SPRING 2010VOLUME 27 • NUMBER 3

ABN 18 097 944 717PARTNERSMAGAZINE OF THE ANGLICAN BOARD OF MISSION – AUSTRALIA LTD

JOY FREIER REMEMBERS KOWANYAMAJOHN COTTIER RETURNS TO PNG

MCAVENNAS IN ZAMBIA… AND MORE

CELEBRATINGMISSIONARIES

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Front cover photo: The Freiers with a Gilbert WhiteII aircraft during their time in Kowanyama in NorthernAustralia.

Partners in Spring

MINISTRY WITH ABORIGINAL ANDTORRES STRAIT ISLANDER COMMUNITIESThe Freiers reflect on their time in Northern Australia Page 4

MOSAIC OF MISSIONStories from Papua New Guinea Page 6

ANGLICANS IN DEVELOPMENTFind out where the money goes Page 9

STORIES FROM ZAMBIAChristine McAvenna shares anecdotesfrom her family’s years in Africa Page 13

LIFE AS A MISSIONARY IN MELANESIAMargaret Buttfield’s experiencesin the Soloman Islands Page 16

Printed on recycled paper

CHRISTMAS GIFTSCards andWallPlanners nowavailable –order online orwith the formon page 19

On a mission…

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I would like to thank the Anglican Board of Mission (ABM)for the privilege given to me to contribute to this volume ofthe Partners magazine.

My travel to Australia has happened tobe straight after the House ofBishops meeting, the Newton

Theological College Council meeting and theProvincial Finance Committee meeting. Asusual one of the main agenda items of thesemeetings was the financial support by ourChurch Partners, which includes ABM.

My visit to Australia has been primarily tocelebrate Papua New Guinea Martyrs Day inchurches around Australia – thanking the

Australian Anglican Church forits contribution through theMartyrs of Papua New Guineain laying the foundations ofthe Anglican Church in PNG.During my visit, I have met anumber of different groups,schools and parishes, whosupport us through ABM.There are others who givethemselves, their time and

resources to raise funds to projects such asclergy school fees and theological education.

ABM supports Partner churches around theworld. The task is enormous in a world that ischanging and in situations that are becomingmore and more difficult. ABM’s Partners arebeing asked to satisfy more and more financialand material needs.

One day, the type of support that ABM givesmay well come to an end and the churcheswho are dependant on partners such as ABM

will have serious problems. As partners inGod’s Church – we will need to come together,with Christ leading and influencing us, to lookfor ways and means to address the situationsand circumstances permanently.

Perhaps the greatest legacy that the Martyrscan leave is an independent and thrivingChurch – one that lives on independently ofthose who planted the seed so many yearsago. The story of the Martyrs is knownthroughout the Church in Papua New Guineaand everyone I know is humbled by thesacrifice that they made. I believe that thebest way we can honour this sacrifice is tostrive for an independent church.

Bishop of the Diocese of Dogura

A young Philip Freier conducts a Baptismat Kowanyama in 1985.

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“I’ve always had a strong senseof Christian service, somethingthat grew with me in my life inthe church for as far back as Ican remember. I became a HomeEconomics teacher and in mytraining developed a strong senseof a Christian vocation to workwith Aboriginal people. Baralaba,Mornington Island and thenThursday Island were the places inQueensland this vocation took me.

These were tough appointments indifferent ways for a single womanbut were all very rich times of doingwhat I felt called to do. I met Philip Freier,another teacher, on Thursday Island andwe married back in Emerald Queenslandin 1976 just before Christmas.

The school year of 1977 saw us off to start anew secondary school at Kowanyama, formerlyMitchell River Mission in Western Cape YorkPeninsula. Two years there and then the same

Ministry with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities

exercise again at Yarrabah, outside of Cairns.Our first child, Michael, was born in 1979.

We moved to Cairns in 1980 and then,unexpectedly to me, Philip started exploringwhether he had a vocation to ordained ministryin the Anglican Church. To further this

exploration we sold our house in Cairnsand moved to a theological college atMorpeth, just outside of Newcastle inNew South Wales.

