Prayer and breakthrough at Dee Why
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
BY LAUREN MARTIN
Lieutenant Alex Robinson, Corps Officer at Dee Why on Sydney’s northern beaches, thanks God for the faithfulness over decades of men and women, soldiers, officers, volunteers and corps members, who, she says, prepared the soil for God’s harvest ‘in such a time as this’.
The corps is experiencing something of its own ‘quiet revival’, as families and young people express an interest in finding out about Jesus and coming along to Sunday meetings.
Alex puts the breakthrough down to good old-fashioned prayer – then and now. After being appointed to Dee Why, her first corps as a new Auxiliary-Lieutenant, at the end of Sydney’s COVID-19 lockdowns, Alex felt God’s call to prayer for a new season that was coming.
“In late 2022, I felt led to pull back from preaching and ask our Sunday crew to focus on praying during the meetings for at least six weeks,” she remembers. “I sensed God saying the prayers of the remaining long-term Salvationists would be a particular key to breakthrough.”
“To obey this leading,” she says, “to be honest, was difficult, because I feared disapproval from [corps members because I wasn’t] preaching. However, everyone joined together beautifully and we prayed. Holy Spirit prayers, old style Army prayers like I’ve always wanted to be able to pray – ‘Send the Fire!’”
The corps had committed to pray on Sundays for six weeks. God didn’t wait that long to show himself. A marked increase in numbers started showing up at the Dee Why Corps’ preschoolers music program on a Tuesday, and the group has remained at four to five times its original size since. Six teenagers from the corps’ youth group accepted an invitation to go to The Salvation Army Equip Youth Camp for the first time. The experience proved life-changing, and all six made commitments to follow Jesus.
“We were blown away as the youth returned hungry for God, and this is thanks to the awesome Salvation Army ministry teams who run the camps, and also Sharon, our children’s worker at Dee Why, who has been journeying with some of these teenagers for a long time.”
With the corps’ mid-week children and youth ministries experiencing new growth, Alex and the team began to notice many of the parents staying around, instead of just dropping their kids off at Kids Club.
“People wanted to stay and chat,” Alex says.
This became an extension of the corps’ community outreach (which runs on Thursdays), where Alex, Sharon, and centre coordinator Natasha would listen and provide referrals, pantry items and whatever assistance they could.
“Wednesday afternoons became a multi-generational space,” she says. “Parents were staying and helping, or chatting, and youth group kids started turning up early, so they began helping out at kids' club. It became a buzzing space, sometimes chaotic, but always beautiful, all of us having dinner together."
With Red Shield funding, the corps has since been blessed to employ a community worker, Tomo, who joins the team on Wednesday evenings and Thursdays.
The corps were also praying for children and families to return to the Sunday Service. Every week, they faithfully laid out children’s activities, and kept praying. One day, a new mum with children walked in. A week later, a dad with two children.
“It was the start of a shift,” says Alex. “It was hard to describe our excitement!”
Each of these families had connected with the Salvos through Christmas Cheer, which was then run on the northern beaches in conjunction with nearby Manly Salvos and Major Louanne Mitchell.
As they celebrated the goodness of God, circumstances changed. The corps was receiving assistance in the form of a shared Youth Group leader from another Salvation Army site. Unfortunately, she was no longer able to assist.
“Our numbers had grown and we didn’t know what we were going to do without extra leadership assistance,” says Alex.
So, the corps got back on its knees.
“We were in church on a Sunday and we turned around and saw five young adults sitting in a row,” Alex says. “We were surprised!”
It turns out, the young adults were from the local YWAM (Youth with a Mission) campus and they were trying out different churches, looking for a place to serve.
YWAM staff member Lewis Smith said the reason they had decided to try Dee Why Salvos was that earlier, when he had been walking the streets and praying about where to take his team on Sunday, he happened to be walking past the Dee Why Corps building. “I felt like, ‘Oh, is this a coincidence? Maybe we should go here.’”
Lewis said each of the team members felt that God had placed them in the right place for ministry.
“When you know God is making the connections, you feel like you’re in the right place. Even being an answer to prayer for other people is such a rewarding experience to have. To see the happiness it was for them, the relief for them believing that God was answering their prayers.”
For the past year, Lewis and members of his YWAM team have assisted every Wednesday, running Youth Group. Dee Why corps Centre Coordinator, Natasha, also stepped up to help with youth to ensure the right number of leaders was present for safeguarding. They recently ran Youth Alpha, which was a transformative experience.
Lewis says: “We are seeing hearts change, seeing people opening up to prayer, opening up to the Holy Spirit. Those are the changes we are seeing - we are seeing changes in people and that is the Kingdom of God - the Kingdom is people.”
Alex says a promise she has had from God in the past was, “You will reap where others have sown,” and she feels blessed to see God’s faithfulness in action. “It feels a little bit like, ‘I haven’t done anything to deserve this joy. This is God, honouring the work and prayers of faithful people over decades.’ It feels like it’s a season where there are quiet but exciting signs of new life. We are so thankful to be part of it.”
Dee Why Corps would like to thank the generous donors who help make this work possible. Special thanks to Mr Alex Gottshall OAM.
