Paper short abstract:

Here we focus on African PhD students in Melbourne, and how their relationship with the homeland and being stuck in Australia is mediated by Christianity. We argue that as they find themselves in a gap between hope and uncertainty, Christianity provides them with a sense of mobility.

Paper long abstract:

The closing of Australian borders in March 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic was catastrophic for many international students, migrants and refugees. Families were separated; jobs in hospitality and other industries disappeared overnight; communities of support went online or evaporated. The long wait for the borders to open and the associated uncertainties continue to this day. In this paper, we focus on the lives of African PhD students in Melbourne. We are interested in how their relationship with the homeland and family, on the one hand, and being stuck in Australia, on the other, are mediated by their Christianity. Here we draw on interviews with these students over zoom during a particularly long period of lockdown in Melbourne. We argue that, as they find themselves in a gap between hope for the future as international students and uncertainty due to being stuck far from family, Christianity provides them with a sense of mobility. The affordances of digital media and the ubiquitousness of the Holy Spirit mean that these students are transnationally immobile. By watching online services on social media with their families who are based in the homeland they are able to experience the Holy Spirit together in real-time.