NAIDOC Week 2019

As NAIDOC Week falls during the school holidays, Nudgee College celebrated this from 19 to 24 August. This involved NAIDOC themed activities on Wilkes Oval and a presentation at Assembly.

Dean of Identity Mr Stephen Meara also shared the following prayer for NAIDOC Week with the community: 

NAIDOC Prayer by Bianca Manning (Aboriginal Christian Leader and Gomeroi Woman)

Loving God, we thank you and praise you for who you are, for your unending love for us and your creation of these lands on which we now live. We thank you for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the First Australians, who you placed as stewards and custodians of these lands and waters.

Father God, we come before you this NAIDOC Week to celebrate the successes, achievements, and resilience of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander brothers and sisters. We recognise those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders who are using their talents to enrich our communities and inspire us all in many ways. We honour First Nations peoples who have fought every day for the past 230 years for rights, culture and land. They reveal the true meaning of strength and survival.

Lord, will you increase our capacity this NAIDOC Week to humble ourselves and listen afresh to truly hear the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We pray that Australian churches, communities, and governments at all levels would provide platforms for First Nations voices to be heard and taken seriously. We pray that internationally recognised Treaties will be established and the ongoing sovereignty of First Nations peoples will be recognised.

We acknowledge and lament the injustices of the past and present, and ask for your mercy and healing. May the truth of history, of these lands now called Australia, be told in its entirety, and truth telling become a priority for our government and all citizens. We pray that you would open hearts and ears ready to embrace Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander brothers and sisters and empower all peoples to take action against injustice.  Lord Jesus, through the cross we are reconciled to you and are your family under Christ. You call us to love one another just as you have loved us. So we pray that this NAIDOC Week, love will increase and the call for Voice, Treaty, and Truth will be heard. We ask this through Jesus Christ. Amen.