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Series Code: TIJ
Program Code: TIJ004115S
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00:32 The great heart of the Australian desert harbors two 00:35 opposing realities, breathtaking beauty and devastating brutality 00:40 In the 1920s the inhabitants of a little settlement in the heart 00:46 of the desert were facing a wave of brutality. There the wilting 00:51 structures of the Hermannsburg Lutheran mission languished 00:55 under the blue shadow of Mt. Hermannsburg. Drought was 01:00 ravaging the area. This was not new or strange. Drought was a 01:05 familiar specter that constantly haunted the Great Red Sandy but 01:10 this time the drought was especially harsh. Water holes 01:15 that had not dried up in living memory vanished. The underground 01:19 spring water turned brackish and unfit for use before drying up 01:25 completely. Bush packer disappeared as large numbers of 01:29 kangaroos and other wildlife began to die. Further migration 01:35 of aborigines accustomed to living completely off the land 01:39 began to move slowly toward the mission. They were emaciated and 01:45 starving. By 1928 the winter camel train which usually 01:50 brought supplies to the mission was 15 days late because the 01:55 camels were too weak to move. The camel train eventually made 01:59 it to the mission but even with supplies coming intermittently 02:03 food was scarce. Soon disease began to spread like wildfire. 02:09 The mission was swept up in one epidemic after another. First 02:16 influenza, then whooping cough, followed by dysentery, 02:22 tuberculosis. Thrown into the mix was another unidentified 02:27 disease that afflicted much of the population in and around the 02:31 mission. The Hermannsburg mission is located within the 02:36 territory of the western Aranda tribe of the aboriginal people. 02:40 Some estimates suggest that as many as 85 percent of the 02:44 Aranda children died during this terrible drought. Among the dead 02:52 was a little girl named Nelda. She was born severely 02:57 malnourished and survived only 17 months. Finally in 1929 the 03:04 unknown disease was diagnosed as scurvy due to extreme vitamin C 03:10 deficiency. Two hundred cases of oranges and lemons were shipped 03:14 into the mission and people began to recover quickly. Then 03:20 three days after Christmas 1929 the rain came. The nearby Finke 03:26 River swelled against its banks There was jubilation at the 03:30 mission and the surrounding country. The land recovered 03:35 rapidly. The Namatjira family came back to the mission with 03:38 their children and continued to eke out a living. It was 1930 03:44 and Albert Namatjira was part of the small Lutheran community 03:48 at the Hermannsburg mission. Standing in the shadow of the 03:53 terrible drought, recovering from his grief, Albert had no 03:58 inkling of the tremendous adventures the next decade of 04:02 his life would bring. By the end of the 1930s Albert Namatjira 04:09 would mount his first solo exhibition of water color 04:12 paintings, selling every single piece of art on display. He 04:17 would then go on to become one of Australia's most famous and 04:21 accomplished artists. Join us as we take a look at the life, 04:27 country and times of this remarkable man whose story still 04:31 carries a special message for us today. 04:34 ♪ ♪ 05:00 Albert Namatjira was born on the 28th of July 1902 at the 05:05 Hermannsburg Mission Station on the banks of the Finke River. 05:09 His parents named him Aleah at birth and in keeping with the 05:13 traditions of his people he had no surname. In 1905, his parents 05:20 were baptized in the small church on the mission. Aleah was 05:24 baptized with them and all three of them were given English names 05:28 His parents' names became Jonathan and Emily. Aleah was 05:34 named Albert, but it wasn't until his first exhibition in 05:38 1938 that Albert adopted his father's first name, Namatjira, 05:43 as his surname. As a child Albert attended the Hermannsburg 05:50 school for aborigines at the mission. The school was run 05:53 under the supervision of the Lutheran minister and missionary 05:57 in charge of the mission station At the school children were 06:01 taught their native Aranda language as well as English 06:05 and the Bible. The Hermannsburg Mission was established in 1877 06:10 by Lutheran missionaries at a sacred site named Ntaria. It 06:16 was the first and largest aboriginal mission in the 06:19 Northern Territory. The focus of the mission was to share the 06:23 teachings of Jesus and