You lift us up – First People

Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress

MESSAGE FOR PACIFIC CONFERENCE OF CHURCHES VIGIL SERVICE

26th of January 2020

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ in the Pacific,

Greetings to you from members of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress.

On behalf of the Congress and of Australia’s First Peoples, thank you for your prayers and your expression of sympathy over the terrible bushfires we have been experiencing in recent times.

As you know well, First People have a special bond with the land, and the scale of the destruction of our precious countryside has wounded us very deeply.

We pray and grieve with all those who have suffered, particularly the family and loved ones of those who have lost their lives protecting others, like the American air tanker crew whose plane crashed in New South Wales this week. Many First People have been significantly affected by the destruction of the fires, and are among those who have lost everything.

In the midst of our suffering, your prayers and fellowship have lifted us up.

I was overwhelmed to hear of your Service today and to know that the people of the Pacific with all your own cares and concerns have thought to reach out to us in Australia.

Praise God who alone does wondrous things!

Today being Australia Day is a day on which my people usually commemorate our survival with a day of mourning, rather than mark the dispossession of our land.

By your kindness I thank you for making this day a special one for me.

May the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, and the fullness of his message continue to live within you.

In grace and solidarity,

Rev Garry Dronfield
National President
Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress