Christians in the Illawarra have prayed high and low for the coming Hope for the Illawarra events, from Mount Keira to Wollongong Harbour.
"It's a combination of 18 months of endeavour," says Bishop Peter Hayward, chairman of the committee that has organised three major opportunities to share Jesus on March 28 and 29.
"We had 1500 people participate in training to invite and engage with people across the Illawarra. More than 50 churches across denominations have taken up a tool to invite people."
Then there was the prayer, fervent but also unusual.
"We've had regular prayer meetings, yes," Bishop Hayward says. "We also had a gathering at Mount Keira as well as what we describe as a ‘paddle out’ in Wollongong Harbour. About 150 people turned out for prayer and about 40 of those paddled out, formed a circle and prayed in the middle of the harbour. The rest stayed on shore, but they all prayed for God's blessing upon the events – that new life would come to people through knowing Jesus."
Above: Prayers on Mount Keira
A Region-wide mission Partnership
Friday 28 March - 7pm - HopeYouth Event with pre-event music & activities from 5:30pm
Saturday 29 March - 10am - HopeKids Event with pre-event activities from 9:30am
Saturday 29 March - 7pm - Hope For The Illawarra Event
Tickets: hopefortheillawarra.com.au
The events kick off on Friday night, March 28 at the WIN Entertainment Centre, with Dave Jensen as speaker on the theme of hope.
“The world's definition of that word is sort of like a hoping-for-the-best, crossing-of-your fingers, not quite sure but you wanna give something a nudge,” Mr Jensen says. "But the Bible articulates hope completely differently. Hope is not risky, it's not up in the air, it's not, 'not quite sure’ – it's rock solid.
"Bring as many people as you can to the youth and to the other events. All in the hope, the solid hope, that God's gospel never goes out and comes back empty.”
“They desperately need the hope of Christ”
The Saturday morning children's event will feature singer-songwriter Colin Buchanan and a talk by children's minister Adam Jolliffe.
Kat Harris, organising committee member and the youth and children's minister at Bulli Anglican, says the event was timed so it fell between kids’ sporting cycles.
“It’s before winter sports starts, so they're free to come along and to join us for a celebration gathering on that Saturday morning,” she says. “We wanted to do a kids’ event. But we also knew that there'd be this beautiful, positive spin of capturing the adults as well, just like a good episode of Bluey, right? So when you think of the kids’ event, you can think of Bluey, and you can think it's going to be amazing. Or even better, think about Jesus with the kids as well.”
Evangelist Dr Michael Youssef, who founded the Leading the Way broadcasting ministry in Atlanta, has flown in to prepare for the major event on Saturday night.
“Illawarra is a special region for me personally, as it was 50 years ago that I was ordained into the ministry at St Michael's in Wollongong," he says. "This is an exciting time to be alive and serving our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't have to tell you that there are so many in the Illawarra region who are stumbling aimlessly in the dark and they are looking for answers. Sadly, they are looking for answers in all the wrong places.They desperately need the hope in Christ and his true peace and eternal life.
“The need for an uncompromising truth from us in the church of Jesus Christ has never been greater."
Main Photo: Jason McPhail of Keiraville International Church dives deep to promote Hope for the Illawarra