I didn’t realise it at the time but my lifehad taken a turn that would be madeseveral more times where it was Philip’scalling, not mine, that shaped our futureand where we would go as a family.Our second son, David, was born in 1981.Now in our late twenties we were poorand cold in a strange land! Despite thiswe pulled through and I was able toupgrade my three years teachingqualification to an education degree.

The unexpected opportunity for us to return toKowanyama as ABM supported missionariesand for Philip to be ordained and serve inministry there was welcome good news thatwe both responded to with excitement.

Philip visited Kowanyama in September 1983and came back with glowing reports of howgreat the Church House was and how much

Archbishop Philip Freier and his wife, Joy, have spent many years in Northern Australia. Perhaps theincident of most significance is their first meeting on Thursday Island. JOY FREIER reflects on her lifeduring these experiences and the journey the couple took in order to become ABM missionaries.

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I would like it. This was at odds withwhat I had observed some five yearsbefore but I was glad that there hadbeen improvement. How I cried whenI finally saw it and realised I was rightand that he had been swept away by theanticipation of his new life as a priest!

There were tough times but also untolddepths of learning during that periodbetween 1983 and 1988. To meet ashortfall of staffing at the local schoolI went back to work and pioneeredcommunity based learning for teenagersat risk of dropping out from school. It waswonderfully rewarding and I think made adecisive difference to the life opportunityfor some of those young people.”

Archbishop Philip Freier shares his thoughtson his time as an ABM missionary in NorthernAustralia and the importance of cross culturalmission.

“As I began to better understand the missionhistory of Kowanyama, from the time it wasknown as Mitchell River Mission, I becameaware of the amazing miracle of the Gospeltaking root in the lives of many Aboriginalpeople in that place.

Even the worst instances of hostilegovernment policies or missionpaternalism did not quench the thirstfor the life giving transformationthat is God’s promise to all in Christ.The faith of the Aboriginal churchmembers I served left an indeliblemark on me in understanding, evenin a way that I had not appreciatedthrough my theological studies,that the Gospel was God’s completepromise for all people, no matter whatthey had experienced.

Cross cultural mission is like that, shininga clear light on things that can easily be hiddenin the shade of a monocultural setting. I amgrateful for ABM believing in me and believingin sending missionaries to cross culture in thename of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The Freiers with a Gilbert White II aircraft duringtheir time in Kowanyama in Northern Australia.

The Freiers in Kowanyama, December, 1983.

ABM’s work with Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander communities continuestoday. Visitwww.abmission.org formore information on how you cansupport these projects.

All images used with permission.

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In 1891, ABM sent its firstAnglican missionaries to theisland of New Guinea.At the end of this year The Sydney MorningHerald reported, “Two lives lost, and two menill, state of the others uncertain, houseunfinished no leader, and the results of allthis, and many months labour and time – nil.”

35 years later, when listening to a sermonin St Peter’s Cathedral, the Revd MartinChittleborough’s father, Colin, heard of theneed for missionaries in New Guinea. Heresolved to offer himself, however, he wasalso in love. He approached Canon Murphy,to ask for the hand of his daughter Winifredin marriage. Canon Murphy said, “Certainlynot, it is too dangerous a place for mydaughter”. The couple was devastated,but Colin travelled to PNG and Canon Murphyrelented in the face of true love and Winifredfollowed quickly behind.

Martin shares his family’s story.

“On February 6, 1930 my parents were marriedin St Paul’s Samarai by Robert Leck. After ahoneymoon in Chinaman’s Strait, they returnedto Mukawa. My sister Jennifer was born in the

hospital in Samarai, and later, Nancy, in theBishop’s house at Dogura.

Medical help was either to the east at Dogura,or the west at Gona. My mother had severemalaria, and the girls too became ill. In ourshed is a small camphor wood chest, whichwas bought – fortunately unnecessarily –for my sister’s coffin.

