With mango season in full swing, hundreds of Pacific Islanders have flocked to Northern Territory farms to pick and pack the fruit. One of the hardest things for many Islanders, apart from being away from family, is missing out on regular church services. One farm near the top end town of Katherine has come up with a solution.
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00:00A Pacific style church service in the Australian outback with prayers for a good harvest.
00:20Every Sunday night a crowd gathers in this pavilion near the packing shed at Kings Farm
00:25near Catherine. Most are seasonal visa workers from Vanuatu.
00:35Mitchell Curtis, a former pastor, says his Mango Church welcomes all denominations.
00:41All these people are living a church life at home 24-7. So they come to Australia and
00:46they feel completely empty. So the more we can create a similar experience here in Australia
00:53that they feel like they're at home, if we can just keep that connection, they seem to
00:58be a lot happier.
00:59Sunday church is held at night so workers can make the most of the cooler packing hours
01:04in the morning.
01:05The Lord, he's always a provider for everything so that's what I believe and that's why it's
01:12important to go to church.
01:13When I came here to Kings Farm I found it easy for me for my own life. I was finding
01:20more money and built my own house.
01:22The Pacific Labour Mobility Scheme has been the subject of renewed criticism in recent
01:27weeks. Government data show 64 visa workers died while in Australia in the four years
01:33to July. Palm Scheme recruiter Anna Berry says the culture shock of moving to Australia
01:39is the root cause of many problems.
01:41In the villages in Vanuatu, all through Vanuatu, we have our chief and we have our churches.
01:46So if you take away all that, when they land here, then you have problems. These people
01:51come here, they're missing that community. We need that cross culture. We need Australia
02:01or New Zealand to understand us.
02:08Different cultures singing from different song sheets.