My call from God to Christian schools (Part 4)
I almost lasted a full three years teaching a difficult class at Yirara College, Alice Springs. We were able to do a lot of outback travel while there, being already in the outback to start with. Alice Springs had 1-week school holidays after 1^st and 3^rd terms, and a 4-week holiday in the middle of the year (winter). Winter was the best time to travel outback because of its milder weather, and drier too – the wet season up north was mostly during summer and early autumn. In 2001 we did the bottom half of the Canning Stock Route (the top half was flooded that year), and in 2002 and 2003 we did other areas of Western Australia (WA) (these being harder to reach when travelling from Victoria). We did tent camping because it allowed us to travel light and get to more offroad 4WD places.

In September 2003 we travelled south, returning to live in our house in Melbourne. This time I had a principal position at Moonee Vale Christian School (MVCS), a small school just north of central Melbourne. I started in 4^th Term 2003 with three teachers plus other staff. Our site was very small though, and we were on the lookout for a larger block to shift to. When I took over leadership of the school, the school was told they would have to relocate. It had originally been set up by the Uniting Church, but were now told by that same church that we would have to agree to a multi-faith doctrine or else part company with that church. The multi-faith option was unacceptable from a biblical point of view so we therefore needed to find a new location. I went through the legal procedures of separating the school from the ownership of the Uniting Church, establishing ourselves in our own right. We also researched where we might relocate to, including a large block which used to be Kangan TAFE. All our options involved moneys way beyond our current capabilities; I felt we should step out in faith and make a move, believing that God would provide. Many on the school council felt that we needed to persuade the Uniting Church to permit us extra time on the current site in Moonee Ponds so we could have time to better research our options. However, the Uniting Church had made it clear that we were to move off the site by the end of 2004.

Later in 2004 the school council realised that we would have to move by the end of 2004 with no option for negotiations. By now though it was getting too late to have anything set up for 2005 and we needed to obtain a place to exist on and to find it in a hurry. We looked again at the Kangan TAFE site but the 2 million price tag was too much for most on the school council to accept. We investigated sharing with a couple of state schools in the area that had empty classrooms due to lower numbers attending. One of these did seem promising, until the then state minister for education Lynne Kosky made a ruling that no private school would share facilities with a state school. This effectively shut the door on us. It is interesting that at that time, there was a shared facility school in the Caroline Springs area with 3 separate schools on the one site: a state college (Brookside College), an independent college (Mowbray College) and a church college (Christ the Priest catholic primary school). “The Brookside campus was located at the Brookside Learning Centre, which hosted common facilities (such as administration facilities, library, gymnasium, arts rooms, and science rooms) shared by Mowbray, the Brookside campus of Caroline Springs College and Christ the Priest Catholic Primary School.” (Wikipedia)

I put this to the Victorian state education ministry to consider, but it did appear as if the minister for education was determined to block any attempt by MVCS to be able to share facilities (paying fees and costs) with a state school. Lynne Kosky was not an effective leader of any ministry areas she took on, being moved into a new ministry regularly when her current one failed apparently due to her incompetence. The decision she made regarding the sharing of our school with a state school was not based upon logic, and was not consistent with other decisions made at that time regarding similar projects. It is my belief that she was anti-Christian, using her position as minister for education to single us out for opposition based on our Christian beliefs which she did not seem to like. Nevertheless, we still had to find a place for 2005 or close down.

Nearing the end of 2004 we were able to come to an agreement with another Christian school in Thomastown for 2005. This meant effectively combining the student bodies and staff of both schools. It also meant a bus had to be hired every morning and afternoon to transport the MVCS students to the Thomastown site every day. This lasted for just 2005 with the church owners of the Thomastown Christian school not extending the arrangement into 2006.

We had been considering the Kangan TAFE site during this time, but it wasn’t available for rental and the purchase cost was considered more than the school could afford. (Rental was out of the question anyway because buildings had to be established on the site.) The school council still couldn’t bear to consider trusting that much to God in faith. Into 2006 we looked at other options but there was nothing available. We were told by the Registered Schools Board that we had to have the school up and running before the school term commenced. I was able to persuade the authorities to extend this to sometime in February, but the deadline came and went and we were still without a site. We officially closed in February 2006.

I decided to take that year off. It was too late to look at teaching elsewhere after the school year had already started. I had some funds set aside, enough to go camping outback as long as I was careful with my spending. I had purchased an offroad camper trailer in 2004 and would live in that for maybe 6 months. It was very basic: no fridge, no basic lighting, a canvas cover that unfolded when it was opened up, basically a bed on wheels. But it could be towed just about everywhere my 4WD Rodeo could go. My time at MVCS had been very stressful and I needed a break. I’d look for a job after I came back. I believed that God would call as He had done so in the past. And it would be no different this time. I would apply for a job at River City Christian College (RCCC) in Echuca for 2007. God would confirm it with someone we knew asking if I could consider it because they were having trouble finding a replacement for a principal who had suddenly resigned.

When I told my older sister that I was resigning from the state education department at the end of 1993, she told me I was making a big mistake. If I stayed at my state school job I could retire at 55 on ⁵/₈ of my retiring wage indexed for life. I had 11 more years to go and then be on easy living. Certainly giving up a secure job with good retirement benefits did look bad, but I was convinced that there was more to life than just a comfortable retirement at just 55. I went ahead with my Christian schools ministry and found that every time I’d looked for a job, one had come my way. The pay was never anywhere near as good as my pay with state schools but I have always had sufficient for all my needs since then. The Echuca school principal position would end in January 2010 due to stress-related health issues; it would be my last job with a wage. But now, 26 years later, I still have more than my basic needs requirements. It is clear that God has always provided for my needs throughout my Christian schools’ ministry.

Do I regret leaving my farm, though? (We had sold the remainder of the property at the start of 2003 while living at Alice Springs.) The answer is that I do miss the wide open spaces, especially when I have to put up with Melbourne traffic and crowds. I once said many years ago that I’d never live in a place like Melbourne, and yet, here I am, in the very place I never wanted to be in. Sometimes we have a choice between living according to our desires and accepting the consequences of a ministry. Is my Christian priority to enjoy this life, or instead to maybe be able to assist others to have the life that I know is yet in my future? This current life is merely the preparation for the life to come. Do I want the best life can offer me in this life or in the next life for eternity? What we do in this life will determine how and where we spend eternity. Always keep in mind that this life is a mere blink of the eye compared with future eternity.