A seasoned farmer who is a frequent listener to Vision Christian Radio phoned the station a few months ago, asking ‘can you help me do something that will encourage farmers and communities during this drought?’
This man has had many experiences with hard times over his lifetime on the land. But through it all, he said that he’s maintained real peace and joy by taking his eyes off the problem, looking to God in prayer, and through the encouragement and help of others.
He was saddened that so many seem to feel helpless in the current situation and wanted to invest several hundred thousand dollars of his own funds in helping them.
That conversation sparked three major initiative that are being rolled out from October
1. PROJECT BOOST: To help local churches reach out with encouragement and practical assistance.
2. HOPE IN THE HARD TIMES MAGAZINE: An outreach initiative that will reach 120,000 rural homes.
3. A MONTH OF PRAYER: Praying for rain and for our nation.
Project Boost – releasing the power of encouragement
Encouragement is also powerful!
Our farmer friend has provided $100,000 in funding to purchase grocery gift cards as “seeds of kindness” to be shared across drought stricken Australia, through churches.
Vision Christian Radio has teamed up with Samaritan’s Purse Australia to coordinate this amazing act of generosity – plus Samaritan’s Purse will also be reaching out to its supporters to add to the fund.
A website has been setup at www.projectboost.org.au – and from October, Churches will be able to apply for grocery gift cards to give to rural families doing it tough, in the process creating opportunity for them to connect face to face, to identify other ways they can help, to pray, and send a strong message that they’re not alone.
The ‘boost’ will come in several ways;
- It will help local churches to reach out.
- It will lift the spirits of those affected by drought.
- As the cards are spent in local stores it will boost local business.
Hope in the hard times magazine
Also thanks to our generous farmer, Vision is producing a special magazine designed to help lift up the eyes of those in the hardest-hit areas across Queensland, NSW and Victoria.
It will be distributed free to 120,000 farms and homes in November.
The magazine will contain 60 pages of encouraging articles, three months of hope-filled daily readings taken from The Word for Today, and other practical help including promotion of Vision’s telephone prayer service.
A month of nationwide prayer
Prayer is powerful!
Even our Prime Minister Scott Morrison has acknowledged this, recently encouraging all who believe in the power of prayer to pray for that rain and to pray for our farmers.
So that’s what we’re doing. Every day throughout October, we’ll be asking the nationwide Vision community to join us in prayer for rain and for our nation.
Several times daily we’ll stop to lead Vision Christian Radio listeners in prayer. Our daily email, app and online devotions will invite people to pray a specific prayer each day, along with our growing social media family.
Speaking of the initiative, Vision CEO Phil Edwards said “As a farm boy myself I am really moved by what some of our farmers and rural communities are going through with the drought. The generosity of the farmer who has made this possible is inspiring and my prayer is that the eyes of many people will be lifted up – ultimately toward God. It is such an honour to be able to partner with other Christians to bring hope to our parched nation.”