Brodie - Fernando can you tell us a little about yourself and your family?
Fernando – My parents moved to Australia when the Allende government came to power and settled on Sydney's southern beaches, an area that has been in the news recently for racially-motivated violence. I met my wife on a short-term mission to Africa in 1993 and we were married within a year. Our daughter was born in 2001, in London, within view of Stamford Bridge.
Brodie - Tell us about how you came to be a Christ follower and if you grew up in a Christian family?
Fernando – I grew up in a typically Latin American, nominally Catholic household. My parents were influenced and inspired by the example of Billy Graham, but faith was not an active part of my childhood. In my early teens I briefly attended an "ethnic" Spanish-speaking church but that influenced my outlook on racial issues more than my outlook on Christianity.
In my later teens I oscillated between nihilism and spiritual curiosity. After school I went through a particularly bleak period, with the suicide of a football buddy, some ugly clashes with friends and a sense of disappointment with life. I started to immerse myself in a lot of reading - Sartre, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and the Old Testament. In the book of Job I found a story that resonated with my angst and from there started to explore the Bible more. Going to church was a big hurdle for me, because I still connected it with colonialism and social segregation, but the bridge was some faithful friends from school.
Brodie - I know from your blog that you love music, film and theology but I have no idea what you actually do for a job. Can you enlighten us?
Fernando – I hate that question. My business card says "writer and musician," which of course tells you everything and nothing.
I left the world of finance to train "for the ministry" as we Baptists often say, inspired by a dream of churches with "empty pulpits." It's not like me to say this, but I do believe that dream had divine inspiration and I've tried to follow and understand that vision ever since. Initially this led me to serve as a minister and go forward for ordination, though even early on ,most saw me heading into theological education. My last church role was with a team of three in a smaller suburban church. I was responsible for an evening service that grew from just over a dozen to more than one hundred and twenty in the space of two years, much of that through evangelism. It was radical, inclusive, de-centred and in our current moment might be described as missional or emerging, but those terms were foreign to me then.
In 1999 I left Australia to read for a PhD and work as a Chaplain; both at King's College London. During that time I also consulted with two churches, helping them think through some issues in local mission. Those years were a positive experience, but several things started putting me off a typical academic career either in a university, or theological college. To be blunt, I didn't want to perpetuate the existing system, which seemed broken and several of those thinking along new lines, were ... well, not impressive, let’s leave it at that.
I was considering setting up some sort of think-tank, maybe aligned with an urban church, when my wife was offered a job in India (she works for a large company). We moved and I really underestimated how much that would impact my ability to work and write. I was in negotiations to write a book on theology and film at the time, but had to let that go. It's almost comical, looking back on it, but I spent those years learning to be a plumber, electrician and butcher. Halfway through, I returned to my "first love," music, completing a distance course in arranging with Berklee College of Music in Boston and devoted what little extra time I had to writing for the blog.
Right now, I'm finishing an album of music written and arranged while in India and looking for opportunities to work in film and video music. Since 2000 I've been developing with my father some products in the field of music technology and will be launching a small company in the autumn. Of course I continue to write for the blog and hopefully this year that might coalesce into something more solid, either a book or series of articles.
I keep being asked about planting a church, but the truth is I'm at a place where it would be very uncomfortable drawing a conventional stipend from ministry. I believe we should be striving to create culture as a way of doing mission and that's my goal. So, I guess you could call me a "tent-maker."
Brodie - You were born in Chile, grew up in Australia and have lived in London, Delhi and Hong Kong. Do you feel Chilean, Australian or a mix of different cultures?
Fernando – Definitely a mix. There is a very good book called Third Culture Kids that talks about children who grow up in a culture other than their host culture. My childhood was spent in a very Anglo-Celtic part of Sydney as one of the few "ethnic" kids in my school. At home we spoke Spanish, ate Latin American food and held to those customs. I didn't have a roast dinner until I was in my twenties.
It wasn't until I moved to London that I ever felt consciously Australian. Suddenly my accent made me an outsider and I found myself cheering for Australia in the Rugby and Cricket World Cups as well as a memorable night at Upton Park when the SoccerRoos downed England 3-1.
These days, most people who meet us assume we are British. My daughter knows she was born in London, but feels like India is home. She's five, has visited eleven countries and complains that she isn't as well travelled as some of her friends. She really doesn't understand why she has an Australian passport and on one level, neither do I.
Brodie - How has being a global citizen impacted on your own faith journey?
Fernando – It has made me quite aware of the ways we blend our faith with our home culture. It's made me aware both how selective we can be in who we choose to love and how expansive God's love is in the diversity of people He is willing to embrace.
