On the long weekend of the January 27, the youth from the Perth church all made the long and tiring trip to Carnarvon, a town approximately 10 hours drive from Perth, to respond to an invitation to sing and take the services at the Adventist and Church of Christ congregations there. We had originally planned to leave by 1 pm on Friday afternoon from the church, the agreed meeting place, but after a delay of an hour and a half, due to someone forgetting their food for the trip, we eventually made off at 2:30 pm.
The trip there was uneventful, with the only casualty being an innocent rabbit. We thank the Lord for answering our prayers for protection, as the route from Geraldton to Carnarvon is well known for it’s hazardous roads at night in regards to wildlife. But very few kangaroos were even viewed.
Sabbath morning began our very exhausting but joy filled program. Br Jacques took the Sabbath School on ‘The Ten Commandments", which gave rise to many questions by the local brethren attending (there were approximately 4 locals there).
Br Jacques had intended to photocopy the particular lesson from the lesson pamphlet in order to provide the information to the Carnarvon member. Thank the Lord, he was unable to photocopy the lessons before we left, so we had to share the whole book of lessons, which God used to speak the truth to some searching souls there.
Br. Gerson took the sermon in connection with the Ten Commandments in which he brought out the fact that we are able, through God’s grace and power, to overcome sin here and now. It beautifully connected both the services to paint the whole picture of Christ’s plan of redemption in reconciling us to Him.
The afternoon program was one of just musical items. All the youth excelled themselves in the singing and playing of many beautiful items. We were also blessed by a couple of items from two girls from Vanuatu, as well as a rendition of "How Great Thou Art" from an elderly man who attended with his wife, as he had heard that a group of young people were coming to present a musical afternoon.
From the church we went straight to the Church of Christ Old People’s home to share musical fellowship with the older members of the community. The residents were most cooperative and entertaining. They would call out their favourites, whether we knew them or not, and join in most enthusiastically. For many, this was a highlight of the day, although by this time some of us had no voice left and were entirely devoid of energy. It made it all worthwhile when the old people presented us with a card in appreciation complete with a design of musical instruments saying, "We all make good music together".
Sunday morning we were thoroughly exhausted, but we had one more effort to make. The Church of Christ in Carnarvon had heard through Melanie Barber that we were all coming up and had invited us to sing at their services. So once again, we all made our way to the church where we were greeted by a much larger congregation, causing more nerves, and more voice projection. Quite honestly, when we had a quick practice, before the meeting our voices were not blending and we sounded dreadful! But when we actually got up to sing, the angels must have given us a hand (or voice in this case), because it sounded beautiful. The deacon mentioned that he had never before heard such harmonies and he wasn’t just being polite!
We thank the Lord that he gave us such an opportunity after the service to speak to many people who thanked us for our items and wanted to hear more at a future date. One young couple gave their address with an invitation for us all to stay at their place next time we came up.
For most of us, one of the highlights of the trip were the plantations we visited. Fruit of every description and shape and size was available. Somebody mentioned it was like being in the Garden of Eden, picking all the fruit we could eat. There were many fruits that some of us didn’t even know existed.
We thank God for His wonderful blessings and the doors that He opened for us to have the opportunity to spread the precious message of truth to souls who are searching. We pray that He will continue to bless in this regard.
Catherine Thiel