Amid the vast landscapes of Central Australia, thousands of kilometres of dusty red roads draw travellers towards distant hazy horizons. Along the way, there’s time to think. To wonder. To be. People who come out here feel a deep connection with God or with creation, often for the first time in their lives. For many, a trip to the Centre is an awakening of their spirit. For the people who have lived here in the Centre for thousands of years, the spirit world has been as real as the red earth and the scorching sun. Long before white people ventured out here, the Aboriginal people were passing down their sacred stories from generation to generation. They have always known there is more to life than what they can see and touch. So, when Lutheran missionaries arrived at Finke River in 1877, the Aboriginal people were ready to hear the new stories about God the Creator, and his Son, Jesus Christ. They had always seen God in nature, but now, at last, they could know him in person. Today, there are around 7000 Aboriginal Lutherans in the heart of Australia. Christ is in the Centre.
Christmas creativity at LCC
Lutheran Community Care (LCC) NT kicked off Children’s Week with a fabulous stall at the Alice Springs markets on 25 October. More than 80 children and their carers made photo frames to treasure and Christmas cards for our community Christmas drive later this year.
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Kids learn to know Jesus
Alice Springs Lutheran Church welcomes lots of children to services, but we don’t run a Sunday school. Don’t we care about our young people?
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Preserving our history, re-telling our stories
Thanks to Northern Territory government funding totalling $3.5m, major restoration work has been carried out at the Hermannsburg Historic Precinct.
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Ordination joy despite lockdown
Despite a COVID-19 lockdown forcing a last-minute change of plans, Stanley Roberts was ordained in unique circumstances as a Specific Ministry Pastor (SMP) at Papunya in the Northern Territory in November.
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R.I.P. Pastor Paul Haines
Pastor Paul Haines died on 24 October 2020 from complications of advanced diabetes. He was in the palliative care unit of Alice Springs Hospital, surrounded by family.
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Hearing better the Indigenous voice
With the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) document in hand and copies of the RAP poster, Marilyn Wall returned to Central Australia in October. The purpose of her visit was to discuss how best to share this information with the Aboriginal members in the Lutheran communities.
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Kwatja, Kwatja! Kuprilya Day 2020
Water is important and powerful, but why would 16 families gather to have their young babies and children washed clean?
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Imanpa hosts first 2020 teaching course
In late September the people of Imanpa, a Pitjantjatjara community 270 kilometres southwest of Alice Springs, welcomed Indigenous church leaders from all over Central Australia to a teaching course.
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Alyawarr Lutherans mark 70th anniversary
Since 2017, representatives of the Lutheran congregations of the Sandover have been meeting at the main community Ampilatwatja for their annual regional conference. This year they met on the weekend of 12–13 September – later than usual, due to COVID-19.
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God’s work with the Alyawarr people
Pre-1950 the Lutheran missionary Pastor F W Albrecht began visiting the remote Alyawarr area (the Sandover region), 300 kilometres north-east of Alice Springs.
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