With your support, Pitjantjatjara Christians could be Opening The Bible, and sharing God's love with their communities
There are currently very few Bible resources suitable and engaging for Pitjantjatjara children and teens. In partnership with Bible Society and through the support of donors like Emmaus Christian College, a team of Pitjantjatjara artists and Bible translators are working to solve this problem by producing a series of traditional paintings to tell key stories from the Bible to the next generations of Pitjantjatjara young people.
The paintings will be presented in a book and distributed across the APY Lands, and in other Pitjantjatjara and neighbouring dialect communities in W.A. and N.T. So far, the team has completed 45 paintings.
About Neil Blenkinsop
Emmaus Christian College has been blessed with a relationship with Ernabella Anangu School on the APY Lands for 30 years. Mr Neil Blenkinsop, Senior School Teacher and Humanities Coordinator initiated this relationship since having taught at the school in the 1980s. This included annual exchange trips between the two schools including the annual Emmaus Year 11 Lands Trip.
On 7 August 2023, Neil will commence a seven-day, 1400km bike ride from Emmaus Christian College to Ernabella. On Monday 14 August he will arrive at th Ernabella Anangu School to meet the Year 11 students for the commencement of their Lands Trip.
You can follow Neil on his journey on Facebook and Instagram
About the Pitjantjatjara Children’s Illustrated Bible project - a vision of the Anangu people
Nami Kulyuru was one of the Pitjantjatjara teachers and talented artists, who worked each year with the Emmaus Christian College students in Ernabella.
In recent years Nami lived in Adelaide and worked with Emmaus Christian College students in workshops and on the commemorative mosaic between their South Plympton Campus school flags. Last year, Emmaus Christian College commissioned Nami to create a painting celebrating the long relationship of our two communities, which is now displayed at their Brooklyn Park campus.
Nami had a vision to pass on the stories of the Bible to her children and grandchildren using traditional paintings. She wanted to tell the stories through the symbols and in the style they were familiar with - to depict a whole Bible story in one painting, with movement through space and time. With this vision in mind, the Pitjantjatjara Children’s Illustrated Bible commenced in August 2021, led by Nami herself.
Sadly, Nami passed away in mid-2022 before she saw this vision become reality. However, the team of willing Anangu Bible translators and artists are committed to seeing her vision come to fruition, and to honour her legacy for the next generation.
The impact of Bible translation
Fundraising Tally is updated weekly
We are grateful for the support of donors like Emmaus Christian College. Please note, Emmaus Christian College does not directly represent Bible Society Australia.
