About 50kms south of Katherine, Northern Territory, you turn left onto this small paved road. It takes you to several Indigenous communities, many are several hours away. (On a side note, if a road train is coming the other way, it's a good idea to go into the dirt and get out of their way!) If you drive about 20 minutes down this road you will come to Barunga, a small indigenous community of about 300 people.
Welcome to Barunga!
We are very blessed to be able to work in this community. This community has a good Christian foundation, but hasn't had a pastor for many years. Over 40 years ago the AIM (Australia Indigenous Mission) built this church in the center of the community. We've been told this is one of the nicest churches on any community in the Northern Territory. For many years, some of the olgaman (older woman) kept the church going by teaching Sunday School and doing Bible Studies. They were thrilled when our team came along to help them.
Front of the church
Our new church sign
Our family in front of the church a few months ago.
Our sanctuary towards the front
Our sanctuary looking towards the back.
We have a morning tea table (back left)
and a welcome table (back right).
Go down through that hallway and you come to this room:
Our Sunday School room
It is also where the adults meet to pray on Wednesday nights.
We also a kitchen not pictured because it still needs a lot of work! And there is also a room upstairs off the Sunday School room, but that is currently being used as a storage room, so not really photo worthy. :)
We also have a good bit of land around us.
My husband recently put up a volley ball net, which the kids love!
And here we are on a Sunday morning.
The Lord has been filling the seats!
Thanks for allowing me to give you a tour of our church.
God is good!
5 comments:
I absolutely love that I knew you when your heart longed foe Australia and to see you guys working there and sharing and loving just fills me with joy. You guys are awesome and I am thrilled to watch this journey from a distance.
It was good to have a tour of your church. It looks like a nice big space. It also looks cool inside which is a God send on a hot day.
Thanks, Casey! Hard to believe we've been in Australia for nearly 4 years!
It stays fairly cool, especially with the fans going!
The Northern Territory of Australia is an amazing location to do mission work at such a lively church. My wife and I were there several years ago and the people there were so warm and kind. It appears that you have had a great start so far there. The satisfaction that comes with mission work is unmatched. This is true in the Northern Territory especially.
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