Report by Dr Robert McQuillan, editor of the Australian Evangel, the national monthly magazine of the Assemblies of God.

An enthusiastic Max Wiltshire, Australian Aboriginal Outreach (AAO) coordinator, shared briefly at the Assemblies of God Western Australia state conference some of the exciting things God is doing in the Kimberley region in 1998.

A number of Aboriginal leaders had accompanied him to the conference, including Kenny Boomer who received his ministry credential. Pastor Wiltshire also acknowledged the role Western Australia Women's Ministries had played in supplying a bus for the AAO work .

'Fire is falling in the Kimberleys,' he reported. 'Thousands are being powerfully touched by God in salvation, healing and release. And in many other ways too, some of which are unbelievable. Hundreds of people are falling out - not with each other, but "falling out" under the anointing.'

Affectionately known by Aboriginals as 'the man in the big hat,' the AAO coordinator went on to add that so much has happened since their outstanding Christmas meetings.

'The Kimberleys are ablaze,' he said. 'The fire of God in the hearts of his people burns brighter than ever, new churches have been started, others have doubled in size - one leaping from 10 percent of the community to 90 percent in just a few weeks. Further afield in the Pilbara area the move of God has been so intense that the local hotel went into receivership.

'This move has seen the number of Christians doubled in the area over the last twelve months, which means our conventions are climbing toward a thousand people in the evening meetings. Are the manifestations still occurring as at first in this move of God? Yes, in fact the increase that we are seeing is in direct relationship to the outstanding manifestations of the Spirit.

'But - what manifestations are we talking about? The usual? Yes, laughing, shaking, rolling, crying, running and so on continue. However, if these are the normal, what are the outstanding ones? In truth, some would make you cry in awe and wonder. Such as seeing people falling under the power of the Spirit as they give their offering to the Lord. As they have come to the front and put their offering in the containers, they 'fall out' there and then as the blessing of giving overcomes them.

'After a recent crusade, one Aboriginal lady handed a ministry offering to the speaker on behalf of the church, and fell at his feet, again under the power and blessing of giving.

'We have also seen folks falling out in the opening prayer as the very name of Jesus is mentioned. They just fall from the seats to the floor, not knowing they are meant to wait until the altar call before they let the Lord touch them. Back up singers are unable to stand, also people bringing items are unable to finish them because the anointing is so great.

'Actually, it's a case of the mores! We need more buses to pick up more people to receive more of the blessing! Transporting Aboriginals to services is a cultural thing. It shows you care and that the meetings are very important. Provide transport and they'll be there with open hearts.'

Reproduced with permission from the Australian Evangel, August 1998, page 32.

Pastor Roland asked an Australian Aboriginal woman and her son to come forward and together we all asked them to forgive the White man for coming to this land and killing their people and stealing their children. The reconciliation of Native peoples has been a major issue here in Australia as it is in many other nations right now. The Australian Government had refused to issue a public apology to the Aborigine People for past abuses.

This woman sobbed so loud and testified that she had been stolen from her natural family. She cried out that she forgave the White people and her adoptive parents who were also white. This was perhaps the most moving service I have been a part of. The whole congregation, from the youngest to the eldest was moved to tears. The resulting release and freedom as incredible. Four hours later, people were still lingering in a persistent presence of the Spirit.

We are becoming "hot news" out here. In some of the States even the Premiers know we are here and why, and are being invited to meetings. We have had politicians at some of the key meetings, as well as church leaders. We've also been on television and many radio stations, both local and nationwide. Everywhere our visit is being introduced as "Historical", "Never before", "The most significant event in the city or state" - It really is awesome! And we continue to be in awe of what God is doing. Still the weeping is going on in almost every encounter - public or more private.

The Reconciliation and Prayer journey team from England have been in South Australia and Tasmania. Both are the most English parts of Australia. South Australia is a free-settled state, with large numbers having emigrated since the Second World War.

The meetings in South Australia were well-planned and prepared for. At our first meeting in Adelaide nearly 450 people had gathered from across the churches and from aboriginal and white backgrounds. A guard of honour formed to welcome us as a Team into the meeting, at the end of which the aboriginal Christian community greeted us. With shackles around our feet, and conscious of our convict heritage into Australia, we were all overcome with weeping - so unlike the welcome that the early settlers received. Presentations were made to each member of the team, our shackles removed, and an aboriginal flag, overlaid with "Arise Shine your light has come" was unfurled and presented to us. When we spoke the words of apology tears flowed in the audience, as first aborigines came forward to receive our apology, then white Christian leaders.

