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The Indigenous of Central Australia experience much suffering and sorrow, but they continue to display a firm faith in God’s saving grace; life triumphs over death.

During our Sunday service a few weeks ago, we saw evidence of a miracle. An Indigenous woman in her early twenties, in a community remote to Alice Springs, had attempted suicide by hanging the Thursday before. She was flown to Alice Springs Hospital in a coma, and the doctors called for the family to come and discuss her end-of-life plan.

A Second Chance

Thanks to the immediacy of social media, many were praying. Her family members came to our Thursday night Bible study requesting prayer; they called a relative at her bedside who held the phone to her ear (hearing is the last sense to go) while people prayed.

The next day, she came out of the ICU. On that Sunday, she came to church, shyly stood up in front of everyone to say God had healed her. Whilst in the coma, she saw living water flowing over her, and an angel ministering to her. God gave her a second chance at life!

Great Pain & Misfortune

On the same Sunday, we heard about the death of a sister of one of our regulars and her partner in a car crash, earlier that morning, caused by family arguments and alcohol. They leave behind three children, one still a baby.

We have heard some extraordinary testimonies of resurrections and healings in the Aboriginal communities. We hear the most tragic of stories too, the most extreme stories of which, for every one that makes the news, there are many more that aren’t freely told. The needs here are immense. Correspondingly, the faith of our Christian Aboriginal sisters and brothers is also very great!

The Aboriginal people of Central Australia need the kinds of help, in general, that non-Indigenous folk mostly don’t. “Time and chance happen to us all,” says the writer of Ecclesiastes (9:11), referring to unforeseen events and misfortunes, but it seems, for many Aboriginal people, the frequency of trouble, pain and death seems disproportionate to the experiences of the average non-Indigenous person.

Faith Amidst Suffering

Our team are asked to pray for healing for heart problems, diabetes, respiratory illness, kidney disease and the like, every Sunday. Prayer is also requested for family members who are sick, in hospital, struggling with addictions and mental illness, in prison, or for those who have suffered the loss of family members. “Sorry,” mourning and grieving are a constant in their lives.

Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick, I have not come to call the righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” (Luke 5:31)

We are constantly amazed by the humility and simplicity of faith we see. Trust in the Lord is far greater than in doctors and medicine. And we do see healing, though we’d love to see much more.

What does it look like?

What does faith look like for me, and for my aboriginal sister of the same age?

Solid Faith

For my sister, it’s trusting firstly for her own health, as she copes with thrice-weekly dialysis and frequent hospital admissions for heart problems. Then, for her family, who experience in degrees, issues such as those already mentioned in the requests for prayer. There are many issues over which my friend has very little control.

For myself, I have enjoyed and still enjoy such things as good health, the opportunity for fulfilling work, home ownership, superannuation comfort, a vehicle, and many other privileges, including a degree of choice and control, that are not easily available or accessible to the Indigenous people of Central Australia. I don’t need faith for things I already have.

So I honour the faith I see in my sisters as they continually bring their requests to God. They ask for prayer for themselves, and lovingly and constantly bring many family members to the Lord in prayer.

Wholehearted Worship

Being here is challenging our previous, rather narrow mindset of what it looks like when God is moving, and what faith looks like. When the Aboriginal Christians here share, it includes scriptures, many testimonies, and songs. Everyone can share. They love the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The simple Gospel message is preached, and the focus is on eternity rather than life here, unsurprisingly, and on preaching this Good News. This is a good example to us, who along with more possessions, have more to “manage” and much more complicated lives and potential distractions from wholeheartedly following Jesus.

Being here has given us a wonderful opportunity to see God working in vastly different, broader, higher, deeper ways than we have seen before. In the midst of the difficulties and dysfunction, we see glimpses of gold tried in the fire of life here. Let’s keep praying for Life to overcome death for Aboriginal people here and all around this nation!

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