I was doing a bit of internet research this week and came across an interesting story in the UK’s Guardian newspaper, about the shantytowns of Rio de Janeiro. Rio has about 600 of these settlements (or ‘favelas’ as they’re called), many of them controlled by one of four main drug factions. Since the 1980s clashes between these cartels and police have become increasingly militaristic, and machine-guns, grenades, landmines and bazookas have been used in combat. Rio annually registers about 6,000 murders, and favela conflict keeps this number high. More than 50 police officers have died since January, and a recent clash between police and traffickers claimed 16 lives in just two weeks.

As you can imagine, few venture into Rio’s favelas. A handful of support groups do exist to try and coax the drug traffickers back into law-abiding society, but for the most part such work is left to another group—Christians. Armed only with a Bible, it’s missionaries who are confronting Rio’s most dangerous men.

Every week hundreds of these believers trawl the back alleys and drug dens of the favelas, hoping to save both souls and lives. Their work consists of preaching and praying, but includes providing practical aid and negotiating the freedom of kidnapped traffickers.

The Christians are given Red Cross-style access. When police try and enter a favela they’re often met with gun fire; when the evangelists enter they’re greeted with a slightly embarrassed smile or even a hug from gang members. As one trafficker told The Guardian, "The boys all know [the preachers] are here to try and liberate us, to help us stop smoking, stop snorting and stop trafficking."

Many of these preachers are former gang members who see the traffickers not just as violent killers but also as deeply vulnerable young men. Dione dos Santos is a 33-year-old Pentecostal pastor serving in a rundown district of west Rio. Before his Christian conversion ten years ago, Dione was also in the drug movement. Now he tells traffickers: "What you are, I once was. What I am today, you too can become." Pastor Dione claims to have convinced several hundred criminals to swap their weapons for the word of God.

As I read this story I couldn’t help but think of a comment I heard by a broadcaster this week, who was ridiculing the South Korean Christians currently held by the Taliban. This broadcaster couldn’t understand why any missionary would be so stupid as to go to Afghanistan—a country known for its persecution of Christians.

The reason, dear broadcaster, is this: Christians follow a Lord whose passion for people knows no bounds; a Lord who left the safety of heaven to enter strife-torn earth; a Lord who dies so we might live; a Lord who calls his followers to risky, gutsy love for others so that they might find eternal life and now and later.

A 21 year old member of Pastor Dione’s team said this: "My mum gets worried about the early mornings and the shootouts but this is our work, our lives are in the hands of Jesus." That’s the attitude.

But, of course, it’s an attitude that can only be understood after experiencing the radical love of God for ourselves. Thankfully, that experience is available to all who ask.

© 2007 Sheridan Voysey is a writer, speaker, broadcaster and author of Unseen Footprints: Encountering the divine along the journey of life (Scripture Union, 2005). www.thethoughtfactory.net

If you could take an apprenticeship with anyone in the world…alive or dead…who would it be and what skill would you like to pick up?

Maybe you’d like to learn how to be more charismatic…with Bill Clinton. Maybe you’d like to spend a week learning how to paint with Van Gogh. Or what about fine tuning your cooking skills with Jamie Oliver? Or perhaps learning godliness with a Biblical character?

It could be public speaking, singing, playing an instrument, learning how to be funny, how to give good advice, how to become more compassionate, or how to make a movie. Who do you admire, and what would you want to learn from them? It can be someone well known, or unknown.

If you could take an apprenticeship with anyone in the world…alive or dead…who would it be and what skill would you like to pick up?

This week’s dilemma is from Nathan, who's in a band with three other mates. They’re doing quite well and are keen to record some of their tracks so they can produce their first E.P.

But Nathan's concerned that while three of the guys are all quite good and at the same level of musicianship, one of the guys, the drummer, is not as good. He’s a good live drummer, where timing doesn’t matter as much, but struggles with his timing in a rehearsal setting. They’ve been playing together for about 9 months.

Nathan is torn – he wants the best recording possible, and is thinking about possibly hiring a professional drummer just for the recording. But on the other hand, he doesn’t want to upset the drummer they already have. Hiring a replacement would send a pretty clear signal that he wasn’t good enough.

