\ NATIONAL PRESIDENT’S REPORT \
O
ur God is faithful, in every season. This two-year Conference period has been marked and impacted by extraordinary events – from the devastation of drought, bushfires and floods, to a global pandemic not experienced before in our lifetime. Yet the Church has continued to shine in the darkness, bringing faith, hope and love in the name of Jesus.
It would be true to say that we’ve spent much of the past two years on our knees. Prayer has been a consistent call to our pastors and congregations as collectively we have faced enormous and unpredictable challenges. Prayer in all seasons In 2019, we were fervently praying for rain to break the severe drought that had gripped our nation. Communities were running out of water, facing the loss of their livelihood, and were succumbing to a loss of hope. We were compelled to pray for our nation, calling for 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting leading up to the federal election on 18th May 2019. The scripture in 2 Chronicles 7:14 has long been the foundation of our prayers for our nation, and in July 2019, we asked all our churches to stop on the 14th day of the 7th month and pray that the Lord will heal our land. The 2019 Australian bushfire season kicked off earlier than usual, and as we entered 2020, entire regions had been devastated by the millions of hectares of land destroyed. Yet who would have known that just around the corner, a global pandemic would affect everyone on the planet? We committed to fight the Covid-19 virus on our knees, launching a National Prayer Initiative on 19th March which saw other church denominations unite with us, both across Australia and worldwide. Individuals and families set their alarms for 19h00 hours every night to stop and pray for 19 minutes. One of the great highlights in the midst of the pandemic was our Pentecost Sunday Prayer meeting, on 31st May 2020. It turned into the largest prayer meeting in our movement’s history when 3,000 Spiritfilled ACC Pastors joined together across our land on a private Zoom platform. A surprise guest was Prime Minister Scott Morrison who prayed fervently with us. Unity The power of leaders and churches praying together has resulted in the beauty and strength of unity. As we’ve reached out to assist and support each other – in the drought, bushfires, floods and pandemic – we’ve experienced the power of being ‘one’. As we’ve stood together, we’ve been able to achieve great things for the Kingdom. In the midst of the drought, churches rallied to support those ministering in the dry, arid regions through our Adopt A Church program. Support for the ACCI Drought, Bushfire and Flood Appeals enabled us to collectively make a difference for those who needed it most, to help rebuild devastated communities. By working with local ACC churches on the ground and our Chaplains, we have been able to respond to the needs of so many affected by the crisis. I loved how we shared resources as we all navigated new concepts of doing church in the Covid pandemic, helping each other with technology and programs, and ideas to connect and care for people. At different stages, we may not have been able to gather in buildings, but we still gathered in unity – the way the early Church did in the book of Acts. Church in the pandemic When places of worship were among those closed for public gatherings, we all had to step up and embrace technology to continue preaching and ministering to our congregations and communities. In our church, we used this phrase: “Church isn’t closed; the way we meet has changed”. I applaud all our pastors and thank every church that embraced technology to reach people in their homes with the hope of Jesus. It was a steep learning curve for many of us, but it was incredible to 4
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