In 2003 my wife, Anne and I, with our son andhis wife, returned to Mukawa, with corrugatediron for the roof of the priest’s house as anoffering of thanks for my parent’s life, and tofinish a job my father had started nearly 75years earlier.

I tell this story to show how under God’s grace,the Church grew from a disastrous start, when

The Mosaic of Mission

The Mission house was built on top of the escarpment by Fr Tomilinson, who of course wasa builder.

the valley, but we saw very few without goingout to find them. Evil spirits were very real tothe local people and they kept a low profile ininteracting with others.

ln 1966, the first baptism took place. About100 people were baptised. This included manyschool children and our own son, John. Ourwork at Simbai was much like other missionwork. There were some tough times, somehighlights including much first contact workand much routine work. The scenery wasspectacular and the people usually delightful.We were there three years and were followedby other clergy until the work at Simbai wastaken over by Papuan and local people in thelate 1970s.

In 2008, our children insisted that we takethem back to see the place of their birthand early life and so we returned to Simbai.Our trip was one of wide-eyed amazement.

I was asked to celebrate and preach on Sundayand about 500 people attended the service.Fr Sampson assured me that the 14 churchesin the valley, also with local priests, wouldhave similar numbers at their services.

Thinking back to the first baptism 42 years ago,the growth of the church was truly humbling.

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death was very present, to a Church which haslessons for us all. It also illustrates how weare all part of a kind of apostolic succession.If you touch my hand, it has touched myfathers, who touched Samuel Tomlinson,who was at the founding of the AnglicanChurch in PNG, only a moment in time away.”

In 1966, the ABM Review reported that theRevd Martin Chittleborough and his wife Annewere moving from the Diocese of Adelaideto serve in PNG at Agenehambo. Followingin his father’s footsteps, Martin continuedthe tradition and experienced a ministry ofhis own in PNG.

Returning to SimbaiThe Revd John Cottier writes of his return tripto Simbai, in 2008, after serving there as amissionary over 40 years before.

The Simbai valley is located in the highlandsof Papua New Guinea about one hour’s flightfrom Madang. lt takes about three days (usingthe bush tracks that the government maintains)to walk the valley and the going is exhausting,dangerous, steep and slippery.

The first significant European contact for theKalam people of the Simbai valley came in

The Revd John Cottier.

1958, with patrols through the valley by FatherPeter Robin. Father Peter started the missionsettlement at the headwaters of the RiverYinink (the Simbai River) which also becamethe government headquarters for the valley.

When I came in 1965 to relieve Father Peter,there was a small school, a medical aid post,a small number of Papuan staff and a tinychapel for the daily worship of the staff. At thistime, very few knew any English and interpreterswere needed for much of the work.

I was told there were 40,000 or more people in

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The valley was still a backwater. There was stillno road out of the valley and the people were aself-contained group. However, now there werepeople everywhere. No more fears of evil spiritsand no fears about other people. The peoplewere united in a new faith, which made for awonderfully united community. Not everybodysees the changes that take place over 50 yearsand we feel privileged and humbled.

In 1Cor 3 Paul is chiding the Corinthian churchover its divisions and remarked, “Paul planted

the seed, Apollos watered it and God gave theincrease.”

It was a privilege to go back to Simbai 50years after the first contact and see whatFather Peter Robin had planted. The seed thatthe Cottiers, the Woodesons, the Donalds andthe Papuan missionaries had watered hadbecome fruit that local people had harvested,replanted and watered to discover that Godhad indeed given the increase.All images used with permission.

The Cottiers met friends new and old on their return trip in 2008.

The people were united in anew faith, which made for awonderfully united community.

Returning to Simbai in 2008.

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ANGLICANS IN DEVELOPMENTA SUPPLEMENT OF PARTNERS – THE MAGAZINE OF THE ANGLICAN BOARD OF MISSION – AUSTRALIA LTDAID

THE POWER OF EDUCATIONBy Melissa Martin National Coordinator, Anti-Poverty Week

Everyone should have access to free education especially at primarystage. Education contributes to the full development of humanpersonality, promotes understanding, and enables people to earn a

living for themselves and their families. Unfortunately, many children inthe world today grow up without this chance, because they are deniedtheir basic right to attend primary school. An end to poverty and a worldfilled with peace and security requires that citizens in every country canmake positive choices and provide for themselves and their families.

