For the first time, Newman Anglican Church, in North West Australia welcomed a team of 14 Moore College students for a one-week mission in the mining town.
Moore College's Head of Ministry, Archie Poulos, says the idea of linking with the church in Newman started through his contact with the Bush Church Aid Society of Australia (BCA), who subsidised the students' airfares.
The town, built around the iron ore industry, has a population of around 6,500, with an average household income of $100,000 a year.
The Rev Matthew Johnson, a recent Moore graduate, leads the 40-member church.
"It's a great place for evangelism," he says. "A lot of people come here worshipping money and realise it's a hard god to serve, which gives us great opportunities."
The high incidence of shift work in the town meant usual mission activities such as doorknocking had to be left out of the program, as many people sleep during the day, recovering from or preparing for night shifts.
Peter Orr, one of three fourth-year students who led the mission team, says one of the highlights was being able to share the gospel with every high school student in Newman through school activities. Another was visiting the local indigenous Martu church. "Seeing the ministry happening there was pretty eye-opening," he says.
"People were very friendly and open. At the same time, it's very transitory - one couple left the church while we were there, and that's a pretty common occurrence," says Peter.
Matthew says he appreciated having "extra hands", especially as finding leaders is sometimes difficult, due to the high turnover and sometimes "ridiculous" working hours of the town.
"I think we got a very talented team," he says.
"Everything they did, they did very well, and the week generated leads and opportunities."
The high level of community interest in the men's breakfast (held on a hilltop) and women's fashion parade run by the church made Peter realise the needs and opportunities in small towns. Two-thirds of women who attended the fashion parade were visitors " even one of the organisers was invited by a friend, Peter says.
"These events had a higher profile here than they would have had in Sydney," he explains.
"I realised the importance of gospel ministry in small towns because of the openness of people and the high profile you can generate - and the difficulty of ministry in a town with such a high turnover," he says.
"It provided the students with the opportunity to see what ministry outside the Diocese is like, in a different demographic and sociological setting," Archie says.
"I hope this isn't the last mission we have to North West Australia. The college will be more aware of BCA in ministry and of the Diocese of North West Australia and of the opportunities and needs there."
Meanwhile Peter says he continues to think about the importance of partnership with churches in rural and remote locations.
"Before I didn't see how important ministry in these towns is and how fruitful it can be " and the ability you have to impact the town with the gospel," he says.
"We're good at supporting missionaries but it would be good if we could be equally definite in supporting these ministers."
