THE WEDDING AT BAGOT COMMUNITY

Apologies to those people who have been checking this site with nothing much to see. Its all a matter of routine I think. When I was traveling around with the One Heart Team I got into a good groove and seemed to have the spaces to dump a few bits and pieces on the blog page.

We had a great weekend at Bagot. The prayers of the people of God, both here in Darwin and in other places (including Canberra) were heard from heaven and the violence in the community has diminished. Part of the dynamic of all that has been the fact that many of the residents have left and gone other places for safety. Part of it was the fact that faithful believers have stayed and prayed. Part of it was the fact that the news was around that Bagot was going to have its first ever wedding ceremony.

The meeting place was looking very spiffy by the time people began to gather on Saturday afternoon. People from the community had picked frangipanes and other flowers and decorated it wonderfully. There must have been a hundred and fifty people there altogether. Stuart and Katrina represented a very wide range of people groups. There were people from every state in Australia and many tribal people from all over the territory and the islands.

When I get back I’ll show a video of the ABC news report. It was a classic. When David Gawler (white leader and surgeon at RDH) approached the community leaders about the wedding the leaders asked if they could put a news release to the press about it. There had been so much bad publicity related to Bagot and they were keen for a good story to be told. It was a great story.

There was a good representation from Grace Canberra. Noel and Patricia Levings were here. Cathy Macfarlane was a bridesmaid. John and Faye Williams have been traveling north and planned their Darwin time to coincide with the wedding. Carol Chou was here as well. What’s more they all behaved pretty well also.

I’m not going to say too much more about it because the photos will speak more powerfully than I could. What I loved about the whole thing was not just a beautiful wedding, but the way the people of Bagot were genuinely loved and honoured. They were also extremely excited by the whole event. Some of you may not be aware that there is no such thing as a wedding ceremony in Aboriginal culture. I didn’t know that until just a few months ago. They do have marriage type commitments but no ceremony. How strange (and sad).

Brian