Displaying items by tag: Australia

Monday: at a missions course in Papua New Guinea, participants came face-to-face with previously unknown realities. Pray for hearts challenged to missions. Tuesday: ‘Bloom where you are planted.’ Pray for Christians to reflect the love of God to all with whom they come in contact, wherever God places them. Wednesday: more than just language learning. ‘God uses my language learning experience to help me understand my walk with Him better.’ Pray for missionaries’ spiritual walk with God. Thursday: the first Amdu Literacy Class graduation. ‘Praise the Lord! A milestone happening here in Amdu! Pray for the team to move forward with exact translation, leading to the future clear sharing of God’s truth.’ Friday: death brings new life. At a funeral people who had never heard the gospel realised they were missing something and expressed an interest in Biblical truths. Pray for these new inquirers.

The assistant bishop of Melbourne, Philip Huggins, has worked with film-maker Richard Keddie on a video advocating for South Sudanese school students in Melbourne. It says that many of these children are frightened, and asks people to ‘give them a wave and a smile to make them feel welcome’. In the state of Victoria, there have been recent high-profile political and media comments about ‘gangs’ of young Africans, which have resulted in discrimination towards and fear of the community. Hundreds of families have survived a dreadful war and seen millions killed. But they’re frightened again, because of messages spreading hate and fear against innocent children.

Month of Prayer & Fasting to Protect Marriage

Australia is in the middle of a government mandated postal survey to decide the future of marriage between a man and a woman. The polls are predicting a defeat for those who believe in the biblical definition of marriage. Australian Christians are asking for prayer from all over the world for a “miracle for marriage” in Australia.  The ballots must be posted back by the end of October. The Catholic Church has called for a month of ‘Prayer and Fasting for Marriage and Families’ through the month of October 2017. See the Catholic Promo Video Here. The broad Australian church is also supporting this historic call for prayer and fasting.

James Condon, a Commissioner with the Salvation Army, and the head of Strategic Church Relations for the National Day of Prayer & Fasting said, “Support for this historic initiative by the Catholic Church is gathering momentum. Key Aboriginal Christian leaders are also supporting this call for prayer and fasting to protect marriage from redefinition. In fact, three Indigenous leaders will feature in the digital devotions that will be released daily, during the month of October. Marriage between a man and a woman is sacred in Indigenous culture.” For more information regarding the Indigenous perspective on the sacredness of marriage go to: www.ulurubarkpetition.com

Ps Peter Walker, an Indigenous leader from the Uluru Bark Petition said, “I congratulate the Catholic Church, together with all these leaders, for showing leadership and taking the initiative to launch a call for a Month of Prayer and Fasting for Marriage and Families. In our indigenous culture, which has continued for thousands of years, marriage and family are paramount. Marriage is between one man and one woman.”

Warwick Marsh, spokesman for the Canberra Declaration and a coordinator of the National Day of Prayer & Fasting said, “For this period of prayer and fasting we ask that you only fast as you are able. See our Promo Video Here. To inspire you in your prayers the team at the Canberra Declaration, in collaboration with Christian leaders from all over Australia, will provide a daily email devotion. The National Day of Prayer & Fasting is also going to help get the word out. To get the free daily devotional delivered to your inbox throughout the month of October click here.”

Marsh continued, “We also invite those in other countries to join with us, if they are able, on our National Zoom Prayer Conference Call three times a day. The hourly sessions will occur at 7AM, 1PM and 8PM Eastern Australian Daylight time. (NSW Time) These video prayer calls will go daily for the full 31 days of October.

To register and get log in details for the Zoom conference call go to www.prayercall.com.au

David Rowsome, prayer coordinator and co-writer for the Canberra Declaration said, “We as believers must approach these issues with great humility as marriage has been greatly damaged under our watch. Collectively, we as nation must ask God for forgiveness for our failure and truly repent.  At the same time, we need to pray for God’s grace to be shown to marriages and families in distress. The good news is that we all gain great hope from the scriptural promise found in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 

Canberra Declaration: http://www.canberradeclaration.org.au

National Day of Prayer & Fasting:  http://www.nationaldayofprayer.com.au

There is an expectation in Australia that once the result of the same-sex marriage postal vote is announced on 15 November the matter will be resolved once and for all. According to opinion polls a Yes vote looks likely, clearing the way for amendments to the Marriage Act. But there’s a twist in this long-running, angry issue (on 21 September a man head-butted former prime minister Tony Abbott as he campaigned for a No vote). Opposition leader Bill Shorten seeks to define marriage as ‘a union between two people’ meaning that all are eligible: heterosexuals, homosexuals and people of any other gender or sexuality. This could be immensely complicated.

Patrick Mitchell began transgendering to become a girl when he was twelve, then changed his mind two years later and will now be undergoing surgery to remove breast tissue that grew as a result of taking oestrogen. He gave a TV interview to explain how being called a girl actually made him realise he was comfortable as a boy. Walt Heyer, founder of SexChangeRegret.com, said ‘Patrick’s story is more proof that the trans-activist doctors go forward recklessly with transgender treatments, but have no way of verifying who is transgender and who is not. What we do know is that through persistent affirmation by parents, doctors and schools, we can cause children to think they are transgender.’ Transgenders undergo hormone injections and irreversible surgeries to feel better, yet surveys reveal that they attempt and commit suicide at an alarming rate, even after treatment. One UK survey showed almost half of transgender children have attempted to kill themselves. See

Each year a week of prayer is held for the ministry of Prison Fellowship Australia; this year it is from 10 to 17 September. The week gives an opportunity for Prison Fellowship to communicate and connect with churches and the community, focussing on its ministry among prisoners, ex-prisoners, the families of prisoners, and victims of crime. In keeping with the vision of Prison Fellowship, the week of prayer reflects the threefold mission of its ministry - transformation, reconciliation, and restoration. The themes for each day will be: Reconciliation Sunday, Victim Care, Restorative Justice, Ex-Prisoner Welcome, Correctional Services, Family Support, Prisoner Visitation, and Transformation Sunday.

