As part of Amazing Facts’ English Evangelism Emphasis, Pastor Doug was the featured speaker during a citywide evangelistic effort in Sydney, Australia. The city is one of the most modern and sophisticated in the Southern Hemisphere, but sadly, it is also the epicenter of Australia’s rampant secularism.
Still, a crowd of 1,400 attended the first three nights of the meetings, called Time Is Ticking Away, and the event maintained a consistent crowd for the 20-part event. On many nights, some had to be turned away because of overcrowding. Several audience members travelled from New Zealand and other South Pacific locations, often requiring several flight connections, just to be part of this important evangelistic event.
As part of each night’s presentation, Amazing Facts Study Guides were passed out — and many messages were well timed. The event took place next door to a movie mega-theater, and the night the film 2012 debuted, the evening’s message was about the second coming. When Michael Jackson’s film opened, the message that evening was about the state of the dead.
God blessed abundantly. By the end of the series, 33 people were baptized, with even more are on the way. Pastor Doug baptized 10 of these souls in the famous Sydney Harbor, where the water was icy cold from arctic melting on an otherwise blazing hot summer day.
Pastor Doug was also thrilled to see many backsliders return to God’s fold during this series, which were done in conjunction with Bible work from students at the It Is Written Evangelism College. He also spoke to enthusiastic students at Avondale College about the future of public evangelism in the age of the internet and media.
Time Is Ticking Away was recorded on hi-definition equipment and will be edited for rebroadcast around the English-speaking world. We hope to have it available for purchase here in the states sometime in early 2010.
A Special Note: Pastor Doug again met with Andrew Denton, a popular television host in Australia and religious skeptic who interviewed Pastor Doug several years ago. This time, he gave Mr. Denton a copy of the Cosmic Conflict DVD. Please pray that his heart will be touched by this important message.