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whose powerful words inspired the newly converted Arthur Stace to write the word `Eternity' on the footpaths of Sydney and beyond; the word `Eternity' which lit up the harbour bridge on New Years Eve 1999/2000.
John G. Ridley was born in Sydney in 1896. From the age of four, John wanted to be a soldier with a passionate desire for military glory. On his 10th birthday his father wrote "to a soldier and a man".
At the age of 18 he was converted during the preaching of Rev. William Lamb at Burton Street Baptist Tabernacle. The Spirit of God used a warning of the Second
Although only a teenager at the outbreak of World War I, John persuaded his reluctant father to let him enlist and served as a sergeant and lieutenant for the duration of the war in the cold and mud of the French battlefields. He was severely wounded at Fromelles by a bullet passing through his neck and tongue and it was thought at the time that if he did recover he would never speak again. But God had a plan for His servant and for his gallant bravery he was awarded the
John G. Ridley - Australia's beloved evangelist
Military Cross.
The following is an excerpt from a book on the 53rd Battalion entitled "The Whale Oil Guards" by J. J. Kennedy, D.S.O., C.F.: "Another Page 2, Page 3 , Page 4