Nathan loves his mate and doesn’t want to upset him. They’ve all been friends for about 8 years. But because it is an investment of time and money, he also wants the best possible outcome for the EP they produce.

Should a good quality recording take priority over a friendship? If they do get a pro drummer in how will that impact the group dynamic of the band? What advice would you give Nathan?

According to the Australian Primary Principals Association, primary school curriculums are becoming too cluttered, and many schools and teachers are suffering from a lack of clarity about what should be taught.

What do you think are the most important subjects for children to learn in primary school? The main subjects like english, maths, science and history, as the APPA thinks? 

What about subjects like road safety, financial literacy, sun care, dog safety, bike safety and manners? Should they be part of the curriculum? There’s the argument that children should learn those kinds of skills from their families. But what if they’re not? Shouldn’t they have the opportunity to learn them at school?

What are the essential skills/knowledge that children should leave primary school with?

A very special guest on Open House this week... The author of over 50 books, with 28 million copies in print, in 2005 Reader's Digest dared to call him "The Best Preacher in America”. His name is Max Lucado. He’ll tell us how he found his place in the world, how we can find ours, and how a ‘cure for the common life’ is available to those of us stuck in the doldrums.

And with John Howard and Kevin Rudd set to address churches around Australia this week, we’ll analyse what they had to say about faith and politics, and take your calls in repsonse.

Prime Minister John Howard and Opposition leader Kevin Rudd have addressed Christians around the nation, in a live web broadcast to more than 700 churches, from the National Press Club in Canberra.
 
Both leaders spoke of the contribution Christianity has made to Australian society, with Mr Rudd acknowledging the service of Christian organisations in the community. Mr Howard said the church has been a force for profound good in the nation. 

Both leaders also spoke of their personal faith. Mr Rudd said his thirty year old faith provides a compass point in his life, and shapes the view that he brings to public life.

Mr Howard said one of his favourite parts of the Bible is the parable of the Good Samaritan, and the parable of the talents, which he linked to his belief in free enterprise.

Both announced family based initiatives. Mr Howard said he would introduce a national filter scheme to give families peace of mind about their children using the internet. Mr Rudd said if elected, the Labor party would create a 'family impact statement' for every piece of legislation that faces parliament. 

Mr Howard avoided mentioning Iraq, while Mr Rudd said Australia has a 'humanitarian responsibility' to assist refugees fleeing the war torn country, including the country's Christian community.

Did you see Mr Rudd and Mr Howard's address on Thursday night, or listen to it via our special Open House broadcast? What did you think of what they had to say?

(PS: You can listen to our special broadcast again by clicking here.)

Lara has been receiving several phone calls from an unidentified caller for the last couple of weeks, out of the blue.

They’re not very pleasant calls. She has no idea who the man is, but he’s told her he loves her and has also threatened physical abuse. As you can imagine, Lara's concerned about the calls and every time the phone rings she wonders whether it will be a call from him. Her friends and family are also concerned, but nobody really knows how she should handle the situation.

It’s the only mobile number she’s ever had – and she doesn’t want to change it, mostly for business reasons, fearing she'll lose contact with people she may not have seen for a couple of years who only have that number.

Lara's tried to ignore him and hang up, but she isn’t sure whether saying something to the man might improve her chances of him leaving her alone. How do you get rid of a nasty phone stalker?

We all have ideas from a young age about how our life may turn out, and about what our future may hold. One of the most common progressions is: you go to school, you then go to uni or start working somewhere, meet someone, get married, have a family, then retire.

It sounds fairly bland when you boil it down to that, but at the end of the day we do tend to make assumptions, even subconsciously, about what the future holds.

But what happens when things don’t turn out the way we expect them to? What happens when we encounter that ‘unexpected chapter’ in the ‘fairytale’?

What happens when you discover you have a fatal illness? Or an incurable disease? What happens when you don’t get married by age dot as you always thought you would, or find out you can't have children? What happens when your wife leaves you or your husband loses his job? How does it change your outlook on life? How does it change your priorities and your focus in life?

