Alyawarr Lutherans Mark 70th Anniversary
by Michael Jacobsen
Since 2017, representatives of the Lutheran congregations of the Sandover have been meeting at the main community Ampilatwatja for their annual regional conference. Gathering a little later (12-13 September) due to COVID-19, this year’s event commemorated 70 years of Lutheran mission and church among the Alyawarr peoples.
Everyone listened attentively when local pastor, Frank Turner and I told ‘their story’.
Stories were retold until late at night and anecdotes from ‘back then’ were shared in the circle of family groups around their small campfires.
Sandover is located northeast of Alice Springs. It can be reached on an unsealed track in three to four hours by 4WD. North and south of the remote Sandover Road are the small Lutheran congregations and family groups from which representatives gather for this annual church meeting. They cultivate fellowship, have singalongs and worship together. This year’s worship service included the baptism of a child.
Read similar stories in the 2020 Summer edition of Christ in the Centre, news from the Finke River Mission (FRM) of the Lutheran Church of Australia (LCA).
Michael Jacobsen is the Ministry Support Worker
for the Alyawarr Language Area (Central Australia)
Ministry of the LCA’s FRM
