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Christian Tribal Leaders, Aboriginal Pastors, Christian Traditional Custodians and remote community dwellers gathered at Uluru from September 22 – 25, 2023. The call had been given to First Nations to gather nationally in repentance by Richard Evans from Leonora, Western Australia, and Debra Harding Morris from Melbourne, Victoria.

Richard and Debra, together with a team of Indigenous Christian leaders and other supporters, helped coordinate, organise, finance and publicise this historic event. They and their team successfully gathered a national body of First Nations from across Australia and led us into the presence of the Lord, and the Lord moved sovereignly as a result. I went to the Uluru Solemn Assembly with a good friend who is an Aboriginal Christian Leader and Pastor in Perth.

As the topic of repentance had been my personal focus through COVID, I was keen to participate in the national gathering. It was the first time I had been aware of a national First Nations-only repentance gathering, and the invitation to gather in humility and in forgiveness with others brought much hope. The promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 stayed close to my prayer times over recent years, knowing that the Lord was calling His people to “humble themselves, pray, seek my face and turn from their wicked ways.”

The Lord’s promise is that he would hear us, forgive us and heal our land. Australia needed healing… and the Lord was seeking those who would weep at our nation’s “broken walls of righteousness”, in a spirit like Jeremiah and Nehemiah, to weep and repent for our sins. By Friday, September 22, each state was represented at the Uluru Solemn Assembly, with a majority of Uluru, Alice Springs, Laverton and Wiluna Custodians present (central desert areas).

Heartfelt

The gathering event consisted of a table of organisers seated at the front of the room (with the Israel flag featured at the centre point). The first day many shared for a number of hours, open-mic style. Various perspectives were shared by remote and city people. Hearts were open, sharing was honest, and kingdom business engaged.

I sat and observed for most of the first day and drank deeply of the wisdom that was shared. I wept as I listened to Australian Aboriginal Brothers and Sisters present their pain, and their hope that if we could just meet with God together, healing would flow.

It had been over 30 years since I had last participated in a national Aboriginal Christian gathering, so just being a part of the gathering began a new work of healing to my heart. Although there were various theological perspectives represented, and I realised we may not all be in agreement on the differences, I had made a personal decision to listen in to what the Spirit of God wanted to accomplish. Jesus needed to be the centre, and my heart’s posture was to focus on the work of The Cross. A washing in the cleaning flow of Christ’s blood would bring the assembly into one common goal.

Repentance began on day #2 when an Aboriginal Christian Pastor knelt humbly before the assembly and repented of specific sins. This was followed by an invitation to me from the main male leader to pray prayers of repentance. As I had spent the previous year studying repentance, I had brought my typed prayers, which I used as a guide.

As I came to the front, the weightiness of the Spirit was heavy upon me. ‘Lower still’ was the theme in my posture before the Lord. I could only bow low throughout the duration of the prayers as the presence of the Lord was upon us. The male leader knelt beside me as he filled in the specific sins to name and confess. As we led out the prayers, the people followed.

The repentance prayers were three-tiered, as the Holy Spirit guided at that moment: personal, bloodline and national. I sensed the need to verbalise prayers for each tier. The gathering followed and then named their own specific sins before the Lord.

Following repentance, I gave a word regarding the importance of Matthew 6:14-15, ‘Forgiving Others’. It was important to address forgiving others their sins, otherwise “your Father will not forgive your sins.” We had to release forgiveness toward those whom we reserved hatred, bitterness, and resentment, toward.

It was difficult to lead this out, but I followed the lead of the Lord and presented my own brokenness. I confessed the state of my own resentments and inability to forgive others. I asked for forgiveness, and I released forgiveness. It was a solemn time of heart surgery. Hours seemed to disappear as the Spirit moved. Hatred, jealousy, bitterness, anger, violence, perversion, domination over others, black magic, witchcraft, idolatry, slander and gossip were among the list of sins confessed.

Vision

Day #3: a release of heaviness was tangible as we worshipped with flag-waving to lift up the name of Jesus. A release of the Prophets was evident by the third night as they prophesied over the nation. Men prophesied the Ezekial 37 “dry bones” to come to life from across Australia, and women declared restoration to the ruins.

The “seers” were telling of the Angels present in the room and that they were guarding us, and they saw fire burning across the floor. Some experienced heat throughout their body. The afternoon session had the men and women praying separately. The women prayed for and upheld the men and also prayed for the remote community ladies.

During the ladies’ gathering, two ladies shared that they were given honey to bring to the gathering, for unknown reasons at the time. The reason became apparent as we waited on the Lord. An Uluru Prophet shared her vision of how the Lord is “sweeter than the honey”… and asked Him where the honey should be taken. Uluru was the image shared. “Like honey in the rock.” (Psalm 81:16)

Editor’s Note: Many prayer networks across the nation supported this event in concerted prayer, including the Indigenous Prayer Network, PIPES Prayer Network, and Canberra Declaration just to name a few, as well as many individual intercessors. John Blackett from Khesed Ministries in Perth, WA, organised a Zoom prayer meeting for the Uluru Indigenous-Led Solemn Assembly at the same time. Watch it below.

During the last evening, and by the side of the road, a Pastor and I spoke into the lives of a couple of remote community people, who had arrived with their families. They wanted healing prayers for health problems. I sensed the urgency as it was the last evening, and although it was late, we began to pray by the side of the road.

One of the people had a tumour the size of a pea growing behind their eyes and causing ceaseless migraines for two years. Doctors had informed the person of impending blindness. I sensed in prayer the tumour and migraine were the direct effects of witchcraft, and I could see the affliction in their eyes.

When I asked if there was involvement with witchcraft, I was told that there was heavy involvement, not just by themselves but by the whole community. There was spiritual hunger, and I sensed the desire for healing, so I gave her a short explanation about the occult and its spiritual dangers.

There was instant understanding, no resistance at all, and with verbal agreement, I led them through prayers of repentance and renouncing witchcraft. I then laid hands on the forehead where the tumour was located and commanded it to dissolve, in Jesus’ name. The migraine stopped immediately, and the heaviness broke.  A big smile replaced the affliction, and laughter broke out.  Other ailments were prayed for, and healing experienced: a shoulder tear, a damaged foot tendon. The young man jogged up and down to enjoy his healing.

The final morning was a time of “filling the gaps” with further repentance, releasing forgiveness over those who had wronged us personally and governmentally. I’m thankful to have gathered nationally with Aboriginal Brothers and Sisters in Christ, and for the spiritual breakthrough that followed.

Prophetically, I believe Australian remote communities will experience an outpouring of the Holy Spirit as believers gather to repent, forgive and seek His face in humility. It is my prayer that First Nations and all Australian people come to know the mercy of the Father, the authority of His son Jesus and the power of His Spirit.

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Photo: Dietmar Rabich/Wikimedia Commons