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We need your help but first, let me explain. The Scriptures say in 1 Timothy 5:17,

“The elders who perform their leadership duties well are to be considered worthy of double honour [financial support], especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching [the word of God concerning eternal salvation through Christ].”

Such a man is Ps Peter Walker. Peter is an elder of the Bundjalung Indigenous Australian tribe. Ps Peter Walker who is 77 years old, is highly regarded as an elder and Christian statesman for both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous people of Australia.

I have had the pleasure of working closely with Ps Peter Walker for over three decades. Yes, he is a leader worthy of our support. The first major project that Ps Peter and I served together on was the Praise Corroboree. Ps Peter Walker was the chairman and leader, and I was the coordinator. The Praise Corroboree was a 72-hour cross-cultural gathering to glorify God at Parliament House in Canberra, from 1996–1998. Our key verse was 2 Chronicles 7:14. The last Praise Corroboree was held in 2001. Watch the video from 1998 below!

Peter Walker’s Amazing Life Story

Let’s go back to the beginning. When Ps Peter Walker, and his wife Maria first moved to Sydney in 1981 from the NSW Northern Rivers. They embarked on the adventure of a lifetime. Their intention was to pay off the piece of land they’d bought and save for their children’s education. Ps Peter Walker and Maria have now been married for 55 years and they have five children, 12 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.

Peter has been involved in ministry for more than 40 years and was the pastor at Redfern Indigenous Church in Sydney for 10 years, from 1987–1997. He also pioneered the Mt Druitt New Covenant Fellowship in western Sydney from 1990–2010.

Ps Peter Walker was mentored in ministry by other great Indigenous leaders such as Ps Peter Morgan from the NT, Ps Ronnie Williams from Kalgoorlie, WA and Ps Gordon Nagas from NSW. Rev Bill Hollingsworth and Rev Charles Harris from the Aboriginal and Islander Congress also played a significant role in mentoring him. All these men have since gone on to glory.

Peter has always had a concern for both the practical and the spiritual and from 1991–1997 Ps Peter Walker served as a councillor on the Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC). From 1987–1997 Ps Peter Walker was also a Prison Chaplain and Welfare Officer within the NSW gaol system and worked in over a dozen gaols including Long Bay, Bathurst, Grafton and Goulburn Gaols. He also served on the NSW Government Parole Board from 2002–2006.

In 2015 he led a delegation of Indigenous Elders to Parliament House to present the Uluru Bark Petition to Parliamentarians in support of the sacred value of marriage between a man and a woman within Indigenous culture. Indigenous Senator Lingren gave this speech in Parliament about the Uluru bark petition petition.

Watch the Uluru Bark Petition video below.

Meeting Prime Ministers and Governor Generals

Meeting with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott in Parliament House

During his time leading the Praise Corroboree, Peter twice led delegations of Indigenous elders to meet with Prime Minister John Howard. He is a member of the Australian Pentecostal Ministers’ Fellowship. Ps Peter Walker played a significant role in the British led Australian/UK reconciliation prayer process in the late nineties and has ministered in the UK, Israel, South Africa, Korea, PNG, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa and New Zealand.

In 1998 Ps Peter Walker led a cross-cultural delegation to meet with the then Governor General William Deane and most recently during the National Day of Prayer & Fasting 2020. Ps Peter Walker prayed with and for the Governor General David Hurley, in front of Parliament House.

Peter Walker with Governor-General David Hurley at the NDOPF 2020

On the 26–27 September 2020 Ps Peter Walker was asked by the President of the National Council of Churches, Bishop Philip Huggins to lead the nation in a two day National Solemn Prayer Assembly. This was literally an unprecedented and historic event for our nation.

Ps Peter Walker gathered both Indigenous leaders and non-Indigenous Australian Church leaders to pray for our nation. The National Solemn Assembly was a great success and is testament to Ps Peter Walker’s recognition both by Indigenous leaders and non-Indigenous Church leaders from all over Australia.

Even the National Solemn Prayer Assembly being held this weekend, 22–25 September 2023, at Uluru by Richard Evans, was in large part inspired by Ps Peter Walker’s historic work in this area.

Most recently, with his family, he is pioneering the Ruach Christian Fellowship in Casino in northern NSW. Peter is also the founder of Australian Indigenous Christian Ministries (AICM) who have a vision for Gospel ministry to Indigenous people.

Ps Peter Walker has travelled to every corner of Australia, helping and ministering to his people. He is known by both tribal people and those on the east coast, and is held in great affection by everyone. Ps Peter Walker is considered to be one of the leading Indigenous Christian leaders in Australia today.

Ps Peter Walker Needs a Good Car

In 2001, Ps Peter Walker was gifted a Toyota 4WD Prado for his busy ministry. He was very thankful for this providential gift. Over three years ago, with almost half a million kilometres and 19 years of faithful service, his ministry vehicle gave up the ghost.

Often averaging one-three funerals per month, many in outback NSW, sadly Ps Peter no longer has a dependable ministry vehicle. Many times, he cannot conduct funerals for his people as he has done in the past. Ps Peter needs a good car. He loves the Toyota range of vehicles as they are very reliable and suited to harsh outback driving conditions. Right now, Ps Peter Walker needs the help of the people, business and the nation he has served so well for more than 40 years.

Australian Heart Ministries, directed by Warwick and Alison Marsh, has raised a significant sum towards a new Toyota Prado 4WD. Illawarra Toyota have graciously given a much appreciated discount to help Ps Peter Walker get mobile again so he can keep serving his own first nation people behind the wheel of a good reliable vehicle.

Australian Heart Ministries has been raising money for Ps Peter Walker’s new car for the last three years through the ministry of the Canberra Declaration. Thankfully, over the last three years, with the help of our faithful donors, we have been able to give three cars away to Indigenous ministers. If you have a car you want to give away to an Indigenous Christian leader, please register your gift here.

Good News: We are Close to Purchasing a Good Car for Peter Walker

The good news is that Australian Heart Ministries is only $15,000 short of the final price of the new Toyota Prado which includes registration, on-road and travel costs to pick it up. The really good news is that some of our wonderful donors have put up a matching challenge of $5,000 to encourage others to give. That means every donation will be doubled until the value of $5,000 matching challenge is reached. Your $100 donation becomes $200, and your $500 donation becomes $1,000.

Can you help us with a donation to get Ps Peter Walker back behind the wheel of his very own family car? When you make a donation, please indicate it is for the Indigenous Minsters Car Appeal or IMCA if you don’t have the room to spell it out.

We want to do a handover of the new Toyota Prado to Ps Peter Walker next Thursday 28 September 2023 in Wollongong, NSW. So, this appeal to complete the purchase of Ps Peter’s new car closes effectively at midnight next Wednesday 27 September. Any surplus funds will go to help other Indigenous Christian ministers.

Thank you to the hundreds of people from the Canberra Declaration who have already given.

Thank you to all those who want to help us with the last part of this historic appeal because Ps Peter Walker and his beautiful family are indeed worthy of double honour. Donate now! Our simple goal remains the same. We want to get a good car into the hands of a good man so he can keep doing the good work that he has been doing for the last 40 years.