the Bible with the aboriginal people and 06:27 to provide them with an education as well. In the first 06:31 few months after their arrival the missionaries made no contact 06:35 with the local aboriginal people However, their activities were 06:39 closely watched. And after they had finished constructing the 06:43 main buildings of the mission a group of western Aranda men 06:47 visited them and camped near their settlement. Communication 06:51 was difficult at first and there were quite a number of 06:54 misunderstandings. But the missionaries soon learned the 06:58 local Aranda language. Work at the mission steadily grew and 07:03 the church and schoolhouse were added to the existing buildings 07:07 on the site. But the climate was temperamental. Short periods of 07:12 intense rainfall followed by long periods of drought made 07:17 living conditions harsh. The droughts ravaged the crops and 07:21 the floods destroyed infrastructure. It was a never 07:25 ending cycle of survival and recovery. Albert's 07:30 early life was 07:31 closely interwoven with the fabric of Hermannsburg Mission. 07:35 He learned to read and write and study the Bible alongside the 07:40 other aboriginal children at the mission. One of his teachers 07:43 Harry Hilliar, had an avid interest in watercolor painting 07:47 and this was most likely Albert's first introduction to 07:52 western art. Albert then ran away from the mission when he 07:56 was 18 and eloped with a young woman from a neighboring tribe. 08:01 He stayed away from the mission for a number of years traveling 08:05 from place to place with his growing family looking for work. 08:09 In 1922 he quietly returned to the mission and settled his 08:14 family there. His wife known as Rabina and their four children 08:20 were baptized into the Lutheran church in 1923. Then three years 08:26 later in 1926 S.W. Albrecht arrived at the Hermannsburg 08:31 mission as mission supervisor. Albrecht was to play an 08:35 important role in Albert's life and career as an artist. Once he 08:40 had settled into life at the mission Pastor Albrecht realized 08:44 that the financial situation at the mission was tenuous. He 08:48 believed that the only sustainable solution was for 08:52 Hermannsburg to become a self supporting operation. As a start 08:57 he encouraged the women to engage in needle work making 09:01 doilies and table cloths that could be sold to tourists. 09:05 Around this time a small group from Hermannsburg set out on an 09:11 evangelistic endeavor to the neighboring settlement of Glen 09:14 Helen. Albrecht led the mission and Albert was among those who 09:19 went with him to preach. In the middle of the program Albrecht 09:23 became ill and was transported to Adelaide for treatment. While 09:28 he was recuperating and receiving treatment in Adelaide 09:31 Albrecht sold boomerangs and woomera s and other carved wooden 09:36 artifacts for sale. These had been made specifically as 09:40 souvenirs for visiting tourists and Albrecht realized that this 09:44 would be an excellent industry to start up at Hermannsburg. 09:49 When he returned to the mission he enlisted Albert to work in 09:54 this area. Albert began to decorate wooden artifacts with 09:58 the help of a heated wire or metal tool. These were then sold 10:02 to visiting tourists. This gave Albert the ability to stay at 10:07 home and make enough money to support his growing family. 10:10 His work on these artifacts marked the beginning of his 10:15 career as an artist. Between 1932 and 1936 Albert's interest 10:22 in painting was further developed by artists who visited 10:26 the mission. The most important of these was Rex Battarbee who 10:31 instrumental in Albert's development as a painter. Other 10:35 painters who visited the mission on painting trips were John 10:38 Gardner, Jessie Traill, Arthur Murch and Violet Teague. Violet 10:45 Teague visited Hermannsburg in 1932 with her sister Eunice. 10:50 While they were at Hermannsburg the Teague sisters noticed the 10:54 perilous lack of water. The mission was yet again in the 10:58 throws of a drought and was struggling to manage. Violet was 11:02 incredulous and explained to Albrecht, Why Pastor this is 11:07 ludicrous. You must have water. Her incredulity was mainly due 11:13 to the fact that just seven kilometers away there was an 11:17 abundant source of water that the mission had no way of 11:20 tapping into. In the hills just across the Finke River the 11:24 Coperelia Spring produced 38,000 liters of clear freshwater 11:29 daily and Pastor Albrecht was well aware of this water source. 