Gospel in the heart
On 15 October 2023, 12 Areyonga (Utju) students were confirmed by Pastor Malcolm Willcocks and Pastor Paul Calnan at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Areyonga.
The students are part of the Central Australia Students Learning at Unity College (CASLAU) program that sees them spend six weeks per term at Unity College in Murray Bridge SA, attending school and working towards completing their South Australia Certificate of Education (SACE).
Pastor Paul is one of the local Murray Bridge pastors who has been leading the Areyonga students through their confirmation journey and, assisted by Pastor David Kuss and Unity College staff, helps to support their ongoing faith formation while they are away from community.
More than 150 people attended this important celebration, where these 12 young people openly declared their faith and intention to follow Christ as members of his church.
Lutheran Education SA, NT & WA Executive Director Craig Fielke visited Areyonga for the first time to attend the event and learn more about the CASLAU program while celebrating the confirmation with the community.
The confirmation coincided with the relaunch of the Unity College service trip, on nine Unity College students and four staff spent six days in Areyonga, serving in the school, the community shop and aged care services and hosting a community-wide barbecue. The students and staff came not only to serve but to also learn and help bolster the already strong relationship between Areyonga and Unity College.
The Areyonga community welcomed the group with open arms and blessed them with multiple opportunities to learn about Central Australian Indigenous culture, including sampling kangaroo tail and witchetty grubs, for which the Unity College representatives were greatly appreciative.
This initiative demonstrated the amazing potential for collaborations between remote Indigenous communities, Finke River Mission and Lutheran schools, which we hope will foster a greater understanding of how the gospel is at work across Australia.
Penny Fielke is the CASLAU and Pathways Coordinator at Unity College in Murray Bridge SA.
