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News & Announcements

Innovative aged care services hub milestone in the Kimberley

Creation of an innovative aged care service hub in Kununurra has taken a big step forward.

Juniper, a Uniting Church WA agency providing community and residential aged care, has announced that Pindan Contracting, an experienced construction company, has been appointed to build the organisation’s new 30-place care facility.

Juniper chief executive, Vaughan Harding, said the project was a boost for Kununurra, delivering important infrastructure and services to the town and wider community.

“The commencement of construction is a significant milestone and we will see over the coming months the creation of a modern facility that will serve as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for aged care services designed to meet community needs and aspirations,” he said.

“The project will help stimulate local employment, career pathways and opportunities for student placements.”

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News & Announcements

New national director for Frontier Services

Jannine Jackson has been appointed as the new national director of Frontier Services.

Jannine comes to the role with extensive experience in fundraising and marketing in the faith and non-profit sectors, both in New South Wales and nationally.

Her background includes senior leadership positions at the McGrath Foundation, the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and Mission Australia. She is a member of Toongabbie Anglican Church in Sydney’s west.

The general secretary of the Uniting Church in Australia Assembly, Colleen Geyer, said she was looking forward to working with Jannine.

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News & Announcements

Happy birthday from KCO

This year, Kids’ Camp Out (KCO) celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Uniting Church in Australia with a massive birthday party.

Kids from congregations all over the Uniting Church WA joined in with party food, games and dancing on the Saturday night of the camp, 18 March. The night included well-loved party games such as pin the tail on the donkey, limbo, giant jenga and pass the parcel. A disco dance rounded off the night before campers headed back to their congregation groups for a story and supper.

Members of the wider Uniting Church WA were also invited to join in the celebrations with the adults playing their own party game; trying to land bouncy balls into cups.

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News & Announcements

Pancake Day supporting community

Pancake Day at Dongara Uniting Church has become a celebrated event around the town. Having started their event back some years ago when it was a Uniting Church WA sponsored event, the  congregation have continued running Pancake Day as a local fundraising activity for community services provided through their church.

Setting up a dining area at the church, with a yellow tent they bring out each year, the event is quite popular. Guests can dine in, or pancakes are also delivered to local businesses.

Wendy Small, from Dongara Uniting Church, said that the event is well supported by the town.

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News & Announcements

Bible Society bicentenary

This year, the Bible Society Australia turns 200. A number of celebratory events have and will be taking place over the year, including the widely talked about and controversial partnership with  Coopers Brewery.

The company had created a commemorative Coopers Premium Light Beer to celebrate the bicentenary. After the Bible Society Australia produced a video as part of their ‘Keeping it Light’  campaign, which featured two Liberal MPs having a ‘light’ discussion about marriage equality over a Coopers beer, Coopers found themselves in the midst of a boycott. Coopers have since stated that they have cancelled the commemorative cans.

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News & Announcements

Cool Burn Camp back in May

Cool Burn is an intercultural family camp for people living in Western Australia (WA) and is organised by the Uniting Church WA’s Multicultural Ministry. For two days and one night, people from culturally diverse backgrounds get together to share their faith and inspire each other.

Rev Dr Emanuel Audisho, the Uniting Church WA’s Multicultural ministry co-ordinator welcomes all to join the camp.

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News & Announcements

Moderator’s column: Jungle journey

It is often said that God is a God of surprises.

Every once in a while I find myself in a situation that I could never have expected or predicted. A month or so ago, I found myself in a dugout canoe, with an outboard motor travelling along the Irrawaddy river, in a rural and remote part of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. I had to pinch myself; how did I end up here?

The simple answer is that my jungle journey has its origins with the Karen congregation that meets at Uniting Church in the City (UCIC), Ross Memorial West Perth, and the movement of the Spirit.

The pastor of the Karen congregation is Rev S’Win Shwe, who trained in the Uniting Church’s theological college in Sydney (UTC). Last year, he invited me to have dinner with the president of the Pwo Karen Baptist church of Burma, Rev Mahn Benson, who was visiting Perth.