In 1999 the world’s governments agreed to try and provide ‘education forall’ by 2015. “We have ample evidence that education improves individualincomes, economic growth, child and maternal health, resistance todisease and environmental practices,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hasstated. The goal is for children everywhere to complete primary school.Presently, primary school enrolment is around 89 per cent in developingcountries, and much lower in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia.

EthiopiaIn Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, many teenage girls are drawn into the country’ssex industry. Education offers a way out for many young girls, especiallywhere women marry young, and the unemployment rate is high. ABMsupports a community library where children can come to borrow textbooks and study after school.

Papua New GuineaLiteracy programs in Papua New Guinea help people to read, write and count,as well as training students in the program to become tutors for their classes.The teachers in the program are volunteers who receive bonuses at eachgraduation once they finish a class. ‘One of the simplest ways that literacy

A student in an Ethiopian School in Addis Ababa.© Tobin Lush/ABM 2008.

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improves people’s lives is that they are able to read the informationthat the PNG Government distributes about health and other matters.’Understanding this information means that they know how to wash theirhands frequently and how to prepare food in a clean environment.

Inequality still impedes progress towards universal education. A commit-ment to equity is needed as children from poor communities, rural areas

and minority groups almost always struggle under worse conditions thanothers in society.

“If we do not close this gap, we put a whole generation at risk, and weallow problems to fester,” said the UN Secretary-General. “But if weensure that all children get the education they deserve, we put bothindividuals and countries on a sure footing toward a stable future.”

One of the best investments that any countrycan make is to educate girls and women,so they can earn more income, improve theirfamily’s well being, and show their daughters,in turn, what is possible once you can readand write,” said the UN Secretary General.

Economic and social changeoccurs when girls canparticipate in society.Over 600 million adolescent girls live inpoverty in the developing world. There aremany positive consequences when girls havean opportunity to participate broadly in thecommunity. Educated girls grow into educatedwomen who have healthier babies and aremore likely to educate their children. Employedfemales reinvest 90 per cent of earnings intotheir families compare to only 30-40 per centfor men. The education of girls is vital topoverty eradication given that at present 70per cent of the world’s 130 million out-of-schoolyouth are girls.A women’s literacy class in Papua New Guinea. © ABM.

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In 2009, people all over Australia joined the fight against poverty during Anti-Poverty Week. Primary and Secondary schools organised activities toraise awareness about poverty, included the subject in the school curriculum, or launched programs to ensure that students who are experiencingpoverty or hardship are able to fully participate in all aspects of school life. About 10% of Australian children (that is, about half a million children)live in a family subject to poverty or serious hardship. Children from poorer families are twice as likely as those from wealthy families to have verylow levels of literacy and numeracy. Social inclusion at schools means ensuring that school activities and procedures are sensitive to thecircumstances of low-income families. “School should be a place where each young person is known and cared for and a place which is inclusiveand open, regardless of personal or family circumstance. If young people don’t feel included because of poverty-related reasons, they are very muchat risk of severe, lifelong disadvantage.” Gerard Stafford, Former School Principal.

• At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day• The richest 20 percent of the world’s population accounts for three-quarters of world income• 1 billion children, or every second child, lives in poverty• According to UNICEF, 24,000 children die each day due to poverty• Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names• Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation

www.globalissues.org

POVERTY – THE FACTS:

• Organise a stall to raise funds for an Anti-poverty project• Put up a display in your Church or School about people working to end poverty• Sign a petition…• Invite a speaker to your Church or School• Pray for universal education for all

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

ANTI-POVERTY WEEK

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By Elizabeth Keevers

With all the money donated tooverseas aid, why do so manypeople live in poverty? What

does it cost to save a life? What are thebest ways to help people out of poverty?

