CHRISTMAS IN ALICE
by PASTOR BEN PFEIFFER
‘IT REMINDED US THAT WE TOO ARE SAINTS AND SINNERS BEFORE GOD.’
On a mild 37-degree day in Alice Springs a wonderful cross-section of people came together to celebrate the birth of Christ at the Alice Springs Lutheran Church. We were blessed by the presence of young and old, locals and visitors from bush communities, interstate and overseas. It was a joy to be together.
Our congregation adapted a Christmas Eve presentation called, ‘King of Kings’, by Rob Handreck, which presents the history of Israel through the life of its kings. It highlights their admirable qualities, as well as those that brought about their downfall. It reminded us that we too are saints and sinners before God.
Of course, Israel continued to hope and pray for the Messiah to come, the king anointed by God, the King of Kings. The play culminated in the coming of Christ, at which point we injected a traditional nativity scene and narrative into the presentation.
We anticipated low numbers but were blessed to have 22 people in the cast, plus a number of lastminute angels and shepherds join us on the night. The congregation numbered 110 and also took part in the presentation, ‘hailing’ each new king. Our readings, address, carols and prayers took up a similar focus, as we considered how Christ came to rule from a manger and a cross.
WHAT’S INSIDE?
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FAREWELL TO HERMANNSBURG
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COMMUNION. BAPTISM. FREEDOM. LITERACY PROGRAM PUT IN ACTION
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AREYONGA GRADUATES SOARING TO NEW HEIGHTS
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‘GOD’S BIG STORY’ SPEAKS TO THE HEART
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GERMAN MISSIONARIES VISIT ANMATYERR COMMUNITIES
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FAREWELL, KWEMENTYAY HAINES
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FLOURISHING AT LIVING WATERS LUTHERAN SCHOOL PRAYER POINTS
Last year was a hard year for the town of Alice Springs and not all of the news was good. But in the middle of the challenges, we were blessed to celebrate the good news of our Lord’s birth, a story that fills us with hope and never gets old.
Ben is Pastor of the Alice Springs Lutheran Church.
NEWS FROM FINKE RIVER MISSION OF THE LUTHERAN CHURCH OF AUSTRALIA
FAREWELL TO HERMANNSBURG – A nine-year journey
by NEVILLE & HEATHER DOECKE
THREE YEARS FROM NOW WILL MARK 150 YEARS SINCE TWO GERMAN LUTHERAN MISSIONARIES, SCHWARZ AND KEMPE, ARRIVED AT FINKE RIVER TO BRING THE MESSAGE OF SALVATION TO THE WESTERN ARRARNTA ABORIGINAL PEOPLE THERE. JOINED BY MISSIONARY SCHULZE THE NEXT YEAR, THE MISSIONARIES STRUGGLED FOR THE NEXT 15 YEARS TO ADAPT TO THE HARSH, ISOLATED PLACE, LEARNING ARRARNTA AND CONNECTING WITH THE PEOPLE. THEN THEY ALL LEFT, WORN-OUT, SICK, DEJECTED – IT WAS LOOKING LIKE THE MISSION DAYS WERE OVER. BUT GOD HAD HIS PLAN: TO BRING MISSIONARY CARL STREHLOW, WITH FRIEDA HIS WIFE, TO LEAD THE MISSION FOR THE NEXT 28 YEARS. MANY ABORIGINAL EVANGELISTS, INGKAARTAS (PASTORS), AND MISSIONARIES PLAYED THEIR PART IN GOD’S PLAN OVER THE FOLLOWING YEARS.
NOW, THE WESTERN ARRARNTA LANGUAGE HAS BEEN WRITTEN DOWN, WHILE HYMNS, LUTHER’S CATECHISM AND THE BIBLE HAVE BEEN TRANSLATED, AND GOD’S WORD HAS BEEN TAUGHT AND PREACHED BY ARRARNTA PASTORS, CURRENTLY PASTOR RODENY MALBUNKA.
No longer is Hermannsburg a ‘mission’ like in past years. Hermannsburg is a ‘town’, just like any other in Australia. Finke River Mission runs the store and the church, and, for seven months of the year, the Historical Precinct.
Following seven years as chaplain to Yirara College in Alice Springs, I was called as a SMP Support Pastor to Hermannsburg with my wife, Heather.
Heather worked as a music teacher at Living Waters Lutheran School, supported the Aboriginal women, and completed an extensive music resource for the Western Arrarnta Hymnal.
In a community of 600 people, Sunday numbers vary from 25 to 50. The majority attend baptisms and confirmations, while funerals draw over 400 if the deceased was an important individual or had died tragically. These occasions
provide great opportunities to preach to those who gather –Christian and non-Christian alike.
Together, we served nine years there.
