Adventure arrives in different ways. Sometimes it slips in smoothly, seamlessly cruising into the journey. Other times it arrives screaming ‘SURPRISE!’ and flips your world upside down! Moving to the Northern Territory at the beginning of 2023 had initial stages of seamlessness as God led me to the position that would trigger the move, but from that point on it was a wild ride of surprises and our world tipping upside down!

My husband Matt and our youngest daughter Ava are my fellow adventurers. We moved, following the call of God to fulfil the position of Field Development Manager for Scripture Union Australia, supported by BCA. This position oversees two great initiatives – School Chaplaincy and Religious Instruction (RI) in schools. I love Chaplaincy because you can care for children and school communities in tangible and meaningful ways. I love RI because we can openly share the Gospel with children – and for many, it’s the only way they get to hear it. Chaplaincy and RI are divinely privileged positions and building a team of people to teach and serve is a grand adventure.

Making the move from Port Macquarie to Darwin was definitely an adventure! There was the excitement of the road trip, the thrill of new possibilities, the people and places we would experience, and the wonder of what it would all be like. The tough side was leaving three adult children, two sons-in-law, my parents and a community we’d done life with. Team Garrett is now
spread across two states. We arrived in Darwin to accommodation plans collapsing, changes to staffing within SU that impacted our NT team, and our son having heart surgery. It was a surprising, world-tipping initiation but we knew we were made for such a time as this.

One of the greatest things about life in the Territory is the people. The landscape is spectacular, but the people are more so. My team has an incredible group of Chaplains. We began with five Chaplains across six schools, with a couple of vacancies. Throughout my first year, I employed two new Chaplains to fill the vacancies and added a new school. The team was growing, connecting and impacting nine school communities. We experienced another world-tipping adventure when chaplaincy funding for the new round was announced. This resulted in five of our schools losing funding at the end of 2023, with four of those schools needing to end their Chaplaincy service. We have worked hard over the last few months and I’m excited to share that we’ve been
given the privilege of commencing chaplaincy services in four newly funded schools, bringing the total back to nine schools.

Our RI team is equally impressive. They are a committed bunch of people, from local ministers, to retirees, parents and young people, who come into schools and share the Good News. We began 2023 with seven schools and are now teaching RI in ten schools across Darwin. RI looks as unique and diverse as the Territory does, with each school unique in its delivery, with variations of lunchtime, class time, and term intensive blocks. The staffing changes in the NT meant that a position opened up for a Ministry Coordinator in Darwin. This role has been a great fit for Matt and a fun surprise for Team Garrett. We love working together and impacting the lives of young people through camps and programs. We recruited Ava as a Junior Leader on kids’ camps and at the yearly Katherine Christian Convention. We love working in all the diverse splendour of the NT. We can be sitting under a tree in remote communities, training teams, running camps or being in school buildings – we don’t mind as long as we are helping children, young people and their families find their place in God’s big story.