Every year, around 1.5 million children die fromdiarrhea caused, in part, by unclean water.ABM has been helping to build clean watersystems in the Philippines since 1994, savingthe lives of many children in the process. Manyof these projects are also funded by AUSAid,which helps donations to go even further.

In the village of Besao, three water reservoirshave been constructed with sanitary andagricultural benefits. The water comes from amountain spring and is stored in small tanks andthen pipes run the water through to the mainreservoir and then distributed to the houses.

Mary lives in the village with her husband andsome of her five children. “This is the biggestwater tank in the community that supplies morethan fifty percent of the communities here,”she says.

“It has helped a lot in terms of sanitation andalso health. Also for the children, we no longer

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have to send them to get water because it isalready available for the household,” Mary said.“With sufficient water we can wash our clothesevery day and take a bath everyday and the bigbins are cleaned every day so flies arecontrolled because it’s clean.”

“As an observation I notice there is no diarrheain the community and I think that is one goodimpact of the sufficient water.”

Only some of the money donated to the projectgoes into constructing the system. Funds arealso spent on training community members tomaintain it and teaching others sanitary habits.With the funds and the water that was madeavailable through the project, the village wasable to also construct sanitary public toilets.

“Very luckily our water project was endorsedand the community worked on it with freelabour, but all the materials and the many otherneeds were provided by the funding agencies.”

“Life here is too difficult if you don’t use yourhands. Even if you work, the whole day everyday we still survive by subsistence andagriculture. Not everyone grows their ownvegetable so they go to hard labour for theirother needs,” she said.

“We try and send our children to get aneducation but some people are just trying tomake ends meet. That’s our life here actually,in this community.”

With a big smile on her face she tells ABMthat, “Each house in the community has runningwater with their own faucets”.

“We are very, very grateful, on behalf of thewhole community of Besao, to the Australiangovernment and ABM for the thanks theyhave extended to us for our water works,our environmental protection and everything.”In Besao, people now have gardens and arethankful to be able to keep bins cleaner –all because of the water supply.

Join us in the Philippines tobuild a water system.Contact Melany Markham for anitinerary for PROJECT WASH on(02) 8280 6833 or mam@abm.asn.au

PROJECT WASH: ALL IT TAKES TO END POVERTY

See exactly what it costs and howdonations are spent on this projectwww.abmission.org/project_wash

WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?

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Stories from Zambia

Along with their children, Sarah, Ben andJessica they enjoyed many experiences livingand ministering in a new culture.

Christine shares her memories of the cultureshock her family encountered on their firstday in Zambia’s capital.

“We were eager to do our first groceryshopping since arriving the previous day inLusaka, Zambia's capital but my apprehensiongrew as we walked inside the store. We werethe only white people in the place. I felt quitenervous, but pretended I had done all thisbefore.

The odour, the heat and the dirtiness ofthe building brought forth complaints fromsix year old Sarah and three year old Ben.The children verbalised what I was thinking.

The shelves held little else but Vaseline andAjax. There were no basic items at all and wedecided to leave the fresh meat where it was.I became alarmed, as we were to buy initial

From 1989 to 1992, Christine andDavid McAvenna and their familylived and worked at St FrancisHospital in Katete, Zambia.

David with fellow staff members of the Accounts Office.

food supplies to take to St Francis Hospital atKatete, 500 kilometres away, and our homefor the next three years.

Culture shock had set in. We walkeddespondently back to the Zambia AnglicanCouncil guest house, a small guarded complex,surrounded by a high, wire fence, topped withbarbed wire.

Lusaka was having a problem with the watersupply and we only had running water for afew hours each night. The bath was then

topped up with water for decanting into thebasin for washing. I was wondering why therewas a cup of washing powder on the basin –no soap available. Thankfully I had tissues –no toilet paper available!

Lord, why have you brought us here? Maybewe’ve done the wrong thing; how are wegoing to manage? How are we going to lastthree years here? I felt totally out of control ofthe situation. "When is the next plane home?"asked David, who felt the same way. Australiaseemed a long way from us right then.

