listen to Garry’s stories as he discusses his personal experience with the Church, challenging the Church to do better in representation and listening to First Nations voice. He also shares directly with First Nations People regarding their response to the Church.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 5, A Letter to My First Nations Sisters and Brothers Concerning the Church, Gondwana Theology from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode Mitch and Emily discuss continue their exploration through Gondwana Theology. In this chapter Garry shares his personal experience of racism, theology of the Trinity and how both these things tie together.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 4, On Racism and the Trinity, Gondwana Theology from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode Mitch and Emily discuss reconciliation, the theological approach and some of the more complex and challenging aspects that face us as people who live on these lands now called Australia.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 3, The Unfinished Business of Reconciliation, Gondwana Theology from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

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Mitch and Emily are going to explore what a journey towards a Theology of First Peoples Spirituality might look like. In this chapter, Garry discusses the Eurocentric nature of theology as a concept and the ramifications that can have on First Peoples, dreaming as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander scripture and finally, suggestions as to how we can corporately engage Christianity and First Peoples Spirituality in worship Jesus.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 2, Towards a Theology of First Peoples Spirituality

Get a copy of Gondwana Theology from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

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As Mitch and Emily begin Season Five of Reading Mission, they are sinking their teeth into the first chapter of Gondwana Theology: A Trawloolway man reflects on Christian Faith. As they read this book they will listen to the stories of Garry Worete Deverell from the Trawloolway Pairebeenener mob in Trouwerner (Tasmania) as he reflects on his Indigenous Spirituality and his Christian Faith.

In this episode they are discussed the first chapter First Peoples Spirituality. In this chapter Garry idenitfies three key interconnected areas of First Nation’s Spirituality - Country, Kin, and Dreaming.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 1, First Peoples Spirituality

Get a copy of Gondwana Theology from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

Mitch and Emily dive into the final chapter of Credible Witness and discuss some of their most fond potluck dinner memories and hospitality's valuable role in building strong communities.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 6, Hosts for a Multicultural Community and Conclusion

Get a copy of Credible Witness from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

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Mitch and Emily dive into the Christian call to service and explore some of the ways Australian Christians have followed Jesus' example of compassionate care for vulnerable and marginalised people through the 20th century and into current times!

Covered in this episode: Chapter 5, Servants for the Needy

Get a copy of Credible Witness from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode Mitch and Emily discuss the impact advocacy has had in the lands now called Australia, how many notable social movements have been key in shaping our cultural identity and the ways in which The Church has and has not been involved.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 4: Advocate for the Marginalised

Get a copy of Credible Witness from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

In this episode Mitch and Emily discuss what it means to be a shepherd in a spiritual sense in Australia. Oh, and there is a decent discussion about Australian Survivor.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 2: Shepherds for Settlers

Get a copy of Credible Witness from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

In this episode Mitch and Emily discuss early colonial expressions of chaplaincy and how they has influenced the place we now call Australia. 

Covered in this episode: Chapter 2: Chaplains for Convicts

Get a copy of Credible Witness from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

In this episode Mitch and Emily crack open the 4th book for Reading Mission, chatting about what a uniquely Australian voice into Mission sounds like. They chat about the importance of deep listening and the people who have influenced them in their own spiritual journey.

Covered in this episode: Introduction & Chapter 1: Spiritual Companions For the Journey

Get a copy of Credible Witness from your local bookstore or Christian retailer or online.

Transcript available at http://embody.org.au/blog

In this special edition of Reading Mission, Mitch tells Emily all about the life of Saint Nicholas of Myra, the real life Christian Bishop whose story inspired the legend of Santa Claus.

Our main source for this episode is The Saint Who Would Be Santa Claus by Adam C. English. Listen in for some of Saint Nicholas's best known stories, some unbelievable stories from his childhood, and at least one act that would get him kicked out of your church's AGM.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily discuss being on mission where they are and reflect on their final thoughts of Plum Tree in the Desert.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 9: Play Their Tune & Chapter 10: Wherever We Are & Chapter 11; The Days Left for Me

Get a copy of The Plum Tree in the Desert from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

In this episode Mitch and Emily chat about those times we feel angry at God and what we do about it, the value of our stories and the resilience and perseverance mission often requires.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 7: The Light Shines & Chapter 8: She Must Love Us

Get a copy of The Plum Tree in the Desert from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

In this episode, Mitch and Emily reflected on the challenges of sitting and waiting on God and being obedient where we are in the present even when we'd rather be somewhere else. 

Covered in this episode: Chapter 5: In Weakness & Chapter 6: The Seeds

Get a copy of The Plum Tree in the Desert from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

In this episode, Mitch and Emily reflected on Scott and Margaret's stories and the journey both missionaries went through to discover their role in their individual communities.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 3: Twenty Thousand Pots & Chapter 4: The Least of These

Get a copy of The Plum Tree in the Desert from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

Welcome to Season 3 of Reading Mission! In this episode, Mitch and Emily chatted about the first couple of chapters of Naomi Reed's book Plum Tree in the Desert. They discussed being aware of People of Peace and how God's timing doesn't always make sense to us.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 1: In Search of a Story & Chapter 2: The Right Time

Get a copy of Plum Tree in the Desert from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

In this episode, Mitch and Emily discuss we (as churches) can partner with communities both locally and globally in a different way.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 11: Chapter 11: On Your Mark, Get Set, Go! & A Final Word: The Most Important Step

Get a copy of When Helping Hurts from your local bookstore, Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily discuss the 5 simple steps to moving mission and ministries into a more participatory space.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 10: Excuse Me, Can You Spare Me Some Change?