The following morning we were in a church in an "English" suburb. As a result of a word on God's father-heart, 500 people came forward to pass through the "tunnel of love" in the form of a long white cloth, which we have been using in the light of Acts 19:11-12. As folk passed into the tunnel and came into touch with the cloth, God was giving us as a team direct words of knowledge, and people began falling under the power of the Spirit. The morning service stretched to over four hours! That evening all the main State candidates in the October 3^rd federal election were present in the service in another church, and were prayed for publically and some personally.

The following days were spent at on-site prayer locations in and around the city. Each was significant and was accompanied by prophetic acts, and the power of God breaking through. We visited an aboriginal land settlement, formerly a home for "stolen generation" aboriginal children, wrested from their parents as infants. There, a "fountain of tears" had been erected as a memorial. As we walked onto the site, we all began to weep, and were on our knees in the dust sobbing over the shame of what our forefathers had done. (Even today 45 per cent of all aboriginal children disappear before the age of two!) Among those who welcomed us was Tessa, a single Mum with her two children. She was one of the stolen generation. The previous night one of the team had prayed with her and God met with her and totally transformed and healed her of all her hurts and problems of identity. She now looked radiant and presented us with two aboriginal paintings. Over the next few days, we met different members of her family who thanked us profusely for coming and for the healing that had come to them. "You've done more for our family in one encounter than the Government has ever done", one invalid brother said! This is typical of how God has been dealing with personal needs, and, in the process, dealing with some of the communal hurts and spiritual bondages.

Seven women, brought to Australia as 'orphans' after the war, met with us at what used to be their orphanage, (now a Bible college, officially opened last week). It was the first time they had returned to the place that they associate with the worst period of their lives. They were angry, bitter and very critical of the system that caused them to come to Australia as children, away from their family and parents in England! They described the horror of what became like a prison regime - the sexual, physical and verbal abuse, the harsh treatment, the lies and most of all the lack of love and loss of identity (some even had their names changed!). It was a harrowing time as we listened to them, apologised, and then prayed with them.

The Tasmanian visit was described by Brian Pickering as "the most significant part of our whole journey".

Tasmania is also English in feel, with lush green countryside and many colonial reminders in architecture. But that's where the similarity ends! Tasmania was mostly settled with convicts, with 97,000 passing through the Port Arthur penal colony and 15,000 women through the "Female Factory" in Hobart! Today's population of the island (larger than Ireland), is a mere four times that number.

Port Arthur was the male prison, and also the site of the Dunblane type massacre that occurred in 1996. Thousands of Irish 'rebels' had been transported here. It was a place of death, of dehumanising prison rule. Prisoners were kept in solitary confinement, in silence, for months on end. Many went mad or committed suicide. After a poignant tour, we met in the "Separate Prison's chapel", where prisoners used to be brought in to the church services with masks over their faces, sat in isolated cubicles, preached at with a Gospel of judgement. There, we re-enacted a prophetic picture God had given to an Australian intercessor. Artefacts from the museum - shackles, a whip and a prison uniform - were presented by us to the Australians as symbols of the torture we imposed. They then handed them back to us, as we wept before them, saying "we don't need these anymore". Over 3,000 boys had been incarcerated in the prison, and many had died and were buried on the "Island of the Dead" - just offshore. What have we done to our offspring? This was our constant cry.

It was amazing how God continually orchestrated what was happening, and provided just the right people in each situation - descendants of convicts, of prison officers, of the military, stolen generation aborigines, lost generation orphans. Britain's economic policy of turning away from Australia in favour of European trading ties caused the collapse of the Tasmanian apple industry. In one year their export output dropped from six million crates of apples to 360,000 crates. We met farmers and their descendants who had been made destitute and bankrupt as a result of this. The pain we constanly found in Christian people over their recent memories and family story was almost overwhelming. Yet each time this pain and anger was confronted, we saw immediate release. All we did was apologise. God did the rest! We met women whose forbears had been in the female factory. 800 children had been aborted there - and their bones were discovered when the church, now on the site, was being built! Who made them pregnant? The majority of people in the congregations in both Hobart and Launceston had been affected in some way by this history. As we spoke at a joint-church meeting in Hobart, people started weeping in their seats - the same has happened in most of the meetings.

