By Peter Hallett
Published October 21, 1997
I have rarely felt so conspicuously white as the day I stood on a street corner near Eveleigh St, Redfern with a small group of Aboriginal Christians singing gospel music.
It was in the centre of the Aboriginal housing area at Redfern and I was a regular visitor to a small Aboriginal house church there, having been introduced to the group by good friend, Ivan the Aboriginal postman, who delivered mail around Newtown (and shared a house with me!).
These men and women, surrounded by the results of alienation and cultural carnage, were convinced that the Jesus who had brought peace to their lives had something to offer to their neighbours. And so out on to the streets they would go, singing and preaching and sometimes dragging a skinny, nervous university student along with them.
I will never forget this particular day. As the faces peered out from the terrace houses and the children gathered around, a visiting Aboriginal friend sang a lilting country gospel song, playing along on his big steel-string guitar (after our own rendition of There Will Be Showers of Blessing).
The tall dark man then began to preach, and to encourage the people listening to find respect and healing in Jesus. He quoted again and again a passage from Deuteronomy 28:13.
"The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom."
These were powerful words for a people who in so many ways struggled with the despair, dislocation, bitterness and anger of being always at the bottom, never at the top. That was 15 years ago and that black preacher’s words still ring in my ears.
I hope that he is alive to see the beginning of the fulfilment of his prediction - Aboriginal people leading the way in reconciliation, healing and renewal across the land.
This very week as many as 10,000 people will participate in this year’s Praise Corroboree at Parliament House from October 22 to 26, 1997 (November 1-8, 1998).
The Praise Corroboree is a joint venture between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people with a focus on prayer and healing of the land. As a sign of goodwill, the organisers have invited all Parliamentarians from both Houses to a Bushtucker Barbecue on the front lawn of Parliament House on the opening day at 5pm. Kangaroo and emu steaks washed down with Billy tea and damper will be on offer and the barbecue will run at the same time each night until Sunday.
The corroboree begins at 7pm on Wednesday and will continue non-stop for the next 72 hours in the Great Hall and also on the front lawns and will include an indigenous art exhibition as well as music, song and dance from the people of the world.
Praise Corroboree president, Peter Walker, said, "Reconciliation is not only about race, but it’s about people, families and individuals. There needs to be restoration between fathers and mothers to their children, children to their parents, husbands to their wives, neighbours to neighbours, people to people.
"We are all His children. God has called us as one nation under Jesus Christ. We want to see people come back to basic Christian and family values and to appreciate Bible principles. We believe what the Bible says about family values. All this is also in line with our own Aboriginal culture."
Ps Walker said that Parliament House had been chosen because it was a special place "and we would like to come before God with prayer for the healing of our land in the Great Hall. The word corroboree is used in the Cape York Aboriginal sense of the word, which means ‘good time celebration or gathering’."
At last year’s (1996) Praise Corroboree, Aboriginal leaders prayed for Prime Minister John Howard, laying hands on him in prayer. No doubt the impact on Parliament will be equally as strong this year. The public and Canberra Christians are invited to attend the activities with more information available from the Praise Corroboree office on 62881948 or visit the Praise Corroboree website.