JANE & TERRY OLSEN

By Dave Roberts

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About the time this edition turns up in your inbox, another really significant undertaking in a series that's been going for years in Augusta will get underway.

Two Bunbury people will be going back for their second year at what's become almost a tradition, the Scripture Union (SU) "beach mission" at Turner Caravan Park in Augusta.

Why would two people with a family, who spend their year dealing with people's needs (she's a teacher and he's a carer with Disability Services), chose to go away at Christmas time and throw their all into an effort to make other people's break special?

Jane is clear that there is really a valuable work getting done. She notes the changing nature of the family and the people for whom Christmas can be a lonely but more clearly a stressful time, and even in Australia, where people don't often starve, it's on her heart that this can be a hard moment in some people's year.

The word "team" gets used way beyond how often I can count in a fairly short interview. While Jane and Terry are new, the operation has been going for years and I get feedback that they like that they're part of something that runs well because the whole thing is improved and developed every time from what's been learned.

This year Terry will be part of the kitchen team. There's a lot of food that has to be delivered, both to members of the SU operation and to those who are the reason for being there. Jane is in the upper primary team, and they'll work with those children in the 10 - 12 year age range. Other teams include pre primary, junior primary, teens, music, drama, kitchen, technical (there's a lot of gear involved), and the newspaper.

The newspaper team is central to how the mission works. Someone must be up way earlier than is reasonable, to produce a sheet for those at the caravan park and the surrounds, which includes headlines of local and state news, a look at the weather, stuff about the mission, and the ever present joke. This is a service to those they'll meet during the day, and carrying them allows the SU contingent to make a non threatening point of contact with just about anyone in the street or park. From the contact, they can start to find out who needs what, and just be round to befriend people if it's helpful. That's fine, but someone's up way before it gets light to make it all happen.

Probably the most exciting component of the discussion, if measured by how Jane's voice lights up talking about it, is the adult team. The mission was always to have had a family focus, but over time that had narrowed to have a focus on kids and young people. This year the adult team has a wine and cheese tasting on, coffee and crafts mornings, and a candle light dinner. While adults are at the dinner, others on the team are available to babysit. This recognition has stretched the dinner from a couples thing to any table of four, noting that some people are not in the archetypal family for any of a range of reasons. It's about how that change in the way we live as families affects some people and can make this time of year a two edged sword.

There's still the perennial favourites, a lantern stalk, the young people's tent that runs til 3am, a carnival, film night, bush dance, and even a church service.

It's a measure of the way Australian society continues to develop that there's an ongoing discussion about whether to make it harder for SU with it's unashamed Christian roots to be based at Turners. The arguments range across whether this is good in a multicultural society, meanwhile the workers are all paying the park for their accomodation and management seem to understand that many repeat campers are there in part because of the extra support they get for their families, so it's a free service. So far it seems the support from the park has wavered but the value that campers get is recognised and that secures their place. After all, this is about support rather than evangelism.

All said and done, we chose to look at Jane and Terry because we know them. They're doing this because they love people and they're representative of volunteers all across the region who choose to do good things because the good things are there to be done. This is a great place to live and to go on holidays, and Jane, Terry, and lots like them are at least part of the reason why. Good work.