March 2025 will see one of the largest evangelistic campaigns for many years in the Illawarra region. 

“Hope For The Illawarra”, a partnership between the US broadcast ministry Leading The Way and churches in the Illawarra, will culminate in outreach events. A youth celebration on March 28 will feature Dave Jensen as the main speaker and a children’s event on the morning of March 29 will include a talk by the Rev Adam Jolliffe and music by singer-songwriter Colin Buchanan. 

The evening celebration on March 29 will be addressed by Dr Michael Youssef, senior pastor of The Church of The Apostles in Atlanta, Georgia, and founder of Leading The Way.

Although Dr Youssef heads an international ministry, he is a graduate of Moore College and started his ministry in Australia. 

“I am the servant of the local pastors,” he says.

“So when I come into a town, I'm not coming to take people from the church – I want to add people to the church. 

“The heart of our evangelistic campaigns, wherever they may be, they're designed for the building up of the church of Jesus Christ. So wherever we go, we're gonna leave behind disciples. One of the towns here [in the US] said, ‘We've been praying this for 10 years, that God would do something. And this is the answer to prayer’.” 

In the preparation phase, churches are hosting personal evangelism and discipleship training; Hope for the Illawarra organising committee chairman, Bishop Peter Hayward, compares it to an iceberg. 

“Ten per cent of the overall endeavour is related to the actual events [in March],” he says. “Sixty per cent is engaging local churches and mobilising them and equipping people in our churches to witness and to speak of Jesus – and then the last 30 per cent is in the long-term follow-up of people who make a decision to follow Jesus at the actual event.”

So far, more than 700 people have attended preliminary information and training and more will be held in the lead-up to the main events. Bishop Hayward is pleased to welcome Dr Youssef, who also has links to the Illawarra. 

“He was ordained at St Michael’s Cathedral [in Wollongong], so in March he'll be literally 300 metres away from the cathedral at the entertainment centre, 50 years later.” 

He adds that Leading the Way has run similar campaigns overseas. “They’ve undertaken outreach events mobilising churches in Cairo, Dublin, Belfast, Boston and Mexico City. After that, the next obvious place you would choose is, of course, Wollongong!”

More information here.