Areyonga

The low rate of COVID-19 vaccinations in Indigenous Australians continues to cause concern for politicians desperate to reopen borders, but one community near Alice Springs has turned that on its head with 94 per cent of the eligible population having received at least one dose.

On Monday 28 October 2019, Unity College in Murray Bridge South Australia presented Year 12 students with a variety of awards and acknowledged their graduation during a valedictory service. Among the graduating class were four students from Areyonga.

The Finke River Mission (FRM) bush course took place from 14 to 17 April. It was held at Areyonga next to a dry riverbed in an area frequented by horses, donkeys, flies, black cockatoos and the occasional aeroplane (it was close to the local airstrip).

For a week in October, staff and students from Unity College in Murray Bridge, South Australia, visited the Utju (Areyonga) community in the Northern Territory. The service trip was eye-opening, humbling, challenging and rewarding for the students and staff involved.

Over the last 12 months, Unity College in Murray Bridge has been working with families from Central Australia developing educational partnerships.

Pastor Tommy David died at Docker River on Wednesday 29 June 2016. He was a faithful pastor, serving his people right to the end of his life.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at Areyonga is a fine example of a strong and proud congregation. On 22 February, the community celebrated the first baptism in their newly renovated church.

At Hermannsburg the song ‘Kumbayah’ was sung in fifteen different languages at the same time. Eleven of those languages came from the hearts of the multi-Grammy award winning Soweto Gospel Choir.

Each year, people from all over Australia give their time, money and labour to help local congregations to maintain the structures they feel they need to help proclaim the gospel in their local area.

The people of Areyonga community decided to donate more than $100 000 towards the renovation of their church. Meanwhile, the Bethel congregation (SA) no longer used their pulpit…