Occasionally God’s plan is vividly clear, and in other situations it takes a while to materialize. Most often, it seems that it’s a combination of the two, as a few isolated events fold together in such a way that it suddenly becomes obvious that God is at work.
Such is the case in Broken Hill, where Will Graham will share the love and hope of Jesus in the arid mining country of central Australia this weekend (May 10-11).
Reality 2014, as the event is called, is not the result of an extensive five-year evangelism plan laid out by dozens of unified churches. Rather, this movement of God finds its genesis in a mailer and a canceled appointment.
It began a couple years ago, as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) of Australia was making a push to get churches involved in Dare to Be a Daniel, a youth evangelism training resource made available free of charge through the BGEA. A pair of ministry representatives were traveling around the country, training churches in how to use the materials.
“An advertisement came across my desk through the mail for Dare to Be a Daniel and I passed it along to the husband and wife team that were running our youth group,” said John Curtis, pastor of Broken Hill Church of Christ.
The youth group leader, who also happened to be his daughter (Kathryn), agreed that the materials looked good but expressed concern about the training. Sydney is a 14-hour drive, and Dubbo—while closer— was still more than eight hours away. Either option would require extensive travel and hotel costs.
According to BGEA’s Rodney Trinidad, “Kathryn really wanted to do Dare to Be a Daniel and she asked if there was any way to do the training online, or a video. She knew we were providing the resources for free, but they couldn’t make it to Dubbo. They just couldn’t afford it.
“I remember telling Kathryn on the phone, ‘Look, if you can get the churches of Broken Hill together, I’m more than happy to come and do the training there where you are.’”
Kathryn wasn’t sure it was possible, but she promised to try.
Then two things happened that will possibly changed eternity for some in attendance this weekend. First, Trinidad cancelled a Dare to Be a Daniel training in the town of Wollongong due to lack of interest, which opened up a night on the calendar. Second, Kathryn called back with amazing news: The churches were on board and unified.
That day the tickets were booked, and BGEA representatives flew out just 24 hours later to meet the room of excited participants in Broken Hill. That’s when they first sensed that God was beginning to move in this region.
“They came up and said we think God’s doing something here,” said Curtis, himself a ’59er, the name given to the group of those who came to Christ during Billy Graham’s 1959 historic series of Crusades throughout Australia.
“When you’re here all the time and these things happen, you know that God is at work but you don’t really sit back and look at it objectively.”
Jorge Rodriguez, executive director of the BGEA in Australia, shared how it was clear from the beginning that Broken Hill was where Reality 2014 was supposed to be: “I just felt that I’d gone to other cities with more preparation, more people around me, and more effort. But we came here and it was like a done deal. We just felt God’s blessing and affirmation and it was just amazing.”
Just one of the amazing aspects of this movement in Broken Hill is the full and complete backing of the local churches. Every church in Broken Hill is on board and supporting Reality 2014.
Major Brenda Stace of the Salvation Army in Broken Hill shared, “When I heard that Will was coming, there was something inside me that said, ‘Yes, this is something we need to be a part of.’”
She has served on the executive committee and helped to develop the outreach.
“It’s just been a privilege and something that I’ve never experienced before,” Stace added. “God’s got something in store for us.”
Curtis agreed that God’s hand is at work in Broken Hill. “In 40 years here in ministry as a pastor, I’ve never seen all the churches come together like that. God is doing something. To have people from all the churches praying together, it’s creating a unity like there hasn’t been before.”
