In a little church plant at the heart of Craigieburn, the members are seeing, firs t hand, God’s providence in such trying times.
It began during the early stages of stage 3 lockdown. The sudden limit to the number of people permitted to gather in an enclosed space did not allow for the members to worship together. Neither could the church continue the various face to face weekly bible studies with some members of the Craigieburn community. For some time, the situation for the growing church seemed grim, and the commission of Mathew 28, a little harder to achieve.
But the little Craigieburn Church soon saw in action what Paul states in 2 Corinthian 12:9. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”…
The challenges that the Craigieburn Church faced as a result of the COVID restrictions became opportunities for witnessing to their community. The church recognized a need within their community, and they acted on it by volunteering to assist ADRA with cooking food for those in need. The church also began letterboxing leaflets asking if anyone was struggling because of the Pandemic. Through that, the church has been able to reach seven families who required assistance, two of which have requested Bible studies.
Letterboxing served as an alternative to door knocking and became a way to deliver GLOW Tracks, Spirit of Prophesy books, and various pamphlets.
The Craigieburn Church Facebook page is also proving to be a useful outreach tool as it has allowed the good news of Jesus Christ to spread without regard for a 5km restriction.
From these ministries, the church continues to witness miracles every week as more and more of the community desire to have a relationship with God.
The small church cannot gather in person, so they meet online. Every week they are often strengthened by the testimonies of the guest speakers from across the globe. Through prayer and fasting, God is allowed the opportunity to move and to create a pathway in what seems like untameable terrain.
What a miracle, that even in times like these, the little church at the heart of Craigieburn, continues to grow.
And by God’s grace, in the very near future, the little church of 45 members will not be so little anymore.
Evonn Reyno