Australian History

Australia: A New History of the Great Southern Land

Why do we celebrate Australia Day?
Based on a 2006 federal survey of 10,000 Year 10 students and 10,000 Year 6 students, more than three-quarters of Australian teens did not know that Australia Day commemorates the First Fleet’s arrival and British settlement.  (but YOU knew that, right?)
If you have only a basic or faded knowledge of Australia’s [...]

Our Country, Our Responsibility

Revival in Australia, Part Four
By Jason Harris
This brief series on revival in Australia has not been an overview, but merely a few brief windows into the rich spiritual heritage of our nation. We could yet talk of the great evangelistic works of Lionel B. Fletcher and John G. Ridley, of Chapman and Alexander in [...]

A Hunger for God’s Word

Revival in Australia, Part Three
By Jason Harris
The glowing evangelistic days of Torrey and Alexander’s Melbourne mission in 1902 were not one-off events. There were many campaigns held around the country. One of the most notable was held in 1909 when Charles Alexander returned to Australia, this time with J. Wilbur Chapman. Chapman was one [...]

The Great Melbourne Mission

Revival in Australia, Part Two
By Jason Harris
It was in April of 1902 that R. A. Torrey, the well known Bible teacher and successor to D. L. Moody in Chicago, held his great Melbourne Mission. The churches of Melbourne had been a long time in preparing for the meetings. Their organisation was so strong and [...]

Do It Again, Lord. Please. Do It Again.

Revival in Australia, Part One
By Jason Harris
When I was in Bible college, I lived in a suburb of Wollongong nestled on the heights leading up to Mount Kembla. Every time I walked out the front door, there she was, that mountain peak just begging me to climb her. So one day I did. Well, [...]

Martyrs of Australian Missions

By Jason Harris
It has been said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Most Christians are familiar with the great British and American missionary martyrs of previous centuries, but perhaps less familiar are the martyrs of Australian missions. The first Australian missionaries to plant their blood in the seedbed of [...]