Article submitted by Robert Paino, MVAustralia Short-Term Team Trip Member
A team of five men from the Crossroads Christian Centre in Sydney, Australia responded to an opportunity of a need for a new roof to be replaced on a men’s shed located in an Aboriginal community at Palumpa around 420 km southeast of Darwin. This men’s shed was a meeting area where the men of the town could come for some gatherings, activities and spiritual faith input from a local church community. However due to the bad condition of the roof it had become unusable. As the leader of this team of five from my local church when I arrived I was taken to meet the traditional owners of the land to get their approval before one hammer could be raised on this repair project.
Before leaving for Palumpa we spent a couple of days at Mandorah on the west side of Darwin Harbour assisting in the construction of a new shower/toilet block at the mission ministry centre lead by Pastor Roger and Vivian Latham. This gave us an excellent opportunity to adjust to living conditions and the climate in the NT before heading into the real heart of it.
As the project in Palumpa began it was great to have some of the local men and young boys come out and join in with us where many opportunities to talk and share about life, culture and our Christian faith developed. Initial reservations turned into good friendships. At the end of our week’s work the traditional elders met with our team to thank us for our assistance and we celebrated the re-opening of this men’s shed with a community BBQ and worship and prayer with over one hundred people from the community turning out. I had never sat with a group of traditional owners and elders of an Aboriginal community before and it was such a privilege and learning experience for many of us.
In spite of our differences in backgrounds and culture, a common purpose and desire to achieve a goal brought us together as one group. They learned some building skills from us and we learnt a lot about them in both the richness of their culture, but also the problems and challenges in life that they face. Of major concern is the problem of alcohol with all of its associated problems of poverty, domestic violence, abuse and depression.
In the evenings we would have worship singing times and prayer meetings with some of the local Christian men. This usually involved our team preparing and cooking a BBQ and then sharing each others stories and journeys of faith and praying with some of the men. This for the team became a highlight of the trip. It was such a privilege being allowed to come into their circle of faith and to strengthen one another in our united faith in Jesus.
Another highlight for many of us was travelling in a bus to church on the two Sundays we were there. The Sunday before we went to Palumpa and the Sunday after our return saw us meet up with the beautiful Belyuen Aboriginal community people. Travelling with a bus full of them singing praises to Jesus, worshipping with them at the Long Grass Church in Darwin and spending some fun time with the children at the Berry Springs swimming area are treasured memories and experiences that our team will not forget.
One thing that came out strongly as a result of this trip is that whatever skill or ability you have it can be of use in remote communities where they have fewer resources available to them. The key is being willing to step out and to put yourself into an unknown situation and then trusting that God will be there with you.