Word: marumba
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...Boulder church, the Sunday congregation has gathered before what appears to be an above-ground swimming pool on stage. "Today Gloria is being born again," says Malarrpa's Rev. Peter Marumba. "The water is lovely and clean." And perhaps warmer than this former Apex Club hall filled with around 50 mainly Aboriginal believers. A group of children pass around a blanket with martial arts star Bruce Lee on it. Marumba invites his flock to test the water. "Put your hands in it," he says. As he tells it, such baptisms are at the heart of his church's faith...
...Four years since arriving from Nairobi, Marumba, 48, is hoping communities like Laverton, Coonanna and Norseman will immerse themselves in the waters of his faith. "If you go to most of the Aboriginal communities, you'll find vandalism there," the Kenyan says. "Property has been destroyed. (There's been) no proper handing over, no proper overseeing." The same goes for Christianity, he believes. After the missionary societies began withdrawing from the area in the 1970s, "those people starved spiritually," he says. "Now we are trying to revive - that is what Malarrpa is all about." Three years ago, Marumba approached...
...Hope is what kalgoorlie is built on. "That man," says Rev. Marumba, pointing to a statue of Paddy Hannan in the town's main street which bears his name, "he discovered gold here. They say he pushed a wheelbarrow from Perth." But on a day trip out to the mining town of Laverton, Marumba is prospecting for souls, not gold. Stretching his legs at Laverton's roadhouse after the 3.5-hour drive north, he spots some Aboriginal teenagers. "When you're in Kalgoorlie," he tells them, "come to church." But Marumba's most important work is being done out here...
...Together with Marumba and Pastor Rhys, last June the trio helped construct a temporary church shelter from scrap metal on the community common. "We put it up to show the people that there is a church here," says Smith. "Out here in the open, we can preach to anyone." Marumba won't be doing too much of that in the distant future; he'd like to take his wife and two young sons back to Kenya for a holiday. "I'm very tired," he admits. "Much too much." Already he can do some resting on his laurels. Out here...
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