Building better lives in Port Augusta
Building better lives in Port Augusta
22 October 2018
Robbie (left) is one of the Building Life participants, a program started by Port Augusta Corps officer Captain Michael Johnson (right) which provides community and woodwork skills for those who are experiencing isolation.
Captain Michael Johnson is helping to transform the Port Augusta community in South Australia with his new mentoring program, Building Life.
The free program gives locals the opportunity to “develop and build something” with one-on-one mentoring for two hours every week. But it doesn’t just give them a beautiful finished product, says Captain Johnson, the Corps Officer (pictured left below with a program participant and his finished project), it builds their self-esteem and awareness of God, too.
“We see the potential in all people and want to encourage them to seek a quality of life and skills they don’t have,” he says. 
“It makes them feel empowered. They think ‘I am of worth. I can build something’. Along the way we just do life and communicate the love of God. Sometimes through words, other times solely in action.”
The four-week program was forged out of Captain Johnson’s passion for reaching people in isolated communities, something he saw first-hand during his previous appointment in Alice Springs.
“It started as a passion for woodwork and Building Life became a project to attract people,” he explains.
Thirty-eight per cent of people in Port Augusta claim to have unbelief, or no belief in God, so the program provides the Salvos with a practical way to come alongside the isolated community in a godly way and respond to their immediate needs.
“We have many people with a lonely disposition, who feel like they don’t belong. They’re referred to this program through internal programs, other agencies, and we also partner with the local high school so kids who struggle can participate,” he says.
“Building Life increases their worth of life because they built something from scratch that they designed and completed from start to finish. Their self-esteem goes through the roof.”
So far eight participants have gone through the program with a 100 per cent completion rate. To top it off, all participants have signed up for another round of mentoring, showing just how powerful this hands-on approach to mentoring truly is.
“We have one man, Robbie, who lives on a station near Oodnadatta , who is in town for cancer treatment. He has attended for 18 weeks, and came away with a beautiful dining room table and stools for his niece, whom he stays with while he’s here,” says Captain Johnson.
“We are providing something for someone who literally has nothing here. He has attended our ‘Salvos in the Park’church, which we hold once a month, and invited numerous family members to it. It shows how Building Life is quite unique. The potential is massive.”
So far the initiative remains free for participants, with the local Rotary club donating $3000 and community members also monetarily backing the cause. 
Building Life is run out of a tiny shed on site at the corps, and is solely facilitated by Captain Johnson. His dream is to see it develop sustainably, where more mentors come alongside participants to build their quality of life practically and spiritually.
“We want more mentors who have building skills, can operate big machinery and who have a heart for Jesus,” says Captain Johnson.
If you would like to support Building Life, contact Captain Michael Johnson at michael.johnson@aus.salvationarmy.org.
Comments
No comments yet - be the first.