Practical Salvos needed for bush missions
Santa arrives at a Christmas Mission to the Bush event. (Photo supplied by Major Trevor Strong)
The Salvation Army is expanding its Christmas Missions to the Bush this year to include more hands-on assistance for farmers.
Missions to rural and regional areas of NSW and the ACT have been undertaken in mid-December for a number of years, usually centred around a number of community concerts in different locations where Salvationists provide music and singers, and in some cases food and other Christmas cheer.
But this year the focus has changed.
“This year the aim of the bush mission is not to ‘entertain’ but to provide practical hands-on assistance to folks in the Balranald, Hay, Booroorban, Maude, Booligal and Clare Districts,” reads the ACT and South NSW Division application form.
“These ‘Acts of Kindness’ may include things like repairing fences, repairs to verandas, painting homes, cleaning-up driveways, and general handyman jobs.”
In the Newcastle and Central NSW Division, a Farm Hub project, sponsored by the Canberra East Rotary Club, will connect volunteers to individual farmers to give them a day’s work as a gift.
“There will be many different types of work identified on the farms and the volunteer’s energy level will be matched with the work required!” says Central West NSW Rural Chaplain, Major Trevor Strong.
Taking part in community carol events and visiting schools and aged-care centres are still features of both missions.
Christmas Missions to the Bush will run from early to mid-December in both the Newcastle and Central NSW and ACT and South NSW divisions. Application forms are available on the AUE Bulletin Board or through divisional headquarters.
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