Port Hedland Anglican Church & The Mission to Seafarers

When we arrived we went straight to the shopping centre to stock up on some groceries and lo and behold we run into Daryl & Pam, the minister from the Broome Baptist Church whom we had met the weekend before. We invited them to sit with us for lunch and had a good old yarn and time of fellowship with them. I was almost sorry that we wouldn’t see them at the Baptist Church here where he was guest preaching the next day. Gosh lunch was expensive there. A pie and a hamburger with a cappuccino and an iced chocolate came to $26. Port Hedland Church is only a short distance away and so we went to set up the caravan Robert & Dawn Allen are the co-workers here. Robert is the Project Manager for the building of a block of units here and is doubling up as caretaker etc whilst here. They are easy to talk to and very welcoming. (The minister, Phil lives in South Hedland, which is about 20 minutes away.) Phil comes by later in preparation for the morning’s service. Church on Sunday is early, 9am. It is a great sermon. Coffee after church is friendly though I didn’t meet any locals as I introduced myself to 2 women and they happen to be visitors too. One of them, Janine and her husband, Peter, are from Tasmania; end up staying here at the church for part of the week too in their slide on ute thingy. Though they weren’t actually BCA volunteers, they did help now and then. They are early retirees seeking to work out where God wants them next. We had a great time of fellowship & a BBQ here with Peter and Robert and their wives later that night.
Monday we started work, or rather Bob started work, pruning the front garden, a trip to the rubbish tip at South Hedland. Pulled down shade mesh, awnings & timber (they will recycle some of the timber to make a frame work for the partition wall to go up inside the church building later). Monday night the 6 of us went to the Mission to Seafarers. This is basically an old house that has been set aside as a refuge, or somewhere to hang out on land for them. There is a shop, souveniers as well as groceries, and other essentials such as toiletries etc. There are internet facilities, a bar, a couple of pool tables, and some table and chairs for rest and conversation. It is really just somewhere different for them to take some time out away from the ship.
The rest of the week Robert and my Bob both worked on the church, mainly making a partition utilising the framework from the recycled timbers they pulled down on the back awning/verandah as well as pulling down hedges at the manse in South Hedland, etc. I spent a lot of time reading, catching up with emails and some more craftwork. I did spend Wednesday mornings helping Dawn with the crèche for the Women’s Bible study in the church. I also gave Dawn some assistance with computer work and some craft ideas for future Sunday school and crèche.

The Asian Lily box I made for Camille's birthday