An unusual Christmas card
Just imagine the possibilities when you combine mobile technology and the ability to reach remote locations in a MAF plane. That’s what Peter did.
Story and photos: Peter Higham
Sadly, so many around the world choose to not have anything to do with Jesus at Christmas. That is certainly true for many up here in Arnhem Land.
As I was walking through the community of Yirrkala last November, I had a conviction in my heart that I needed to do something extra at Christmas time to create another opportunity for Yolngu to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.
But what could I do? What skills or gifts do I have to help spread the incredible truth of Christmas? Unsurprisingly, ‘Technology Services’ came to mind! After all, nearly everyone in Arnhem Land has a mobile phone. Why not use this device to share the Christmas message? An idea began to form in my mind.
A Christmas Project
Throughout the year, staff from the MAF Technology Services team in Arnhem Land have been working with local translators to put Bible stories into various media forms. One of the projects has been creating the Christmas story in one of the local languages. This was a collection of images and audio put together in a format that can be viewed on a mobile phone.
With this Christmas content in mind, it was decided to purchase 20 MicroSD cards and pre-load them with these Christmas videos. We would then make them available for distribution to the major Aboriginal homelands. It was no surprise that within a short space of time – after people caught wind of what we were doing – the project grew in size and scope!
Hunting around
We needed more digital Christian resources. Many hours were spent searching online for suitable English Christmas videos, music and images and obtaining copyright for all the material that was used.
The demand for the MicroSD cards increased and so a further 120 cards were purchased with express shipping. A special Christmas card with Yolngu scripture on it was made and printed so that the MicroSD card could be attached to the back.
Putting it all together
The project received an added boost when, thanks to ‘Faith comes by hearing’ and ‘Campus Crusade for Christ’, the ‘Jesus Film series’ and an ‘Audio Bible’ were also made available for this project.
After a nervous wait for the physical MicroSD cards to arrive in the mail, they were loaded one by one with the material, put into plastic cases and glued to the back of the Christmas Cards. This process took many long nights to complete!
With a sigh of relief, the first card was given out to the homeland of Gurrumurru three weeks before Christmas.
Staff from the three main MAF bases of Lake Evella, Elcho Island and Milingimbi joined in with the project and acted as distributors for the MicroSD cards. In their respective communities the MicroSD cards proved to be very popular.
In Milingimbi the demand was very great and so a second lot needed to be sent out. More importantly however, the cards inspired the local ladies to get involved with recording more local language Bible stories!
Worthwhile
In Lake Evella, MAF pilot Matt Roediger recalls the night he saw someone who had purchased a MicroSD card, setting up a video projector in the basketball court. He was getting ready to show the videos on the card! “Its like a movie night Yolngu style”, Matt wrote, “This was their own idea and initiative! The only thing that I provided was an extension lead. Sooo encouraging!”
This project required much energy and time, but it was time well spent. It has brought me great joy and satisfaction to work on this project and I truly believe that MAF will continue to see evidence of the impact of this project as time goes on!
Already in the planning is an Easter Edition MicroSD card. The production of Easter stories in local language is underway!