Ninga Mia
Last week Tuesday we worked with an Aboriginal community called Ninga Mia. (Ning-ga Mee-a) This is a government funded Aboriginal settlement. First we went to the old deserted one - in the early 60's the government ran all the Aboriginal's off the land they had given them to live on because they wanted to begin digging the mine.
We went to see where it was and spend some time praying there.
Then we went to the new settlement and spent some time picking up trash. The Aboriginal people just kind of leave their trash absolutely everywhere and they don't seem to care for the land very much. We worked with a small church in the middle of this settlement - Pastor Jeffery, his wife Christine (a pediatrician, she's Irish), and two of his 5 kids, Rebecca & Lachlin.
Despite the big issues on our minds/hearts in regards to this whole situation the Pastor's daughter Rebecca really seemed to take a liking to John, I & the kids! She wanted to be with us in each spot we were at and walked & talked with us the whole afternoon! It was awesome! We learned SO much about Aboriginal life & culture & history. She was a dear-heart and the kids took to her right away because she was so much fun!
Missions are awesome because they allow you to meet people you would never meet otherwise!!! Rebecca is one of those people!
Here are some pictures of our day:
If we go anywhere we take the orange bus & as soon as Franz (our leader/driver) gets out of the seat - zip...Jack is in it! Pulling the gears & pushing the buttons & making "orange bus sounds"! He's awesome!
John & Jack in "the bush" - Jack is actually holding a kangaroo leg bone that he found!
Rebecca also taught us what the Aboriginal's do to shoo away the flies - grab a branch of the "bush" and shoo them away
Areas where we were walking would be FULL of broken glass...not really kid safe but the kids were aware & were extra careful...they only picked up the "really pretty ones." ha.
Rebecca - 14 years old. An absolute gem of a girl!
There was an old rusty digger abandoned. You can imagine Jack's sheer excitement when Rebecca zipped right up the side & said, "Come on Jack, have mommy help you up so you can drive it with me!" He was BEAMING from ear to ear!!
from John's iPhone...so cute!
He did not want to get down so he was waving & saying "bye bye mommy, bye bye daddy...bye bye Violet!"
We did pick up trash Here's Rebecca carrying 2 of our full bags. The really sweet part of this picture...about 1 second after I took it she heard Jack cry from the play set. She dropped the bags so fast she didn't even care that the garbage spilled out and she began to run toward him. It was just this instant reaction that a mom/dad would have. It was amazing to see someone care for Jack after only knowing him for a few hours!
Ninka & Ivan with bags of trash!
Wouldn't be the outback if there wasn't red dirt & flies on our faces!
LOVE this photo!!! Rebecca was responding to something funny Jack was saying! Ha! Violet really loved her! She's loveable!
It was a good day - it ended with a "sausage sizzle" at the church as a thank-you to our team. It was awesome! They busted out the keyboard outside under the stars and we sang songs. It was an "outreach moment"!! One to be remembered!
We went to see where it was and spend some time praying there.
Then we went to the new settlement and spent some time picking up trash. The Aboriginal people just kind of leave their trash absolutely everywhere and they don't seem to care for the land very much. We worked with a small church in the middle of this settlement - Pastor Jeffery, his wife Christine (a pediatrician, she's Irish), and two of his 5 kids, Rebecca & Lachlin.
Despite the big issues on our minds/hearts in regards to this whole situation the Pastor's daughter Rebecca really seemed to take a liking to John, I & the kids! She wanted to be with us in each spot we were at and walked & talked with us the whole afternoon! It was awesome! We learned SO much about Aboriginal life & culture & history. She was a dear-heart and the kids took to her right away because she was so much fun!
Missions are awesome because they allow you to meet people you would never meet otherwise!!! Rebecca is one of those people!
Here are some pictures of our day:
If we go anywhere we take the orange bus & as soon as Franz (our leader/driver) gets out of the seat - zip...Jack is in it! Pulling the gears & pushing the buttons & making "orange bus sounds"! He's awesome!
John & Jack in "the bush" - Jack is actually holding a kangaroo leg bone that he found!
Rebecca also taught us what the Aboriginal's do to shoo away the flies - grab a branch of the "bush" and shoo them away
Areas where we were walking would be FULL of broken glass...not really kid safe but the kids were aware & were extra careful...they only picked up the "really pretty ones." ha.
Rebecca - 14 years old. An absolute gem of a girl!
There was an old rusty digger abandoned. You can imagine Jack's sheer excitement when Rebecca zipped right up the side & said, "Come on Jack, have mommy help you up so you can drive it with me!" He was BEAMING from ear to ear!!
from John's iPhone...so cute!
He did not want to get down so he was waving & saying "bye bye mommy, bye bye daddy...bye bye Violet!"
We did pick up trash
Here's Rebecca carrying 2 of our full bags. The really sweet part of this picture...about 1 second after I took it she heard Jack cry from the play set. She dropped the bags so fast she didn't even care that the garbage spilled out and she began to run toward him. It was just this instant reaction that a mom/dad would have. It was amazing to see someone care for Jack after only knowing him for a few hours!Ninka & Ivan with bags of trash!
Wouldn't be the outback if there wasn't red dirt & flies on our faces!
LOVE this photo!!! Rebecca was responding to something funny Jack was saying! Ha! Violet really loved her!
She's loveable!It was a good day - it ended with a "sausage sizzle" at the church as a thank-you to our team. It was awesome! They busted out the keyboard outside under the stars and we sang songs. It was an "outreach moment"!! One to be remembered!
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