SA Variety Bash visits Wellington, donates bus to Life House church

Two Murray Bridge church pastors have thanked the 2020 racers for their generosity on their way through the Murraylands.

Peri Strathearn

Nov 9, 2020 — 2 min read

Pastors Mark Bettcher and Josh O’Callaghan say thanks to Castaways Jim Clark, Mark Gevers, Mick Rawlings and Peter Smyth. Photo: Peri Strathearn.

Variety is the spice of life, but it has also been a blessing to the Life House church.

The 2020 SA Variety Bash motored through Wellington on Monday, bringing more than 70 novelty-themed cars across the ferry and into the marina for a lunch stop on their way from Cape Jervis to Robe.

During the stopover, representatives of Life House Murray Bridge dropped in to say thank you for a bus which Variety, the children's charity, donated to them several months ago.

Pastor Mark Bettcher said the bus had been a blessing to the church.

“About 500 different young people come through our programs,” he said.

“For a lot of these guys it’s the highlight of their week – they just look forward to being able to come to the programs.

“A lot of them wouldn’t be able to come to these programs if it wasn’t for transport ... so we really appreciate you guys for this gift.

“It helps us to bless our community.”

The church’s Life Kids programs include a Friday afternoon outreach service for primary school-aged children, Sunday services for a range of age groups and a weekly leadership program for nine- to 13-year-olds.

Because Life House had received the bus for free, in turn the church had decided to loan it free of charge to schools including Geranium and Coomandook, Pastor Josh O’Callaghan said.

“Thank you so much for the blessing of this bus and all that you do to support our kids ... (who) wouldn’t be able to get to these programs without it.”

Variety SA’s Peter de Cure thanked the pair in turn for bringing the bus along to show the bashers what their fundraising had achieved.

“Everybody here works hard to raise money,” he said.

“It’s absolutely fantastic to see the way you’re using and the fact that you’ve got that generosity of spirit to get it out into the wider community.”