But the chapter doesn’t have to be a tragedy. Maybe it was an unexpected encounter, a serendipitous change of circumstances, something that came out of the blue and turned out to be a remarkably positive event in your life.

What has been the unexpected chapter in the fairytale for you?

Over the last few weeks we’ve talked about the advice we’d give if we could sit down with ourselves as sixteen year olds. We’ve dreamed about who we would choose to have a week long apprenticeship with. And last week we talked about the ‘unexpected chapter’ in life – the thing you never envisage happening to you that fundamentally changed your outlook on life.

Tonight I want to know about a day in your life that you’ll never forget.

A day that, for whatever reason, is permanently etched into the memory card of your mind.

It could have been a great day, a scary day, a sad day, a dramatic day, the most hectic day of your life…there’s just one rule…it must be unforgetable.

Maybe it was the excitement of a football grand final…or meeting someone significant…or maybe your life was in danger….whatever it is, I want to hear about the day in your life that you’ll never forget.

This week's Everyday Dilemma is from Anne. Anne says she doesn’t know what to say when people ask her how she is, and she’s NOT O.K.

Anne has chronic physical health issues, and says she still tries to lead as normal a life as possible: caring for her family, working part time, being hospitable, and participating in her local church’s activities. 

However sometimes Anne feels absolutely lousy doing these things but soldiers on nonetheless. She says she smiles and puts on a brave front. When people ask her how she’s going, she doesn’t know whether to tell them the truth, or fob them off with a 'not too bad', or 'fine'. Instead she usually finds herself saying she’s 'okay thanks', which to her means, “I'm feeling absolutely horrible but I'm here and I'm okay.” 

What do you think? Should Anne tell people how she’s really feeling? Or should she not burden people with a heavy answer to what is a common, light question that people ask of each other all the time?

• Do you ever say how you’re really feeling when people ask “how are you?”
• Has the question become such a token comment, that it would be out of place to return it with a genuine response?
• Should the truth, or social nicety, take priority here?

Have you seen the ads the government has created, to prevent people from using the drug “ice?”

The Department of Health has released the new ad, showing the effects of using ice, and it doesn’t shy away from using violence to be as realistic as possible and illustrate the ‘psychotic episodes’ ice users can experience.

The Department of Health estimates 73 thousand Australians are dependent on the drug. But what I’d like to know is this: do shock tactics work in stopping an addiction?

Have those kind of ads ever had an impact on you? I’m thinking about the really graphic anti-smoking ads where you can see a woman with a hole in her throat.

Do you think shock tactics like this really work? Have you ever been affected by an ad, to the point that it caused you to change your behaviour? Maybe it was one of those graphic driving ads that showed a crash in slow motion. You now actually slow down, or not drive when you know you’re tired. What about the smoking ads? Have they worked for you?

Ultimately, do shock tactics work in breaking an addiction or changing behaviour?

On Open House this week, the man who turned a struggling US coffee shop chain into an Australian success story. Peter Irvine is his name, Gloria Jeans is the franchise, and this Sunday you’ll hear Peter share his vision of how business can do more than make a profit. It can change the world.

Over the last few weeks we’ve been trying to imagine what the world would be like if Jesus Christ had never walked the earth. Tonight we’re looking at the difference he made to art and architecture. I think you’ll be surprised at what we’ll uncover.

Plus, book reviews, TV reviews, and another ever-popular everyday dilemma.

Our dilemma this week is from Veneeta…who wrote in to us via dilemma@theopenhouse.net.au... Veneeta is a teenager—in year 8 in fact. And her dilemma is all about friends. From memory this is the first time we’ve had a teenager ask for our help with their dilemma, so let’s give her some advice.

Veneeta’s dilemma is that all her attempts at making friends seem to be failing. She tries to move into a social circle at school but finds herself quickly shut out. She feels no one listens to what she has to say, or even wants to. The situation is effecting her school life, and her faith. She’s wondering why God isn’t doing anything to help her make friends.

• How do you go about making friends with people, without turning them off, or appearing too needy for friendship?
• Veneeta says she’s trying to make friends with people, but is being rejected. When do you persist and when do you look somewhere else?
• Maybe you struggled to make friends at school. What did you do?

