REFLECTION: In anticipation of NAIDOC week

By Kym Korbe, Koa Kuku Yalanji woman and Executive Officer UAICC and Covenanting.

This reflection is being written as I spend time at a place most dear to me, which is Cherbourg Aboriginal Community, more particularly Ny Ku Byun Elders Village, which is part of UnitingCare Queensland’s Pinangba Services.

Although I live in Meanjin (Turrbal) / Magandjin (Yuggera Nation), I find myself continually being drawn back to the Country where my Elders were taken and my family grew and still continues to live.

The reason for my visit today is to meet with Elder’s Village management, community Elders and Cherbourg Council members to talk together about ways we might look to engage youth in diversionary and development programs, designed at improving cultural connectedness, self-esteem and hope for the future.  A holistic community approach to a whole of community hope.

As I write, I just got a knock on the door, with a staff member telling me that the children from the early learning centre located next to the Elders Village, have arrived to begin work on painting the tablecloths for the NAIDOC day celebrations.  This is the essence of community life together, young people serving Elders with kindness and curiosity, and Elders sharing knowledge and time with presence, patience and love.

This year’s NAIDOC theme is THE NEXT GENERATION: Strength, Vision & Legacy and it invites us into writing a new legacy for future generations, based on a vision to build on the inherent and developed strengths of those who will be the future stewards of culture and spirituality.

We as First & Second peoples of the Uniting Church have a role in building the new vision and legacy together.  Our Covenant call us into a relationship that works for justice seeking and reconciliation through acknowledging the past, affirming the strengths of First Peoples in their cultural and spiritual capacity and acting in ways that awaken a new spirit of generosity, curiosity and true belonging for us all.

At the 38th Synod, Muth arrak (the UAICC Regional Committee Qld) and the Qld Synod Covenanting Steering Committee committed the Walking Together in Covenantal Relationship Toolkit to all members of the Uniting Church in Qld, and it is another sincere hope that this week being the 50th Anniversary of NAIDOC be a catalyst for our congregations and faith communities to plan time for deep reflection and discernment about a renewed Covenantal journey.

The Moderator spoke recently at a gathering of Synod Office Bearers that true transformation in our churches asks that our local visions and strategies seek to serve the least of us.

Matthew 25 : 40 NIV
“The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

It is important to consider the term “least” in a Christian context, as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can all too often be thought of in deficit terms, but in truth,  we as Christians are taught that we are, as 1 Peter 2:9 states, “a chosen people, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light”.

So, as we move into our next 50 years together, let us commit to seeking curiosity over judgment.

When we see difference, we should see the uniqueness and find a common thread that binds,
When we see least and struggle, we should consider prayerfully the circumstances surrounding, and
When we see the future, we should see each other in the wonder of our own distinctive story and flourishing light of our common love of Christ.