In October 2024 we were farewelled with the beautiful Rite of Farewell, complete with a celebration of Reformation and the confirmation of five young people, including speeches, greetings, gifts of paintings, and a choir. We had wonderful farewells at Wallace Rockhole and Alice Springs.
There is much we will miss. The daily engagement with Aboriginal people. The harmonious singing of Western Arrarnta hymns. The excited voices and antics of the young children. The artists, the pottery and paintings, and confirmation lessons with Pastor Rodney. The week-long Bible Bush Courses with Ingkaartas. The stillness of the desert, the richly-
coloured sunsets and sunrises, the drought and abundance, the changing flow of Finke River.
I know what we won’t miss. The hot, dusty summer days and freezing cold winter nights. The over-friendly flies. The barking dogs that choose the middle of the night to argue their way through life. The long drives to and from ‘town’ (Alice Springs).
I have no doubt God will lead Heather and myself into a new chapter of our lives. We confidently look to the future with genuine excitement as to what God has in store.
We sincerely thank all who visited us at Hermannsburg and the many LCANZ people for their continual prayerful support for the people of Ntaria, the congregation and the ministry in this special place.
Pastor Rodney and wife Faye at farewell
Pastor Marcus says farewell
Clarabelle Swift holding her painting gift
Communion. Baptism. Freedom.
by INGKAARTA SIMON JUNGARAI DIXON
Literacy program put in action
by PHILIP NIPPRESS
MORE THAN TEN YEARS AGO, WHILE I WAS RETURNING TO ALICE SPRINGS FROM WESTERN AUSTRALIA, I FELT A DIRECT CALLING FROM GOD.
I was admiring the Petermann Ranges on the Tjukururu Road that runs between the community of Docker River and Kata Tjuta when the feeling hit me. I believed God was wanting me to contribute to the Docker River community and use my Pitjantjatjara language skills there.
I had been a teacher for three years in the early 1980s in the APY Lands and, during my time there, had worked on learning the Pitjantjatjara language. I have since continued to study and work at familiarising myself with the language by reading daily Bible passages from the Tjukurpa Palya translation.
Initially I thought this calling would be as a teacher at the school but as events transpired, I was put in contact with Pastor Malcolm Willcocks. There was an opportunity to assist him in identifying and preparing members of the church at Docker River to receive further Bible training at Nungalinya College in Darwin.
Following a couple of trips for the local people to get to know me, I began working with small groups of local people, helping them to read Bible passages in both Pitjantjatjara and English. Two men have just completed a four-week course at Nungalinya College and there is the opportunity to run a similar program
Just before the end of last year, we celebrated Baptism and Communion Day at Yirara College, Alice Springs. The entire college witnessed these ceremonies of union and community.
This year, Ingkaarta Simon Jungarai Dixon from Ikuntji, Ingkaarta Geoffrey Wheeler from Watiyawanu and Ingkaarta Stanley Roberts from Papunya celebrated these ceremonies with us.
for women in the near future.
Finke River Mission will be reviewing the trial program in February. We thank God for this opportunity and for the wonderful help we are able to provide our Lutheran brothers and sisters in Docker River.
Philip Nippress continues to work part-time as a teacher at the Araluen Christian College in Alice Springs. He is also an experienced adult literacy teacher. He volunteers in providing literacy training in the Alice Springs Prison.
Philip Nippress and his wife, Anita.
Ingkaarta Simon Jungarai Dixon (left), Ingkaarta Geoffrey Wheeler (right), and students.
Areyonga Graduates soaring to new heights
by MALCOLM WILLCOCKS
NUNGALINYA COLLEGE IS PROUD TO WELCOME SEVERAL NEW GRADUATES INTO ITS THEOLOGY COHORT.
Completing either Certificate 3 or Certificate 4 qualifications in Christian Ministry and Theology, Nungalinya welcomes Hilda Bert, Makinti (Isabel) Windy and Carolyn Windy, all from Areyonga.
Hilda, has been an energetic leader in her community and church, as well as a valued member of the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir (CAAWC). She graduates with a Certificate 4, a three-year,
part-time course consisting of 360 hours of unsupervised study and practical experience.
Makinti and Carolyn Windy graduate with a Certificate 3, a three-year, part-time course consisting of 700 unsupervised hours. Carolyn has also been a long-standing, respected member of the CAAWC.
Main study areas include Christian Belief, the Prophets, the Epistles and Romans,
Peacemaking, Hope and Healing, and Developing Ministry Skills.
We look forward to seeing where these studies take Hilda, Makinti and Carolyn.
Pastor Noel Due, from the Top End Lutheran Parish, was able to present the certificates and pray with each of the graduates.
Malcolm Willcocks is a Pastoral support worker.
Hilda with her Certificate IV.
Pastor Noel Due prays for Hilda Bert Pastor Noel Due prays for Makinti and Carolyn Windy
Carolyn with her Certificate III. Makinti with her Certificate III.
