Youth
of the Assyrian Church Visit NSW Parliament
On 2 May 2006,
committee members of the Assyrian Church Youth Association,
St Peter and Paul Core Group and Parish Committee had the
pleasure of attending dinner with The Hon. David Clarke
at NSW Parliament House. The Assyrian Australian Association’s
Community Youth Worker, Mr. Ashur Isaac, was also invited
to the event that was organized by Mr. Zaya Toma, Federal
Secretary of the Young Liberal Movement of Australia.
Center of picture:
The Hon. David Clarke MLC to the right of
Rev. Fr. Genard Lazar, surrounded
by members of the
Assyrian Church committees who
support Assyrian youth. |
Mr. Clarke welcomed Rev. Fr. Genard Lazar
at 7 pm and the group was given a central location in the
large dinning hall. Political colleagues of Mr. Clarke,
including The Hon. Peter Debnam MLA, Leader of the NSW
Opposition, visited our table and were warmly introduced
to our delegation.  The
dinning room was very busy as parliament was still in session
and would continue late into the night. Mr. Clarke mentioned
that at certain times during the year, ministers would
work past 1 am in order to debate and pass important legislation.
After dinner, Mr. Clarke took the group
on a tour of Parliament House, highlighting historic items
of political and cultural significance. Busts of former
premiers and prominent persons, along with paintings, furniture
and other adornments conveyed the rich history of the oldest
parliament house in Australia.
Mr. Clarke then took the group to the
Lower and Upper Houses. The Lower house was in session
and the Church group heard speeches from two members of
parliament on improvements to childcare and later, on the
entertainment industry and its growth. The group was pleasantly
surprised when Madam Acting-Speaker Ms Marie Andrews recognized
our attendance by saying “Order! Order! Before
I call on the next member to speak, I extend a warm welcome
to members of the Assyrian Church of the East, who are
present in the public gallery as guests of the honourable
member for Wagga Wagga.” Although
the Upper House was closed, Mr. Clarke organized for security
to open its doors for our group. We had the opportunity
to sit in the members’ seats as Mr. Clarke explained
the various roles of the ministers and how parliament serves
the public. One gained a sense of the challenges of the
political process and the level of commitment and intellect
that helps to govern our country.
Later in the night,
our group was taken to the members’ offices,
where they worked at parliament while away from their
offices in their constituencies. Although modest in
size, our entire group was able to fit into Mr. Clarke’s
office. He spoke about the  various
items on his walls that had a special meaning to him;
awards and gifts from communities, which captured unique
aspects of their cultures. At this point Rev. Genard
Lazar presented Mr. Clarke with an elegantly made gift
of our Lord’s prayer in English, Assyrian and
phonetic Assyrian, as well as a copy of the Assyrian
Church liturgy handbook and a New Testament in the
Assyrian language. Mr. Clarke was touched by these
gifts and said “…I’m so pleased
that I came into contact with your community, because
I think that you have been through a lot and that you
need friends. We want to try to get as many friends
for you as we can… to have practiced the faith
you have for 2,000 years, and you are still there,
well, God is really looking after you…”
Our group also had
the opportunity to meet up with the Hon. Charley Lynn
who spoke about his treks along the Kokoda trail, which
he organizes three times during the year. Mr. Lynn
showed a strong passion to instill in the youth of
today an appreciation of the sacrifice our Australian
soldiers made in WWII to help keep Australia safe.
Mr. Lynn also spoke highly of Mr. Gaby Kiwarkis and
their work to recognize the contribution of the Assyrian
Levies.
|
From left: The Hon. David Clarke,
Rev. Fr. Genard Lazar,
the
Hon. Charley Lynn and Mr. Zaya Toma. |
Both The Hon. David
Clarke MLC and The Hon. Charley Lynn MLC showed their
friendship with the Assyrians through their knowledge
of our people and the links they have formed with our
community. Our Assyrian Church group was very appreciative
of the generous time they gave us and their strong
desire to support our community.
A special “thank
you” to Mr. Zaya Toma who made the evening possible.
The 18 Church members who play an important role in
leading spiritual and social activities for Assyrian
youth were greatly encouraged and praised our Lord
and God Jesus Christ for the precious freedom afforded
to us in this blessed country of Australia.
Mr. Zaya Toma, Federal Secretary of
the Young Liberal Movement of Australia, can be contacted
by email at: zayat@optusnet.com.au.
|
