Urgent Prayer Call / Bushfire crisis in NSW / Aussies unite in prayer
8 Comments Published by Office 2 October 18th, 2013 in A Call To Action, Australia, Bible, Bushfires, Christian Church Issues, Prayer, Prayer for Rain, Rise Up Australia
Dear friends & family in Christ across Australia,
I’m sure that most of you would be aware that some parts of NSW are currently under threat from bushfires.
CTFM is urgently calling all Christians across our nation to unite in prayer with other believers today at midday wherever you are to prayerfully seek the Lord for the much needed rain and appropriate winds from heaven to protect NSW from any further disaster.
13 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 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 will forgive their sin and heal their land.“ 2 Chronicles 7:13-14
This morning we woke up to the news that possibly hundreds of homes have been lost with many properties destroyed. We thank God that there are no reported casualties at this time.
You may click the following link for detailed report and updates.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/nsw-bushfires-live-updates-20131018-2vqag.html
Pr Daniel received several telephone calls and personally spoke to one of the RUA prayer coordinators in NSW who asked him for urgent prayer cover.
Pr Daniel also spoke to another pastor friend of his living in the Newcastle area that has to evacuate his home last night as instructed by the State Emergency Services and Police. Thank God that his property and home are safe as he has now returned there, but has been told to be alert and on standby.
Following are some further important prayer points.
1) Pray for the safety of all people and property in the bushfire affected areas in NSW
2) Pray for safety of all Fire Department and Emergency Services fighting the bushfires.
3) Pray that NSW Government, Officials and all Emergency Services will seek God for wisdom in how to best handle this crisis.
4) Pray for God’s protection from hail storms that have wreaked havoc in several parts of Victoria.
5) Pray for much needed rain in QLD during this current very dry season.
6) Pray continually for no more further bushfires anywhere in Australia.
7) Pray and encourage you pastor / leader to encourage their church / congregation to pray
Pr Daniel stated this morning as he watched the news, “I was deeply saddened to see so many homes burned to the ground and just cannot imagine what our fellow Aussies are going through right now. I pray and hope that through this time of crisis, we as Aussies will once again rise up with the Aussie spirit to help each other as much as we can with a heart of compassion and love. As president of CTFM, I would like to state that we stand ready to help wherever we can, including practical ways. If you personally know of anyone who has been affected through these bushfires, please contact us and we’ll do our best to help them.”
There has been one person confirmed dead in the fires.
Martin
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
While the weather conditions in the bushfire areas in NSW have improved for fire-fighting the areas under uncontrolled fires are enormous. Fire crews from Queensland, Victoria and South Australia are on their way to help.
The weather forecasts indicate milder conditions over today and the weekend, but to become severe again from late Sunday into next week. The Fire services fear they won’t get current fires under control before the extreme weather returns.
But nothing is impossible for our God. The media are talking again about that mythical Mother Nature, but we know our God has control over the weather, the winds, fire, and all of His creation.
I was about to send out a call for our members to keep crying out to the Lord for His mercy over these coming days, when I received the email below from Catch the Fire Ministries (CTFM)
I invite you to keep praying for the Lord’s mercy in these coming days, but also to join with our brothers and sisters in Christ throughout our land, at midday today, your local time, to urgently call upon our merciful Lord as requested below, and pray as led by the Holy Spirit..
With love in Christ Jesus,
Kris Schlyder
Coordinator
Australian Indigenous Prayer Network
All this bad that is happening is most probably the judgement of God on our nation for turning away from Him. When people turn away from God he removes his umbrella of protection and the devil can roar in like a lion and devour because we have lost our protective coating. These poor people are having everything devoured by hell. It is an horrid thing and it is our fault. People everywhere need to repent and not eat and pray all day for this to go away because that it what it is about. I think a lot of it is Canberras fault because ACT wants men to marry each other and be homosexual together, fire is what Sodom was judged with, do you not see it the same? This is probably a result of big rejection of God. We have to be careful about praying for too much rain otherwise we might have very bad floods. It is the same like Noah as well.
Hey, why aren’t we saying that it’s all because of Australians being sexually liberal and support of gay marriage this time? ACT just passed the same sex marriage bill! Clearly it’s God’s will to punish these people for living in sin on a daily basis.
I pray for these people to change their dreadful ways, and maybe the bushfires and be stopped.
Dear Kris,
I wanted to let you know that I know personally many of the families who have lost homes in the Blue Mountains. All that I know were Christians.
Here is a bit of data which I find very difficult to type about due to the suffering, grief and shock they are going through and the empathy I feel for them.
1. One Christian teacher from Wycliffe Christian School (Warrimoo) who is a widow and a beautiful person. (This school was evacuated today again after yesterdays evacuation. I worked there for six years)
2. A lovely family with six children.
3. A husband struggling with his seriously ill wife and mother of two children (one intellectually disabled) who has been in hospital since September and now they have lost their home.
4. Several other families have also lost homes and we do not know about everyone yet.
5. Several families from Blue Mountains Grammar (Wentworth Falls) have also lost their homes. (I now work here) and we are expecting more of the same on Monday. ie keeping children calm and rounding up children to get them home before roads are shut or keeping them at school after hours if necessary if they cant get safely home.
