“FLYNN OF THE INLAND.”

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 121, 21 April 1938, Page 9

“FLYNN OF THE INLAND.”

AUSTRALIAN MISSIONARY

VISIT TO PALMERSTON NORTH

The Australian missionary who lias w-on the picturesque title of “Flynn or the Inland,” from the book of that name bv lon L. ldriess, was a visitor to Palmerston North yesterday. He is Rev. John Flynn. 0.8. E superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission the growth of which has been almost entirely due to his activity and energy in establishing contact between the scattered settlers of Central Australia. Mr Flynn is accompanied by Kirs Flynn, and they are making a courtesy tour of the Dominion at the invitation of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand. . , “It is not a money-raising visit, Mr Flynn told the “Standard” in an interview. ‘‘lt is an effort to bring tlie two countries closer together by giving your people some conception of our problems.” , , The story of. the Australian Inland Mission abundantly illustrates; the parable of the mustard seed. Back in 1889, Mrs Sniith, of Dunesk, a daughter of Baron Erskine, bought property in South Australia which she gave to the Free Church of Scotland to aid pioneer work. A beginning was made at Beltana, some 300 miles north of Adelaide, but it was not until 1912 that the task of ministering to the spiritual needs of the settlers of the vast territory.. known as the Inland, commenced. The Australian Inland Mission was born about 26 years ago, when Mr Flynn, then a young man, working for the Smith of Dunesk Mission, w-as commissioned by the Presbyterian Church of Australia to visit the Northern Territory and report. Some twelve months later his report inspired the Church to under.take the work and it was then that the “mustard seed” began to grow. . “The investigation and exploration work was not easy,” said Mr Flynn. “It was not just a case of going from place to place and preaching; it was a case of applying the ethics of practical Christianity.” The inland had been pioneered by men; it had been no place for women to live in, and so the first task of the mission was to make the countryside fit and safe for family life, for without a happy family life there could be little chance of Christian expansion, he maintained, Tlie early years of exploration work had been fraught with many dangers, but the missionary was loth to talk along these lines. “Wo got through with it and that is what matters now,” he said. In the fullness of time there were established tlie nursing homes and hospitals; then came the radio—a boon in the inland where there are •no telephones —the aeroplane service and the “Flying Doctor.” “To-day the mantle of safety is almost completed,” Mr Flynn added, “and although it is not yet fully adorned we are now ministering through the services mentioned and through our five patrol padres, to’a stout-hearted and happy people.” Talking of farming conditions in Australia, Mr Flynn said that in New Zealand we had little conception of the problems which faced the man on the land there. One-third of Australia enjoyed less than 10 inches of rainfall in' the year, while right across the north the rainfall was heavy, but it was entirely monsoonal and fell in a short period in the summer. “Wherever our mission works the drought problem is a vicious one,” the visitor said “and the settlers have to be continually prepared either for terrific tropical floods or for long periods of dry weather.”