GawaNEWSTERM 1 - 2018

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Nhäŋu ŋunha warrakan

Getkit, wäluŋu, damala, wäk, mur-ryil, djilawurr – these are just some of the birds that can be spotted in Gäwa (translations: tern, frigate bird, sea eagle, crow, dove, bush turkey). If we were to take each bird we see here as a reminder of how valuable we are in the eyes of God, well, our hearts would be constantly full! Look around. I reckon birds abound because we have a wise Heavenly Father who knows so well that we are quick to forget who we are and what we have as His children. What do we have? Those who are part of God’s family through believing in Jesus have everything and more! Through times of need and abundance, He

provides. Through tears and laugh-ter, He is faithful. The Lord is my Shepherd. I have everything I need. Psalm 23:1

Enjoy our stories which declare the fullness of life with Christ Jesus. Help us praise God for He is good.

Joy & Peace,Rachel Joy Herweynen - Principal

Nhäŋu ŋunha warrakan’nha malaŋuny butthunawuy. Yaka walal ŋuli gi ŋunhi warrakan’thuny malaŋuy ŋula nhä djäma ŋatha malany lämu-nhir-rpul, ga bäyŋuyi yan walal ŋuli gi ŋunhi ŋathany mala maŋutjiny gulk-thurr ga rarr’yurr ŋuli marrtji bunbulilnydja. Yurr nhumalaŋguny Bä-pa’mirriŋu ŋunha djiwarr’puynydja ŋuli ga djäga yan walalaŋ ŋurikiyiny warrakan’kuny malaŋuw. Ga nhumany ga dhuwal yolŋuynydja walal djulkmaraman ŋunhiyi warrakan’nhany malaŋuny. MATHUYU 6:26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26

Gäwa Christian School NEWSLETTER

BREAD ROCK

“IS IT SCHOOL TODAY?”“NO IT’S SATURDAY.”“CAN WE PLEASE HAVE SCHOOL TODAY? WE LOVE IT SO MUCH!”

DJAMARRKULI (CHILDREN) IN CONVERSATION WITH RACHEL HESLOP - MAYAWA TEACHER

HE IS RISEN! CHRIST IS RISEN TODAY!

‘HE ISN’T HERE THE ANGEL SAID. HE IS ALIVE NO LONGER DEAD. OUR HEARTS ARE LIFTED SOULS RAISED HIGH. CHRIST IS WITH US. CHRIST IS OUR LIFE. HE’S OUR LIFE’ – LYRICS FROM NEVER ALONE BY EMU MUSIC

What a gift to have been able to share in the Easter Assembly to-gether, stories from Daphne, Young Rachel and Cathie. Tracey led us in singing with Mayawa kids drumming along. After soaking in the story of Jesus’ love, sacrifice and victory, we all looked upon a wooden cross and reflected. As staff and students posted their names on the cross, we remembered that it was for us that Jesus died so we might live.

At sunrise on Easter Sunday, ladies gathered around our empty bush tomb, set in the dense bushes with coconut tree fronds as the tomb opening. Two by two, they went to let everyone in community know, declaring the Good News that Jesus is alive. Rise, let’s remember that day so long ago yet still so signifi-cant, Christ is risen! We worship a living God. A Gäwa communion service by the empty tomb followed.

FELLOWSHIP IN GAWA

HOW GOOD AND PLEASANT IT IS WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE LIVE TOGETHER IN UNITY! PSALM 133:1

SUPPORT OUR OP-SHOPPlease consider sending quality summer clothing for our community op shop. Useful items include: girls’ and boys’ surf shorts and t-shirts, women’s ‘Target‘ tops, and mens t-shirts, short sleeve shirts and shorts. Simply post your donation in an AusPost satchel and send to our address below.

POSTAL ADDRESS: Gawa Christian SchoolPMB 257, Elcho Island via Winnellie, NT 0822EMAIL: admin.gcs@ntschools.netPHONE: 08 8970 5212

PRAY FOR USThank you for upholding us in your prayers and for loving and supporting God’s work here in Gäwa Christian School, for our family community, and Elcho Island. Pray for God’s peace and protection over this place. Pray that the children will grow up strong in the Lord. Praise God for Gäwa, a Christian community of Yolŋu and Bal-anda living together as one family - for God’s Kingdom.