Moreover, it's made me realise how little national boundaries matter from a divine perspective. In rural New South Wales, church folk like to say that Australia's coastal mountain range must be very high, since many pastors can't hear God's call over it. Sometimes it feels like that isn't the only mountain blocking out God's voice.
Brodie - what do you think are some of the key opportunities and challenges that the process of Globalization present to the church, especially for mission?
Fernando – Globalisation is a gift to the church. The early church grew through the Pax Romana, which was in many ways a precursor to our current era. The early missionary movement both piggy-backed upon and worked alongside the early trade movements that led to Globalisation. Today globalisation provides opportunites through new technologies of communication and a high level of trust in those technologies.
I believe the emerging church phenomena is an example of such an opportunity. Encouragement, support and edification can come to those often working in small, fragile mission contexts in remarkable ways that would not have been possible, even a generation ago. We can learn directly from those working in innovative and non-traditional initiatives around the world and not just depend on official and endorsed big church infrastructure to pass on methods. Even when I started theological college, there was a lot of bogus information about "the way they do it in the US" and so on. But now we can interact directly with thinkers around the world and see the diversity of approaches to faith and mission.
But Globalised technology also means bad news travels fast. The church has a poor track record when it comes to dealing with indiscretions, abuses and scandals, often opting to cover-up instead of atone. But now it is harder than ever for the church to hide its dirty laundry, wherever it happens in the world.
Globalisation means a greater movement of people in the world, which can fuel stagnant churches, provide fresh ideas and leadership. Some talk about the church as exiles, but I think there is a lot to learn from the expatriate church experience as well.
Brodie - What aspects of Globalization do you think we [the church] need to critique?
Fernando – The church must always be an advocate for the poor. I firmly believe globalisation is the best option out there for the poor of the world, and I saw its potential first hand in India. There is, within less than a generation a remarkable change in people's prospects and situation. Of course, the track record is mixed, and human nature being what it is, we must always be vigilant. So I think the church needs to critically engage and condemn not only those aspects of globalisation that exploit the poor, but also those critics of globalisation who systematically fail to propose viable alternatives that will give real improvements for the poor.
Brodie - Zygmunt Bauman in "Globalization" suggests that one of the consequences of globalization will be a new kind of rich / poor divide, as there will be those who have the skills to flourish in this new world and a "class" who will be left behind and therefore impoverished. Firstly what do you make of Bauman’s analysis and do you think that Globalization brings specific challenges to issues of justice.
Fernando – Bauman is right and there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the emerging divide is really about creativity and mobility, rather than wealth. In some ways this maps out in the cosmopolitian/local divide we find in major international cities.
But, I think there is a potential for misunderstanding here. Just because someone owns an Apple computer, runs a blog, downloads music and dresses in a cool way doesn't make them part of the creative class. There's a big difference between consuming technological culture and creating culture. So you want to be creative, great! Are you willing to move to India, because that's where the jobs will be. In a few years a massive film related industry has sprung up in New Zealand, of all places, thanks to Peter Jackson's films. India already has a massive base with Bollywood and they are now investing a staggering amount in new media technology.
It's easy to think outsourcing of call centres is the final consequence of globalisation, but it is really only the beginning. Journalism is being outsourced, as are many legal, human resource, tax and even immigration processes. Having creative skills doesn't insure you from being outsourced, it just gives you a little more freedom to move and choose your locations.
Whilst I believe globalisation invites many more of the world's poor to the banquet, not everyone has an invitation because the access to technology is not there. Moreover, there are still huge problems with corruption, conflict and historical barriers that have yet to be overcome. The potential for justice is far from realised.
Brodie - Tell us three things we could be praying for you and your family in the work that you are doing.
Fernando – Moving around the world makes it hard to sustain friendships, hard to integrate with churches and hard to have a sense of continuity to one's work. Those three are our main prayer-points.
Brodie - Fernando thanks for taking the time to answer these questions and for sharing in the way you do over at Fernando’s Desk.
Fernando – Thanks for inviting me. The blogging business really is a wonderful thing.
I've reposted my interview with Fernando as I'd made a bit of a mess of it the first time round. Sorry about this Fernando, and John sorry it means that your comment has gone.
Posted by: Brodie | Monday, February 05, 2007 at 09:13 AM
Thanks for that Brodie - I had no idea you were interviewing Fern. I appreciate the extra insight.
And Fern - thanks for being open about your struggles as well as highlights.
Posted by: Toni | Monday, February 12, 2007 at 07:51 PM
Toni - I'm trying to interview people who've been reguarly leaving comments on my blog. Fernando has left a good number of comments and I've appreciated both what he does over on his own blog but also the comments he leaves here and else where.
Posted by: Brodie | Monday, February 12, 2007 at 10:17 PM