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Resources - Missions
(Local)
December 1999
News from Warburton
It is only 2 months before we welcome the year 2000. We look forward to
what this will bring. The Lord has blessed our last advertisement by
sending Mark and Kelly Boonstra to us. Kelly has fitted in real well and
is doing the administrative work for the store. Mark has made his mark
by converting a disused room in the women's centre complex into a "Youth
Drop In Centre" with a view to providing wholesome activities for our
young people especially during the idle hours of the day and evenings.
In a few weeks time this conversion should be complete and the Drop In
Centre should be able to start operation in all seriousness. No doubt
this will become the subject of a separate epistle from Mark when he
gets spare time.
Other changes are also afoot. Our friends and colleagues George and Jenny Eelkema will be returning to Toowoomba early in November after more than 3 years of faithful service. We praise God for people like the Eelkemas. When they said that they wished to retire we asked them to keep an eye open for a Christian couple who may be interested.
The Lord provides generously! We look forward to welcoming Peter and Jenny de Kroon from – yes, you guessed it – Toowoomba. We are grateful for the regular communications from Reformed Churches of Sutherland, Toowoomba and Casey.
We are also aware of a prayer circle at the Reformed Church of Willetton
(Perth) which we appreciate very much. During a recent visit to Perth, I
had a discussion with Rev. Peter Abetz to consider making a commitment
for the regular sending of a SWIM team to provide wholesome
entertainment with a view to reaching our young people with the Gospel.
Especially during school holidays such a venture carried out on a
regular basis may do much to help the young people in this, or any other
Aboriginal community. This is not a glamorous area of Australia, however
the need of the people is great indeed.
Just before we went on 4 weeks of holidays, a relatively young man (aged
approx 26) died, due to the cumulative effect of poisoning his system
with substance abuse (sniffing petrol and solvents) since he was in his
teens. He is the third son that family has lost through substance abuse.
It is not difficult to imagine the total devastation suffered by his
parents, who now have only two boys (men) left.
Now, only about 6 weeks later, the father of the same household
unexpectedly succumbed to a stroke and his funeral wwas recently held.
His wife is a very gentle lady who regularly worships the Lord. She is
in need of prayerful support.
Added to the above woes is a suicide that took place in the local
"lock-up" whilst we were on holidays. That funeral was held just after
we returned from holidays. This event caused a good deal of trauma for
the Police Dept. which has had to replace the regular police on the beat
with a new crew, who now have to establish a good relationship and get
to know the people in the Lands. (It is perhaps interesting to note that
each Police Patrol – done on a fortnightly basis – involves a 9,000 km
to 10,000 km. round trip and is the largest know police beat in the
world.)
Apart from the extra problems created for the police, our people are somewhat on edge for fear of recriminations. A number of 'spearings' have already taken place to exact retribution. All of this points again to the fact that our people desperately need to be taught the Gospel of Salvation through Jesus Christ, and the consequences this places upon all who confess Jesus as Lord.
From the above it should be evident that there is a wide scope for
outreach, and we are grateful that the Lord had brought Mark Boonstra to
us to commence work with the young people in the community. I would urge
all who read this to earnestly be in prayer for Mark and the young
people he is working with.
We also are not getting any younger and, having spent just over 4 years
here so far, would like to see a little more of our grandchildren.
Accordingly, we would like to hear from a committed Christian couple who
are interested in managing the store starting in October or November
next year.
We appreciate that 12 months from now seems a long way off. But if there
is an interested couple they may well need to make preparations for such
a venture. It is surprising how quickly 12 months out here disappears.
Stock management facilities in the store are about to be upgraded with new Point of Sale technology which means we need someone who is comfortable with operating computers, electronic weighing equipment and the like. The store has a significant turnover which involves handling more than 5 tonnes of groceries, bread, meat, white goods, hardware, clothing, etc weekly.
Queries should be forwarded to John (or Hans) Post. A phone call or a short fax message to start with will do. The phone number is (08) 8956 7637 and the fax number is (080 8956 7210. If you can't get me on the phone, leave a message on the fax number to call back.
If you prefer to write, the address is:
The Store Manager,
Milyirrtjarra Aboriginal Corporation
Private Mail Box 71
ALICE SPRINGS
N.T. 0871
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