Changing Season for MinisTree
By Fiona Preston & Tracey Wolsley
As we write this article, we do so surrounded by the colours of Autumn bursting outside. So many of the streets in Bendigo are lined with deciduous trees that provide a vibrant spectrum of brilliant yellow, gold, orange and candescent red. It is a beautiful season, one to enter into and enjoy while it is here for we know winter is just around the corner. The seasons come and go and as they do they speak to us in different ways. Beside enjoying the brilliant colours of Autumn, we watch the leaves slowly and gracefully fall from the trees. They show us the art of letting go, of surrendering what was to make way for what will soon follow.
In the wake of Covid lockdowns in 2022, Rev’d Fiona Preston initiated a new ministry in Bendigo which was named MinisTree. MinisTree was an intentional ministry of compassion, pastoral care and practical support to rough sleepers and those who were experiencing homelessness. Over the years, and with Rev’d Tracey Wolsley who served alongside Fiona from 2023, many significant and beautiful relationships were built with the most vulnerable people of the community. Sometimes, there was cause for celebration, as when people received much needed medical treatment, a place to stay or employment.
It was not within our power to provide housing, and we could not wave a magic wand and make everything better. But thanks to the support we received from Bishop Matt, parishes within the diocese and faithful supporters, each week we were able to go out onto the streets and give what we could: food, socks, shoes, water, prayer, love, compassion and hope.
In the face of the enormity of need there were many times it felt that we were like Old Mother Hubbard, going to the cupboard only to find it was bare! Like the disciples in the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 (Matthew 14.13-21), we were daily reminded of our limited capacity to meet the immense need before us. Nevertheless, God in God’s mercy took what we had, took us, and used us to bless a broken world. We became known as the ‘street angels’, a name we hope indicates that somehow, in some small way, God took on flesh in the form of two ladies in green shirts. We sought to share God’s presence as we sat on the pavement, under a tree, outside a shop, on a park bench, in the hospital, in the library, on the steps of the church to listen, to care, to love and to share the very, very good news of salvation that is ours in Christ.
Going back to the Autumn leaves, the beautiful colours of that new season are made possible as chlorophyll in the leaves breaks down in cooler weather. This in turn allows masked pigments, carotenoids, to become visible as vast shades of yellow, while new pigments, called anthocyanins, create brilliant reds and purples. In other words, with the change of season, the green disappears and something else follows.
Following a prayerful time of discernment, MinisTree as we know it has come to a new season and we have laid down the green and will no longer be on the streets serving the rough sleepers and those experiencing homelessness as we did. We continue to give thanks for the support received over the past four years. We also give thanks for the many agencies and organizations still working in the ‘homeless’ space. Between the now, and the not yet, we quietly trust God.