11:33 Since 1924 efforts had been made to raise money to build a 11:40 pipeline from the springs to the mission. But Albrecht and others 11:45 before him had struggled to find backing. This was because there 11:49 was a dispute over whether the springs were above or below the 11:54 mission. And at last it seemed that the mission was on higher 11:58 ground and no one believe that it was possible to get water to 12:02 flow from the spring to Hermannsburg. So the mission 12:06 suffered through years of crushing drought when water was 12:09 so close at hand. The matter was finally resolved when a 12:14 surveying expedition came through the area. The surveyors 12:18 were prospecting for gold and the measurements revealed that 12:22 the Coperelia Springs were in fact above the Hermannsburg 12:26 Mission. Encouraged by the new development Albrecht began to 12:30 look into the matter in more detail. By the time the Teague 12:34 sisters visited Hermannsburg Albrecht had calculated the 12:39 funds that the mission would need to divert water from 12:42 Coperelia Springs to Hermannsburg. Violet and Eunice 12:46 Teague offered their assistance to raise some of the money that 12:50 would be needed. The sisters organized a charity exhibition 12:54 in Melbourne to raise funds for the mission. They persuaded a 12:58 number of their artist friends to donate their works free of 13:02 charge and mounted the exhibition in 1934 at the Atheni 13:07 Over 100 paintings by 50 artists were sold and all the proceeds 13:14 went to the Hermannsburg water fund. The money from the 13:17 exhibition coupled with the funds raised by an appeal made 13:21 in a Melbourne newspaper raised enough money for the project. 13:25 By August 1934 the project was well underway. But many of the 13:32 local farmers were still skeptical, even William Matney, 13:36 a local farmer in charge of the planning and construction of the 13:40 pipeline didn't really believe that the water could get through 13:44 to the mission. Finally construction on the pipeline was 13:49 completed and Matney diverted the water from Coperelia Springs 13:53 to the Hermannsburg Mission at 6 p.m. on the 30th of September 13:58 1934. Pastor Albrecht calculated that it would take four hours 14:04 for the water to reach the mission but by 2 a.m. the water 14:09 still had not arrived. Albrecht prayed to God and then went to 14:14 bed. Before sunrise he was woken by the shouts of the women 14:19 going down to milk the cows. Kwaji, kwaji they cried in 14:24 excitement. Water, Water. Albrecht rushed outside and was 14:29 greeted by a fountain of water gushing seven meters into the 14:34 air. The valves at the end of the pipeline had not been 14:37 properly sealed resulting in the tremendous burst of rushing 14:42 water. The impossible had happened. The Hermannsburg 14:48 Mission had been almost miraculously provided with a 14:51 steady supply of water. The next year in 1935 when F.C.G. Wallins 14:58 who was a member of the Lutheran mission board visited 15:02 Hermannsburg he was extremely impressed with the progress 15:06 Albert had made with his painting. One of the paintings 15:09 that Albert showed Wallins was a double-sided piece with a 15:13 roughly drawn landscape on one side and a drawing of a kangaroo 15:17 in flight on the other. Then in the winter of 1936 Rex Battarbee 15:24 returned to Hermannsburg. The day he arrived he made 15:28 arrangements for Albert to accompany him on a painting trip 15:32 to the Palm Valley area. Albert was thrilled and thanked 15:36 Battarbee profusely. The trip marked the beginning of a 15:40 lifelong friendship between the two men. According to 15:45 Battarbee's journal during this trip he taught Albert to draw 15:49 in exchange for Albert's services as a camel man and 15:53 guide. Albert was keen to use the time to learn as much as he 15:57 could from Battarbee. In turn, he provided Battarbee with 16:02 useful information about the area including the best 16:06 locations for landscape painting After just 11 days in the 16:13 outback Battarbee wrote in his journal that Albert's sketch of 16:16 the amphitheater, a spectacular gorge in Palm Valley was 16:21 extremely good. He even expressed an interest in buying 16:24 it noting that Albert was exceptionally good at painting 16:28 light. In the same journal entry Battarbee wrote:... 