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David picked up his guitar and quietly startedsinging praises to the Lord and gradually wefelt more at peace. I realised we didn’t needto feel in control of the situation, becauseGod was in total control and we had put ourtrust in Him. I was reminded of the prayerswe had prayed two years ago, with Fr Brianto have strength to carry out His will.

We used that prayer many times.”

All images used with permission.

Our family.Me (Chris) and Sarah, Ben and Jessica, visiting a hospital ward atChristmas time, with Dr Susanne Baron and a nurse.

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A second community library with reading roomfor 200 students has been developed with arange of Ethiopian curriculum text books andextra reference books are stocked to serve thestudents and improve literacy and education.The annual Assembly in Gambella RegionalState offers clergy and lay leaders anopportunity for story-sharing and the sense ofachievement when they work through problemstogether. ABM assist to fund this opportunityfor decision making, fellowship and Anglicanidentity in Africa.

EgyptThe number of Christians in Egypt is decreasingand, for the Anglican Church, there are nowless than 20,000. The Diocese of Egypt aims toempower and equip local churches to evangelise.Evangelism and discipleship will help manyyoung people to develop a mission vision sothat they can recognise themselves as localmissionaries who can endure hardship for thesake of the Gospel. ABM supports this projectwhich aims to reach almost 7000 people in thisfirst year.

ABM in Africa

AIDS orphans in Africa are given a goat in the hope that the community will care for thechildren. © Julianne Stewart/ABM 2009.

ABM’s work in AfricaContinues TodayKenyaIn Kenya, ABM supports a program that buysgoats for children who have been orphanedby AIDS. When they own a goat, children areprovided with an economic resource and aremore easily and readily cared for by friendsand family after their parents die.

ZambiaIn Zambia, over 14% of the adult population isaffected with HIV. The Anglican Church educatesyoung people about the disease so that they caneducate their peers with plays, dance and song,helping to stem the spread of the disease.

The Church strives to empower women, who aredisproportionately affected by AIDS. The Churchalso has ‘HIV Sundays’; a time when people cancome together and share the burden that is thisterrible disease.

EthiopiaWithin Ethiopia, Bishop Andrew Proud is workingwith Anglicans and the wider community onprojects to inspire others.

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The staff at St Hilda’s comprised ofMargaret, another permanent missionteacher, a volunteer from New Zealandand an undergraduate volunteer fromEngland.Margaret recalls that it was a happystation with four young teachers anda lovely group of Melanesian students.“On weekdays we tackled the seriousissues of teaching, growing food andkeeping the station operating but onthe weekend and during holidays wehad a lot of fun,” she said.One example of this fun wasMargaret’s first adventure to Siota,about two hours away from the schoolby boat. Using the small canoe, which isfitted with a seagull engine, Margaret and hercolleague, Pauline embarked on their journey.The pair was not mechanically minded anddespite their intentions to get some practice,they encountered trouble just two miles fromthe destination where Pauline decided theengine plug needed cleaning.

Margaret recalled the adventure in a letterhome to family and friends at the time.“There were mangrove trees all along the edgeof the passage up which we were travelling so

I had to cling to the over hangingbranches while Pauline leaned overthe rear of the canoe and investigated.We both foresaw the dangers ofdropping the plug into the water butthat did not prevent it from slippingout of Pauline’s fingers,” she wrote.The plug disappeared into the reefbelow and, although the women senttheir schoolgirl companion overboardafter it, they didn’t see it again andso for the remaining distance theyhad to paddle with two paddles anda cricket bat!“Being a hopeless paddler I was giventhe cricket bat,” Margaret wrote.

“We found the rest of our journey quite hilariousas we kept heading into the mangroves andgetting stuck. Darkness was falling rapidly andwe thankfully reached Siota with my arms andbody complaining from the unaccustomed actionof paddling.”The ironic twist – a spare plug was foundamongst the engine equipment upon return!

