Against the Tide, Towards the Kingdom

foreword

This book will sit lightly, easily, and happily in your hands. And its lilting storytelling will bring a smile to your face and joy to your heart. This is because this book is such a good read. And its pages are full of wisdom, goodness and hope.

I began my introduction of this book on this note because this is what helps make the book rather unusual. People who are into radical Christian discipleship are not always characterized by joy and down-to-earth simplicity and practicality. Often such Christians are rather heavy duty in their approach to life. They are intense rather than wise, ministry-focused rather than life-oriented, somber rather than joyful. They are seeking to make the world right and good and just, and this is often seen as a very serious and burdensome task

This story of Justin and Jenny Duckworth and the development of Urban Vision just does not have such a flavor. The tone is very different. Here are a group of Christians who are seeking to live the gospel in the modern world in the joy of the kingdom of God. Here are the stories of a group of New Zealand radicals, primarily in the Wellington area, living a costly incarnational vision of serving the poor. But they do so in the solidarity of friendship and in the easier rhythm of not taking themselves too seriously. They learn from their mistakes and they don’t think they have all the answers for society. They just want to follow Jesus and serve the neighbor, particularly the neglected neighbor in our urban world.

But make no mistake there is nothing lightweight or simplistic about this book. This is a testament of a very long journey in the following of Christ, in the forging of Christian communities, and in the challenge of serving the poor. Thus these pages are laden with a wisdom forged out of obedience, service, and suffering. And that is like finding gold.

The story of this couple and of this home-grown missional movement with the marks of a new Protestant religious order, touches on the whole gamut of life, service, and spirituality. As such this book can be put into the hands of any searching young person with the question: Do you want to know how to live for Christ in the twenty-first century? Here, read this book.

This book therefore is full of insight in how urban mission can be done well. It is brimming with wisdom about relationships. It is full of insights regarding the joys and challenges of building Christian community. And there is practical advice on leadership, the practice of hospitality, various spiritual disciplines, and the setting of boundaries.

And there is more. Networking. Conflict resolution. Celebration. Creativity. Counselling. Retreats. Family. Work. Sexuality. Money. Sacrifice. Prayer. Sabbath. No wonder this is such a rich story. This is not just a story of service. It is a story of living a life, of following Christ, and of being workers in the cause of peace and justice. This story of being, living, and serving weaves a communal identity and spirituality. As such, it overcomes our narrow individualism

The delightful idiosyncratic Urban Vision story is nevertheless part of a worldwide movement where contemporary Christians are seeking to live a greater fidelity to the gospel and are seeking to live against the tide of a soulless Western capitalism and a dysfunctional consumerism.

Some of the hallmarks of this broader movement are reflected in this book. A recovery of the centrality of Christ. A call to live the gospel, not just believe the gospel. The challenge to do things together, to live in community and to be in solidarity, rather than to live our fractured individualism. The invitation to serve the poor as a way of serving Christ himself. The challenge to journey with the neighbor, rather than just to provide programs of help. The call to discover a deeper spirituality that will bring glory to God, will make us more attentive to the Spirit, and will be bread and wine for the journey. The invitation to live a more sacramental way of life. The challenge in the work of evangelization and justice to transform broken lives and communities into persons and places of healing and hope. And the call to a simple lifestyle and a care for the earth that joins us with God’s concern for all that was made and for all that needs careful sustenance and renewal.

May this book then sit lightly in your hands. May it challenge your heart. May it reorient your footsteps. May it invite you to live in a similar way.

—Charles Ringma, urban and cross-cultural missioner and theologian.

acknowledgments

The big love goes to all those who have travelled in Urban Vision on this waka with us. If I had been writing simply a memoir I would have of course included all your names and faces and colourful dramas that we have shared over the many years; they remain in my filled-up photo books and my bulging memories. And we all know that we would never have started or at least never continued without those who have cheered us on, picked us up, and called us on again. So here’s to you Charles, Rita, Mick, Ruby, Lois, Dave, John, Karen, Henry, Joseph, Catherine, Jenny, Bishop Tom, Uncle Mowhi, Michael and Daryl. Thanks Charles for your confidence that our story was worth writing down and to Karen my new friend and editor for working with the rough musings of us give it a go kiwis. Thanks Amber for attending to all the details of our life, including this book. And to our young people, our neighbours and friends who have come to find shelter and hospitality, you have changed our lives forever now; you have ruined us for normal life because you have been gifts from God. God is generous, God is good.

