Alice Springs

Each year, 24 Year 11 students and six staff members from Luther College in Melbourne travel to Alice Springs to engage with the student community at Yirara College.

Living Waters (Kwatja Etatha) Lutheran School has strong Christian values, supports students to learn, and acknowledges and understands students’ connections. The school has a great tradition of supporting not only the Indigenous students but also the Indigenous people who are employed at the school

Every Thursday the Aboriginal ladies from the Alice Springs Lutheran Congregation meet at the church for Bible study and choir practice. They are known as the Mission Block Choir (or Kwatja Etatha).

Since Alice Springs Lutheran Church founded Living Waters School over 30 years ago, the school has seen a steady increase in Aboriginal student numbers, now at 16% of the school’s total enrolment.

Engawala? Have you heard this name before? In Aboriginal language, Engawala is also known as Intiarntwa. It is a small community of about 150 people located 200 kilometres north-east of Alice Springs.

People at Engawala felt the calm presence of the Holy Spirit over the community knowing that the Finke River Mission bush camp was close by.

Ladies from the Alice Springs and Hermannsburg Lutheran churches shared their history and knowledge with Yirara College staff during professional development sessions earlier this year.

Lost and found – this was the theme of the Finke River Mission women’s Bible Study camp, held this year at the Mission Block in Alice Springs.

Wilbur and Monika Klein normally live and work at Tjuntjuntjara, 660km east of Kalgoorlie WA. They decided to use their long service leave volunteering with FRM for the first six months of 2015.

Lutheran Community Care worker Wendy-Lea Lechleitner has deep roots in the Lutheran Church so when a position came up for a Money Worker on the ‘Mission Block’, she jumped at the chance.