Women gather together to discover the wonders of ‘God’s Big Story’
‘God’s
Big Story’ speaks to the heart
by PASTOR STEPHEN RADKE
IN OCTOBER A GROUP OF WOMEN GATHERED IN THE ALICE SPRINGS LUTHERAN CHURCH FOR A ONE-DAY BIBLE COURSE.
The course, the first in a series on ‘God’s Big Story’, covered creation and the fall of humanity and its consequences. Importantly, we learnt how the results of human rebellion and mistrust of God have been reversed in Christ.
This course was supported strongly by members of the Alice Springs Lutheran Church who prayed for the success of this course and managed the catering. Finke River Mission (FRM) provided financial support for the food. FRM Support Worker Malcolm lead the singing and managed the audio-visuals. The Bible readings were in Anmatyerr, Pitjantjatjara and English; the songs mostly in Western Arrarnta.
A highlight of the day for me, as the teacher, were the rich cultural exchanges between the western and Aboriginal cultures represented at the course. This was highlighted by a conversation about the biblical concept of ‘heart’ as the centre of our thoughts and desires, and our more specific western use of the word in reference to our emotional centre.
Aboriginal participants said that ‘heart’ is not used in their cultures for these things. They suggested saying that God speaks to our ‘spirit’ or ‘thoughts’ or ‘feelings’ rather than ‘heart’. It was suggested these words are cross-cultural alternatives for the biblical concept of ‘heart’.
The day was an opportunity to teach the way in which ‘God’s Big Story’ in the Old Testament is a narrative that reveals Christ, the new Adam (human) who reverses the curse of our fall as humans. This is the curse that causes us to mistrust God’s goodness and care for humankind. Jesus is the new human who fully trusts God. Being God, he rescues us from our alienation from God and from death. Jesus is our hope, and the hope of all humanity and all creation.
Pastor Stephen Radke is an FRM support worker.
German missionaries visit Anmatyerr communities
by DAVID STRICKLAND
RECENTLY WE RECEIVED VISITORS FROM THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF BAVARIA (ELCB), ARNIM DOERFER (MISSIONE EINE WELT - MISSION ONE WORLD) AND MARTIN KLEIN.
It was to be a full weekend in terms of Indigenous ministry –three communion services in three communities, from Laramba to Ti Tree, a round trip over 650 kilometers. Though intent on cross-cultural ministry, they were also eager to see the field situation in the Anmatyerr region for themselves.
Arnim himself had prior experience in visiting the adjacent Alyawarr lands, when Michael Jacobsen (also from ELCB) served there in recent years. The plan was for them to meet some of the local Lutherans and consider whether they might possibly help in supporting Finke River Mission (FRM) in this area.
We set off for Laramba first along the Tanami Highway, stopping there for a service then, cutting across to Ti Tree to the north-
east, stayed the night at the Ti Tree mission house. After the Sunday services, we returned via the Stuart Highway. They saw a fair bit of the countryside, enjoying the comfort of the Toyota Prado, and appreciating its excellent air conditioning!
We held a service at Laramba Lutheran Church on Saturday midday, then two more at Ti Tree on Sunday, first at the church at Ti Tree Station, then at Six Mile underneath the basketball court shelter.
Both Arnim and Martin were raised as MK’s (Missionary Kids), having grown up in Papua New Guinea. They established an immediate and easy rapport with the people, particularly enjoying conversations with the evangelists Ryan, Savior and Gabriel at Timothy Glenn’s house in Laramba.
They were great company over the weekend, eager to chat, learn and observe. Arnim led worship and preached on the Blind Bartimaeus story in Mark 10 (which David interpreted into Anmatyerr). Martin (an environmental engineer from Munich), Ryan and Ambrose (trainee pastors) were on hand to assist him with communion.
Around 30 attended each service.
Please pray for the Anmatyerr and Alyawarr areas, that they receive the pastoral training and support they need to grow in Jesus, for more workers to join FRM to cover these critical areas, for a rich harvest of souls, and protection from false teaching.
David is a support worker in the Anmatyerr language area.
David Strickland and Pastor Arnim Doerfer at Laramba Lutheran Church.
Pastor Arnim Doerfer and Martin Klein at Nturiya Lutheran Church at Ti Tree Station.
Farewell, Kwementyay Haines
by DAVID STRICKLAND
THERE WERE ONLY TWO WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY FOR ME TO MEET AND GET TO KNOW KWEMENTYAY HAINES, WHO PASSED AWAY EARLIER IN 2024.
I’D NOW LIKE TO TELL THE STORY OF OUR SMALL INTERACTION WITH HIM, AS HE PERFORMED FINAL CHECKS OF TWO GOSPELS IN ANMATYERR, JOHN’S GOSPEL IN 2010 AND LUKE’S GOSPEL IN 2018.