introduction

Recently, Justin and I packed up our kids and our backpacks for a sabbatical year, heading far away from our home at the bottom (or top) of the world to find our souls again, to be inspired by God and his people in other places. As we got chatting with folks around the world, we found ourselves telling the story of our life with Urban Vision in New Zealand/Aotearoa, which began as an experiment in a poorer suburb of Wellington city over fifteen years ago with a group of friends who wanted a bit more than Sunday church.

So many of the young adults in church (then and now) were waiting for their lives to happen. One day I hope to . . . When I grow up . . . or When I’m really ready . . . There is a long list of sensible things to do first. I need to start my study, I need to finish my study, I need to pay off my student loan, I need to save for my Overseas Experience (hereafter, OE), I need to do my OE, I need to start my career, I need to plan for my wedding, I need time within my new marriage, I need to start my family, I need to get my kids through the preschool years, I need be there for my kids as they approach their high school years, I need to look after my aging parents, I need to save for my kids’ university, I need a few years to recover from all those busy years, I need to restart my career and my marriage and get through my mid-life transition still feeling like I have something to offer, I need to work hard to maintain my standard of living, I need to support my grown up kids and grandchildren, I need to die. . .

But we decided early on we couldn’t wait. We were young, but we were getting older fast. We didn’t want to wake up one day to realize we had drifted through life in a cultural shape we didn’t even believe in. We didn’t want to waste our high-energy years waiting to be mature enough. In fact Justin remembers the scary day, while in deep discussion with friends over the poverty and injustice of the world, when he realized that someone was going to have to start living the alternative—and that someone had to be us. We wondered if we could live our lives with a fully focused kingdom agenda and then add the other list of things around the edge, rather than the other way around. Maybe our parents could be blessed by our commitment to live out this kingdom culture. Maybe our children could grow up within it and our marriage flourish along the way. Maybe our careers could serve our calling.

We had been raised in Youth for Christ, so approaching our lives with a sense of calling came naturally. Whether or not there were grants, financial support or money miracles (and we did experience all three at some time), we did it anyway. With other youth workers, we developed a community around our shared households, all within walking distance, and began a rhythm of prayer and communication.

Finances were always tight, so when we moved into an amazing home for teenage girls as part of our youth work, we shared rooms with the young women to save on rent. Some people found this outrageous, but we found it helpful to getting alongside them and sharing all of our lives together, nailing our own sense of my rights to the cross. We also became good at taking long walks and finding places to hide. Over time, we moved into the inner city, living with far too many folks in a old mattress factory, then taking over the houses next door. Sharing meals and life with street people, sex workers, council tenants, and many other wandering types, we had become more than youth workers, so we left our YFC Wellington connection with deep gratitude and became Urban Vision, our own charitable trust.

Over the years, our community have focused on a beautiful whakatauki—old Māori wisdom from here in New Zealand—that frames our community’s values: Kotahi te kohao o te ngira e kuhuna ai te miro ma, te miro pango te miro whero, which translates: There are three strands but they form one thread which goes through the eye of the needle. This speaks to us of our personal relationship with Jesus, our relationship with other believers, and our relationship with others who are suffering in this hurting world. And the eye of the needle remains a biblical challenge for us Western Christians and our wealthy load!

As we follow the life of Jesus, we notice him nurturing, protecting, attending to his own relationship with God. We see him stealing away to be alone, to pray, to listen, to wrestle, to discern—even when he is busy! We see him share life with a few and make them his best friends—not a particularly talented or specialized bunch, but his bunch. They take the journey together, up and down, good and bad, making the ordinary extraordinary. Together, they go to the edge, tending to those who are broken and hurting, rejected and sick. These three strands guide our community along the path of what it means to follow Jesus. You don’t have to be skilled or know much about this stuff, but we ask people to give all three a go together. That’s who we are and that’s what we believe in. The question is not, should I live like this or not, but, if not here