Brett and Justine Wiltshire are National Directors of Australian Aboriginal Outreach Ministries (AAOM), national church planting movement that reaches out to Aboriginal communities in the outback as well as urban areas. They travel all across Australia, setting vision, encouraging pastors, ministering at their churches, speaking into their lives and supporting the pastors in any way they can. On a visit to CityLife Church, Brett shared some remarkable stories of the redemptive power of God. One can be found here, and here’s another one:
Alcohol and the Rope
Justine and I went down to Perth a few years ago to minister, and Justine and a lady from the local church were using the church bus to pick people up and bring them to the church meeting. They saw a young guy standing on the side of the street so they asked him if he wanted to come to church. He jumped in the bus and came to the meeting.
I preached the gospel message and I really felt to ask for people who wanted salvation, and the first person who came to the front was this young man.
I prayed with him and led him to Jesus Christ, and after the meeting he came and said, “I need to tell you what happened today, pastor. I’ve never been to church before in my life. I’ve got a wife and little children and my life has been such a mess. I’ve been involved in alcohol and drugs.
Today I just wanted to end it all. Everything was falling apart around about me. I was sitting on the bridge today and I had a carton of beer and I had a rope in my hand and I just wanted to end it all.
I started to get drunk and then I reached out to put my hand on the rope, but I couldn’t do it. And every time I tried to put my hand on the rope, I couldn’t do it. Inside there was a voice that said, ‘Don’t do that’.
I drank another few beers and tried again and the voice came back and told me not to do it, and this went on all afternoon. And then the bus came past and I just felt compelled to get in the bus and come to the church meeting and give my life to Jesus.”
How amazing that this young man came in suicidal and in a matter of an hour or two he had been transformed! He went back home in the bus and the lady said he was rejoicing. He had the joy of the Lord in his life.
There’s nothing else that can do that. The only thing that can change or transform somebody’s life so quickly is the power of the Holy Spirit, and somebody coming to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. That young man went home totally different from when he came into the church meeting and is still serving Jesus today.