Waste Not Want Not

Some of you will have heard about Waste Not Want Not (WNWN) from other sources but for those of you who haven't, WNWN is a project that takes produce that doesn't meet supermarket specifications (wrong size, small mark on the skin etc) from the Hillton. Griffith and Leeton areas and sends it to Syd to Foodbank to be distributed to charities. It has been a joint project between the Uniting Church, Carrathool Shire, Foodbank and the Hillston Community.

Recently we celebrated our first birthday and there have been some significant milestones in 12 months

• 600 tonnes of produce sent to Syd (fruit and veges, meat, grain and olive oil)
• Second WNWN group started at Leeton
• Foodbank regional hub started at Griffith
• Semi-Finalist in Community of the Year
• Facebook page set up
• Over 90 media mentions

It has been quite an amazing year for us.

What about the bus? Enngonia and Weilmoringle- Part 3

 “Hi. It’s Julie.”

“Where are you?”

“In the car, on the way to Hillston. Did you hear about the miracle?”*

‘The one in the change room?

“What change room?”

So she hadn’t heard all about that one.

Julie was on her way back from Enngonia and Weilmoringle. She was reporting in that it had all gone very well and to tell me about the latest miracle. This one involved a church, a club and a nun and a bus.

Pymble church has been working closely for some time with the primary school at Enngonia. They had wanted to be involved in rural ministry and Julie had linked them up with Enngonia School. The latest project was to obtain the new school bus and they had enlisted the help of the Variety club who agreed to come up with a third of the money. Pymble and the Enngonia community were to find the other $32,000. What can God do? There’s not a lot of money in Enngonia.

Pymble had started their campaign but were wondering where to get so much money when Margo  from Pymble got her change room phone call. While trying on a jumper her mobile rang. It was UnitingCare offering $10,000 dollars to put toward the bus. UnitingCare, through the 2% Development Fund, had heard the story of the need for the bus and decided to help. With this money and another $10,000 contributed from their church Pymble had only $12,000 to find to fund the bus.
 This is where the Nun comes in. 
As you know, she had been in Enngonia, with Julie that week drumming, and when Margo rang Enngonia to tell Julie about the $20,000, Sister Leone wandered off quietly to make a phone call.

“We can supply the balance of what you need but won’t you need money for rego etc ? We’ll supply $15,000 to cover that as well.”(God can do.) Enngonia had the bus and more.

It’s at this stage you start to feel as if you’re living in the New Testament.

*For those of you worried about road safety, Julie has a hands free phone in the car. She can make calls in the car and this leaves her free to meet as many people as she can once she gets into a town. And -yes, her life is nearly always like this. That’s why she loves the job!

The community is still raising the money needed for a covered trailer and a car port but the end is in sight!

Four days in Enngonia and Weilmoringle - Part 2

So what happened next?

Everyone had a great time!

People came in for check –ups, mums brought kids to the preschool, lots of locals came for the community lunch. All the kids got on well and got to meet others from other areas, a rare treat.

Everyone from preschool to Year 6 loved the drums and joined in with the rhythms and the dancing. As for the tennis, what a difference a couple of days of coaching can make to all the kids, including the pre-schoolers. Comfortable accommodation in swags was found at the CWA in Enngonia and in the teacher housing at Weilmoringle.

The Enngonia and Weilmoringle community events were a great success. Many goals were met. The doctor has decided to visit Enngonia every 3 months and discussions are continuing about a permanent pre-school at Weilmoringle. Seeds were sown for more to happen. Another get-together  is planned for next year.

 God- can- do.

But what about the bus?  What did He do about that? Read all about it in the next post.

So-What's been happening?

Did you hear the one about the Tennis, the Drumming, the Preschool and the Bus? - Four days in Enngonia and Weilmoringle. (Luke 11:9-11) 
Part One

For some time Julie has been visiting Enngonia and Weilmoringle as part of her work as Rural Chaplain. She has got to know several people in the area, notably the Principals and staff at the schools and some of the Elders in the villages and heard their ideas for things they would like to see happen in their communities. Ever a “can-do” person or more importantly a “God –can- do” person, Julie looked for ways and people to make these dreams a reality.

Weilmoringle has 3 tennis courts, played on by several locals and the school wanted to extend this to the children but they would need lessons. “We need a tennis coach to visit and get them started with some skills.”