In a few weeks Victorian MPs will vote on a Government bill to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia in Victoria. The vote will put society's most vulnerable at risk and distort the relationship between doctors and patients. If the bill passes, Victoria would need to re-train doctors from being healers to life-takers. The Andrews Government said during the election campaign that they wouldn’t introduce this legislation. However, MPs will be given a conscience vote when this matter next comes up in parliament. The numbers are looking very close, but there are a handful of key government MPs who are likely to vote ‘no’ if they can see that enough people, in their electorates, do not support this radical change in law. The Australian Christian Lobby has prepared an email for people to use to voice their objection to assisted suicide and euthanasia.

A non-Christian journalist called the Christians of Australia to ‘open your eyes to what is happening around you and prepare for persecution in the dark days ahead’. He calls for strong Church leaders to arise. He said that ‘whilst I am not a Christian I stand amazed that Christian bishops and ministers are not warning Christians of what is already breaking over their heads.’  He comments on Queensland's Education Department warning schools against letting students speak about Jesus in the playground; two Christian preachers summoned to Tasmania's Anti-Discrimination Tribunal for preaching their faith’s stand on traditional marriage;  Sydney University's Student Union threatening to deregister their Evangelical Union unless it stopped members declaring their faith in Christ; Coopers Brewery being bullied into taking down a video of a Christian MP debating same-sex marriage; and IBM, PwC and Sydney University being lobbied to punish staff belonging to Christian groups opposed to same-sex marriage. And the list goes on.

We need you prayers at this time here in Australia. Please pass this important Call for Prayer & Fasting 1 – 3 July 2017 for Australia and for the preservation of Marriage in Australia.

YouTube Video with Ps Tim Edwards:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmFs3ioT4D0

Facebook Video with Ps Tim Edwards:  https://www.facebook.com/warwick.marsh.9/videos/10211311607844398/

Much Love

Warwick Marsh 

MEDIA RELEASE

3 Days of Prayer & Fasting: 1 – 3 July 2017

International Prayer Request for Australia’s Government Leaders

On Thursday 29 June, Australian Prayer Leaders, during a national teleconference, confirmed a proposal to call the Christian churches in Australia to pray and fast from 1-3 July 2017 for the nation of Australia, its leaders and government. It is also a call to pray that marriage in Australia will remain between a man and a woman, as it always has been. This prayer call was initiated by an Indigenous Elder working in partnership with a Catholic Christian leader in our nation’s capital, Canberra. 

Ps Tim Edwards, an Indigenous Christian leader, said, “I am deeply concerned about the state of our nation and our government and the revelations that have become known in the last few days. The call to prayer for our nation, our government and for the future of marriage in Australia has been in part motivated by a secret speech  recently given by senior cabinet minister Christopher Pyne MP to the ‘Black Hand’ (left wing) faction of the governing party. He claimed that the left-wing faction is 'winning' and that same-sex marriage could be legalized 'sooner than people think.' This call for prayer is on very short notice, but in a spiritual battle you have to move fast!”

Rev Matt Ransom, Deacon in the Catholic Archbishop’s office in Canberra said, “The biblical precedent for this call to prayer and fasting for Godly government and for our leaders and our broader populace to find Christ as Lord and Savior is found in 1 Timothy 2: 1-3: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

Jenny Hagger, Australian House of Prayer for All Nations, said, “A scriptural precedent for this nation changing three day period of prayer and fasting is found in Esther 4:16. Queen Esther’s call to prayer changed history. This prayer and fasting is above party politics because the church must take responsibility for our nation. We as the church need to engage in a deeper level of repentance for this period of prayer and fasting for our nation to be truly effective.”

David Rowsome, Canberra Declaration, said, “It is great that Australia is able to join with Canada, our sister nation in the British Commonwealth, who is celebrating Canada’s first National Day of Repentance, Prayer and Fasting on the 1 July 2017. The foundation for any national call to prayer and fasting is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14, ‘If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land”.

Warwick Marsh, National Day of Prayer & Fasting team said, “Tim Edwards and I have been greatly disturbed by the malicious persecution of Ps Margaret Court, one of Australia’s greatest sportswomen and a world champion tennis player. She has been publicly vilified very unfairly for her stand for the biblical truth of marriage between a man and a woman. Australia is in desperate need of Godly leadership and that is why we are requesting prayer support from around the world.

The Pope's chief financial adviser has decided to take a leave of absence after being charged with historical sex crimes. Cardinal George Pell, the third most senior Catholic at the Vatican, has fiercely denied the multiple allegations against him. At a news conference on 29 June, he said the two-year investigation had been fuelled by ‘relentless character assassination’. He has now been called back to Australia, to appear before Melbourne Magistrates' Court on 18 July. ‘I am innocent of these charges. They are false. The whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me’, he told reporters. ‘The court proceedings offer me the opportunity to clear my name and then return to my work in Rome.’ In another story, former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey has been asked to step down from an honorary role in the Diocese of Oxford, after being criticised in an independent review of the church’s handling of sex abuse. The review into disgraced former bishop Peter Ball, who was jailed in 2015, revealed that Lord Carey had failed to pass key information on Ball to the police in 1992. See