It was so great to finally be able to send a team up to Ti Tree for the first time in almost 3 years. We had a good sized team of 8 people, plus Ben Russel who has been up there since February.

This trip was not without it’s challenges. While the planned aspects of the trip ran well, we were dealing with the struggle of Covid cases and subsequent isolation within the team. For the impacted individuals, this was very frustrating and disappointing as they were unable to participate in most of our planned activities for the week. I am hopeful that this will not deter them from future trips and hopefully stoke a desire to come back and truly experience Ti Tree.

There were two main facets to the trip so we split the team into two groups. The men focused on the practical construction and physical labour for majority of the week and the ladies focused on connecting with the community.

It is an exciting time for Ti Tree CRC church’s property development. God gave Hannes and Danielle a vision for a community hub and 12 self-contained units that would provide crisis care accommodation for vulnerable members of the community. Domestic violence is a huge issue in the surrounding Indigenous community and the dream is to be able to provide a safe place for victims of domestic violence and homeless people. During the pandemic, Ti Tree CRC, with the support of Diggerland church from Victoria, were able to construct the outer shell of the community hub as the first step towards this vision. In June, another team of builders from Koo Wee Rup church went up and built the first two of the 12 planned units. They did all they could in the week they were there and then the CCH team came in a continued the job fitting door frames and installing windows. There is a time frame that the units need to be completed by, and Hannes, Danielle and Ben are continuing work on the units each day, installing floors, tiling, cabinetry and painting.

In addition to this, the guys got their hands dirty with the laying of cables to power the hub and units. This involved a sizable trench and a tricky conduit assembly process. By digging the trench, having the team there to put together the conduit and run the cable through, we saved upwards of $20,000 in installation costs. Now the electricians can come and connect everything up.

The ladies started the trip with some work in the farm garden, harvesting fruit and vegetables, planting seedlings and heavy duty pruning for the new season. It is amazing to see how a little water in the desert can produce such fertile soil in which a huge variety of fresh produce can be grown. Most of what we picked was taken to the shop for sale, as fresh fruit and veg can be hard to source in remote communities, especially with the current shortages. We were also able to harvest some of the extras to include in our team dinners and lunches.

The primary focus for the ladies during this week was connecting with the community. It was school holidays, so we took the opportunity to set up activities for the kids every morning and afternoon in the seating area in front of Hannes and Danielle’s shop. We also provided tea and coffee and did a big Friday morning cook up on the BBQ. Some days were busy, some days were quiet, but this gave us the opportunity to be visibly present in the community, to connect with some, and to invite people to come to a movie night that we held on Saturday night, and church on Sunday.

Just behind Hannes and Danielle, and Ti Tree CRC’s property, there is a dry riverbed. A stone’s throw from there is an area known to locals as Creek Camp. This area is a place that people traveling through will stop and camp for a few days or weeks. It is also a space where some of the community’s homeless families live or those who choose to live a more nomadic lifestyle reside. It

has been many years since a CCH team has been out there, but with the encouragement of Hannes and Danielle, we went for a wander over the creek bed to take warm clothes and fresh fruit to the people living there. Most of the temporary campers had moved on, either down to Alice Springs for the footy game on Sunday, or up to Darwin for the travelling carnival. We found a handful of welcoming families who looked like they had set up more permanent camps. Most of the people here we’d seen coming in and out of the shop during the week. They welcomed the warm clothes and fresh food. The temperatures overnight this winter were consistently hitting below zero, and these people were sleeping on mattresses by campfires with full view of the stars, or in lean-tos made from scrap pieces of corrugated iron, so the warm second hand clothing and freshly knitted beanies were very welcome. It’s a humbling experience to get a snapshot into their daily lives.

After a week of hard work, serving the Ti Tree church and community, we were able to enjoy a little lesson in hunting for bush tucker and cultural understanding. Over the years we have built up relationship with members of the community who are happy to share their knowledge. Bush coconuts, witchetty grubs and roo tail were on the menu. A culinary challenge for some, but a great experience for everyone.

The whole team came together to run a movie night and church on the last two days of the trip. The movie night was a great casual way to spend time with people from the community. They came in for dinner and activities for the kids, then sat down by the fire or under a heater to watch a movie, Breakthrough, which had a powerful message about prayer and faith. The families attending seemed to love the movie, and the kids specifically asked if we could sing Oceans (featured in the movie) at church the next day. We were happy to oblige. There was a lady in attendance at the movie night who specifically asked for prayer. She had just been diagnosed with cancer. She made a point of telling us that she had asked the Sydney Team from a previous visit for prayer for pneumonia several years ago and was healed within a day, so she was expectant and hopeful that God would heal her again.

Sunday was our last full day and is a day of rest, packing and preparation for church. The CCH team ran it all, with Kat, Keegan and Ben on band, Maggi leading us in communion and Paul giving a short message. The kids who had asked for us to sing Oceans came to church, despite their family’s desire to stay home. It was a small service but team members were still able to connect and pray with those who could be there before we shared one last meal together.

Despite having to leave a person in isolation behind for a few days, we were all able to make it back home safely, eventually. For the first trip in such a long time, our presence was well received. The team worked well together, with everyone pulling their own weight. We are looking forward to the next trip.