Crosslight - Edition April 2020

Blessing
(from the Funeral for a Home)
“The God of compassion,
who grieves with us and with the land,
for all that has been lost,
bless you with love and comfort,
now and for ever,
In the name of the creator, sustainer
and giver of life. Amen.”
Usually, in the peak of the summer
season, tents, caravans and cabins host
a throng of 400 people. Not this year. It’s
30 December and the 300 or so people in
the park are deciding if they will stay.
Some families set up in their usual
spots despite the early recommendation
to leave East Gippsland. The evening
skies glow red and it’s eerily quiet.
Managers Miranda and Terry Fulford say
that if the park was empty, they wouldn’t
have stayed, but they’re responsible
for the people on the property, so they
stay. They’ve briefed some young men
on the use of fire hoses and nominated
the brick assembly hall as a refuge if
required.
Only a few days later the evacuation
call comes and they close the facility.
Miranda and Terry go to Stratford to wait
it out. Ron takes his family home. The
fire front comes within 7km of the park.
Roads reopen in a few days, and they
reopen the park only to be evacuated
once more because of the hazardous
air quality. Many won’t return until next
year. They will lose $70,000 income.
People are safe, that’s what matters.
Corryong
North East Presbytery is battling the
blazes too, the Corryong Complex fires,
made more complex by the state borders
the fire doesn’t seem to acknowledge.
Rev Andrew Delbridge is the Alpine
Regional Resource Minister and an Army
Chaplain. He’s had experience in the
clean-up after the Black Saturday fires
of 2009 and the same principles apply
here. People, lots of people, are running
around full of busyness, often getting
in each other’s way. It’s smashing the
farmers hard.
Drought, fire then flood washing away
what was left of rocks and soil. They’re
losing generations of breeding stock and
if they had to choose, most would rather
lose their houses. There’s a long road to
recovery, if they take that path. Others
will walk off the land, as they have
already. No need to lock the door. Don’t
look back.
It’s the tyranny of distance that makes
this harder for Andrew. He’d rather drive
an hour or two and have a face-to-face
conversation with someone who’s
hurting than make a phone call.
Blaze Aid, the volunteer organisation
that comes in quick and mends essential
fences on farms, rings him and he
arranges a catch-up with a battling man
on the land. There’s a local footy match
happening somewhere else and they’d
like the chaplain to be there. It’s only an
hour and a half in the other direction, he
can make it easy.
He can’t be everywhere for everyone,
however, and that’s one of the costs in a
disaster. The usual rounds of ministry are
disrupted, and Andrew isn’t there when
one of his congregation members breaks
Continued P22
21