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As she was going home from Hawker one of the excited young adults said, "This was the best weekend of my life!"
The weekend in question was in late July when a group of 18 people from Adelaide, Burra and Port Augusta visited Hawker in the Flinders Ranges for the second About Face Stepping Stone event for 2012 organized by Congress in partnership with the Young Adults unit of the SA Uniting Church.
On the Friday evening after making camp we were joined for dinner by our Adnyamathanha hosts: Pauline Mckenzie from Hawker, Colleen Ryan from Port Augusta and her sister, our Covenanting Coordinator, Denise Champion. They welcomed us to country, "Nunga," and introduced us to a different world immediately by teaching us words from their language.
On the Saturday we were joined by six "yakadi's" (children and grandchildren) of our hosts, who also enjoyed participating in sharing their language and culture with us.
Saturday was a wonderful day with a visit to Sacred Canyon and a late barbeque lunch at Wilpena Pound, where we were joined by other campers. Prayer through the giving of thanks for the food brought us together. That night we enjoyed (except those who were vegetarian) kangaroo tail soup cooked by Auntie Denise, and singing around the campfire which was led by Adam Cousens (who came across from Victoria with Tess Keam – one of the organizers of the About Face program) with support from Jadon, one of Auntie Pauline's grandsons.
On Sunday morning a special reflection and worship time was held including readings from the Aussie Bible. Participants felt they had stepped out and just knocked on the door at the beginning of their "About Face" journey. One of the participants summed it up in the reflection time with the comment. "I was really struck by the way God reveals himself not only through his word, but also his amazing creation, and the culture he instils within people."
May there be many more steps taken on the journey!
Written by Ian Dempster |