Gäwa Christian School NEWSLETTER

Beach. Sunset. Music. Fellowship with family. There’s something about the combination that just makes it easier to lift our hearts up to the Maker of Heaven and earth and rejoice! Thank you Jesus.

POSTAL ADDRESS: Gawa Christian SchoolPMB 257, Elcho Island via Winnellie, NT 0822EMAIL: admin.gcs@ntschools.netPHONE: 08 8970 5212

This term, there have been a faithful bunch of regular Mayawa students which has been a great encouragement to me. From the littlies to the biggies, the kids in Mayawa have been a joy to teach.

Students have been exploring the text ‘You are Special’ written by Max Lucado, with a running theme of how God made each child unique and of innumerable value. We used this text to focus our literacy activities around. Tied in with this theme was our exploration of creation week in our devotions and how good God made everything. Building on from Term 4 last year, we have con-tinued with a theme of prayer to

encourage the children to chat to God and we have seen them con-tinue to grow in their confidence and also in their understanding of prayer. This has been exciting to watch.

We also have learnt about how western science categorises vertebrate animals according to groups including reptiles, mam-mals, amphibians, birds and fish and thanks to a visit from the much-loved Ian Morris in Week 6, we gained a little bit of an un-derstanding of Yolŋu taxonomy and classification of plants and animals. The students enjoyed this science unit as we used local Gäwa animals, as well as animals

from across the world, to create food chains, explore biological interactions and learn about habitats.

The students in Mayawa class have enjoyed learning songs in different languages, including a sit-down action song from the Torres Straight Islands and a Pidgin song from Papua New Guinea.

Along with Damala class, Mayawa students have participated strong-ly in our whole-school weekly soccer matches for sport. There have been many laughs.

Praise God for an awesome first term!!

MAYAWA CLASS

This term has been a beautiful mixture of building deeper relationships with the students as I am blessed to spend more time with them, learning from my incredible Yolŋu aides and growing personally as I teach and am more immersed in the classroom.

TRACEY’S VISITYou know how some people just feel like family from the get-go? Tracey Heslop, mother of our beloved Young Rachel, visited Gäwa and instantly became part of the family. She was full of love and encour-agement, and a passion to see people in Gäwa know Jesus and to discover their God-given-gifts. She inspired Principal Rachel to learn guitar, and lead Mayawa students in praise and worship at our Easter Service, students setting the beat on drums with Tracey leading on guitar. Tracey spoke straight from God’s Word and spoke life and truth to us at Gäwa. What a blessing!

This term, the young la-dies of Gäwa had lessons in collecting pandanus fronds for basket weaving from our Yolŋu teacher aides. Fortu-nately, it was not the hottest of days and most were chirpy and happy with the walking and waiting involved. We snuck in some time to hunt for nyik (bush berries) and then whilst one group drove safely back to Gäwa, half of us were drenched in a torrential downpour. ‘God’s blessing!’ Matina declared as she let her arms fly, embrac-

ing the rain. Seeing our teacher aides Edwina and Matina work their magic with taking the spikes out is both enthrall-ing and then mind-boggling when you cannot do it your-self after many attempts. There is much practise and mentoring still needed to achieve the weaving skills our Yolŋu teachers’ have but having a go always gets you that bit closer. (Photo Right: the resulting basket and bag beautifully made by Edwina.)

WOMEN’S BUSINESS BASKET WEAVING

Gäwa Christian School NEWSLETTER

Damala class has had a strong start to the year with particularly good atten-dance from a core group of students. Students studied Psalm 139 with Principal Rachel at the beginning of Term 1 and it was exciting to see many being able to confidently recite verses from the Psalm. Students were excited to learn some computer skills with the ‘new’ laptops, typing up vocabulary lists on Word and creating beautiful memory verse posters. Towards the end of the term, students were involved in an entrepre-neurial fundraising activity for a new community boat motor. They engaged in a design process and used a mix of traditional and contemporary painting techniques to decorate a variety of or-ganic materials including shells, pebbles and pieces of turtle shell. A stall was then set up to sell the artworks to the passen-gers of a visiting cruise ship. Passengers were captivated by the story of an old dinghy, washed up on the beach, wedged between rocks, dug out and patched up by students, and now in need of a motor. They enthusiastically purchased many of the carefully painted items to support the project. Over $2000 was raised with half going to the artists and the other half towards purchasing a motor for the dinghy. The cruise ship company also generously gave its support and a new 15hp motor is now on route to Gawa.

