SUMMARY:
To put it in the words of pastor Peter Field of Alice Springs: “Many a man would come and jet-set around the country, and stay in fine hotels. But this man (Bill) came and drove halfway around the country in an old car, staying with brothers and sisters, camping out when necessary, eating on the run as he raced from town to town to bring the word of the Lord faithfully, as God had put it on his heart to do so. This is a man I want in our fellowship”.
The Team comprised of Mike Roberts, Phil Cavanaugh and Bill Randles. PHIL CAVANAUGH (PC) kept a diary...
Which is summarised below, with geographic details inserted for interest. Direct comments by Phil are typical of what the team experienced along the route:
“when they had taken up the anchors, they … hoisted up the mainsail to the wind”
At the conclusion of the CWM conference on Saturday 11th June the team was prayerfully sent on their way around midday with the first scheduled stop at “Dalby”, some 310 kilometres distant (six hours driving with trailer in tow) for a 7pm meeting.
DALBY
(10,000 population; opal fossicking. Situated on the fertile black soil of Darling Downs in the heart of the agricultural belt that has long since been known for its vast wheat and cotton spreads)
From Phil’s diary: Arrived approximately 6pm — a small but encouraging meeting. Bill had a good discussion with the one unsaved man, present. Days later we heard that he was a “changed man”. Glory to God. We prayed for rain to break the drought. Thanks to Clive and Donna Leembruggen for a comfortable home. Bill ate home-grown olives, the “best he had ever tasted”. Arose at 4.30am for a long drive to “Roma”, to meet the Uniting Church pastor and his congregation at their 9am Sunday meeting. The rain began to fall as we left and poured for most of the way.
Travel: Roma is 272.6 kilometres from Dalby; average travel by car (without trailer) is approx 3 hours 40 minutes.
ROMA
(7,500 population; cattle, sheep, grain farming)
BLACKHALL
(1,800 pop; sheep, world record for shearing)
BARCALDINE
(1,850 population; cattle, sheep and citrus groves, first Australian town with reliable artesian water)
HUGHENDEN
(2,000 population; very dry, no rain in dry season April–November; vast sheep and cattle stations; extreme temperatures +50°C in day to -8°C at night)
Travel: Total distance 1025 kms approximately
On account of the position that CWM has taken especially against the Word of Faith ministries of Kenneth Copeland and Benny Hinn et al and the nature of the resource material that CWM offers, the team encountered some opposition during the tour. In Roma the two Christian Outreach Centre (COC) pastors were suspicious when they realised CWM’s position but as honourable men they listened to pastor Bill’s explanation and went ahead with the meetings. Following Bill’s preaching there was a wonderful spiritual break-through. The two pastors expressed total support and assured the team that their facilities were available any time. So turned around were they that they insisted on filling the tank with petrol as well as giving a generous offering to help with expenses – Praise the Lord.
The local churches provided accommodation throughout the tour. At Barcaldine the team slept in a tent in the backyard of one of the church members. At Mt Isa they spent two nights on the church fioor.
The team particularly commend to your prayers, pastors Bob Spence, Bob Roberts and Peter (wife Lee) Hall and their families in Roma, and pastor Peter Aay who ministers at Blackhall and Barcaldine and pastor Bruce Gallacher of Hughenden. These are good people who labour for the Lord in the midst of great difficulty and with little of the comforts of this life. The population in their communities is sparse and small.
From Phil’s diary: Hughenden Wednesday June 15th — Leaving Barcaldine at 6.30am we drove through heavy rain for almost 4 hours. Reaching Winton we made a right turn north and drove another four hours to Hughenden. The next few days proved to be a time of trial for the team. Nobody turned up for the meeting in Hughenden except the pastor. We all quietly wondered what we were doing there and later realised that pastor Bruce Gallacher is perhaps, the sole remaining hope for the town. Pray with us that Bruce was challenged by the word of the Lord that Bill preached, and Mike recorded for the CWM Imparja TV ministry. In God’s economy there is no waste or ultimate loss.
