• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Finke River Mission

Est 1877

  • Home
  • About Us
    • History
  • Activities
  • Stories
  • Media
    • Videos
  • Is God calling you?
    • Testimonials
    • Employment
  • Contact Us
  • Donate Now

Women's Bible study camp 2017

10 July 2017


On 25 June 2017 ladies from six different communities got together for the 2017 Finke River Mission Women’s Bible Study Camp at Ti Tree, 200 km north of Alice Springs.

Continuing the 2016 theme of retelling Bible stories, participants considered how to help children understand, practice and remember them. Local Lutheran Seraphina Presley works at Ti Tree School. She liaised with the principal, who kindly allowed us to use the school facilities for the weekend. Here is her story:

Every year since the Women’s Bible Study Camps began, the ladies from Ti Tree have been asking me: ‘What about us? Take us too!’ They couldn’t find anyone to drive them to Simpson’s Gap last year. I felt sad about it. But I said to them, ‘Don’t worry. It will happen! They’ll come to us sometime’.

When the day finally came for the workshop at Ti Tree School there were three women at Six Mile (Pmara Jutunta) Community who were very full of energy. They didn’t wait for me to pick them up. They decided to walk.  I didn’t know that – I got the school bus and went to Six Mile and said ‘Have you seen those ladies?’  ‘No, they’ve already gone – they’ve walked to Ti Tree (10 km). They really wanted to get there!’

Pastor Darryl Mattner planned the Sunday worship service at Six Mile to include women from the Bible Study Camp. They read the Bible texts in Aboriginal languages, chose the hymns, led the singing, sang as a choir, and Seraphina led the children’s address:

… I felt a bit nervous, but as I started teaching I just concentrated on what I was doing and the nerves went away. I asked myself, ‘How am I going to speak?’ And I decided to speak some Anmatyerr, some Warlpiri, because there were Warlpiri kids there too, and some in English. And I just did it and kept on going. I thank God for helping me, because I haven’t done anything like that before. Later on I asked my husband, ‘How did I go?’ He said, ‘You were right!’

 The Ti Tree ladies really want this to happen again. They are keen to go to other communities and find out what is happening in the churches there. They really love singing! They are also hoping that someone from the choir will go back and teach them to sing in harmony, starting with the songs they already know. When they sang hymn 241 it really lifted their spirits right up! They were really happy.

« Choir story becomes feature documentary
Choir documentary premieres at the Melbourne International Film Festival »

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • Alice Springs
  • Alyawarr
  • Ampilatwatja
  • Anmatjere
  • Anniversaries & Celebrations
  • Areyonga
  • Art & Music
  • Asante Sana
  • Children & Youth
  • Communities
  • Docker River
  • Engawala
  • Haasts Bluff
  • Hermannsburg
  • Imanpa
  • Kintore
  • Kiwirrkurra
  • Kwala Kwala
  • Lilla
  • Mt Liebig
  • Mutitjulu
  • Napperby
  • Papunya
  • Partnerships
  • Pastors & Staff
  • Pintupi-Luritja
  • Six Mile
  • Stirling
  • Tara
  • Ti Tree
  • Titjikala
  • Training
  • Uncategorised
  • Uncategorized
  • Volunteers & Supporters
  • Women
  • Yirara College

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • March 2016
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • December 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • December 2013
  • June 2013
  • June 2012
  • December 2011
  • June 2011

© 2020 Finke River Mission. All Rights Reserved.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Activities
  • Stories
  • Media
  • Get Involved
    • Is God calling you?
      • Testimonials
  • Contact Us

Footer

Contact Info

  • 51a Gap Road, The Gap NT 0870, Australia
  • (08) 8952 4666
  • admin@finkerivermission.org.au

Warning: This website contains images of people who have died.

Copyright © 2023 — Finke River Mission • All rights reserved.