16:36 Albert Namatjira' s first solo exhibition was opened by Lady 16:42 Huntingfield, the wife of the governor of Victoria on the 16:46 fifth of December 1938. The exhibition was titled, Albert 16:51 Namatjira, Central Australian Water Colors, 1938. Albert sold 16:57 41 paintings in just three days. Albert continued to work 17:03 steadily over the next few years His routine was rigorous. He 17:08 spent months at a time on trips into the outback of Central 17:11 Australia. Sometimes with Battarbee, sometimes with his 17:16 family. During these trips he produced scores of water color 17:20 paintings which would then be presented at exhibitions around 17:24 the country. His landscape paintings were iconic images 17:30 synonymous with the Australian outback. His vivid water colors 17:35 expressed his deep familiarity with the desert country around 17:39 Hermannsburg particularly the Aranda land around the western 17:43 McDonald ranges for which he was a traditional custodian. He 17:50 often framed his landscapes with the strong vertical forms of gum 17:54 trees. These represented both the presence and absence of 17:59 water through the desert region. By the 1940s Albert became a 18:04 recognizable figure around the country. In 1944 he became the 18:09 first aborigine to be entered into Who's Who in Australia. 18:14 And C.P. Mountford published a book about his work titled The 18:19 Art of Albert Namatjira. It was also around this time that one 18:25 of Albert's paintings was sent to London as a gift for Princess 18:29 Elizabeth on her 21st birthday. But Albert's professional 18:36 success was overshadowed by significant personal 18:38 difficulties. His application for a grazing rights permit was 18:42 rejected on extremely dubious grounds. Then his application to 18:48 build a home in Alice Springs was rejected as well. This 18:52 second rejection stemmed from Albert's status within the 18:56 commonwealth. In 1949 his daughter Hazel died 19:03 and his son Edward accidentally shot himself 19:05 losing sight in one eye. 19:07 Then in 1950 his daughter Martha died at Haasts Bluff. However, 19:13 despite all his personal struggles and tragedies Albert's 19:18 career continued to thrive. In 1953 he was awarded the 19:24 Queen's Coronation Medal. He flew to Canberra for the 19:27 ceremony and was presented with the medal by Queen Elizabeth II 19:32 and the Duke of Edinburgh. His paintings continued to sell for 19:36 significant sums of money and his work was exhibited along 19:41 side other artists like the legendary Sidney Nolan. In 1957 19:47 he was granted a small reprieve from his personal struggles when 19:51 he and his wife Rabina were finally awarded full Australian 19:55 citizenship. Albert and Rabina Namatjira were the first 20:00 aborigines to be awarded full citizenship of the Commonwealth 20:05 of Australia. The last years of Albert's life were clouded by 20:10 legal struggles. Albert Namatjira passed away in 20:14 August 1959 and was buried at the Alice Springs cemetery. 20:19 His old friend and spiritual mentor Pastor Albrecht presided 20:24 over the service. Both Albert's story and the story of the 20:30 Hermannsburg Mission are narratives of perseverance and 20:33 resilience in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. 20:37 The missionaries that came to Hermannsburg made tremendous 20:41 sacrifices in order to share the story of Jesus with the 20:46 aboriginal people in the area. Albert Namatjira demonstrated 20:52 extraordinary courage and determination to 20:54 overcome the odds 20:56 that were stacked against him and become one of Australia's 21:00 greatest and most celebrated artists. He was a trail blazer 21:04 in the truest sense. Yet his trail blazing was the result of 21:09 hard work and tenacity. Albert and the Hermannsburg 21:14 missionaries possessed this quality. Today scientists call 21:18 it grit. It's the determination to shape our circumstances 21:22 instead of allowing our circumstances to shape us. 21:26 The apostle Paul possessed the same quality. His life as a 21:32 missionary was colorful and filled with adventure and yet he 21:36 consistently surmounted the obstacles before him. He was not 21:40 only dauntless but he also possessed grit. That rare 21:45 tenacity to take hold of circumstances with a 21:49 determination to shape them. One of the more memorable 21:53 stories about Paul is his trip to Lystra. When he got to the 21:57 city with Barnabas, his traveling companion and fellow 22:01 missionary, they saw a crippled man begging by the roadside. 