Extreme rainfall across the Greater Sydney Conference (GSC) and North New South Wales (NNSW) Conference over the weekend (March 20–21) has seen Adventist schools and churches evacuated and homes flooded.

North New South Wales

The Macleay River and Hastings River on New South Wales’ Mid North Coast have overflowed, forcing hundreds of schools to close, including Kempsey Adventist School (KAS) and Manning Adventist Bush School (MABS).

According to Pastor Adrian Raethel, NNSW Conference president, KAS has been closed since Thursday last week. It will also be closed tomorrow, with no staff or students able to access the premises due to floodwater blocking access to the site from both directions.

Dianne Hillsdon, headteacher at MABS, says that although the property is on a slope and should be mostly safe from flooding, it’s impossible to tell.

“One teacher who lives quite close to the school can’t even get in. The bridge is quite damaged, so structural engineers will have to look at it before we can travel over it,” she explained. “This time last year, we were putting out spot fires, then we had COVID-19 all of last year, then now [sic] floods. We’re over it. It’s probably been about 18 months of natural disasters and disease and it’s stopping us from coming together as a community.”

Port Macquarie Adventist School is operating on skeleton staff, with many staff and students trapped at home due to flooding. The school hasn’t had to close yet. It is hoped that most schools will reopen on Wednesday.

Road closures have also affected many church members from accessing necessities, and several homes have been inundated.

“We know that one Macksville church member has been affected but are awaiting further updates at this stage,” explained Pastor Raethel.

Raymond Terrace Church was sand-bagged yesterday in anticipation of flooding, and that situation is being monitored.

To help the relief effort, members of Port Macquarie Adventist Church are collecting donations of non-perishable food items, pillows, blankets, and other necessities for those evacuated or otherwise affected. They are also encouraging people to pray and reach out if they need accommodation. For more information, please call (02) 6582 0409, or to provide financial assistance, go to their Go Fund Me page: https://gofund.me/449854a4 

“We have asked pastors to contact any vulnerable members, which they’ve been good at doing,” explained Pastor Raethel. “ADRA director Pastor David Haupt is working with local churches to be available as evacuation centers.”

The NNSW Conference is working to provide immediate cash grants to church members who have been affected. NNSW has also partnered with the Australian Union Conference, which will match emergency funds dollar for dollar.

“We already had the application document all done due to the fires last year, so we’re just in the process of editing that and getting it out to David and church members so they can apply for funding through their church pastor,” said Pastor Raethel.

In addition to churches and schools, Stuarts Point Campground has been moderately flooded, resulting in grounds and road closures. However, water has not entered the buildings at this stage.

Greater Sydney

In Greater Sydney, flooding of the Hawkesbury River in Sydney’s west has flooded Penrith, Windsor, Richmond, and surrounding suburbs, and is threatening Pastor Lloyd Grolimund’s “Aussie Pastor” studio. More than 3,000 people have been evacuated, and there are fears that up to 54,000 more could be affected.

Despite this, Crosslands Convention Centre, which has creek frontage on Berowra Creek that flows into the Hawkesbury River, has remained untouched by floodwaters.

“We have totally witnessed a miracle,” explained Bruce Hill, site caretaker. “It’s boggling my mind actually because everyone around us is being evacuated and flooded, and I know that heaps of people have been praying for us.”

With the entire site submerged under 1.2 meters of water this time last year, this comes as welcome relief. Currently, there are nearly 60 centimeters of riverbank at the Crosslands site.

“It can only be God, nothing else. On Friday, in anticipation of what was to come, we moved everything that would sink or float, and it hasn’t affected us at all. I’ve been enjoying sharing God’s miracle. Everyone has expected us to be underwater, but we’re not!” {exclaimed Hill?}

Crosslands are safe, despite families being evacuated from their homes just five kilometers up the river.

“We have one family that has been evacuated that we are aware of in our office staff and we believe everybody else is okay,” adds Pastor Terry Johnson, GSC president. “We have sent out information to all of our ministers. They’ve got ADRA information as well as support material, and if they let us know that some of their church members have been affected, we will then pass it on.”

ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency) is also providing assistance to non-church members across New South Wales. To support their emergency flood response, you can donate via their website.

This article was originally published on the website of Adventist Record