Care from above
(Photo: Shairon Paterson)
The flood has come, the flood has gone, the media is not out there anymore. Everyone thinks ‘she’ll be right,’ but it’s not all right. A disaster is a bit like a death in the family. Everyone provides support initially, but as it goes on...eventually the surviving person is forgotten about – but they’re still grieving.
– South Queensland Salvation Army Flying Padre, Captain Mark Bulow
Captain Mark Bulow knows the hardship of a rural life better than most. The Salvation Army officer is a farmer’s son: “My old man, he lost our family farm – Colleyville - (a wedding present to my grandmother from her parents) just before I was born, through a bad drought and some bad management.
“All his life, afterwards, he saw himself as a failure. He never really could get past that. It is really, really sad… My old man was a bit of a drinker and he hit the bottle pretty hard.”
Decades on and Captain Mark Bulow, a qualified helicopter pilot, now heads the new Salvation Army South Queensland Flying Service, as well as the Dalby Salvation Army rural hub that provides assistance to the town and people in rural south-west Queensland.
Last year, following a generous donation from Parmalat (the makers of Pauls Milk), The Salvation Army purchased a new helicopter for its Outback Flying Service in central Queensland and redeployed its existing Robinson 44 Raven II helicopter from Mt Isa to Dalby. Captain Mark Bulow says having a helicopter will greatly assist in what he believes is essential long term follow up for those devastated by flooding over the past two years, as well as those who are generally isolated and in need.
He says: “I am supporting a family of cotton farmers who lost everything in the floods … they are really having a hard time.”
Through the new Salvation Army Dalby rural hub, Mark has been able to employ a professional counsellor that will be able to work with this particular family, and many others: “They can now sit down with our counsellor at their own place, around their own kitchen table and pour out their heart. It is just an absolutely wonderful asset to have a professional available to make sure these people get the right assistance!”
Captain Bulow’s relaxed, easy-going nature makes him perfect for his role of listening to, and supporting people on the land. He says: “There was one guy – I drove in and an old guy was sitting there, I think trying to get some old wire out of the grass, and he looked at me and said, ‘what the F—do you want?’ and I said ‘we’re here to bless you, I can see you’re chasing some wire, I want to give you a cheque so that you can get the new fencing wire’.
“He was very apologetic that he swore once he saw I was a Salvo, but the fact that he said so many do-gooders have come in and made empty promises or caused more problems. He just got frustrated. We were able to come in and provide him with something straight away!”
Captain Bulow knows from first-hand experience just how hard a farming life can be. When his father-in-law lost several fingers in an accident involving a windmill, he and his wife Joanne moved onto the property to help out. “I worked on the farm for a couple of years and there were times Jo’s dad would say to me ‘look Mark I can't pay you this week. There’s no money’.
“I know what it’s like when you go running to get some grocery money or to pay your own bills and there’s just no money there to do it... it gives me sympathy for struggling farmers. When they say ‘I’ve got no money’, they really mean, ‘I’ve got NO money!’”
While Captain Bulow only selectively shares his own story and spends more time listening than talking, he says at times, his background does give him a greater understanding of the needs in rural communities.
He recently received two letters of thanks from flood affected famers and says: “It was so wonderful with both letters, to know that the people who wrote them were Christians and despite the hardships they can see hope... That gives me comfort that these people can see that there’s joy even in the face of adversity. But, a lot of people out there don’t have that joy and they’re the ones I’m worried about.
“My main desire is to take the freedom of Christ out to them. Some are frustrated, things are going wrong and they just don’t seem to be able to get on top. I want to show them that although it’s difficult, there’s a freedom that can be found in Christ, and that even if you don’t know when the next payment is, you feel confidence, because you know God will be with you and bless you.”
While some people immediately want to talk about faith, Mark says he doesn’t force Jesus on others: “You go in there, they know what you believe, know who you are and at the end of a second or third visit you say: ‘God bless and we’re going to be praying for you!’
“So far no one has ever refused that.”
Story courtesy of On The Scene
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