Fast forward four months and out the blue comes an invitation to speak at the 100th year anniversary service of the Pwo Karen Baptist church in Myanmar and at the opening of their renovated church in Yangon.

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Social Impact

We can do better for refugees and asylum seekers

Uniting Church members from congregations across WA will come together with other churches and community groups at 1.00pm this Sunday 9 April for the fourth Palm Sunday Walk for Justice for Refugees at St George’s Cathedral, 38 St Georges Terrace, Perth.

This year, it will be led by a couple of particularly special guests: two donkeys will be heading the walk, as part of a re-imagining of the original Palm Sunday story. Rev Steve Francis, moderator of the Uniting Church WA, went to visit the donkeys with James Jegasothy, vice-chair of the Centre for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees (CARAD).

“They are very cute,” said Rev Francis, “but they are also a symbol that Jesus deliberately employed to communicate the nature of his message. A message of humility, peace and love, especially for the outsider and the stranger.”

The Uniting Church will be an active participant in Palm Sunday walks which are happening in cities around Australia. The Uniting Church has continually advocated for the rights of asylum seekers and refugees as reflected in the Assembly’s statement Shelter from the Storm

The Perth event has over 40 community organisations, churches and human rights groups calling for humane policies for asylum seekers and refugees (see list http://justice4refugeeswa.com/about/).

Rev Steve Francis, moderator of the Uniting Church WA, said, “The people stuck on Manus Island and Nauru are suffering, even though they sought our help.

“Australians are compassionate people. We know that we can do better than the limbo to which we sentence asylum seekers.  Whether it is offshore or onshore detention, bridging visas or temporary visas – people cannot lead fulfilling lives amid such fundamental uncertainty about their futures.” 

The voices of refugees themselves will be centre stage at the beginning of the walk with messages from refugees on Manus Island to be read out.  Iranian poet and refugee, Arad Nik will also be present to perform one of his pieces. Here he shares an excerpt from Boat and Pain (English translation):

My sad face, asks for your sympathy.

In my dream is a poor child.

‘Sleeping’ boat children on the beach, makes you distraught.

City mindlessness is poison for my thought.

Moaning buried in the sea, makes you sad.

The passion of this poetry – gives them voice anew.

Hearing tears from over the ocean, leaves us in sleepless vigil.

Participants are invited to bring a palm frond to St George’s Cathedral this Palm Sunday before peacefully following the donkeys on a brief circuit through the city.

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Education & Training

A home away from home

During Easter, we often reflect on ‘new life’ or ‘new beginnings.’ At Trinity Residential College, a Uniting Church WA college for university students in Perth, staff and students are all too familiar with the stress and excitement that a new beginning can offer.

Trinity Residential College is located across the road from the University of Western Australia, and provides accommodation for students studying at any university in Perth.

Hayley Winchcombe and Ben Perry are resident advisors at Trinity College. This means they live and study at the college and, having spent a few years there, are now working as advisors to new   students who are just coming in. They help new residents with any queries that might come up, from how to use the airconditioner, to where they can buy a sim card for their phones. They know  all too well how hard it can be to adjust to this kind of change; moving away from home, family, friends and high school, to a new city and a new self-determined study routine.

Hayley moved to Trinity from Dunsborough to study French, and politics and international relations. Ben hails from Albany and is studying psychology. They both said that activities organised  during ‘O Week’ or Orientation Week, were important for building their new life at Trinity.

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Stories & Feature Articles

Experiencing Perth through the eyes of Mowanjum’s youth

The January school holidays were a special time for 16 students from Derby District High School who spent 11 glorious days in sunny Perth. The students were members of the remote, Indigenous community of Mowanjum.

This is the fourth time Derby students have travelled from the West Kimberly to Perth to experience a different way of life, away from the bush. Their journey to Perth is a long one – 4 500km on a bus with several stops, which included an overnight stay at Port Hedland Uniting Church and Karalundi School in Meekatharra, before reaching their destination: Ern Halliday campsite at  Hillarys, Perth.

The excursion was hosted by the Boab Network based at All Saints Floreat Uniting Church, which have been running school holiday programs in Mowanjum for 10 years. There are many reasons  why the trip is important for Mowanjum.