22:04 Paul healed him and the man leapt to his feet and began to 22:09 walk. The crowd went wild. They began to talk excitedly in their 22:15 native language and declared that Paul and Barnabas were 22:19 Roman gods who had taken on human form. They immediately 22:23 mobbed them and prepared to offer a sacrifice to them. When 22:27 Paul and Barnabas figured out what was happening they were 22:31 appalled. Jumping into the crowd they tried their best to explain 22:36 to them that they were mere men. Refusing the adulation that was 22:40 being showered on them seeking instead to turn the minds of the 22:44 minds of the crowd to the God of heaven, the Creator of all 22:49 things. They managed to prevent the people from worshipping them 22:52 but scarcely had they averted one disaster when another one 22:56 tumbled around them. A disgruntled mob from Antioch and 23:01 Iconium who had a score to settle with Paul found their way 23:05 to Lystra and they persuaded the people that Paul was a villain. 23:10 Once more the mob was whipped into a frenzy only this time 23:15 instead of worshipping Paul they decided to stone him. He was 23:19 knocked unconscious and dragged outside the city walls presumed 23:24 dead. But he stood up, brushed himself off, went back into the 23:29 city for the night and left the next morning. He kept on 23:34 preaching. He went to Derbe and then wound his way back to 23:37 Lystra and Iconium and Antioch visiting all the cities where 23:42 disgruntled elements wanted to see him dead. Later on he made 23:47 one final journey to Jerusalem. Under a cloud of almost certain 23:52 death he summed up his attitude towards it all in these words: 23:56 ♪ ♪ 24:11 Did you notice what he said? None of these things move me. 24:18 Paul was able to see beyond the darkness of his circumstances 24:23 to something much brighter that lay just ahead. The anchor of 24:28 his soul was Jesus and in Jesus he found the grit that he needed 24:33 to keep going. From the adulation of the fickle mob to 24:38 to their frenzied attempts to kill him Paul was able to keep a 24:43 clear head and tackle each situation he faced with courage. 24:47 None of those things moved him because his eyes were fixed on 24:51 someone whose hand was over it all, who stood above it all. 24:56 Often in life we find ourselves casting about for an anchor. 25:02 When the moorings seem to come undone and our lives are rocked 25:06 with devastating circumstances we need something to keep us 25:10 steady. And I can assure you there is nothing steadier and 25:15 more secure than Jesus. For the apostle Paul, for Albert 25:21 Namatjira and the missionaries at Hermannsburg Jesus was a 25:25 never-failing anchor. His presence in their lives enabled 25:29 them to move forward even in their darkest moments. If you 25:34 find yourself looking for something to steady you then I'd 25:37 like to recommend the free gift we have for all our Incredible 25:41 Journey viewers today. It's the small but powerful booklet 25:46 Faith Really Makes a Difference. This easy-to-read booklet is 25:51 our gift to you and is absolutely free. I guarantee 25:55 there are no hidden costs or obligations whatsoever. This 25:59 small booklet has enriched the lives of many people and it's 26:03 sure been a blessing to me. I know it will be a blessing to 26:06 you too and I want to make sure you get a copy. So make sure to 26:12 take this opportunity to receive the gift we have for you today. 26:16 Phone or text us at 0436-333-555 in Australia or 020-422-2042 in 26:28 New Zealand or visit our website TiJ.tv to request today's free 26:34 offer and we'll send it to you totally free of charge and with 26:38 no obligation. Write to us at: 26:53 Don't delay. Call or text us now 26:56 If you've enjoyed today's journey to Hermannsburg and the 27:02 red center of Australia in the footsteps of the great 27:05 indigenous artist Albert Namatjira along with our 27:09 reflections on the security and inner peace that Jesus provides 27:13 then be sure to join us again next week when we will share 27:17 another of life's journey's together. Until then let's ask 27:22 God to be our anchor just as he was for the apostle Paul, Albert 27:26 Namatjira and the missionaries at Hermannsburg. Let's pray. 27:31 Dear heavenly Father, we are grateful for the life and 27:36 talents of Albert Namatjira. As we have followed his life's 27:41 journey we've been reminded that we too need an anchor when our 27:45 moorings seem to come undone and our lives are rocked with 27:49 devastating circumstances. We need something to keep us steady 27:53 There is nothing steadier or more secure than Jesus. And so 27:58 we ask that you will be the anchor of our soul today and we 28:02 ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. 28:06 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2021-09-15