Rod Schenk founded Mount Margaret Mission in 1921. Rod and his wife Isobel May (Mysie) worked against time and the establishment to provide a safe place for indigenous families. The Mission’s purpose was summed up in three Es:

Evangelism: Bringing the Good News of Jesus Christ

Education: Providing first class education

Environment: Making a safe place for the families dwelling there

Art work #

The Mount Margaret Mission icon and painting used on this site were created by Jonica Sullivan.

The blue sky and the red earth are the colours of the land they walked across to get to Mt Margaret. Angels of protection hover over the painting, there are angels in the four corners (they are red and white to contrast with the background). The Holy Spirit guided them to this place. People are coming from all directions to Mt Margaret and the water holes and straight paths show them which way to go.

This painting was inspired by the “God’s Dreaming” series of paintings and the symbols have been used from that work:

The U shape is a person – this is the shape a person makes in the sand when they sit down at a campfire
The flying bird shape is the Holy Spirit
The three U shapes in one represent God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit
A U shape with a line through it is an Angel
The wriggly white lines are the water holes on the way
The straight lines are the guides of the Holy Spirit to Mt Margaret

The large white circle indicates the gathering of the people. People are gathering together to celebrate their legacy from Mt Margaret; some have white dots in them, meaning they are Christians. All of the Children of Mt Margaret are welcome and they are sitting down, participating in the gathering.

The activity within the circle represents all the events and gatherings as we celebrate and continue to celebrate the legacy of being The Children of Mt Margaret:

The maroon and yellow colours are the colours of Mt Margaret School.
The crosses represent the coming together for church. Christians can celebrate that we found Jesus through Mt Margaret
The white stars are the Southern Cross to show us where we all are.

This gathering is about food as well:

The maroon colours also represent the neuthuel (honey/gum off the mulga trees)
The green branches of the Kalkulla, the Thilgarni (sweet potato/yams) and Kurrajong for water

Finally, the fun of all the flowers that come after the rain, white, pink, blue, yellow, purple and orange.

Children of Mt Margaret Inc #

The Children of Mt Margaret is a not-for-profit and non-aligned organization formed to:

Celebrate the centenary of the formation of Mt Margaret Mission
Recognise the vision of the Schenks at Mt Margaret Mission by restating its impact on the families of the Wongutha people during the past century
Remember rightly the work of the Schenks at Mt Margaret Mission
Raise funds to facilitate the celebration of the centenary and the documentation of stories and other historical records (such as photographs and recordings) of the Children of Mt Margaret
Document the legacy of Mt Margaret Mission.

The work will include:

Collection, collation and celebration of documents related to the work at Mt Margaret
Creation of a website for the Children of Mt Margaret to share records, photographs and other information
Production of a Documentary .

The organization aims to realise a vision set out by Mrs Mysie Schenk in the Foreword of Margaret Morgan’s book, A Drop in a Bucket .