The dhiiyaan community has actively participated in community work since its establishment in 2005. As a dynamic and ever-evolving family, the past few years have led us into a role as custodians of a 40-acre property in Dalby, QLD.
This property, Bethel, operated as a children’s home from the 1950s-80s, and then had a variety of organisations attached to it over the unfolding years. For some time, the property sat dormant and in disrepair. The dhiiyaan community took ownership in 2014 and has actively undertaken significant renovations of the property and its infrastructure for the past 7 years.
The vision for our work came from an ancient Hebrew text that was translated as:
"You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, and make the community liveable again."
It had been a momentous season of healing for our community after a major traumatic experience, and in some ways, the focus and fruit of Bethel have had a profound effect on us all. We took the “restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate” to mean that the physical infrastructure and surrounding environment of the 40 acres were to be worked on.
The community has made a sacrificial commitment to be at Bethel regularly, some now living full-time on the property and others also having extended time in holidays. For us, this has meant learning new skills (slowly becoming “known as those who can fix anything”) and plenty of blood, sweat (and yes, at times, tears) to make improvements to the property.
In particular, we have worked on regenerative agriculture principles to begin healing the land.
Bethel sits on the “Big Sky Country” of the Barunggam people. We acknowledge their custodianship of this and the surrounding area. They have shown their hospitality to people for thousands of years and now Bethel has become a space where we can show that same hospitality to others, especially those on their healing journeys. We love to see others connecting with Creator, creation and community.
This has led to a dramatic increase in returning native species (particularly birds) to the property. This increased sense of life in Bethel has been exciting and soothing. Whilst faithfully undertaking the renovating work for Bethel (and ourselves), we were not entirely certain of what the future held regarding us and the property.
It was then, through interconnected networks and divinely presented opportunities, that we began to become involved in working with disadvantaged youth. It has been over the past two years that this has taken shape and now become a major activity for dhiiyaan. Check out the True Fella section for more information.