While working on Bible translation at Ti Tree with Pastor Haines and Don Presley, we needed someone to perform a final check on our translation of John’s Gospel before publication. This person would need to have fluency in Anmatyerr. The speaker had to be someone who hadn’t heard the translation before, hadn’t worked on the translation, and could be free to ask questions of the text.
It wasn’t long before Kwementyay’s name was mentioned. I had never heard of him, as he was living in Tennant Creek, 300 kilometers north of Ti Tree. But I noted that they spoke about him with real affection, so we invited him to Ti Tree to check John’s Gospel.
Kwementyay was cheerful, always punctual and ready to start work early and could work solidly all day - just what we needed to finish in good time. We only had a week to get through all the questions on the verses. Kwementyay was very comfortable working
with whitefellas in English or in language, and I am sure the translation was much improved as a result of his work.
He knew his Bible stories very well, having learnt in the early 90s from missionaries Paul Albrecht and Garry Stoll when they taught at Ti Tree Station, along with Don Presley and his older brother Paul Haines (who both went on to become pastors).
We called on his help eight years later, for Luke’s Gospel, in the Anglican church at Tennant Creek. Sadly, Kwementyay was in a wheelchair this time, but that did not stop his unwavering cheerfulness and brightness. He gave me great encouragement that the translation was sound and good. I loved his chuckle and sense of humour.
Kwementyay went to school in Ti Tree and went to high school at Yirara College. He worked as a stockman as a young man,
perhaps at Kurundi Station, and has worked for Community Development Program (CDP) in the Anmatjere Council. He married Edwina Pope from Wilora, and they had a daughter Samantha in 1990, followed by sons Joshua (1992) and Luke (1995).
Kwementyay was a footballer in his youth for the Ti Tree Roosters and had his beloved Cats jingle on his phone ring! I remember he told me he kicked 100 goals in a season of footy.
Farewell Kwementyay – you were an absolute pleasure to meet and I was honoured to work with you. I am deeply saddened you are not around to check our next book, Genesis. I trust that your life and work will have touched the lives of many. We pray for Edwina and your family in their grief, that they would follow the Lord and experience God’s protection, provision and blessings in their lives.
Kwementyay working on checking John’s Gospel in Anmatyerr at Ti Tree School with David Strickland (AuSIL translation facilitator) and Dr Bryan Ezard (translation consultant).
Kwementyay speaking at the Anmatyerr Bible Dedication.
Photo credit: G. McMaster, Wycliffe Bible Translators Australia
Flourishing at Living Waters Lutheran School
Living Waters Lutheran School community in Alice Springs is flourishing and enjoying a strong start to 2025 with an increase in enrolments.
Along with effective contemporary teaching and learning, we hold the child and Christ at the centre of everything we do.
We are partnering with Lutheran Education Australia to revamp our school values that incorporate the ‘old’ but everlasting foundational values of love, courage, service and underpin Living Waters education. We are excited to share this project at the national Lutheran education conference later this year.
We invite interested teachers and staff to join us in the adventure of flourishing together at Living Waters. Contact Principal Lisa Goldsworthy on lisa.goldsworthy@ntschools.net for more information.
Please pray with us this year, that we may continue to develop unique, capable, and confident learners guided by Christ who enrich the community.
P.S. To find out more about the Free to Flourish initiative, visit https://growingdeep.lutheran.edu.au/
Our Indigenous leaders in Central Australia desire the skills, resources, support and opportunities to serve their growing congregations.
They are asking for more Christian teaching and training, resources in their own language, equipment to run singalongs, and personal support than we have the capacity to give. We need your help!
finkerivermission.lca.org.au
Name
PRAYERS
• For the Christian people at Engawala community for strength and trust in Jesus
• In thanksgiving for the positive impact that Pastor Roy Yaltjunki and the Docker River Lutheran congregation had on the ABC Back Roads presenter
• For safe traveling for the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir during March, and that our Lord use them to sow seeds of faith
• For the April Bush Bible Course at Ti Tree Station. May it be a fruitful time of learning and encouraging each other
• For pastoral candidates Justin Allen and Abraham Poulson as they prepare for their ordination in early May
• For a return to good health for David Strickland after a kidney stone operation resulted in complications
• For the consultant check of Genesis in Anmatyerr to be scheduled and completed this year
• For trainee pastors Ryan, Gabriel, Savior and Nathaniel to make progress, especially in reading Anmatyerr
• For the publication of the Anmatyerr Hymnbook, which will have mainly Arrarnta hymns, Anmatyerr liturgy and catechism
Send your donations to: FRM, PO Box 2129 Alice Springs NT 0871. For regular donations please phone FRM on 08 8952 4666 (Alice Springs) or send an email to admin@finkerivermission.org.au
Bethany Marsh | Editing bethany.marsh@lca.org.au
Casey Heinzel | Design casey.heinzel@gmail.com