MT ISA
(25,000 population; size of Switzerland; Australia’s largest underground mines; lead, zinc, silver and copper. Over 50 different nationalities working there)
From Phil’s diary: Thursday June 16 — Another trouble free day of travel (520.85 kilometres – approx. seven hours normal drive) and a chance to encourage a sister in Julia Creek where we stopped for petrol. We arrived in Mt Isa approx 3.30pm with great anticipation for the four meetings that would be held over two days. Bill had messages prepared. The pastor arrived at the first meeting, with a bus full of people, most of whom were unsaved. Bill preached from Psalm 1 and John 13 in the first two meetings. Hopes were high that some of these people would be saved in the next meetings on Friday.
Friday June 17 — After an interesting tour through the Mt Isa mines, we returned to the church to set up and pray for the evening meetings. Ten minutes before the first meeting the pastor arrived to advise us that he was disassociating himself from us. He would not be bringing his people to the meeting due to an objection he had against the resources that we were carrying. (Particular reference was made to Dave Hunt’s and Philip Powell’s material.) Bill tried to reason with him, being willing to put all resources away. He was unrelenting. At 6pm with only one dear Finnish lady in attendance and feeling a little frustrated at the lost opportunity for the unbelievers we expected to be in attendance, we began to sing the Lord’s praises and to pray about the situation. By the time Bill began to preach a dozen or more unexpected indigenous people and a handful of other locals from the Finnish and other churches turned up, including a couple of new believers. The word of the Lord was proclaimed mightily in the two sessions, from Revelation chapters 4 and 5. We enjoyed a great time of fellowship with these wonderful people and were blessed by a sense of the presence of the Lord. It was a case of “victory under trial”, with a certainty about the next meetings in Alice Springs.
Travel: Mt Isa (Queensland) to Alice Springs (Northern Territory) 1170.35 kilometres – 15 hrs 48 minutes normal drive.
Distances are vast in the outback. PC reports a 2.30am start; endless miles of rich fellowship — singing, discussing and listening to tapes. The team arrived in the Alice at approximately 5pm.
Roads in the outback are much improved since Mike Roberts was a “truckie” some 40 years ago, but care must be taken especially when one of the long “road trains” (prime mover with as many as six trailers) is hurtling towards you. They won’t slow down or move aside and they are much bigger than a Ford Falcon towing a trailer. There’s not much space on the road to move “over” and there’s no speed limit in the Northern Territory. Seeing the team returned safe and sound we must conclude that both Mike Roberts and Phil Cavanaugh are accomplished drivers. Mike informs us that from leaving Alexandra Headlands to returning to his home in Jimboomba he traversed 8,900 kilometres. The outback tour clocked up 6,300 kilometres over 16 days terminating in Adelaide, where Mercy arrived from Perth and joined her husband Mike for another 2,600 kms before returning the hire car.
ALICE SPRINGS
(22,000 population; “red centre” of Australia; camel trading to the Middle East; major bases for Flying Doctor service and Outback radio and Imparja TV, which broadcasts CWM programs to rural Australia)
From Phil’s diary: June 18-21 at Alice with pastor Peter Field and the Potter’s House Church — an oasis in a desert. We knew we were in the house of the Lord. Pastor Bill preached four sermons over three days and attended pre-service prayer meetings an hour before each service. All were moved by the beauty and conviction of the word of the Lord. Pastor Peter kept us in close fellowship. Even our down time was productive as Mike video recorded a number of short Gospel messages by Bill in natural surroundings for the CWM Imparja TV ministry. Our final night at Alice Springs ended with one of the most powerful messages I have ever heard from Revelation chapter 4. It could have been entitled “Our Awesome God”. Holy fear filled the church as the word of the Lord was proclaimed. Salvation came to a dear sister at the end of the meeting as many wept and recommitted their lives to the Lord. The Potter’s House Church and pastor Peter Field, a strong and committed man of God, blessed the team. May the Lord continue to bless him and “Potter’s House”.
