Dear Friends
As I will be working with you in St Mark's Parish, I think it is important that I share something of my background with you. I am one of eleven children and I spent most of my childhood on a small farm outside Oakey, a small town west of Toowoomba. At age 20 years I went to Papua New Guinea as a Lay Missionary, teaching in a village school west of Bogia in the Madang District for 3½ years. I then returned to Papua New Guinea for a further 2 years to do welfare work in the villages around Madang.
On leaving Papua New Guinea I joined the Queensland Public Service as a Liaison Officer in the Department of Aboriginal and Islander Advancement and was posted to Bamaga in far north Queensland. I was then transferred to Townsville. I was married in Townsville and have a son Edward who now has a little family of his own.
In 1992 I graduated from James Cook University in Townsville with the degree 'Bachelor of Community Welfare' and in 2001 I graduated from St Paul's Theological College with a 'Graduate Diploma in Theology'.
I have worked in social welfare for 18 years in the fields of disability, child protection and youth justice. From 1995 to 2005 I was employed firstly as a Case Worker and then as a Resource Officer in the Department of Families here in Inala.
The uniquely rich cultural diversity of this suburb has always impressed me and it is with great joy and gratitude that I am back to work with you all to further God's work in this area. I hope you will introduce yourselves to me. We need to work together to address the needs of all God's people. I will be working from the Parish Centre on Thursdays and Fridays. God Bless.
Kathie