Rural mission adventure empowers women
Rural mission adventure empowers women
14 November 2016
The Salvos Sisterhood team travelled more than 1200km over 11 days to minister at Broken Hill and remote communities along the way.
The “Salvos Sisterhood” team – 10 women and one man – from the NSW and ACT Division, travelled more than 1200km from 24 October to 4 November to attend the Rural Women’s Gathering at Broken Hill and to minister to remote communities along the way.
The five ladies in the “mission team” came from different corps and centres throughout the division. The six delegates to the Gathering included three Salvos women team members, one corps officer and centre manager and a local corps leader. Major David Soper from the divisional Men’s Ministry team supported Major Shelley Soper, Divisional Director of Women’s Ministries who led the team.
On the way to Broken Hill, the team hosted a “ladies night in” at Dubbo Corps. The mission team also visited Hermidale School, 250km north-west of Dubbo, which has 10 students, to distribute parcels and gifts for rural families, as well as “blessing bags” for mums and dads. Major Cathryn Williamson, Cowra Corps Officer, led a cooking demonstration for the students. Each student received the ingredients to make two meals and two desserts for their families.
In Broken Hill, more than 250 women from across Australia attended the Gathering on 28-30 October. These gatherings, which are organised by local committees, have been held since 1993 and feature guest speakers, stalls and workshops. The theme this year was “Rocks, Rust, Stars and Dust”, intended to showcase Broken Hill’s mining history, heritage and scenery.
“Our Salvation Army delegates attended to discover ways that we can better support women across rural NSW as well,” said Major Dianne Lawson, Rural Chaplain based in Broken Hill. “We all attended the conference in informal Salvation Army uniform and collectively made a statement that rural people are valued by The Salvation Army. We chose not to do a stall, but rather, to utilise our time connecting informally with people and giving out plenty of business cards and pamphlets.”
During that weekend, the five mission-team delegates attended two women’s groups at the corps, cleaned the playgroup toys, and led the Sunday meeting at the local Broken Hill Corps. After the Gathering, the team led another ladies night in at the corps and a great time of fellowship and fun was had by all who shared in the night.
Major Cathryn Williamson led cooking demonstrations at both the Hermidale and White Cliffs public schools.
On the way back to Sydney, the mission team shared in fun and games, once again conducting a cooking demonstration at White Cliffs School, 200km north-west of Broken Hill, with its 12 students.
Soon afterwards, the team received an email from the mother of one of the students: “I am just writing to thank you for the lovely gift of the cooking hamper and associated items that you delivered to my son’s school yesterday. I can only imagine the joy this lovely gesture would have brought to some children and their families. You truly are doing the Lord’s work, and I hope you are showered with his love.”
The next NSW Rural Women’s Gathering will be held at Narrandera, 540km south-west of Sydney. A men’s program will also be included in 2017. The NSW/ACT Salvos Women will be sponsoring corps officers and other leaders in the Narrandera area to participate in the gathering.
“The aim is to strengthen our understanding of issues facing women in remote rural areas and empower us to support the work of the rural chaplains throughout our division,” said Major Shelley.
Another mission to remote schools and rural corps is being planned for 2017. Indications of interest from women around the division are invited.
Comments
Sounds and looks like a wonderful initiative. Hope there can be more of it all over our new Aus territory.