Thank you for praying and acting to protect Christian values in Australia.
 

We give thanks to God for the amazing results of the year-long Double Our Numbers Campaign. God is indeed growing the Canberra Declaration community! 

 

By increasing our numbers, we are a stronger Christian conscience to our political leaders. We want to be a convincing reminder that there are many who hold strongly to the Christian values that have made Australia a great place to live. 

 

While we had a faith target of 100,000 signatures, we are still thrilled that we have gone from 45,528 to 62,052 signees - a 36% increase!  But over and above increased numbers, God, in His bountiful goodness, has done so much more. Please read on.
Getting to Know You 

We began the campaign on 23 July 2014 with an online survey.  The 1439 responses were triple what we were expecting! It was exciting to receive this very first glimpse  

into the demographics of the Canberra Declaration community.  

 

We asked for suggestions on how to encourage more people to sign the Canberra Declaration. Everyone completing the survey received a free double-pass to the Christian movie Freedom.  Our board members then selected 90 winning suggestions. It was our joy to distribute $4000 worth of Bibles, Christian books and DVDs as prizes.

 
Those who completed this survey had an opportunity to volunteer for 12 different tasks. Now w ith the introduction of the  New Signees Survey ,  new members are being added daily to the different teams.  

 

We are so encouraged by this support. For example, there are now 673 volunteers on the Prayer Team and 249 on the Social Media Team. It has been a slow process activating all the volunteers. Thanks for your patience. 

 

Team leaders are being appointed and more volunteers mobilised. Please pray for all those involved.
Seven New 'Mini-Strategies' Are In Place

Following the suggestions of the online survey, seven mini-strategies were developed and then  released in the final three months of the campaign. Each of these can continue to be used into the future.
  1. An Email You Can Forward to Others 
  2. Sharing on Social Media or Phoning
  3. An Invitation for Your Church Leader
  4. Advocates Sharing - emphasis on the older generation
  5. Sharing with Ethnic Aussies - growing number of translations
  6. Sharing through the Media - Christian Radio, TV and Publications
  7. Passing On the Vision - emphasis on the younger generation
We thank God for the wonderful cooperation and hard work of the Canberra Declaration community throughout the campaign.  It was a joyful realization that we now have new tools and approaches that can continue to be used into the future. 

Here are some things that we have celebrated in our office this week.
  • A signee has translated the whole Canberra Declaration into Chinese. We look forward to receiving many more translations of the Invitation to Sign and the Canberra Declaration.
  • A local Karen (Burmese) fellowship sent 21 sheets of signatures. We believe the potential amongst ethnic congregations is enormous.
  • A local church pastor received the Church Leader's Letter and is collecting signatures from his congregation.
  • A signee from Western Australia has collected hundreds of signatures. Read her story here.
A New Scholarship and More


We also have The Graham McLennan Worldview Scholarship as an expression of our commitment to connect with the next generation. 

 

It was in fact a young woman in Nazi Germany who inspired The Sophie Scholl Appeal to raise funds to upgrade our website platform. (The need for more funds to do this remains).

 

Her example of writing leaflets also inspired a new series of leaflets which relate various issues of our day to the foundational truth that God created man in His own image. Read or download the leaflets here.  
What About the Road Show? 

The only prize-winning suggestion we haven't been able to act upon is a Canberra Declaration Road Show!  

 

With so much of our communication through digital technology there is still nothing like face-to-face contact! 

 

Australia is a big place.  We need to explore creative ways of doing this in the coming year. We continue to welcome your suggestions.

In one sense we have achieved our faith target.  We have become utterly convinced there are well over 100,000 Australians who, if asked, would sign the Canberra Declaration.  Dr Lachlan Dunjey, a long-time defender of Christian values in Australia, has challenged us to aim for 200,000 signees! Please read his inspirational article, The Time is Now, released on the 5th anniversary of the Canberra Declaration last week. In it he strongly endorses the Canberra Declaration.  

 

In a psalm of praise to God for His great goodness to His people, David writes, 

 

"You crown the year with your bounty,
    and your carts overflow with abundance. 

The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; 

    the hills are clothed with gladness. 
The meadows are covered with flocks 
    and the valleys are mantled with grain; 

    they shout for joy and sing".

(Psalm 4:2, 5-6)

 

Yours for a bright and bountiful future for this nation and our children,

David & Marilyn Rowsome and Warwick Marsh 

 

For the Canberra Declaration Team 
One Final Thing in the Campaign

Now we ask you to complete the good work the volunteers have been doing on the mailing list by updating your profile details. 
  • Your details may have changed.
  • You may not be happy with the way your first name appears e.g. not capitalised, you want to be addressed in a shorter form
  • Someone who signed under your email address may not appear in the address line. If so you can change your first name be, for example, David & Marilyn.
  • If any other details are blank, you can fill these in.
  • And lastly you can tick a box if you would like to receive Updates about the National Day and 40 Days of Prayer & Fasting or if you are a church leader. 
Go to the bottom of this email now and click on Update Profile/Email address


Next week David and Marilyn travel to Canada, David's place of birth, for a time of furlough. They will return at the end of October. We praise God that Pastor Ben Pratt will be stepping in for the next three months.
PS. STOP PRESS! Special Invitation

Peter Walker
Indigenous Christian leaders, led by Pastor Peter Walker,  are inviting Canberra Declaration signees to come to the Spirit & The Bride which is the name of 72 hours of Prayer, Praise and Worship to God from the 10 - 13 August 2015.
 
This Three Days and Three Nights of Prayer, Praise and Worship led by Indigenous Christian leaders will celebrate marriage between a man and a woman and pray for Revival & Transformation for Australia.

The foundational scripture for this event is 2 Chron 20:22. This is the final prayer strategy which will celebrate the completion of 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting for a "Miracle for Marriage".

 

More details and how to register here

 

Please pass this information on to others as they can't come if they don't know about it. This is a cross-cultural gathering to glorify God so all are welcome.  
Canberra Declaration 
phone 02 4272 9100 or 0418 225 212


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