Life as a Missionary in Melanesia

Margaret Buttfield (nee Lees) joined the staff of St Hilda’s Girls’ School in the Solomon Islandsin January 1968. Then, the boarding school was home to approximately 100 girls, aged 9 to 17,and was located on Bunana Island in the Gela group of islands.

L to R: Meg Stapley, Veronica Piva,Diane Dagnall, Front – Margaret Lees andRuth Mona (used with permission fromMargaret Buttfield).

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• The Anglican Church was brought toMelanesia by the first Bishop of NewZealand in 1849. The history of ABM datesback to this time with the request for fundsto buy a boat from which the Church couldtake the Gospel to the islands of Melanesia.The fruits of this became the MelanesianMission, and later the independentAnglican Church of Melanesia, whichcontinues to partner with ABM today.

• The Church of Melanesia was establishedin 1975 as an autonomous Provincecomposed of eight dioceses.

• ABMworks with partners in the SolomonIslands and Vanuatu.

• Projects today work towards peace andreconciliation, HIV and AIDS awareness,education, literacy and health programs,evangelism and support for women andchildren (fleeing from domestic violence)through the Christian Care Centre.

Melanesian Mission Facts

Salome Haridi trains literacy teachers in Honiara ©Don Brice/ABM 2008.

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To the Auxiliary of ABMAs parishioner of St Augustine’s Inverell and

Christ Church St Laurence we

heard at a young age of the Auxiliary and saw some of the work that they did

raising funds. However it wasn’t until arrival at the House of Epiphany in 1962

that we saw and understood the extensive work and fund raising that went on

behind the scenes.

While in New Guinea the tea-chests which arrived throughout the Diocese

were much appreciated and really a ‘life-saver’ for many of us as our

allowance was quickly eaten up if we had to buy soap, toothpaste etc. Out of the

tea-chests we were able to give people birthday and Christmas presents which was very special.

We often felt that we were kept in the mission field by ‘dear old ladies and many not so old who

worked tirelessly cooking jams, having cake stalls and putting in their two-bobs to the special

Mission Collections when a lot couldn’t really afford it. For us, one of the special things was the

patchwork quilts. Not only did they make our beds look respectable but kept us warm on cool

nights. Really special were the crocheted ones which were terrific if you happened to get malaria

and had the ‘shivers’.

We have spoken to others and their appreciation and thanks were expressed by all and we would

simply like to say THANKS to those who arestill working and to those who have gone before for

their hard work in raising funds and sending tea-chests etc. More importantly we thank people for

the support of their prayers, love and faithfulness.

Congratulations on your 100 years of dedicated and hard working service to the Glory of God.

With thanks

Don and Rosemary Mortimer

Eroro, November 1968,

after the baptism of our

second son, Peter. Behind

Rosemary is the Priest’s

office and behind Don

(holding Andrew) is the

Priest’s house. Andrew

was the last european

baby born at the oldSt Margaret’s Hospital at

Eroro and appropriately

(as Don was the builder)

Peter was the first at the

new St Margaret’sHospital at Oro Bay.

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Cheques should be made out to ABM – Australia Ltd.Please send your gift to: ABM – Australia Ltd, Locked Bag Q4005,Queen Victoria Building, NSW 1230.

Pictured overleaf: Ivancy Salai is a literacy teacher in Simbai, PNG.© Don Brice/ABM 2009

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Martyrs’ LivingLegacy

The Five Marks of Mission

• Witness to Christ’s saving, forgiving and reconciling love for all people• Build welcoming, transforming communities of faith• Stand in solidarity with the poor and needy• Challenge injustice and oppression• Protect, care for and renew life on our planetAdapted from the Anglican Consultative Council

Anglican Board of Mission – Australia LimitedABN 18 097 944 717

Level 6, 51 Druitt Street, Sydney, NSW

www.abmission.org

All correspondence to:Locked Bag Q4005, Queen Victoria Building, NSW 1230Telephone 1300 302 663 or 9264 1021 (Sydney callers)Facsimile 02 9261 3560Email info@abm.asn.au