From the Superintendent's DESK

The 2022 Australia camp meeting, which concluded on Sunday, October 2, was an inspiring and joyous time for all who participated. From within Australia, brethren came from New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia, and Queensland. From outside Australia, brethren joined from Canada, Nigeria, the UK, the USA, Zimbabwe, and possibly other locations.

Sam Ajayi, Director of Australia Work, sent this report of the services and activities. 

In line with the theme of the Camp Meeting, “Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,” the morning teachings and evening services from Tuesday to Friday truly drew us to the mountain of the Lord. God helped the choir and orchestra to bless every meeting with joyous music and songs.

The teaching on Tuesday was taken from John 8:12 and John 12:46. The minister introduced Jesus as “the Light of the world” and described Christians as those people who receive light from Jesus and reflect that same light to the world. He encouraged everyone to be a sunbeam for Jesus. In the evening, the text for the sermon was taken from Jeremiah 17:14. The preacher explained that God’s plan to rescue man from all his troubles is Jesus. He also exhorted those who are not saved to repent of their sins and confess them, so God could rescue them from sin.

We received three more teachings in the remainder of the week. The first was on “Obedience,” emphasizing that the Word of God should set and guide our obedience. The next was taken from 2 Peter 1:1-4 on the “Divine Nature.” It reminded us that our lives must reflect faith, virtue, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. Our last teaching, on the “Testimony of Our Conscience” was taken from 2 Corinthians 1:9-12. We were encouraged to live in a way that we can secure the testimonial of Jesus at the end.

For the evening services, we were blessed on Wednesday with a message on Luke 24:13-15 about inviting Jesus into our lives as the two disciples on the road to Emmaus did. On Thursday evening, the text was taken from John 4:7-15 and exhorted all to know who Jesus is and to ask for the gift of God which He came to give. Lastly, on Friday, Isaiah 7:10-13 was the text of the message. It reminded us that every promise God has given will be fulfilled by His zeal.

All the teachings and sermons were followed by people rushing to pour out their hearts to God in prayer, almost invariably before the teachings and sermons ended. We are very grateful for the outpouring of God’s power in our midst.

There were many wonderful testimonies of victory during the meetings. A brother from Sydney testified of how the ship he was working on docked at Portland, Oregon, and he was invited to a church service at the Apostolic Faith Church. He subsequently attended camp meeting in 1986, and God saved him and later healed him of cancer. A sister from Queensland thanked God for saving her and for His protection upon her family. Another brother from Sydney testified how he has had several health challenges in the past year and God saw him through and preserved his life. A brother from Melbourne testified of how God blessed him with his own marriage and children. He also testified of how God delivered him recently from a bad car accident. Another brother from Melbourne testified that he was living a life of crime when God saved him, and He later blessed him with other Christian experiences.

A brother who joined the meeting from Lagos, Nigeria, testified that after he was saved, his uncle sent him packing from home for five years. God took care of him during that period and later that uncle invited him to return home. God blessed him and made a way for him to study overseas. A brother from Perth also testified about how he was working offshore and away from home. As his contract was ending, he got a new job in his home city but somehow didn’t feel right about it and decided not to accept it. Shortly thereafter, his manager asked if he would consider working from home. He is glad for God’s direction, which also afforded him the opportunity to attend all of camp meeting.

At the beginning of the meeting on Saturday evening, two music scholarships were awarded to two people who are saved and committed to serving God through music in their local churches. Each scholarship is worth $250.00 and is to be used for instrumental or music lessons. The evening continued with song presentations by brethren from various parts of Australia and a brother who joined from Lokoja, Nigeria. The event concluded with a game of Bible trivia.

On Sunday morning, the last day of the camp meeting, our hearts were filled with gratitude as expressed in the prelude and the first congregational song, “To God Be the Glory.” Later, the sermon was taken from Genesis 15:3-11. Like Abraham who would not allow the fowls to steal away his sacrifice to God, we were encouraged to be focused and diligent to protect the consecrations the Lord has helped us to make during the camp meeting.

In the evening, the concluding evangelistic service emphasized our need to follow Christ, the Great Pathfinder. The minister took his text from Hebrews 12:2. He reiterated that as pilgrims on our journey to Heaven, God will help us navigate all struggles and realize our ultimate goal of glorious entry into eternal life. However, we must do our part and stay close to Jesus, obeying all His instructions, including those taught at the camp meeting.

After participating in the camp meeting, one brother rightly surmised, “We have received so many spiritual dividends from this camp meeting. God has revived; God has healed; God has blessed in ways we cannot quantify.” We are thankful that the Lord has truly brought us higher into His spiritual mountain.

As we set our eyes on special meetings in Melbourne next weekend, we are anticipating the 2023 Sydney camp meeting will be from September 24 to October 1, and the 2023 Melbourne special meetings from October 6 to 8, should the Lord tarry.