“This Scripture is an amazing answer to prayer and will really speak to my people about the love of Jesus!”
“This is one of the most exciting things I’ve experienced in my 10 years with the Bible Society,” enthused St
eve Davies at the launch of the Deadly News - a Gospel of Mark produced by Indigenous people to reach Indigenous people. The launch took place at the First Contact Indigenous Touch Football Carnival: one of Australia’s largest touch football events, attended by well over 10,000 Indigenous players and supporters from across the nation. Featuring an introduction and explanation of the Gospel, endorsements from Uncle Graham Paulson and Auntie Jean Phillips, six Indigenous testimonies, artwork from renowned artist Max Conlon and a simple prayer of commitment, this pocket sized outreach gospel is designed to speak to the hearts of Australia’s urban Aboriginal and Torres Straight community.
When Billy Williams (who did the introduction and outline of ‘Who is Jesus’) received his first copy, he leapt in the air and exclaimed, “This Scripture is an amazing answer to prayer and will really speak to my people about the love of Jesus!”
Billy explains - 'To most people ‘deadly’ is to do with death, someone dying, but in today’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, us mob use the term “deadly” to mean good. For instance, if someone scores a really good try in touch footy we might sing out,
“That was deadly!”
Meaning “That was good!” By calling this book ‘The Deadly News’ it works in both ways ... firstly, it is about a real death - the fact that Jesus died, and it is also about how that story of Jesus’ death is good for us.In Jesus’ day they called it ‘The Good News’ so it makes a lot of sense that us mob would call it ‘The Deadly News!’