HISTORY
In 1992, a group of senior high
school students from Brisbane, Australia spoke of 'doing something'
with their faith. They didn't have enough money or time to prepare
for an overseas mission trip, but they wanted to do something
adventurous
for God. They were dedicated to serving Jesus and inspired by the
Holy Spirit, but when they looked around, they noticed that they
were doing nothing practical to express their faith. Their chaplain
felt the same. He called them 'fat Christians'; fed to the point
of bursting with Christianity, but not 'doing' anything to make
it real.
So together they came up with a simple concept. To go to a small
town somewhere in the outback and see what they could do to help
out, physically and spiritually. The pastor in Moree, NSW offered
a place to stay over the phone. So they saved up some money, prepared
some games, drama and music, loaded up the cars and drove west,
calling themselves the 'SWAMP team' (Students with a Mission and
a Purpose). The Swamp team spent 10 busy days meeting adults and
children, cooking, performing, and helping people in whatever they
could find to do. They camped together in a church hall and the
group bonded closely. It was an adventure and it was fun.
But Moree was outside of the church conference boundaries and the
team couldn't get funding to go back there. Lawrens Adair, a veteran
'outback missionary' and president of the Adventist Aviation Association
(AAA), recognised the spirit of service and adventure in these young
people. He convinced them to go to a place where there was no SDA
church, where there was to work to do. The town was Charleville,
Queensland and this time the team wanted a new name. They liked
the image of a storm refreshing the drought stricken outback. So
they called themselves 'Storm Company' and thought of an anagram:
Service to Others Really Matters. The year was 1993.
Those first trips to Charleville began with community service projects
done in cooperation with the city council. The local social services
organisation needed help with vacation car, so the team put together
a children's program for the mornings. The Salvation Army needed
help with Sunday school, so the team was there too. From the local
scout group to the nursing home to the prison camp, to the Uniting
church, the Storm Co. team kept asking what was needed and kept
finding things to do.
The community loved Storm Co. The teams went home changed and couldn't
wait to go out again. Conference Youth Director Mel Lemke caught
the vision of what was happening, and organised a trip to an aboriginal
community. Other outback towns were added as young people told their
stories, and teams multiplied. Adcare director David Jack caught
the vision and provided groundwork for Storm Co. to work under the
Adcare banner in Queensland.
In the past eight years, many of those early Storm CO team members
have moved to other places, and some of the leaders have been transferred
to other positions. They took with them the adventure concept and
the name; and storm CO teams started work all over Australia.
Pastor Lemke did some important work in gathering Storm Co. resources
together for his M.A. degree and other leaders kept working to promote
this simple and radical form of Christlike service.
In 1999, the South Pacific Division responded to the grass roots
growth of Storm Company. The Division voted to form a stand alone
committee made up of interest holders from various departments to
support the Storm CO movement in Australia, New Zealand and the
South Pacific. Thanks to the men and women who serve on that committee,
each influential leaders in their own ministry areas, Storm CO teams
are being recognised and supported.
The adventure continues. |
