Grief, loss and the love of Jesus

Aunty Sharon Minniecon is an Ugar (Stephen Island) woman. Sharon was born in Ayr in North Queensland as one of 13 children, and is a fifth-generation Christian. Now her three children are the sixth generation of Christians in her family.

Sharon has dedicated her life to ministry, especially ministry to her community, and has been instrumental in discipling many people across a life of faithful service to Christ. In her work she has had first-hand experience helping other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people navigate their unique experiences of grief and trauma, as well as dealing with her own as an Indigenous woman. Sharon reflects, “It’s not only our journey, it’s everybody’s journey, ’cause we didn't create this, you know? And I think that's very important to understand. We got here just because of who we were.”

Even amidst so much ongoing pain and loss within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, Sharon has the hope of Christ and the strength of God to sustain her. She says, “It comes back to God being with us. He uses people to help us.”

Growing up, Sharon was conscious of her Christian parents' sacrifices for their ministry. She saw how important their work was, not just because it was kingdom work, but because there were so few Indigenous ministers. She shares, “Our mum and dad were very good role models for ministry. We could see the cost there, but also the joy and how it would help people. How when people found the Lord, their lives turned around and changed.”

This faithful example placed the path of ministry on Sharon’s heart early on in her life. She describes knowing her future as a ministry worker as a ‘real revelation’ when she was 15 years old. Sharon reflects, “The Holy Spirit was preparing me at such a young age. It wasn’t a big thing in one way, you know? But it was just picking the right partner to do it with.”

A few years later, Sharon met Ray Minniecon, and they eventually married. Ray went on to Bible College in 1977, studying through the Commonwealth Bible College in Katoomba, now known as Alphacrucis University College – Sydney.

After finishing college, Ray sought a ministry position. Despite his peers getting approached by churches, Ray and Sharon weren’t able to find a place for them to join. This experience led them to join the Aboriginal Evangelical Fellowship (AEF). Sharon shares, “We knew that we wouldn’t get picked because we were Indigenous people. And then we heard about Aboriginal Evangelical Fellowship. So we had a talk with [AEF] and they said ‘Yes, we’re looking for someone in La Perouse and we’d love to have you.’”

What started in a church in La Perouse is a long career of faithful ministry that continues to impact people today. After La Perouse, Sharon and Ray were called to work in another AEF church – this time in Western Australia, where they worked among three churches and an Indigenous community south of Perth. Sharon also worked as a manager for a hostel in Perth, helping shepherd girls in Years 11 and 12 through their senior years.

In 1991, after almost a decade of ministry in Western Australia, Sharon and Ray returned to Sydney when Ray was asked to be the Director of World Vision’s Indigenous Programs. Here they settled and continued to raise their family and engage in Indigenous ministries both in and out of their local church. Both Sharon and Ray were also instrumental in founding the Gawura School for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, which has recently celebrated its fifteenth anniversary.

When the AEF and ADM partnered in 2016 to develop and deliver the pilot Our Story – Finding Hope Beyond Grief workshop program to support Indigenous women in healing from grief and trauma, Sharon’s many years of experience ministering with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities made her an obvious choice as one of several workshop Master Trainers. The Our Story workshop program focuses on helping participants to begin identifying and healing from their own distinct experiences of grief, loss and trauma, and then enabling them to help others to do the same.

Sharon and the women in one of the pilot workshops

This program responds to significant and ongoing needs within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, who continue to navigate a ‘valley of grief’ in the wake of colonisation. In reflecting on the scale of Indigenous experiences of grief, loss and trauma, Sharon says, “It’s not just 10 years, it’s intergenerational.”

As a Master Trainer in the workshop pilot program, Sharon saw the real impact on the women involved. She reflects, “We could show them the policies of colonisation and the effects on our people, why we are in this mess of loss, grief and trauma, and what the ways are we can get out or go beyond – even as these things are still happening.”

A few of the women who attended the program were from the Stolen Generations, and although some of them were Christians, they all felt they couldn’t trust the Church as a result of their trauma. This is something Sharon was able to begin to unpack with them, to support them in working through their significant trauma. In acknowledging their experiences, she also helped them to understand how to “be doers of the word, not just readers”. There is the hope that as they continue processing their grief, they will be able to feel safe and comfortable attending a church in the future.

Now that ADM has awarded further funding to the AEF and this workshop program, Sharon is excited to see her daughter, Larissa, take on the role of Program Manager. She says, “It’s really beautiful to see it kind of rolled over and the younger generation leading, and also ADM believing in the younger generation too, with our guidance. Because obviously, we know our community well. And that's one of the good things about ADM, that they allow us to do it on our own, but with [their support].”

Sharon has also recently graduated from Mary Andrews College (MAC), where she studied theology. Theological study was something she had ‘always wanted to do’, but had been unable to due to financial and family commitments. To attend MAC and graduate with her degree was a great accomplishment for Sharon.

Sharon and family at her graduation from MAC

She says her study helped her to “hone her skills” and taught her practical things like counselling, how to better listen and engage with people, biblical history and how to understand the Bible better. Sharon shares that her studies gave her “different things that were useful to equip me with the tools that I needed to add to the ministry that I was currently doing, so I could sharpen up.”

Sharon’s love of Christ is so evident in her ministry to others, and the compassion he has gifted her continues to extend the love of Christ across many churches and communities. In reflecting on counselling Indigenous Christians who are struggling with the church’s role in colonisation, and with healing through grief, trauma and loss, she says, “I said [to them], God is in you. He knows your heart. He knows your circumstances. You can love him wherever you are – inside the building, outside the building, he dwells in you.”