Page 104 - moondani kyema
P. 104
ndani kyema, My Story - Ray Moore 104
of his jobs were with old money in the Kew, Burwood area. I did not have a clue
about gardening and I have often wondered whether the early demise of Frank’s
business had anything to do with the type of employee he had.
Our second church was in Abbotsford and we lived at Clifton Hill. Although the
manse was a magnificent building and had belonged to a former mayor of
Collingwood, our income was no better than before. So I found a job which did not
interfere with my ministry or my studies. I got up at four o’clock each morning and
rode my bicycle up to High Street, Northcote where I opened up a newsagent’s
business for him and sorted out the papers for the delivery boys. I then got the boys
out on their rounds and settled down to sell papers and cigarettes to the early birds
going to work, until the owner came in at about 8 am. Then I rode back to Clifton Hill
and picked up my eldest son, Michael who was about 4 years old and took him to
kindergarten, just across the park from our place. After which I rode across the top of
Melbourne to Whitley College in Royal Parade for my theological lectures. I very
rarely arrived early, and the professors stopped asking me for reasons for my
tardiness. Mostly I managed to stay awake for the lectures and passed my subjects
OK in the end.
At our third church at Euroa, we were in a similar situation. I had to find a job which I
could do that did not interfere with my ministry or my studies. This time it was the
local baker that gave me a job. Up again at 4 am and off to the wonderfully aromatic
workplace of the bakery soon after the loaves were cooked. My task was to get the
bread ready for slicing and then put them over the slicer and wrapper. In those days
bread was wrapped in grease proof paper and the machine did both the slicing and
wrapping in one process. It mostly worked alright and I enjoyed being able to nibble
the crusty little bits of bread that broke away with the slicing.
We then moved to Ballarat, our fourth and final church. From here I moved out of the
church ministry and into the role of the first director of Ballarat Lifeline. The Ballarat
North Baptist Church was one of four Baptist churches in Ballarat, and was not big in
numbers. This meant that after a couple of years its finances dropped to the point
where the leadership felt that they could no longer pay a full time minister. So I
offered to try and find part time employment to help out.
The first job I got was with Australia Post or whatever it was called at that time. It
seems that there were about 100 red post boxes around Ballarat for people to post
their letters, and these had to be emptied each day and the contents taken to the
Post Office. I was sent out with a huge ring of gigantic keys, a little like an old
fashioned prison warder, and had to work my way around 50 of these post boxes and
empty the letters into a large canvas bag, and then take them back to the Post Office.
I am not sure how much money I made out of this effort because I had to do it all in
my own car and I think the pay I received did not do much more than pay for the
running of the car. Still it made me feel that I was doing something worthwhile.
Later, I got a job with a local window cleaning firm. I discovered that the secret
ingredient for cleaning windows was methylated spirits in warm to hot water. And,
once when I was cleaning the windows of a mansion belonging to a local
watchmaker, and had forgotten to put in my clean rags, I also discovered that toilet
paper is wonderful for getting a smear free finish. One of the other places whose
windows I cleaned was the local Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. As this is one of
my favourite fast foods, it was not difficult to work out what to have for lunch.
of his jobs were with old money in the Kew, Burwood area. I did not have a clue
about gardening and I have often wondered whether the early demise of Frank’s
business had anything to do with the type of employee he had.
Our second church was in Abbotsford and we lived at Clifton Hill. Although the
manse was a magnificent building and had belonged to a former mayor of
Collingwood, our income was no better than before. So I found a job which did not
interfere with my ministry or my studies. I got up at four o’clock each morning and
rode my bicycle up to High Street, Northcote where I opened up a newsagent’s
business for him and sorted out the papers for the delivery boys. I then got the boys
out on their rounds and settled down to sell papers and cigarettes to the early birds
going to work, until the owner came in at about 8 am. Then I rode back to Clifton Hill
and picked up my eldest son, Michael who was about 4 years old and took him to
kindergarten, just across the park from our place. After which I rode across the top of
Melbourne to Whitley College in Royal Parade for my theological lectures. I very
rarely arrived early, and the professors stopped asking me for reasons for my
tardiness. Mostly I managed to stay awake for the lectures and passed my subjects
OK in the end.
At our third church at Euroa, we were in a similar situation. I had to find a job which I
could do that did not interfere with my ministry or my studies. This time it was the
local baker that gave me a job. Up again at 4 am and off to the wonderfully aromatic
workplace of the bakery soon after the loaves were cooked. My task was to get the
bread ready for slicing and then put them over the slicer and wrapper. In those days
bread was wrapped in grease proof paper and the machine did both the slicing and
wrapping in one process. It mostly worked alright and I enjoyed being able to nibble
the crusty little bits of bread that broke away with the slicing.
We then moved to Ballarat, our fourth and final church. From here I moved out of the
church ministry and into the role of the first director of Ballarat Lifeline. The Ballarat
North Baptist Church was one of four Baptist churches in Ballarat, and was not big in
numbers. This meant that after a couple of years its finances dropped to the point
where the leadership felt that they could no longer pay a full time minister. So I
offered to try and find part time employment to help out.
The first job I got was with Australia Post or whatever it was called at that time. It
seems that there were about 100 red post boxes around Ballarat for people to post
their letters, and these had to be emptied each day and the contents taken to the
Post Office. I was sent out with a huge ring of gigantic keys, a little like an old
fashioned prison warder, and had to work my way around 50 of these post boxes and
empty the letters into a large canvas bag, and then take them back to the Post Office.
I am not sure how much money I made out of this effort because I had to do it all in
my own car and I think the pay I received did not do much more than pay for the
running of the car. Still it made me feel that I was doing something worthwhile.
Later, I got a job with a local window cleaning firm. I discovered that the secret
ingredient for cleaning windows was methylated spirits in warm to hot water. And,
once when I was cleaning the windows of a mansion belonging to a local
watchmaker, and had forgotten to put in my clean rags, I also discovered that toilet
paper is wonderful for getting a smear free finish. One of the other places whose
windows I cleaned was the local Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. As this is one of
my favourite fast foods, it was not difficult to work out what to have for lunch.
