BUDDY
IN MACKAY
“If a shepherd has 100 sheep and one goes wandering away, will not the shepherd leave the 99 to go looking for the one that wondered away?” IWT is a Bold and deliberate push to reach the youth of Australia!
IMPACT WORLD TOUR GOD IS MOVING IN NORTH QUEENSLAND!!!
Well I am excited to share with you all what God has been doing in my life over the last few months. I was just
involved in the most busy and chaotic seasons that I have had so far as a missionary here in Australia. Impact World Tour just swept through North Queensland presenting a relevant and none compromising Gospel message in a way that has never been done before in this part of Australia. Not only were there over 100 team members from around the world that laid down their lives to come perform and present the Gospel to an un-reached youth but we have also seen a raising up of the Local Body of Christ with a combined focus to reach the lost. Why North Queensland? And why so much effort and energy at this time? Only 4% of youth in this region are involved in Church or any kind of Christian fellowship, and we believe that the window of opportunity is quickly disappearing for a generation that has not heard the Gospel of jesus Christ that has the power to save and turn their lives around. ”Struth!!!” How do we reach a genera- as we would say here in OZ! So I have been here in Mackay for around 5-6 months working with 2 tion of young people other IWT staff, preparing Mackay, Sarina and the Whitsundays for the tour and the discipleship that don’t know after. With a target audience of Approximately 130 000 people in this area we saw around 12 482 people come to the shows with 888 of those responding to the message that was given. The bigthe Gospel? gest un-reached people group in the world right now is Young People <25, which is what we found as 90% of the people that responded on the nights were under the age of 15. How cool is that! Young
people are hungry for truth, if we will just take the time to present it in their language. One of my main roles as a Facilitator was in preparing for the follow-up after the tour. We don’t want to just see decisions that last a night, we want to see peoples lives changed! We’ve all heard of tic testimonies where people get RADICALLY SET FREE from addictions and have their lives are transformed by the power of Jesus Christ in an instant. We also know
those fantas-
though, that for a large number of us being “TRANSFORMED” and having our minds renewed can be a process that last longer than one day. So we have been training up local Christians and getting them ready like nets to catch the harvest. Each “Local Link” believer had to attend a total of 4 hours of training, as well as commit to following up each person they talked with on the nights for at-least an 8 week period following the event. With the aim to see each of them involved in some form of small group or discipleship process. I was given the opportunity to be the speaker for those training sessions where we would go through many topics like; sharing your testimony, what is Gospel? And how to reach this generation? It was a great opportunity to practice public speaking and as well as challenging people in their own personal evangelism. We saw 400 people trained up most of them nervous and feeling very unsure if they would be able to share with people. A survey done in the west found that 19 out of 20 will never lead anyone to the Lord in their life. Thats a pretty startling statistic, but I just goes to show again the need to bring evangelism back to the forefront of what being a Christian is all about.
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What is God saying to Me: Its funny, I think that every year I feel like I am in the steepest learning curve of my life. Just when I think I am getting somewhere God just opens up a completely new side of himself that just blows me away. So once again I feel like a kid in a world of giants. Yet I hang onto his promises for my life and keep on running forward, step after step. I really feel like I am in a season where God is refining me and getting ride of my own desires and great ideas for what should happen and taking me to the place of seeing that things
To S Equ tir up a ip nd Peo young ple. .
aren't the way they should be. So really braking my heart for the fact church as a structure in the western word is be-
SOME FACTS:
coming more and more un-relevant to the emerging generations. So God is continuing to speak to me about my part here in australia as a missionary. Though my focus in not entirely on Australia and the youth here, but through being involved in IWT and the training aspect of the base here in Townsville I am looking to continue in what I feel God’s calling on my life is: To stir up and equip young people confident in their love with God and to be radical in their obedient to his call on their life.
TOUR TESTIMONIES: Total Attendance for Tour: 33,614 People
Total Responses: 2,316 People
A woman in Mackay had invited a family she Knew to come along to the events. On the day of the show the mother of the family called In an opportunity to share stories of to say that she couldn’t come because her kids what God was doing a man from mackay were all sick afterwards the woman began to Shared this: pray that God would heal the children so they I talked with an 8 year old boy that came could come to see the show. Later the mother forward to give his life top the Lord during GX called back to say that the children were all better and so they would come to IWT. At the end International (skaters, dancers and a bikers) and the next day called up his family to con- of the show, all three children and their mother tinue telling him about what being a christian went forward to receive Jesus. means. I talked with the boys parents first to make sure that it was ok with them that he
One of the churches in Mackay which hasn’t had a youth group in years since the tour has had to start up a youth group for the 12 new kids that are coming since the tour.
talked to their son. The mothers response was “its fine with us if you talk with him, and he was reading that book (the Bible) you gave him this morning.” After talking with the boy I went to give the him my phone number so he
Total Salvation Responses 1,368 People
Mackay and Region Over $220,000 Raised
In both the Whitsundays and Sarina there is now a real concern for the youth of their
could call me if he had any questions. But before I could tell him my number the 8 year
areas, and out of that since the tour there has
old boy finished it for me. In Shock I asked
places to make sure that their youth will get a
him how he knew my number, and the boy simply said “oh I looked you up in the phone
chance to hear the gospel and be descipled -
book so I could know your number”
come each week.
been combined youth groups set up in both
Sarina are seeing around 20 young people
Prayer Points
Plans for Next 6 months: Aug 15-20th
- IWT Mackay Discipleship follow up for 8 weeks after tour in Mackay
Oct 15th
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IWT Internship Ends
Oct 18th
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4 weeks Home in NZ
Nov 22nd
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Back to Reef to Outback
Christmas - At this stage it looks like I will be Here in Townsville for christmas.
•Discipline in personal time with God in the midst of all the busyness. •Finding I am often overwhelmed with all that needs to be done. •That God will continue to show me what to say when opportunities arise to speak. •For the ongoing Follow-Up that is happening in the cities. •Wisdom with a few decisions that I am making to do with what is next for me.
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