From 24 to 27 June 2017 the annual Winter Outreach was held at the Woombye Church in Queensland. It began with a wonderful day of fellowship on Sabbath with many visitors from Clayfield, Pimpama and Wide Bay areas. Br Ben Thiel took the Divine Service on the topic of the outreach, “Is Happiness Possible?”. We were very happy to have Hayden Wiseman as our guest for the Outreach. He shared his experiences in the canvassing work along with Br Ben Thiel and Sr Monica Balarezo during the afternoon meeting.
The missionary work focused on the local community. There were three teams that went door to door with the canvassing books while the others were letterboxing the Great Controversy flyer. Many wonderful experiences were made and the cookbooks were the key to opening the door and starting the conversation. Wherever possible “Happiness for Life” was left with the householder. The canvassing work took place for two days, morning and afternoon, and everyone was glad to take the break for lunch at a local park where the children could play and the adults relax.
On two nights, an evening meal was prepared and served for all those attending at 5.00 pm, followed by the public meeting on the topic “Is Happiness Possible?” presented by Br Jacob De Souza. Does money or many belongings or the latest media gadget bring happiness? Many statistics had been researched showing the number of people that have been surveyed as happy in many countries. One important finding was that people are happier when they belong to a church family.
The Outreach climaxed with preparation for the Health Lecture and Cooking Class for the public on the Tuesday. Three people had booked a place and came along. Sr Monica Balarezo gave a powerful lecture on the benefits of being a vegetarian and Sr Elisabeth Balarezo was our bright and interesting MC. It was remarkable talking to the visitors how God had led them to be there. Please pray that these souls will be touched and want to know more about the way God would have them live.
A thousand flyers had been printed and letterboxed for the Public Meetings and the Health Lecture/Cooking Class, and everyone joined in getting these into the letterboxes.
We were very grateful to have Hayden Wiseman assisting us all the way and using his musical talent, presenting violin solos at the evening meetings and playing a beautiful rendition of “Meditation” during the Cooking Class. The whole outreach was a wonderful, uplifting experience for all those who took part. We believe that God has touched hearts in the community to respond to the home visits.
~ Sandra Barnett
