Ms. Etervina Groenen

Etervina Groenen is an early-1980s migrant from East Timor and was, until last year, its official representative in Australia.She devotes much of her time to helping asylum seekers at the North Richmond Community Health Centre and as lay minister at St Matthias Anglican church in Abbotsford.

"Many have suffered terribly," she says.She has found extreme distress among many still traumatised after years in Australia.Some have confided instances of physical and mental abuse, including torture and rape.Men have told her of digital rape by Indonesian soldiers "to break the spirit".

Most of the 1650 East Timorese asylum seekers live in Victoria.Some have been in Australia for more than a decade.

"It's a long time to put your life on hold," Ms Groenen says, "where you are wondering if something terrible is going to happen -- that you are gooing to be sent back.

Etervina Groenen is an early-1980s migrant from East Timor and was, until last year, its official representative in Australia.She devotes much of her time to helping asylum seekers at the North Richmond Community Health Centre and as lay minister at St Matthias Anglican church in Abbotsford.

"Many have suffered terribly," she says.She has found extreme distress among many still traumatised after years in Australia.Some have confided instances of physical and mental abuse, including torture and rape.Men have told her of digital rape by Indonesian soldiers "to break the spirit".

Most of the 1650 East Timorese asylum seekers live in Victoria.Some have been in Australia for more than a decade.

"It's a long time to put your life on hold," Ms Groenen says, "where you are wondering if something terrible is going to happen ­ that you are gooing to be sent back.

Etervina Groenen

Etervina Groenen is a long term community campaigner and human rights advocate,working with refugees from many countries over many years. Etervina was an official spokesperson for East Timor during the 1999 crisis in East Timor, leading the campaign for peacekeepers to be sent into East Timor.She was appoited by President Xanana Gusmao as East Timor's representative from 2000-2001 and appointed by Dr Jose Ramos Horta as Liaison Officer for East Timor's Department of Foreign Affairs from 2001-2002 in the Southern States of Australia. Etervina is currently the East Timor Support and Settlement Worker at North Richmond Community Health Centre and a licenced Lay Minister with the Melbourne Anglican Church.

Ms Etervina Groenen, an authorised lay minister at St Matthias North Richmond, said it had been "great to see the growth of their Chinese speaking congregation... and wonderful to see people who used to sit passively now taking up leadership roles... and offering pastoral support to the traumatised East Timorese people" who come to the church.

She said these East Timorese had been so impressed that they had offered St Matthias a piece of land in East Timor and had invited them to "plant a church there anytime."

The Revd Dr Colleen O'Reilly, vicar of St Faith's, Burwood and a member of Archbishop in Council, gave an update on the work of five working groups of Council members asked to prepare guidelines on how to implement the various aspects of the Vision.She said that Council hoped to complete the process by the February meeting of Council.

At the end of the Archbishop's 20 20 Vision presentation, a motion that "Synod supports the Archbishop's Vision and calls for him to develop the Vision as a work in progress" was debated.The mover of the motion, the Revd Dr Stephen Ames, said that while he appreciated that the presentation "had taken on board the feedback" to the Vision, he said that as the Vision embraced a 20 year time frame it needed to be seen as a "work in progress."

The Revd Russell Joyce expressed a concern that the regional consultations had not provided an opportunity for adequate consultation, and said he would like to see more affirmation of "the role of small churches."

The Revd Harry Kerr criticised the "culture of topdown leadership" in the Diocese, which he felt was "not good at listening to the experience of people on the ground."

The Revd Ray Elliott said he was "excited by the Vision's proposed partnership between parishes and schools," and suggested the convening of consultations within the education sector.

Etervina Groenen is an early-1980s migrant from East Timor and was, until last year, its official representative in Australia.She devotes much of her time to helping asylum seekers at the North Richmond Community Health Centre and as lay minister at St Matthias Anglican church in Abbotsford.

"Many have suffered terribly," she says.She has found extreme distress among many still traumatised after years in Australia.Some have confided instances of physical and mental abuse, including torture and rape.Men have told her of digital rape by Indonesian soldiers "to break the spirit".

Most of the 1650 East Timorese asylum seekers live in Victoria.Some have been in Australia for more than a decade.

"It's a long time to put your life on hold," Ms Groenen says, "where you are wondering if something terrible is going to happen - that you are going to be sent back.

. Etervina Groenen, North Richmond Community Health Centre