Note: The team moved through each of the Australian states with official functions in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra. Media attention continued. A television documentary is being made of the visit. Please pray for this.

Full reports of the British-Australian Reconciliation Tour can be retrieved by ending an e-mail to hub@xc.orgwith these two commands in the body of your mail: get joel-news-international british-australian-reconciliation

Source: Joel News

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Christian Life Centre Mount Annan is an Assembly of God church located on 37 acres of park-like land near Campbelltown on the south west of Sydney NSW Australia. They have been experiencing a sustained outpouring of the Holy Spirit since the 5th of November 1994.

Adrian Gray, the senior Pastor of Christian Life Centre Mount Annan was born again in the mid 1960's during a period of revival in Campbelltown NSW. This initial experience of the power and work of the Holy Spirit left a distinct impression on his spirit and believing for and working towards full-scale revival has subsequently become a major focus in his relationship with the Lord and in his ministry. Old photos of crusades and sermon titles testify to the fact that his life message hasn't altered since his early ministry days.

Having desired for some time to find a permanent home for the church which Adrian and Kathy Gray have pastored since February 1975, the current property was purchased in 1984 after a prophetic word that was given to them while on an overseas trip to America. Over the years there have been many prophecies over Adrian and the church by people such as David Cartledge, Frank Houston and Dale Sexton from the USA declaring that Mount Annan would become a centre of revival.

An outstanding prophetic sign occurred a short while before this outpouring took place when a helicopter flying over the church called the fire department reporting our building on fire. Thirteen fire trucks screamed up the church driveway looking for the fire to extinguish, but there was no fire. When the realisation came that it was a spiritual fire that had been witnessed great awe came upon the church. This happened at the conclusion of ten days of prayer and fasting for revival.

At the arrival of the move of the Holy Spirit on the first weekend of November 1994, like the church in Toronto, Canada could only be described as sovereign. Randwick Baptist Church, which is in more central Sydney, experiencing the same outpouring at exactly the same time testifies to the reality of it being a sovereign event. In fact there were numbers of churches around the nation that experience a similar occurrence about the same time.

For many months the church had been praying for a visitation of God without perhaps really realising what that meant. An evangelistic crusade with an "end-times emphasis" had been planned for that weekend. The evangelist recently returned from Toronto Canada preached his evangelistic message and called people forward who wanted a fresh touch from God. Immediately over 300 people responded and as the evangelist and pastors prayed the presence of God came. The Father's heart of love was revealed to the people and as hands were gently laid on them they fell to the floor under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. They lay there for a long time and when they got up there were dozens of amazing testimonies of healing and restoration and life changing transformations. The next day, Sunday, the Holy Spirit came again, and then again on Monday and Tuesday and in every meeting held since that time. The anointing was so strong that many people in those first months would fall to the floor as soon as they came through the door.

Two weeks later on arriving back from Toronto, Adrian and Kathy and the leadership team, convinced that this was God and the fulfilment of the many prophecies, made a decision to commit the church to revival, hence the church's logo and motto. This is one of the key elements that has set Christian Life Centre Mount Annan apart from the many other churches in Australia that have experienced this move of the Holy Spirit. Renewal did not just become an appendage to the existing program, it became the entire program. The Holy Spirit is free to move however he wants in any of the services. While most pastors would say that this is the case in their churches, many have actually limited the style of meeting that is characteristic of this current move, to one or two services a week and the other meetings are "normal".

Mid week services were started almost immediately and have continued now for four years. These are held Wednesday 10.30 a.m. and 7.30 p.m. and Friday 7.30 p.m. On Saturday nights there is a youth service at 7.30 p.m. There is also the Waves of Power International Ministry School at 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday nights. These services and the ministry school attract many people from other denominations much like the renewal/revival meetings around the world. Every occasion that the church gathers is a revival time.

Because of the numbers of people just visiting, it is hard to actually determine how many people in each service actually belong to the church. There have been approximately 200,000 people pass through the church doors since the outpouring began. The official membership has grown from 300 prior to renewal to 700 at present. With all the services added together, 1,200 people are ministered to per week with many more during conferences.

