Feb 28 2010
Pastor’s notes
Greeting in the lovely name of Jesus…
Because a lot of our men are at the Mighty Men Conference in Perth this weekend, the services today at Merredin and Mukinbudin are given over to the ladies. And welcome to the Church of Christ congregation who are joining the service in Mukinbudin.
I recently received some literature from the Frontier Services and was deeply moved by the amazing work that they do in the Outback and in the “not so out” Outback. Four things struck me in particular – the work in Aboriginal Communities, work amongst migrants, the crisis of mental illness in rural Australia and the Work Parties who gather to repair and restore church buildings in small communities. Frontier Services asked us to have a special service sometime to focus on their work which is often not very high on the agenda of the church. With this in mind, it is appropriate that Sal Marais leads our service today. I was asking people about their dreams recently and it came to light that Sal would really like to teach Aboriginal children on a station. She wants to go to the frontier, so who better to lead the service today!
But going back to the things that struck me. There is a wonderful article in Frontier News titled “One is the loneliest number”. It details the problem of depression when one lives in an isolated community. And I can understand that. When you live inside your head and your only conversation is with yourself, it is easy to sink into depression. The article details the valuable contribution of the Patrol Minister who brings companionship into the isolation. We as a Christian community can also play a vital role in this regard. I read of the Men’s Shed movement and I see its value in helping men who find themselves “alone in the midst of the crowd”. It’s a brilliant concept. Connected to this is our plan to start a Men’s Group in Merredin on March 10th. Getting together for an hour of fun and barbeque (with a beer or two perhaps) and then some input on God, life and relationships. More about that later.
Another helpful article was about the Work Party movement. Men and women who give up two weeks or more in some outback town to refurbish the churches. They take their caravan (if they have one) and enjoy the travel to some place 500 or more km’s away. They make good friends and bring a bit of new life into the community. A wonderful idea.
Enjoy the service and may the Lord be with you.
Rev David de Kock
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