“Can- do.”  

While holidaying in Egypt and sailing down the Nile, Julie found a tennis coach , Sue Anderson from Victoria.

 God can do- Don’t you just love His choice of venue?

Where Julie finds the tennis coach.

Tennis sorted, it was time to see what else could be provided to add to the week of tennis coaching to make a total community event. On another visit north mention was made of a new school bus needed for Enngonia, a new pre-school program for Weilmoringle and music lessons for the school as they don’t have anyone musical in town to do them.

“Can -do. What kind of instruments do you have?”

“Drums.”

The main street of Brewarrina - from the Bre website

“I have a friend Leone, one of the Sisters of Charity, who is Director of Missions for St Vincent Hospitals, who does drumming. I’ll call her and see if she can clear her diary.” 

God can do.

Now for the pre-school : How do you get that started in a tiny town miles from anywhere and where you have to travel to Brewarrina to even shop? 
 What can God do?

We sit back and watch but also ask around.

No worries! Another friend-someone who’s a pre-school expert, loves kids and is very experienced. When asked, she offered to share her expertise. Also playgroup workers from Brewarrina were prepared to come out and bring some equipment.

The tennis, the preschool and the music all were in place. Add some Health care professionals to do check -ups for adults and babies, a Doctor from the Royal Flying Doctors and of, course a BBQ plus other kids from Wanaaring and Louth schools and Distance education kids and you have 4 successful days in Enngonia and Weilmoringle.

Hi,I'm Sue Chapman.

 Steve and Sue Chapman 

In January 2011 Steve and I left Dubbo, after 20 years there working and raising our children, to take up his new job as Principal at Hillston Central School. It was something we were very much looking forward to.
Hillston has not disappointed us.Within an hour we were invited to dinner next door and made welcome and it has gone on from there. We attended Hillston Uniting Church and before long were taking part in the service.This led to sometimes leading the service for me and finally preaching,something I had not expected to be doing! Early this year Julie asked me to help her with some of the rural chaplain work,writing articles and editing grants and reports for 2 hours a week;now it is one day a week.
It's great to be part of this work.Even if it does mean I am back wrestling with computers,it has been interesting  and exciting to use my skills as an English teacher in a practical way.
I now look forward to this new work of watching from a closer vantage point as God makes things happen in rural NSW.

We're Back!

Yes after over 18 months without a post we are reinvigorating the blog again. Thanks to everyone who asked about the blog and to those who have encouraged its return.

A lot has happened in the last 18 months. Firstly Kel has left Rural Chaplaincy and gone to a ministry in Bridgewater, Tasmania. He is engaged in some parish work and is also managing a community centre in a very tough part of Hobart. Right up his alley.

That left me on my own for a while but now I've been joined by Sue Chapman, Associate Rural Chaplain. Sue works with me one day a week and does a lot of the writing tasks for me (whew). You'll see a bit of Sue's work  on this blog.

I'm still here in Hillston and still very much enjoying the job and life in this small country town whenI'm here. The lay-lead church here goes from strength to strength and kayaking on the Lachlan is still one of my passions. And why wouldn't it be with such a gorgeous river:

 I've tried to link this to various sites so you can either read this at the blog www.ruralchaplains.blogspot.com or the Rural Chaplain facebook page.Looking forward to getting all your comments and thoughts.

Cheers Julie

Professionals Gather in Young

As a response to the disastrous cereal and fruit season in the Young district, an initial meeting of concerned community stakeholders was called late in 2010. From this meeting it was decided that a good way forward would be to invite service providers and professionals working in the Young district so that they might know what government and non government assistance might be available to the Young community.

This meeting was held last Thursday at the Uniting Church Hall in Young. The meeting was well attended by a diverse group of professional such as bankers, health workers, religious groups, farmers, NSW Farmers members and service clubs.

Greg Paul a Rural Financial Counsellor working in the Young district spoke of the various grants and loans available from a wide source of government agencies. Paul McMahon and Jeanette Lloyd from Centrelink spoke of the financial and counselling services available through their organisation.

John Harper a great champion of farmer's mental health offered useful strategies in supporting those who the professionals might come across as presenting with mental health issues.

I hope this is the beginning of an effective network in Young so that we might care for each other in helpful ways.

Congratulations to the Young UCA congregation and Rotary for hosting a great breakfast meeting.

Kel Hodge