Larapinta SUPA Club and chaplaincy at Yipirinya

by Mel Quilliam, Ministry Catalyst, Alice Springs.

Since starting the SUPA club in Larapinta, we have moved from Larapinta Primary to Living Waters Lutheran School across the road, because of the great support from the Living Waters staff.

We’ve also seen this group grow from 12 to 22 regular attenders, from Living Waters, Larapinta Primary, and also home-schooled families.

Many of the kids in our group at Living Waters have had some difficulties this year, including marital stress, and moving to Alice
from interstate. It’s been a real blessing to see how the other kids, families and leaders have connected well and looked after each other during these stressful times, sharing support and faith with each other, including spending time together outside of the group, such as inviting others to their youth group.

We’ve also started a regular programme at Yipirinya school, an independent Aboriginal school including Primary and Secondary education. The school is unique because they teach four Aboriginal languages (Central Arrernte, Walpiri, Luritja and Western Aranda) as well as English.

Some families choose to send their kids here for the cultural content, including learning on country, but there are also kids returning to school after long periods away from the classroom, who need extra support.

This year, we’ve been going into the school at lunchtime, once a week.

It has been a challenging start, learning names, and building trust with kids that see a lot of white people come and go. But our small group of volunteers have persisted
in turning up, listening, playing cards, skipping, pushing kids on swings etc. In that time we’ve been able to soothe hurt feelings, sit with students that are feeling anxious, and generally create a friendly, fun environment. One of the Assistant Principals described our presence as bringing calm to their school community.

It’s also been a joy to see some students from both programmes out in the community and be able to offer encouragement and a friendly face. Please pray for funding for a chaplain at Yipirinya school and the right volunteers for our groups.