On October 18, Charlene Luzuk (Northern Australian Conference ADRA director) and I drove out on a dry, dirt road to a homestead west of Charters Towers (Qld) for a drought prayer meeting. The road was really rough and rocky, and dust billowed around the car. Everything was brown. The grass was dead and the trees were dying. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere.
While we were driving, I was thinking about what the meeting might be like. This was my first time going to a prayer meeting so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I felt slightly nervous but my fears soon disappeared.
The people were very welcoming, kind and loving. There were people from different denominations too. As everyone sat outside in the peace and quiet, it felt like God was with us. As the prayers were being lifted up, I kept thinking about how God has helped us in the past and felt hopeful that He would answer these prayers for the people suffering in the drought happening throughout Australia.
After the time of prayer there was a barbecue where we enjoyed socialising over a meal. ADRA had recently distributed some drought relief assistance in the area and one lovely lady decided to put it towards the event.
We met a lady who owned a very large parcel of land near the place we were meeting. Her area had experienced terrible drought—she had practically no water for a lot of her land. She had been invited to the prayer meeting and felt like God was there to help her and others.
Another man showed us a plaque, which explained the heritage of his piece of farmland. It had been family-owned for five generations and was founded in 1912. All that time, God had looked after their land. He talked about his family and how they took care of the land. I imagined each generation living in prosperity as well as drought. I really hoped that the farm could stay in their family for many more generations to come.
On the drive home, we were quiet and tired, which gave me plenty of time to reflect on this experience and the brave people I had met. God is certainly answering the prayers because we had rain in some places around the country that very night. As I watched the lightning flash in the distance, I knew that God would listen. I know that God answers prayers.
Jakobe Humphries is 13 years old and writes from Townsville, Queensland.
