The LORD said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground (Gen 4.10).

Truth-telling and reconciliation are urgent missional calls for the church in Australia. ABM collaborates with the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Council (NATSIAC) so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders determine their own mission priorities.

The Reconciliation Fund supports pioneering Aboriginal leaders, such as the Rev’d Gloria Shipp and her Walkabout Ministries, as well as evangelism, pastoral care, resource development and advocacy in the Northern Territory, North Queensland, the Torres Strait, and other parts of Australia.

NATSIAC assesses and prioritises the applications for Mission Grants from the Reconciliation Fund. They allocate grants to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander initiatives which express one or more of the Five Marks of Mission.

Recent activities supported by the Reconciliation Fund include climate change advocacy in the Torres Strait, children’s ministry leader training in the Northern Territory, assistance for Aboriginal elders groups in NSW, support for the establishment of the Aboriginal Council of the Anglican Province of Victoria, a theologian in residence program in South Australia, and help with school chaplaincy in an Aboriginal school in Western Australia.

In addition to the mission grants, the Fund supports ABM’s own reconciliation activities as we strive to make photographs and information held in our archives accessible to those with a cultural connection to the material. ABM is also committed to elevating the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within the church through resources and publications like God’s Own Country and A Voice in the Wilderness.

In the words of National Aboriginal Bishop, Chris McLeod “Now more than ever we need to support the voice of First Nations peoples as we work together for justice and reconciliation. First Nations’ programs supported by ABM assist in ‘Closing the Gap’ between First Nations and other Australians by equipping our people for ministry and much needed service.”

Your gift to the Reconciliation Fund helps Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people respond missionally to the Gospel, and speak prophetically to the wider church and society.