Travel: Alice Springs to Adelaide June 18–26. Approximately 1,600 kilometres — 21 hours normal drive, excluding side trip to Ayers Rock (Aboriginal name “Uluru”).
Pastor McCormack of Coober Pedy, South Australia, actually retracted the invitation, failing to keep his original commitment to arrange a meeting. We tried to set up a meeting between Mr McCormack and the team but failed.
ULURU (AYERS ROCK)
(478 kilometres south west of Alice Springs stands the largest monolith in the world — size 600 sq km. Features: spectacular and unique scenery with walks, the climb to the summit, and numerous species of fiora and fauna.)
From Phil’s diary: Wednesday June 22 — Due to the cancellation of the meeting at “Coober Pedy”, there was time to see Ayers Rock. Bill’s gallant effort to conquer the rock ended at the first stage with a liberating, “I don’t have anything to prove”. The rock, covered with signatures of creation and the flood, is an awe-inspiring sight. How hard a heart must become that men would worship it, as some local people do, rather than the God who created it.
Port Augusta — Thursday June 23: A long day on the road; set out 6.30 am; stopped for a short break in Coober Pedy, then pressed on to Port Augusta approx 1,000 km (11 hours). Stopped overnight. No meeting.
MURRAY BRIDGE
(17,000 population)
From Phil’s diary: Friday June 24 — Arrived approx 1.30pm to a warm welcome by Dieter, Lucy and Ruth Winkler, who ministered to a very tired team with loving service. Meeting held in the local TAFE. The Lord has so faithfully been with us, and again Bill’s message on the holiness of our God was beauty beyond description. What hope we have in our Lord, one day His presence will go on and on and there we will be forevermore.
ADELAIDE
(1.1 million population; capital of South Australia)
From Phil’s diary: June 25 and 26 — On the road to Adelaide, the final stretch, Maureen O’Brien phoned with the great news from Dalby “a changed heart” – praise the Lord! A sense of holy worth filled us with excitement for the final meetings in Adelaide. CRC (Christian Revival Crusade) 3.30pm and 7pm meetings (hall hired for the occasion) — another dear sister came to the Lord after Bill’s first message on the “Bondage of Worldly Freedom versus Freedom in Christ.” At night an equally powerful message on the love and mercy of God balanced by his righteous coming judgment (Rev chapters 7 and 8) ensured that the word of the Lord went forth with power in these meetings. Many thanks to pastors Scot Sharrock and Kevin Bickle for the arrangements. Please pray for them in their work for the Lord. The CRC hall is a beautiful venue.
The final day (Sunday) of Bill’s tour included three meetings two with pastor Bickle and one with pastor Sharrock. Another dear soul professed salvation in the morning service. A total of five people made commitments to follow the Lord during the tour. PC writes “There could be as many as ten, but even if it were only one the trip would have been a success. All glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Sunday finished with a fellowship dinner at the pastor’s home. Bill got to bed about 1.30am and was up at 5.30am for his long trip home.
To put it in the words of pastor Peter Field of Alice Springs: “Many a man would come and jet-set around the country, and stay in fine hotels. But this man (Bill) came and drove halfway around the country in an old car, staying with brothers and sisters, camping out when necessary, eating on the run as he raced from town to town to bring the word of the Lord faithfully, as God had put it on his heart to do so. This is a man I want in our fellowship”.
After having the pleasure of assisting Bill on this trip may I say I whole-heartedly agree?
Thanks to Mike & Mercy Roberts, Jouko Hakola, and Maureen O’Brien who planned the trip. May the Lord use the 30 + messages filmed by Mike to reach the lost in Australia as they are aired on CWM’s programs on Imparja TV network.
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Appeared in Issue CETF 34 November 2005
"...contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" -- Jude v3
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-Last revised-
Monday, October 09, 2006
