YFC ACTIVE AT SCHOOLIES ON THE GOLD COAST

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Mark Powell is the pastor at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church, Hobart, and a writer and commentator on Christian issues. Pastor Powell was especially impressed to learn what happened at Schoolies on the Gold Coast last month.

He was pleasantly surprised to see a story about “queues of teens” lining up to be baptised in a mainstream media report written by Eleanor Katelaris on news.com.au, one of Australia’s two dominant news sites according to Ipsos rankings. She wrote in part: “An organisation called Youth for Christ (YFC) is hosting public baptisms, inviting teenagers to embrace a more spiritual path amid the usual Schoolies chaos.” “It is a public declaration of faith signifying the symbolic death of a believer’s old life and the beginning of a brand new life following Jesus.”

“This wholesome side of Schoolies has caught the attention of many on TikTok, where one YFC missionary is sharing videos of their initiative.” “It’s certainly an unusual sight – in one clip, a sea of young people walk through the main strip of Surfers Paradise holding Jesus Loves You and Get Baptised signs.” “In another, teens are seen lining up on the street to visit the YFC stall on the main strip.” Cindy McGarvie, National Director of Youth for Christ Australia, said its mission teams have been offering baptisms at Schoolies since 2016. “We’re at Schoolies to share the hope of Jesus. It’s the message we want to be sharing wherever we go. The baptisms are a small, but significant outworking of this simple focus,” she told the reporter. Ms. McGarvie said the feedback this year was “overwhelmingly positive” — noting that most nights there was a constant flow of schoolies coming up to them, asking genuine questions about God. She conceded there can be a lot of “negative influences” on young people at Schoolies, so she is “thrilled” to see so many keen to learn about Christianity.

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/teens-are-getting-baptised-at-schoolies/video/b00e14b04343b15ddc0754fd68dd2122

A GOOD NEWS STORY: REVIVAL AT U.S.A. UNIVERSITES

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In the fourth major collegiate revival in less than a month, thousands of students gathered at the University of Arkansas on Thursday night to seek Jesus Christ and find salvation in His name.

Unite US reports that 10,000 students from 67 different universities gathered in Bud Walton Arena (click on the link below)

“Jesus met us there,” the ministry said in an Instagram post. “We were blown away by His presence in the room and how it carried over to baptisms. It was a night we’ll never forget.”

Tonya Prewitt, founder of UniteUS, explained, “We started at Auburn University. We had 5,000 students show up, and over 200 got baptized. We next went to FSU – Florida State, the second biggest party school in the nation. We had 4,500 students come, and about 350 students got baptized at that event.”

The movement then swept through the universities of Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and South Carolina, with numbers growing along the way. Tonya calls the mission a simple one: Bring hope to a generation.

College student Haden Smith shared his experience. “Just getting to be with your neighbors and friends as they pray with you for your struggles and being open with those you normally wouldn’t be open with – it was just overall powerful,” he said.

Tonya added, “We’ve had students come in and say, ‘Hey, I came in thinking I was going to take my life. I left with the most joy I have ever had. I came in not being part of any community, and now I am serving in a local church.'”

UniteUS events operate by connecting with Christian student leaders and feature speakers, testimonies, prayer, and baptisms.

Zac White, a Christian student leader at the University of Arkansas, expressed his expectations: “We’re just expecting to see people really get lit on fire for what they’ve said they’ve believed for so long, or people that have never believed in Christ, Christianity, or the Bible and what it says their whole life – and we are going to see their whole life turn around.”

https://cbn.com/news/us/revival-sweeping-through-college-campuses-impacting-tens-thousands-its-movement

MASS BAPTISM OF 12,000 PEOPLE IN CALIFORNIA

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A recent massive gathering of Christians across California reportedly broke a record when participants collectively held the world’s largest-ever baptism. Baptize California, an event that unfolded over a Saturday and Sunday at various locations throughout the Golden State saw a historic number of people immersed at individual churches and during a main-stage event at Huntington Beach. The two-day extravaganza showcases countless examples of life change and spiritual renewal, featured speakers, worship music from leaders like Sean Feucht, and more. According to preliminary numbers, there were over 6,000 people baptized at the Huntington Beach location, alone, with an additional 6,000 people immersed in churches across the state. “You can smell another Great Awakening in the air like rain before it hits,” Pastor Francey, who founded the event said. “God lit a match! If God can do this in the church in California, it can — and it will — happen in the rest of America!”

“It was a surreal and extraordinary day!” Francey told CBN News. “It felt like we were living in the pages of the book of Acts!” And the individual stories coming from Baptize California are truly incredible. Francey shared just one such story, telling CBN News how a Satanist accepted Jesus and “immediately got water baptized.” “You could see the change immediately,” he said. The preacher said 1,000 people accepted Jesus at Huntington Beach, with thousands coming to watch the event unfold. “The crowd steadily swelled to — at one point — as much as 14,000,” Francey said. “Hundreds of churches linked arms to accomplish what happened.”

Remarkably, this prompting happened before the Asbury University revival took form — and before Francey found out about “Jesus Revolution,” the feature film about Greg Laurie’s life and the Jesus movement. The movie, which made more than $52 million at the box office, sparked mass intrigue and spiritual fervour in many nationwide. All of this was confirmation for Francey that God was at work. Just weeks after Baptize SoCal took place May 28, 2023, and broke baptism records, Laurie’s own event inspired by “Jesus Revolution” — also held at Pirate’s Cove — shattered the Baptize SoCal record, with over 4,500 baptisms.  Francey’s vision went well beyond his Baptize SoCal efforts. He said he also felt God call him to expand the efforts, which brings us to Baptize California, this year’s endeavour. With the success of Baptize California, Francey is already planning to launch Baptize America next year, setting his sights beyond California. “Now we are gearing up to do this and unite the church all over America,” he said.

This good news of the “gospel of the Kingdom” needs to be read in the context of Jesus’ warnings about the state of the world in the end times. It will be like the days of Noah when lawlessness abounded “and you will be hated by all nations for my names sake“.

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:9-14