Get a copy of When Helping Hurts from your local bookstore, Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily discuss economic development strategies for both our local contexts and in the majority world.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 8: Yes, In Your Backyard & Chapter 9: And to the Ends of the Earth

Get a copy of When Helping Hurts from your local bookstore, Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily discuss Short Term Missions, various models and land in a place that is hopefully encouraging!

Covered in this episode: Chapter 7, Doing Short-Term Missions Without Doing Long-term Harm

Get a copy of When Helping Hurts from your local bookstore, Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily discuss the strengths and challenges of engaging with a participatory approach to community development. 

Covered in this episode: Chapter 6 McDevelopment: Over 2.5 Billion People NOT Served

Get a copy of When Helping Hurts from your local bookstore, Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily discuss Asset Based Community Development and the powerful role it can play when working with communities of all sorts.

Covered in this episode: Chapter4, Not All Poverty is Created Equal

Get a copy of When Helping Hurts from your local bookstore, Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily discuss the Relief, Rehabilitation and Development model of "doing mission" and the freedom of seeing our ministries through such a lens empowering the church into not needing to be all things to all people.

Covered in this episode: Chapter4, Not All Poverty is Created Equal

Get a copy of When Helping Hurts from your local bookstore, Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily discuss some biblical frameworks for defining poverty. They also chat about how the systems and structures we are a part of influence our action or inaction when it comes to poverty alleviation.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 2, What's the Problem? & Chapter 3, Are We There Yet?

Get a copy of When Helping Hurts from your local bookstore, Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily talk about their personal responses to the question "why did Jesus come to earth?" and touch on how they think about their own involvement in mission.

Covered in this episode: Introduction & Chapter 1: Why did Jesus Come to Earth?

Get a copy of When Helpling Hurts from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily talk about Bruno and the tension of living in the now but not yet of the Revelation of Jesus.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 8, Apocolypse Now: Last Things and the Things that Last.

Get a copy of Make Poverty Personal from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily discuss their summer reading, the letters from Paul to the church in Philippi and Corinth and how we can apply these principles in making poverty personal in discipleship.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 7, Epistles: Letters from Jail and Other Tough Places of Discipleship.
Get a copy of Make Poverty Personal from your local bookstore or Christian retailer or online.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily discuss the role of the early church in addressing poverty and the role different faith traditions play in this process.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 6, The Early Church: Standing Against Poverty Together.

Get a copy of Make Poverty Personal from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily wrestle with what it really means to make poverty personal in our globalised, consumeristic western culture.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 5, The Gospels and Messianic Transformation.

Get a copy of Make Poverty Personal from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily discuss the prophetic nature of The Simpsons and the importance of having prophetic voices speaking into our own lives at a time such as this.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 4, Prophetic Ministry - Radical Hope from the Margins.

Get a copy of Make Poverty Personal from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily join the Finer Things Club and chat through the power of poetry and art to help us experience the divine, and give voice to the raw emotion of life in a complex and often difficult world.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 3, Hebrew Poetry and the Awesome Truth.

Get a copy of Make Poverty Personal from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

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In this episode, Mitch and Emily discuss God's utopian experiment with the nation of Israel, the laws that would prevent entrenched poverty, and the Bible's call to systems, structures, and rules that uplift the powerless and restrain the powerful.

Covered in this episode: Chapter 2, Hebrew Laws and "Always Having" Poverty.

Get a copy of Make Poverty Personal from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

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Welcome to Reading Mission, our new book club podcast recorded live in our Discord server every fortnight! In this first episode, Emily and Mitch sit down to read through the first chapter of Make Poverty Personal: Taking the Poor as Seriously as the Bible does by Dr. Ash Barker. 

In this episode we talk about the importance of justice and eliminating poverty to the Christian mission, how God's heart breaks for people who are experiencing poverty and oppression, and learn some leadership tips—and some excuses—from the story of Moses.

Covered in this episode: Forward by Shane Claiborne, Introduction, and Chapter 1: Beyond Excuses.

Get a copy of Make Poverty Personal from your local bookstore or Christian retailer, or online.

Correction: At around 1:10, Mitch says that Make Poverty Personal was republished in 2019. It was actually republished in 2009.

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We are so excited to announce a new book club podcast: Reading Mission! Reading Mission is a live podcast where we read some of our favourite books about mission, justice, and social change together. If you are exploring what mission is and what it means to live a missional life, this is the book club for you! 

Every episode will be recorded live in our Discord, so you can listen in and contribute to the discussion in chat. Don’t worry if you can’t make it to the live recording, we will be putting out every episode as a podcast so you never miss a conversation. 

The first book we'll be exploring is Make Poverty Personal: Taking the Poor as Seriously as the Bible Does by Dr Ash Barker. We hope you join us!

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