An Adventist church member from Northern Territory, Australia, has been posthumously awarded in the Australia Day honours list, after serving her remote community for more than 45 years.
Roslyn (Ros) Jones OAM (Order of Australia Medal) ran the St John Ambulance service out of Batchelor for almost two decades with her husband Bruce, who was also a paramedic. They would respond to any medical emergency within 100 kilometres of their family home.
Before her ambulance service, Mrs Jones was the Batchelor school administrator for three decades and was instrumental in the creation of the Coomalie Community Government Council in the 1990s.
Mrs Jones died in 2024, however was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in the 2025 Australia Day celebrations.
According to ABC news, Mrs Jones’ faith motivated her to serve her community for those years with, what her daughter Tracey described as an enduring love.
“She was a loyal and faithful member who for years kept Batchelor Adventist Church open with her Sabbath School for mainly Indigenous kids,” said Pastor Don Fehlberg, former remote area pastor for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ministries (ATSIM).
Mrs Jones ran the Sabbath school for 35 years.
Mrs Jones also gave Bible studies to Indigenous people in Batchelor and Darwin and had a heart for Indigenous ministry.
“She had a tremendous burden for the Aboriginal people of Batchelor and particularly the children,” said Pastor Fehlberg. “She visited them, picked them up for Sabbath School, ran the Sabbath School many times with little help.”
According to Pastor Fehlberg, Adventists in the Northern Territory miss her contributions to the church and community there.
“Ros Jones was a tireless worker for Lord, whom she deeply loved. When she eventually moved to Darwin she still kept Batchelor going. In addition she gave Bible Studies to Aboriginal contacts in Darwin. I would ring her and she would willingly help people who wanted to come to Mamarapha to get their Abstudy and travel sorted out. We talked many times on the phone about her and my Aboriginal contacts and how we could best help them to the kingdom. We miss Ros’s faithful work and witness for Jesus.”
