Lutheran Nurses Visit Central Australia

Seventeen people spent six days in Alice Springs in September on the 13th study tour arranged by Lutheran Parish Nurses International (LPNI). Among them were nurses from Australia, USA, Singapore and Palestine (Bethlehem).

LPNI is a global network of Lutheran Parish Nurses. Each year it arranges a study tour to a country where Parish Nursing has been established. The aim is to allow participants to learn about the history and mission of the local Lutheran church, and about the health structures and Parish Nurse ministry in the countries visited, as well as to provide fellowship opportunities.

While in Alice Springs, attendees visited Hermannsburg to learn about early mission history and to hear members of the Aboriginal women’s choir sing. They visited the Royal Flying Doctor Centre, the School of the Air, and the Overland Telegraph Station.
At the Saturday seminar, local Ministry Support Workers introduced them to the scope and cross-cultural ministry of the Finke River Mission, and local nurses described health issues facing people living in Central Australia. On the following day they joined the Alice Springs congregation for bi-lingual English-Pitjantjatjara worship and visited Yirara college. They also visited Standley Chasm, Simpson’s Gap, and the Desert Park, where they saw small desert marsupials they’d never heard of before!

Sue Neff, from California, summed up the response of participants, when she wrote: ‘We had such a lovely trip. What a wealth of information we learned. I am still trying to digest it all!’

For further info:
Bob Wiebusch 0497 898 696 revbob@ozemail.com.au