Naden News

Just after arriving in Broken Hill, sitting in the lounge room of Pastor Mark Kicketts, I noticed his third eldest child sitting there, looking at me and shaking his head. When I asked if there was something wrong, his reply was, Uncle Neville, I dont understand why you would leave a big city and come to, of all places, Broken Hill. Due to the extreme heat of that particular day, my reply to him was ye, Im beginning to wonder myself Since then we have made the big move and are now in the process of settling in.

For those who have not caught up, I was asked by the United Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress, Anglican Church Army and Anglican Bush Church Aide to move to Broken Hill to help set up a Ministry centre for Indigenous people of Far West NSW. This centre would see the establishment of an Indigenous Church for Broken Hill that would eventually provide ministry to the outlying areas such as Wilcannia, Menindee, Ivanhoe, and Tibooburra.

Since arriving in Broken Hill, I have visited a number of centers and have made contact with a number of people in order to establish such a work. In many respects it is a big ask. But I am reminded of our Lords words when He saidthat He will build His Church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. If I understand this passage I realise that It is His work and His church, all thats required of me is that I be faithful in sharing Gods love.

 
The church in Broken Hill
There are 12 different church groups in Broken Hill that are attempting to share the love of Christ with the 23000 residents of the city. None of these churches are set up based on ethnicity and therefore attract the middle class Anglos of the community. Very few have had success in trying to reach Aboriginal people with the gospel. It is hoped that when a centre for ministry for Aboriginal people is established that this would encourage Indigenous people to become very much a part of the wider church and that this centre will become theirs in every way. Whist some of the churches have a number of Aboriginal people attending, most have not. Aboriginal people make up 5% of the population of Broken Hill and only 4.3% of the church. It would be great to see the Indigenous Church have a greater representation

 

The Work So Far
Since arriving in Broken Hill I have made a number of visits to Wilcannia and have visited Menindee on one occasion. The purpose of these visits was to touch base with the people of these communities and to let them know that a ministry centre is being planned for Broken Hill. The purpose of my visit to Menindee was to assist Ron & Crystal Spindler with a cottage meeting and to meet some of the locals. Menindee has a total population of 392 people with an indigenous population of 156, according to the 2001 census. Wilcannia on the other hand has a total population of 698 with an indigenous population of 446 people. Aboriginal people make up 63.89% of the total population.

 Of these 698 people, 424 identify themselves as Catholics.
115 as Anglicans and 24 Uniting. Whilst many identify themselves with the various denominations this is not reflected in the weekly attendances at services.

Meeting with Minister.s Fraternal
Both Pastor Mark Kickett and I arranged a meeting with the ministers fraternal to discuss the formation of the new indigenous congregation for Broken Hill. This meeting was well supported and very positive outcomes were achieved. It was decided that a meeting would take place every Sunday evening at 6pm beginning with the first service on the 4th March 2007 with a BBQ at 4.30pm. The idea of having a ethnic based congregation has not been embarked upon before in Broken Hill. Churches in the Broken Hill area have worked cross culturally without targeting any specific group for ministry. At our meeting with the ministers fraternal Pastor Mark Kickett and myself outlined the need to establish a congregation that would meet weekly on a Sunday evening. This then would act as a feeder to the already existing churches in the cities. As people would join the evening service we could then encourage them to join one of the existing church services on a Sunday morning.

Initially the services will take place in the Baptist church hall until such time another building is needed. This hall is situated in a good area with a substantial indigenous population. We are asking people to pray for this vital work amongst our people.

 


An old Chinese proverb states, If you give a man a fish you feed for a day, teach how to fish and you feed him for the rest of his life The development of leadership is vitally important for a sustainable ministry. Setting up a ministry based on the potential of our people and not their plight is also of major importance. If there was one area where the church as failed our people in the past it is in the area of leadership development. If ministries in Broken Hill and outlying areas are going to be successful then there needs to be training for those who want to engage in ministry. It is impossible for one or two people to service such a big area of the outback. We need to be developing a model of ministry that has a large leadership training component to it. With the cooperation of Anglican Church Army and BCA and the uniting church this can become a reality. Setting up of a leadership program that is both culturally sensitive and appropriate for the various communities is needed. A centre where people can travel too and from and receive training and then go back to their communities and use what they have learnt to enhance their ministries.