One dark night, the residents of the suburb of Saltwater (near Point Cook) may have wondered why so many youngsters were making their way to their brightly lit community centre.
If they had ventured to look inside, they would have seen a hall overflowing with young people, silent, with their heads bowed, deep in prayer.
The Point Cook SDA Church, a light in the darkness, was hosting a community youth dinner, an initiative of Werribee/Point Cook youth, who were inspired to be a part of their church’s involvement in Harvest Victoria.
Without a doubt, if Point Cook Church’s dinner was any indication, Revelation Today in May is going to reap abundantly; each Adventist youth was asked to bring a non-Adventist friend with him or her.
“I was surprised how they took to heart the bring-a-friend thing,” said Pr Danijela Trajkov. “You should have seen them coming in and out, waiting at the door for their friends, the smiles on their faces as their friends arrived. For most of them that was the first experience they have had of what it means to bring someone to church.”
Initially, we had planned to cater for only 80 youths however we had over 120 young people attend, with half that number being new friends. Spending this time with our Adventist youth, these young people saw first hand how you can have fun without alcohol and other stimulants.
Fittingly, Pastor Danijela led the opening prayer, asking for blessings upon all and praying that the Holy Spirit be present.
Generally, the adults kept a low profile, allowing the youth to host the event; they tackled the task with aplomb. They also need to be congratulated on decorating the venue, as well as ensuring that every table was adorned to reflect such a joyous occasion.
Reminiscent of the miracle of the feeding of the 5000, the young, healthy, appetites (and unexpected numbers) stretched our resources, but everyone was served in a timely manner, with sufficient food.
Certainly the Holy Spirit was moving amongst the attendees, as they were entertained (and instructed) by the youth with skits on living a Christian life in a fallen world, Christian music and some words of wisdom, with references to the Bible, from a member of an older generation.
Importantly, many new friendships and connections were kindled in a atmosphere of joy and celebration; a night buzzing with life in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Pr Danijela certainly received requests from Adventist and non-Adventist alike – “When will we have another dinner, that was so good and fun.”
And who knows… maybe some of those neighbours who noticed what was happening may have their interest piqued, wondering about such a light in their darkness.
Robert Bryson
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In December, Church members hosted another dinner, their End of the Year Community Dinner, inviting contacts and non-churched family members. Over 80 people came.
Another outreach that the members of Pt Cook and Werribee congregations do is door knocking several times per week, searching for those who are seeking to understand the Bible. Recently a group of teens found three people interested in Bible Study, in less than an hour door knocking. The need now is for more ‘labourers’ than ever before to follow up these contacts and study God’s word with them regularly.
And early March saw church members again involved, this time with the Gary Webster’s program Ancient Mysteries Reveal the Future, a Dinner with Gary, held in Keilor.
How is your church working for God’s Harvest? The harvest is plentiful, and there is always room for more workers.
