Bothways: Christ and the Cultural Crocodiles

In Bothways: Christ and the Cultural Crocodiles, Ben van Gelderen explores  profound questions arising from life among Indigenous Christian communities in Australia’s Northern Territory. How do Dreaming creation stories, smoking ceremonies, ancestral beliefs, and totems relate to the Gospel? What does it mean to follow Christ while remaining deeply connected to culture, language, and Country?

Drawing on more than fifteen years living and working in Arnhem Land and Darwin — including roles at Gäwa Christian School, Charles Darwin University, and as Principal of the ecumenical theological centre Nungalinya College — the author offers a thoughtful and deeply personal reflection on faith, education, and cross-cultural learning.

For many Indigenous Christians, the word “Bothways” captures a way of living that honours both Indigenous knowledge and Christian belief. Through stories, experience, and theological reflection, this book invites readers into that journey.

More than a study of Indigenous Christianity, Bothways is a challenge to rethink how faith, culture, and community can enrich one another — and what a “Bothways” approach might mean for us all.

About the author
Ben van Gelderen was born in Sydney and studied law and linguistics. However, he soon realised that teaching and preaching was his true vocation and began working in chaplaincy roles. In 2009, with his young family, he moved to the Northern Territory, Australia to work at Gäwa Christian School in remote, North-East Arnhem Land. He was privileged to be adopted into the Indigenous Yolŋu kinship network whilst living at Gäwa and thus began his journey of living and learning ‘Bothways’. 

Later he completed PhD studies with the Gäwa community- focussing on their ‘on country’ and ‘Bothways’ approach around topics such as bilingual education, multi-literacy, homelands and a seasonal-cycle curriculum. In Darwin, Ben worked further in Christian schools with Indigenous boarding students from across the Northern Territoryand at Charles Darwin University he coordinated  the ‘Growing Our Own’ Initial Teacher Education program for remote Indigenous ‘Assistant Teachers’.Lastly, as Principal of Nungalinya College- the ecumenical (Anglican, Catholic, Uniting, as well as Lutheran, Baptist, Pentecostal) training centre for Indigenous ministrieshe learned alongside hundreds of Indigenous Christian Elders, further expanding his understanding of the ‘Bothways’ approach into the theological realm.