Tonight, I want to hear about a “close call” in your life…about a decision that you almost made but are glad you didn’t, or a decision you almost DIDN’T make but are glad you did!

With the benefit of hindsight, can you look back and see how different your life would be if you had – or hadn’t – taken that step, whatever it may be?

Maybe you almost became a chemist, when at heart you really were an artist….maybe you almost married someone…but you know now it would never have worked.

Or maybe you had another kind of ‘close call’ – maybe you almost bought shares in a company that went broke the week after….maybe you almost moved your family to another country. Or maybe you did, and it was the best thing you’ve ever done.

What has been the ‘close call’ in your life?

Are children in faith-based or Christian schools given the opportunity to engage critically with religious belief?

Not according to visiting academic from London, Dr Stephen Law. In an article published by Fairfax this week, he posed the question:

“To what extent should schools be allowed to encourage deference to authority when it comes to moral and religious matters? To what extent should they be able to suppress independent, critical thought?”

At an address to a Sydney University audience this week, Dr Law suggested that the public would be horrified if schools started developing around a particular political party or ideology. Yet, that is what is happening in the religious sphere. Sucj\hs tudents, he suggested, can be indoctrinated rather than allowed to question what they're being taught.

Are your children at a Christian or faith-based school? Do you encourage them to question what they learn? Or do you think school should be a time to simply absorb information and process it later?

I’ve just finished reading through the Gospel of Luke again, in the New Testament. It’s not that large a book—you could read it from start to finish within a couple of hours. But this time I read it over a couple of months. I wanted to spend time reflecting on each of Jesus’ words and deeds, event by event, story by story. Why is it that we can read these Gospels time and again and always find something new in them? Certainly these are no ordinary books.

This time through I was struck by an event that happened the night Jesus was arrested. I wonder if you remember the scene. Jesus is up on the mountain, praying in anguish because he knows the evil that lies ahead. He’s asked his disciples to pray with him, but they’ve fallen asleep. All is quiet until Judas bursts in, leading an angry crowd who have come to arrest him. He walks up and plants that ghastly kiss of betrayal on Jesus’ cheek. The guards step forward and seize Jesus by the arms.

Jesus’ disciples are startled. They weren’t expecting this, even though Jesus had told them he’d be betrayed. Then Peter, one of Jesus’ closest friends, does something absolutely despicable. He pulls out a sword and in defence of Jesus starts slashing. His sword hits Malchus, a servant of the Jewish High Priest, and cuts off his ear. And just like that, a follower of the so-called Prince of Peace becomes guilty of attempted manslaughter.

Jesus’ condemnation is quick. He cries ‘No more of this!’, and tells Peter to throw away his sword. Then he walks toward Malchus, kneels down, and miraculously heals his ear. And just like that, Jesus heals an enemy of the wound his follower has inflicted.

Since re-reading that story I’ve felt compelled to share it with you. Because you might have suffered at the hands of a follower of Jesus. It might’ve been an abusive priest, an over-zealous evangelist, a judgemental colleague, or a Bible-bashing friend. As a result you might consider yourself a doubter now, sceptical. Your heart’s a bit jaded about spiritual matters. You wonder just what kind of God has these kinds of followers.

My encouragement to you—no, my plea to you—is that you’d look again at the face of Jesus. Watch him walk towards you, like he did to Malchus. Watch him kneel down and touch your wound. And feel him heal it.

To our shame, Jesus’ followers don’t always act like him. But he is always consistent. If you’re still recovering from damage done by a defender of Jesus, there’s hope. He can heal you—if you will let him touch your wound.

© 2007 Sheridan Voysey is a writer, speaker, broadcaster and author of Unseen Footprints: Encountering the divine along the journey of life (Scripture Union, 2005). www.thethoughtfactory.net

For the second time this year our special guest will be author Philip Yancey. This time he’ll be in the studio, taking your calls, so get ready to ponder life, faith and everything in between with a man of perennial questions and sincere faith.

And hope for the prodigals—Rob Parsons on helping parents whose children have drifted from belief.