Fred and Betty Evans' Website

A Tsunami on top of a mountain!

Toowoomba experiences it’s Inland Flood.

Can you believe it, a flood in Toowoomba – Queensland? Toowoomba is nearly 700 m above sea level. “Impossible” you say, well here are a few photos.

I was hoping  to start off the new year with something positive & spiritual to say but instead I have something powerful & physical  to report – The Queensland floods. Frankly my head is still spinning at the power of these floods which has made all spiritual eloquence flee. The floods in Queensland and in particular Toowoomba, where we ministered for twelve years, has left us shocked and saddened at the loss of life and the loss of property.

As a preacher I am tempted to search for a prophetic hook to hang all this on. 2 Timothy 3:1 comes to mind as I write about this disaster. In the end all I can do is express what naturally springs from my heart and that is love and compassion and leave the rest in the realm of the “known only to God.” It may be too painful to reflect as to why its called an “Act of God”, and I wonder how I would have fared if I was on the receiving end of that inland tsunami that swept people away to their death in the Lockyer valley? There are no simple answers hey?

It may be also a good time to reflect upon our dependence on material things which seemed so fragile when 18 inches of flooding rain fell in a few hours. Valuable Cars tossed around like tin cans in the murky soup! Expensive homes wrecked overnight as the flood waters swallowed them up in its silent stealth and stench. For someone who wholeheartedly accepts my need of God I am alarmed at the arrogance of our nation’s leader who claims there is no God. I sometimes wonder what it would take for national arrogance to be dealt with? Our trauma of coarse is dwarfed when compared to the loss of life on the other side of the world. Spare a thought and prayer for the 700+ who lost their lives in the Brazil floods. You can always find someone worse off than you.

The goodwill of the Australian community has been amazing to watch on our Television screens. Thousands of volunteers have lent a hand in the massive cleanup. Even here in Adelaide the local Barber was impressed and very animated as he asked me about how Queensland was faring! The significance of this event speaks to me of how transient life really  is. How frail our material world is and how much we need God and each other. Even Governments with all the technological and engineering skills in building dams with the expressed purpose of managing floods, cant stop these disasters from happening. I feel for those who have been traumatized by these events. The fear and despair must have been horrific. I take hope in the fact that there is a coming a day when God’s Kingdom of order and peace will come and will know no end. I take comfort in Geoff Bullock’s  classic hymn.  Here is an old video of David singing that annointed song from the stage of the Sydney Opera house in 2000. May God bless you as you place your hope in Him.

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On a personal note for us as an extended Evans family, we are facing a great challenge of faith as we pray and believe for a miracle for my dear sister in law Lorraine Evans. Presently Betty and I are in Adelaide in support of Lorraine and Andrew. Together they have served a lifetime in ministry as Pastors, Church Planters, Overseas Missionaries and as Leaders of the Assemblies of God movement in Australia for 20 years (a record). In my memoirs I have written a brief history of the Klemzig & Paradise Community Church where Andrew and Lorraine ministered as Senior Pastors for over 30 years. It is written from my perspective when we worked with them as an associate pastor for over ten years. I trust it will give you a glimpse of what Andrew & Lorraine accomplished together in ministry when they became Senior Pastors of the original Adelaide Pentecostal Church. They are legends in their own life time. We salute them!

Lorraine is a beautiful example of a person who is faithful  to the task and never gives up. A great crowd of witnesses admire this woman of God. Even as she lays at death’s door, she is strong in faith and is believing God for a miracle.

Lorraine has raised two sons who are powerful in God and ministry. Many other young people have been trained for ministry by the teaching of “Mrs. E”. She is a Bible based International Speaker, Counsellor, Musician and Ordained Pastor. Lorraine is all this in her own right but what I admire most, is her personal self denial and sacrificial loyal support of her husband’s vision in ministry as in Ephesians 5:22.

Many women are in leadership today because of Lorraine’s forthright ministry in the Word. She has touched the lives of thousands of people in this country and overseas. Future women in leadership in the Australian Christian Churches of the Assemblies of God movement would do well to follow her example.

Below is the link back in history of where Andrew and Lorraine served most of their ministry life.

Click on : A page in History where Andrew & Lorraine served for over 30 Years

Post Script: At 7:20pm on Wednesday evening the 9th February 2011 at the Calvary Hospital in Adelaide – South Australia, Lorraine Heather Evans left this life for her eternal reward. Providentially at the time of her passing, her two sons Ashley & Russell and her beloved husband Ps. Andrew Evans were at her bed side. I salute this great Lady.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 29th, 2011 at 3:26 AM and is filed under Recent News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.