from the Good Report June/July 2000       The Soldier behind Eternity                                 Page 3 of 4

good seed beside all waters.          After his marriage in 1926, Mr. and Mrs. Ridley travelled for nine years throughout Australia in a caravan, visiting lonely out back homesteads, giving out gospel tracts, holding open-air meetings and services. These were great days with a hunger for the Gospel; many responded, and at one stage six men who were converted through John's evangelistic preaching, became students at the NSW Baptist College. New believers were constantly added to churches.       After the birth of their daughter, Ruth, they lived in Sydney but still moved round Australia holding missions and meetings. His great love for Christ, gifted oratory and

knowledge of history were used to bring many from all walks of life to Jesus Christ, including Arthur Stace, the man who wrote eternity. Never did Mr. Ridley seek to gain any glory or material gain; he had a passion for souls, with a longing to see people converted to Christ. He never swerved from the evangelistic message.         Although hampered by two further breakdowns, John continued to preach and wrote 14 books, hundreds of tracts and poems, all of which have been a source of comfort and inspiration to many.          John Ridley was used in founding the prophetic magazine, The Herald of Hope.

John G. Ridley - Australia's beloved evangelist With the help of others John G. Ridley founded the Australian Institute of Evangelism for training evangelists, now known as  Page 1, Page 2 , Page 4