Learning from one another.

By Linda

This morning when I woke up, I did not feel great. It was only after my first sip of tea that the doorbell rang. It happened to be a friend from the other side of the Kimberley who was dropping in at 7.30am. Because she is not in our town often, and this is the first time she has come to visit, I couldn’t really say ‘Sorry, can you please come back at a more convenient time’. So I invited her in and made her a cup of coffee, (in my pre-woken up, pre-showered & pre-caffeine state). We sat and talked for the next 2 1/2 hours about all sorts of things, including how her life & family are going, the challenges, native title claims, her family’s ancestry, looking at our big map of the Kimberley on the wall and discussing which tribe comes from which area. I learned some more snippets of language, such as the Jaru name for some bush nuts (Budarrgi – not sure of spelling) we have on our coffee table (given to us by other friends). Each time we talk with Aboriginal people, we learn something new and although we have been on this journey for nearly 8 years now (on the West side of the Kimberley) we know we still have a lifetime of things to learn.

Our Kimberley map. The Kimberley is
423,517 km²
The bush nuts we were given by our friends at Looma. The kernel is like a small almond.
Bush nuts (Budarrgi) on our coffee table.

Yesterday we also had some more interesting visitors. One lady who was coming to our house almost weekly last year for Families God’s Way (parenting) classes, came for the first time this year for some review. We always learn so much from her too. Yesterday during our discussions on family we learned the Walmajarri word – marurr – which means caring, sharing, looking after. She was saying that her Mangala ancestors were known for this quality and it is something she really admired about her grandfather.

Then, in the late afternoon, we hosted a small group of young men (from several different countries) who have come to the Kimberley on a short term 4WD mission trip with YWAM. They visited us last Sunday and ate their lunch with us. And when we found out they were going to be back in town for the day again, we offered for them to drop in and catch up (a great opportunity for our two youngest teenage boys to have some fellowship with young fellas around their age). They have been out on a community that we visit regularly, so we were able to have a chat about how that has been going for them. It is refreshing to be with young people who are so open and motivated to serve the Lord. Straight after their time in the Kimberley they are off to serve in Africa for a short term missions trip.

The YWAM team in between our two boys, Aaron (left) & Zach (right).

We can’t claim that we are always ready to be the perfect hosts, that’s for sure! But it is cool to see who God brings into our lives and what we can learn from each other. 🙂