6. Yes it is a critical situation and without torrential rain and if there are further winds and high temperatures then the whole of the Blue mountains will be in danger including myself and the many Christian families living on the mountains. All sporting facilities have been closed and all sporting events have been cancelled across the Blue Mountains tomorrow. To be realistic the danger will not pass until we get TORRENTIAL rain. Its all helicopters and sirens and the children are nervous.
7. As far as dryness goes this is the worst I have ever seen the Blue mountains in all my life.
8. I had to go to Leura today to Woolies and many of the staff were away due to home loss.
9. The Blue Mountains is a very small community and so what happens here affects everyone.
10. The Joy of Spring Festival is on in Katoomba tomorrow put on by the churches. To date I think it is still scheduled to run. Please pray for us and those that may come if it is on. What a wonderful opportunity to Witness for the Lord. I am scheduled to dance with my team. We do this annually to counteract the demonic Winter Magic Festival that is on every winter solstice.
11. We are all on alert with the possibility of evacuation and important papers etc on the ready to go.
The main prayer for all of this is that in the midst of it, comfort and generosity for the Lords people and challenge for the non Christians to realise there is a higher power than they or their pagan gods and to come into the kingdom.
Thank you for your prayers.
Blessings & shalom,
Lorraine
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In the very fast moving firestorm that hit the Blue Mountains late on Thursday 17 October 193 houses were totally destroyed and 109 damaged, mainly in the Winmalee, Yellow Rock, and Springwood townships. About another 15 houses were destroyed in Mt Victoria towards Lithgow, the Wyong area of the NSW Central Coast etc. One 63 year old man died from a heart attack as he was defending his home in the Wyong area. A handful of people were hospitalised with minor burns and smoke inhalation. Praise our awesome God for His mercy on man and beast and life and limb. On that day the Premier of NSW Barry O’Farrell publicly said before the media “We need a miracle from God!” and “We need miracles” but after that our secular media made no further mention of his words. Lord, have mercy on them in their rebellion and unbelief
While the wind and fires have been less ferocious over the week-end, the state authorities are fearful of the fire conditions expected during this coming week, with no sign of rain forecasted. This afternoon a State of Emergency has been declared over NSW. You can see the details in the two articles from the ABC Online website at the bottom of this email. Please continue to pray for the Lord to have mercy on man and beast and life and limb, and pray also as the Holy Spirit may lead you. You can follow details of the various fire threats on the NSW Rural Fire Service website http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au and if you need maps of the various areas under fire I suggest you go to http://www.whereis.com/NSW/ and add the name of the town you want e.g. http://www.whereis.com/NSW/Bilpin
We need to give honour where honour is due. As I was talking today on the phone with Jan, a former prayer partner of mine here on the Sunshine Coast now living in Bilpin, I was able to tell her that as she slept safely last night, amongst the fireman working through the night back-burning to protect Bilpin was our Prime Minister Tony Abbott doing a night shift with the Davidson Rural Fire Brigade, of which he has been an active member for 13 years. He was photographed going home this morning, and he was due to be back doing a day shift today. Tomorrow he will be back in a dark suit doing his day job as Prime Minister.. He deserves our praise and honour, as do all our emergency services personnel, particularly the volunteers.
The Prepare the Way worship event in Blackheath on Friday night and Saturday was held as planned. The Joy of Spring Festival was held in Katoomba on Saturday although numbers attending were down because of the fires. Jacqueline Bedson and team were invited to minister in a church at Blaxland this morning, and I understand that turned into four hours of continuous worship!!! I tried to speak to them on the phone tonight (they were back in Canberra/Queanbeyan) but it was impossible – they were all excitedly talking at once, high as kites in the Holy Spirit! I also spoke tonight with Rebekkah Powderly who lives in Mt Victoria in the Blue Mountains. It is calm there at the moment but she has her car packed ready to go if necessary.
Here is an email from intercessor Sue Pollock of Brisbane re the two worship events, and one from Lorraine Harvey of Wentworth Falls Blue Mountains about the current situation there.
With love in Christ Jesus,
Kris
Thanks I passed this on to my son and his wife who live in the Wyong area, 7km from one bushfire. They were blessed to receive this.
Thanks
June
Everybody needs to repent so this will stop! Sexual immorality and witchcraft is fuelling the fire and people don’t understand that fire is the devils only friend. Some people have told me that witches have been lighting fires as a form of sacrifice, this came from a warlock that became Born Again and knows about all of these things and the terrible devilment that they go on with. This nation is under a curse because people don’t tithe and watch tv instead of reading the Bible and don’t care about Israel. Children in school are taught that God is not real and that a tree or a rock can be your god but that is not so but this is what they are taught. They don’t know God because they are taught that they can be a girl if they are a boy and the other way too as well. No wonder Australia is burning up, Someone has to say something, someone must do something or there will be no bush left and Australia will be like a burned stick but even a burned stick can come back to life if it repents and turns to God and dances and tithes and claps. I am praying for a wedge of protection for the fire men who are helping to save the homes and the animals.