HISTORIC SYDNEY

As a volunteer with my local council, I help at the Visitors Information Centre for my area.  We are ready when visitors come in to the centre to help them out with brochures and information regarding accommodation or attractions in the area.  As part of the volunteer team, every two months we are taken on a familiarisation tour to inspect many of the different venues and places of interest in the area known as The Hills and Hawkesbury.

Last week we had a full day and visited four different places - at three of them we were treated to either morning or afternoon tea and lunch. It was fabulous.

We went by coach to an out of the way place named Ebenezer.  It is situated high up on a hill overlooking the Parramatta River and it was here that a stone church was built by Scottish settlers in 1809. Fifteen pioneer families who settled in the area made a huge contribution to the development of the colony in this area in those early days. Now 200 years is not that old when thinking of history but for Australia, it was only 30 years after the first settlers arrived.  There were others built around that time around the Sydney area but this is now Australia's oldest surviving church and was the first non-conformist then Presbyterian church in Australia.

Ebenezer means ‘The Lord has helped us all the way’ or ‘Stone of Help’ and is referenced in 1 Samuel 7 and verse 12.

The church began a school in 1810 and pioneered education in the colony. It is the oldest extant school building in Australia.

After sailing for 90 days to get to such a strange place, I wondered what their reactions must have been on arrival in this harsh environment. But hard as it was, they never forgot the Lord who had kept them safe. After worshiping in the open air for 5 years, the work on the church commenced. It was indeed a privilege and an honour to sit on one of those very hard wooden pews and reflect on those families who had worked so hard and sacrificed so much coming to a new country to start a new life for themselves and their families. 

What a very special contribution they made and one that we were able to reflect on during our visit to this beautiful little stone church tucked away amongst the gum trees. 

 

DOOR KNOCK SUNDAY

It's over for another year! The Door Knock I mean. The weather report was not good although the cyclone predicted was not due to hit Sydney until late afternoon or evening. Took the umbrella but decided to leave it in the car - a good decision as it wasn't needed. I can't say I really enjoy knocking on doors and asking for monetary donations but knowing it was a for a good cause I began in my allotted area. Sunday mornings are generally 'sleep in' times for so many and 9.30am is probably still far too early for some sleepy-heads - especially if getting to bed was early morning rather than late night for them. On the other hand there are hundreds who are 'up and at it', walking the dog, having breakfast, gardening. On a door knock exercise, you get them all - even those who are in (judging by noises coming from inside the house) but don't bother to answer the doorbell or knock. I must confess I feel slightly aggravated when confronted by this attitude - I would rather have people come and say they didn't want to contribute to the cause, than totally ignore my call. However it does take all kinds to make a world and it would certainly be a very boring place if we all held the same view.

I was assigned an old part of the district, and many who reside here are those who have lived in the same house for maybe 40, 50 years and most remember The Salvation Army because of its association with assistance given during the Depression years and WW2 - others are newcomers to the area having purchased old properties and rebuilt new modern dwellings on the same land. There are lots of 'new Australians' in the area and so language is often a barrier to understanding what is being asked for. The recent downturn in the economy world-wide also has had an effect on what people give. Lots of homes with dogs but only one where I decided not to go through the gate. It was big and loud and definitely quite aggressive - I wasn't prepared to take the risk!

All in all it could be said it was a satisfying experience, for all of those who didn't contribute, there were probably as many who did - and that made it worthwhile. A couple of hundred dollars seems a minute amount when considering the millions it takes to run the programs offered by The Salvation Army in this country but if every collector was able to bring that amount in, then hopefully the target aimed for might be met. I'm praying so!

Blessings!