The dinghy, equipped with its new motor will be a valuable asset to the commu-nity as a means for fishing and hunting. Term 1 also involved a welcome visit from the always enthusiastic Ian Morris and Russel Dempster, who ran some engaging outdoor learning sessions, planting some trees around the school and teaching students about the local flora and fauna. Respected Indigenous community members, Waluŋ and Wendy also enhanced student learning by shar-ing important stories about the history of Gäwa. An exciting new development has been the provision of a large quantity of second hand tools which has enabled a school shed to be converted into a workshop. Lessons in practical skills and basic workshop techniques have now begun and students are thoroughly en-joying this new element of their learning. A strong focus on safety has been a necessary starting point and it has been interesting seeing students who roam free in bare feet 24/7 and fix cars with salvaged parts from bush wrecks try and grasp the safety regulations required in a school workshop. A number of students who showed immense enthusiasm for wearing every possible safety item, led the way to embracing the changes. Shiny new work boots have been a hit and ear muffs often have kids grooving along to imaginary beats. In just a few short

weeks we have been able transform a fully loaded shed into a workshop space, dismantle, clean and recycle concrete form work for projects, fix community beds, replace all our eclectic bench tops with new material and start construction of 20 personal storage/security boxes. There have also been many practical applications for maths and literacy as students engage in these projects. Some students have even wanted to come back after school to continue working on their projects or to grind spear tips for hunting. My background as a Design and Technology teacher has made this devel-opment very exciting to be part of and we are hopeful that the workshop will be an ongoingspace for practical skills to be taught to students, skills whichare particularly valuable in a community with limited access to shops or tradespeople and which can lead to future job oppor-tunities. We are reading through the book ‘Out of the Black Shadows’ by Stephen Lungu for our devotions. This has been really engaging for our students as they hear of a young African kid struggling through life as a gang member but being fully transformed and used by God. We pray for the same heart transformation for all our students here and take so much hope from the engagement we experi-ence during these times.

DAMALA CLASS

Gäwa Christian School NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN by CAMERON HERWEYNEN WWW.CAMH.CO WITH PHOTO CONTRIBUTIONS FROM BRUCE PRICE

LE PAGES IN GÄWA

My wife and I with our seven children moved to Gäwa almost ex-actly eight months ago, but it really feels so much longer ... in a good way! We feel like we have our little place in community and are part of Gäwa. We’re trying to learn the local language, but the rest of the family are doing a lot better than I am, I’m a very slow learner in that regard. I am really enjoying my role at the school. I really like the variety of work and there is always lots of work to keep me busy. One thing is keeping the school troop carriers running which is always hampered by how long it takes to get the parts here from Darwin. This environment works the vehicles pretty hard. We’ve had a lot of fun going hunt-ing with our Yolngu friends, we don’t go out as often as we would like but it’s a real treat when it happens. A week ago a small group of us went Madi (Crayfish) hunting at night on the reef at low tide. It was heaps of

fun and we got a bunch of cray-fish, crabs, squid, a mullet, and an octopus. I’m amazed at the knowl-edge that many Yolngu brothers and sisters have of the environment around us, and thoroughly enjoy learning from them. We look forward to seeing what God has planned in Gäwa in the years to come and feel privileged to be a part of Gäwa, and the work that He is doing here. Devin Le Page and Family.

This year has been very exciting for me, I have been privileged to be sharing in the learning at Gäwa Christian School, by reading with the students. Twice a week I set up in the kinder room, giving my younger three children, (Neo, Imani and Pip-er), great play time with wonderful toys, while I focus on listening to the students read to me. I love having the opportunity to get to know the children more, en-couraging them with their reading, and seeing them do beautiful play with my children. They all absolutely adore Piper in particular, she gets lots of hugs and kisses! Home made play-dough has been a huge hit and a great disappoint-ment if I leave home without it! The time absolutely flies because we are having so much fun! I look forward to many more reading days ahead and seeing where God takes it! Rachael Le Page