Tyler Lovio-Coley

Australia Trip 2023

Willy Dumas, Aboriginal pastor of Ganggalah Church and National Director of the ACC (Australian Christian Churches) Indigenous Initiative, leads an annual trip to the remote Aboriginal communities of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

This is a trip primarily led by Indigenous leadership. Their team brings in practical supplies like food, petrol, and outdoor gear while giving leadership training, encouragement, and pastoral care.

I was introduced to Pastor Willy by Dr.Tanya Riches in 2018 while studying theology in Sydney. This trip was supposed to occur in 2020 but was delayed until this summer. This trip will also tie into the master’s program of Indigenous Theology I am currently working through at NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community.

For this trip the goal is twofold. First, spread further awareness of these communities’ needs and the connections leaders like Pastor Willy have been sustaining over many years to a US audience through storytelling. Secondly, to raise funds towards the maintenance and purchase of the 4X4 vehicles needed to reach these communities and for the communities themselves to get around.  

All current donations given here will go to this 2023 trip.

Links for more Information:

ACC INDIGENOUS INITIATIVE

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Testimony

I came to faith at the young age of five on the redwood coasts of Humboldt County in Northern California, which has been and still is home to both my wife and I’s families going back multiple generations. While my faith is my own it is rooted in the generational context of my parents and grandparents, who trace their born again experience to the Jesus People revivals of 1960’s and 70’s. Thus my faith is layered with an inherited organic west coast counter cultural charisma that leans into the Spirit, mixed with a love for studious dedication to knowing as much as we can about the truth revealed through God’s word and creation.

My wife Alysia and I have been married for over seven years and together for over twelve, we both have a dedication to seeing the love and justice of God encounter individual hearts as well as change unjust systems.

Prior Experience 

I have been involved in ministry in some form or another since I was ten. I have been a worship leader/youth leader for high school,college age groups and church camps. I have led some regional, cross cultural, and cross denominal gatherings for worship, prayer, and reconciliation. I have been on several trips overseas for ministry, projects, or fellowship including Mexico, Wales (UK), Uganda, Native American Nations, and Australia.

Education wise, I have a BA in Journalism (Public Relations) from Cal Poly Humboldt, an Advanced Diploma of Pastoral Ministry from Hillsong College (Hillsong Church, Sydney Australia), and am currently working on a Master of Theology from NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community.

I am coming up on a decade of learning from and working in ministry alongside Indigenous peoples in a local context in the US and Australia. 

Alysia has worked in the education space for over a decade and currently teaches at a local high school. She also completed her BA from Cal Poly Humboldt and her Diploma of Pastoral Ministry from Hillsong College.

This Space Initiative

What could and should Christian community look like over the next 50 years of our lives?

This Space will be a fellowship for young adults (18-25)/(25-35) looking to explore a balance between inherited(institutional/analog) and emerging(networked/digital) expressions of Christian community in the midst of monumental societal transitions.

As a community practicing the way of Jesus, processing the complexities of life, and enjoying the company of friends the gatherings will revolve around three overarching themes: Creation, Formation, and Innovation. We’ll gather primarily in homes, but also in community spaces, pubs, and churches around northern Humboldt a few times a month.

There will be a visit and exploration of a different traditional church expression one Sunday a month with longer reflective retreats a few times a year.

This Space is meant to either complement your current church or become a core place of community for those who are inclined. Come to as many or as few of the gatherings that work for your current season.