Events

Each Year Covenant students participate in a mission trip to an Aboriginal community in Queensland. Students raise their own funds in a variety of creative ways. Lina Han in Year 10 has made some amazing origami creations which she is selling to raise funds. They are amazing works of art and have taken hours and hours to make!

1. Little Bottles With Swans , stars or boxes in them - $5.00
2. Paper Dolls - $15.00

They would make good presents for someone with Christmas coming! They are displayed in on a table in the staffroom.

On Wednesday 2 July, after a morning at school, 32 Year 10 and 11 students, 6 teachers, Mr Rusin and the Monin family headed to the airport for our flight to Cairns. This was Covenant’s third mission trip with the Bible Society to the Aboriginal community in Yarrabah and again it was a different experience to the previous two, but equally wonderful and memorable.

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For most of the week we stayed in Cairns at Tropicana Motor Lodge (where Wontulp Bi Buya Bible College for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is situated) and at Cairns Villa for the last 2 nights.

From Thursday to Sunday we travelled by mini bus to Yarrabah each day – almost an hour from Cairns – to spend time with the kids and run Kidsgames with them. The Kidsgames program involves playing games, singing songs, performing dramas about David and about Jesus, small group times for discussion and questions and memory verses - all with a Biblical theme. Our themes for the 4 days were trust, importance, forgiveness and living for God. Here’s what some of the student leaders had to say about it:
Day 1
After some morning preparation time and then hearing from the acting principal of Wontulp Bi Buya Bible College,
the moment we had all been eagerly waiting for was finally here- we arrived in Yarrabah! Our first day in Yarrabah was amazing. The indigenous people were so friendly, it was hard to find even one person without a smile on their face. Touch football is definately a crowd pleaser within the community. This, along with balloon animals and face painting, brought a crowd of around 60 kids. The first day program centered around trusting in Jesus which was conveyed through songs, memory verses, games and plays such as David and Goliath. The day was certainly a massive success!
David Bickell and Holly Crawford
Day 2
Today was a really special day. It is not often that you get a real look into an Aboriginal community like this. We were really able to get a better look into their culture and church. The day was based on the theme importance. We expressed to the kids how they were very important in God’s eyes. In Small Groups we had an “Importance Meter” where the kids rated how important they thought they were, by placing a card with their name on in onto the meter. In the end we finished by explaining that God thinks we’re all equally important, which means we’re all VIP’s to him. Some of us were really affected by this experience. It was so amazing to see how humble these people are. It was incredible to see them giving God their all when they have so little. It was so encouraging because our worship is often so conditional and these people were willing to let go of everything to worship the Lord.


Day 3
What a sleep in we had today! An extra 10 minutes really goes a long way when you have kids dangling off all your limbs for four hours the day before! Today was amazing because it was the day we really got into God’s word with the kids, it was so encouraging having one on one time and sharing the ‘Two ways to live’ - ‘Who will be your king’” booklet with them.
Today was especially exciting as we really started reaching out to the teenagers. Ben Z and Holly C did a great job talking to them and encouraging them to come closer and at one point we even had a dance-off happening, and everyone got involved. Ben Tucker showed off his shuffling skills which really impressed the other teenagers. We were able to develop respect and at one stage enticed them to watch the Kidsgames drama. God was really encouraging us to witness to them today!
When we got back to the hotel we realized how many conversations God had opened up, revealing a hope and a future to the kids that they would never have otherwise dreamed of in our Lord Jesus Christ – all because we took some risks!!
Day 4 (by Mark Brown from the Bible Society)
Today was our last day of KidsGames and also our longest day in Yarrabah. Some of the teachers and students took our bags to Cairns Villa this morning. While the rest of us were waiting, we had the most amazing prayer time, all standing around in a circle thanking God for what he had done through us already that week, praying that he would strengthen us on our final KidsGames day and basically just thanking and praising Him for who He is and what He has done – it was a great time.
Upon arriving in Yarrabah, we jumped straight into KidsGames – it was another amazing day. Today in small groups we had the joy of handing out wristbands with fish symbols on them and explaining that to the kids and also of being able to put copies of God’s Word into kids’ hands through some Top 10 stories. The kids’ response to both of these was fantastic.
After watching a local footy game then eating dinner in Yarrabah, we had fellowship in the park – a chance to sing dance and share about what God has done in all our lives & play with the kids at the same time. This was a deeply moving experience as a number of the team stood up in front of the crowd and opened their lives, told stories of what God had done in them and through them, how knowing Jesus had changed and transformed them – it was a real privilege to share that moment as a leader and to see the team grow in their faith and in relationship with each other.
Around 9pm – we said our goodbyes (which took a long time) and headed for the buses and back to Cairns.
A life changing day for us as a team and for many of the kids in Yarrabah – God is good.

On Monday, we travelled to Yarrabah to visit Back Beach and the local museum. We were treated to some traditional dancing, before saying our final sad goodbyes to the wonderful people we had become so attached to.
Tuesday was overcast and cool, but we still travelled by boat to Green Island on the Great Barrier Reef. Many of us got drenched standing out the front of the boat as the waves crashed over the bow, which was great fun.
On Tuesday night, we flew home to a colder Sydney. It was great to see our families again, but we will never forget our wonderful mission experience.

The students are to be complimented and congratulated on a job well done and for so willingly and readily serving God and the Yarrabah community. Especially well done to those students who shared their testimonies both in Kidsgames and in fellowship times – it was very encouraging and special.
Thank you to the parents who lent their children to us for the whole mission process and to those who helped with transport, sausage sizzles, the trivia night and in many other ways. Thanks to everyone who prayed for us and helped raise money and supported us in any way. Special thanks to Year 4 also, for letting us practice some of the program on them.
Thanks to all the teachers involved, especially Mr Monin for putting it all together, along with Mark and Millie from the Bible Society.
It was another successful and unforgettable mission. Praise God for all He did and will continue to do!

Trivia, there was plenty of it but let’s get an answer to some of the more tricky questions like………

Where was Mr Monin and why does he keep sending his never ending supply of Indian relatives to these things……..

How was it that for the Basketball Challenge that over 20 people tried to put the basketball in the hoop but only Mr Rusin was able to…….

Why was it that the table that won the Grand Prize (worth over $300!!) included Mr & Mrs Rusin and some of the Board Members……

You may be tempted to think that the circumstances may be a little suspicious but the Trivia Masters (who were always right according to The Rules) can guarantee that nothing dodgy or underhanded took place!

It was such a great night with over 250 people attending. There was a chance to show off your general knowledge, singing skills (or lack there of, in Nanpup’s case) and even your sporting prowess.

It was a wonderful opportunity for the Covie Community to gather and support a very worthwhile cause. The Mission Team worked very hard all night and we would all like to thank those who came along and generously participated or helped in any capacity.

Special thanks go to the Sound & Lighting Team, Mrs Smithies, the Bennicky’s and Judy & Bob Lloyd.

The night was a great success and we raised about $7000! Thanks again for your support and we are looking forward to next year!