One of the main strengths at Christian Life Centre Mount Annan is team and body ministry. Since that first weekend in November 1994 the staff alone has grown from three to nineteen full and part-time members. The church also has a prayer ministry team of approximately 120 members who are trained to pray for people at the five services each week and the many conferences that have been held.

The ministry style as such has not changed dramatically, as the church had always been a team environment. However the numbers of people actively involved in some form of ministry have radically increased. The pastoral care team for example has now has 60 members and the worship team has over 90. The youth group attendance has grown from 25 to 90 with young people coming to Christ every week. A recent baptism service saw 33 people baptised.

Marc Dupont, prophesied that the church would be overrun by people, but that God was also going to send in many strong leaders. The staff is continually surprised by the quality of people that God is joining to the church. There is now very strong leadership at all levels in the church.

Christian Life Centre Mount Annan held their first conference in February 1996. They invited leaders from all over Australia to come and hear Val Dodd from the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship lay down some foundational principles that they had learned with regard to maintaining and pastoring the move of God. Essentially these were "not putting anyone's name on it" and "walking in God's love and giving it away". These were two principles that Christian Life Centre Mount Annan was quick to embrace. It is hard to promote something without having a name associated with it and the leadership of the church has been humbled by the way the profile of the church has been lifted by the Lord these last four years. Pastor Adrian Gray in particular is very careful in this regard.

The second principle of "walking in God's love and giving it away" has been another key to the maintaining of the move of the Holy Spirit at the church. Though the church very definitely has a local commission, they also recognise a national and international call. They see themselves as a well or a resource centre for revival in the nation. To this end they are constantly releasing teams to travel out to fuel the movement of the Holy Spirit all over the Asia/Pacific rim.

They have also hosted approximately 20 conferences over the last four years, bringing world class revival speakers within the reach average believers here in Australia. The Scriptures teach that those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed and often it is while teams are out ministering that those in the church recognise a lifting in the level of anointing.

Through these conferences, speaking engagements and various inquiries, the Christian Life Centre has set up the Revival NOW! International Pastors and Leaders Network. This is not a new denomination, but a gathering together of key men and women across the nation to collectively pursue national and global revival. It is a great privilege in this to work alongside many great man and women from all denominations.

Another strength found at Christian Life Centre Mount Annan is the worship. Not only is there a great team of musicians and singers, but the congregation themselves are great worshippers. In February 1998 the church released their first live worship album. Two national wholesalers have already picked up the album and rights to it have also been given to two distributors in Asia. One of these will be translating lyrics into Thai. This worship is having a profound impact on churches all over the nations.

The future

Adrian Gray is a strong visionary leader and so the future is full of challenge and blessing as the church seeks to fulfil its destiny in God. There are plans already under way for church planting both locally and overseas. A campus of the Waves of Power International Ministry School is opening in Thailand shortly and in January 1999, a Christian primary school called Mount Annan Christian College will be starting on the church's property. Everything is on the increase since the arrival of renewal/revival. What is most exciting is that the wave of souls being saved has already begun and at almost every service people are being drawn supernaturally to salvation. It is Revival NOW!

Previous issues of the Renewal Journal have these Australian Reports.

# 1 Pentecost in Arnhem Land - Djiniyini Gondarra

# 2 Local Revivals in Australia - Stuart Piggin

# 3 Renewal in a College Community (BCV September 1993) - Brian Edgar

# 3 Spirit Wave (COC May 1993) - Darren Trinder

# 4 Sounds of Revival (April 1994) - Sue Armstrong

# 5 Renewal Blessings (November-December 1994)

# 6 Revival Worship (1995) - Geoff Waugh

# 7 Times of Refreshing (Randwick Baptist November 1994) - Greg Beech

# 7 Catch the Fire (Sydenham Anglican June 1995) - Dennis Plant

# 8 The 'No Name' Revival (Canberra 1996) - Brian Medway

# 9 Building a Better World by Dave Andrews - Dorothy Mathieson

#10 Caloundra Baptist Church (July 1997) - Ken Kilah

#10 Australian Reports:

#11 Australian Reports:

Faith Comes Alive in the Pilbara (November 1997) - Craig Siggins

Spiritual Awakening in the North West (July 1998) - Craig Siggins

Grog Replaced by Gospel (April 1998) - Mairi Barton

St Helens Christian Fellowship, Tasmania (May 1998) - Stuart Lumsden