Senior Students making a Difference

Over the past seven years our Connect teams have developed a relationship with the small town of Ashford, NSW. With a population of about 650, Ashford is a small, tidy country town surrounded by farms with a school, a few churches, an aged care facility and a thriving rugby league football club. This year, fourteen Emmanuel students assisted in junior school classrooms and discovered distance education with the seniors. We joined in a day camp and helped run a thriving town youth group; we visited and sang with elderly friends in Sunhaven and had a creek-side BBQ on a cattle property out of town. We also manned the canteen and painted faces for home ground footy day and spoke at church on Sunday.

Our time and hearts were filled with the hospitality, learning opportunities and genuine friendship with people who live only a drive away, but with a culture that is another world away from the Gold Coast. We’re already counting down to our next visit!