There is something powerful about getting a few hundred blokes together in a paddock.
No polished conference centre. No complicated technology. Just men, campfires, plenty of steak & honest conversations. But what makes it powerful is the whole weekend is set aside to seek God.
That is the heart behind Mighty Men Conferences, a movement that began in South Africa when Angus Buchan felt called to challenge men to surrender to God completely, and to live for God in their marriages, homes, workplaces, churches and community.
There are now Mighty Men gatherings all around the world, and three in Australia each year, bringing together men from churches across rural and regional Australia.
The aim is simple:
We want men to come to know Jesus as their Lord & surrender their lives to Him completely.
We want them to be equipped to live for Jesus in their everyday lives, leading their families, serving in their churches, building God’s Kingdom by making disciples in their workplaces & community.
We desire to be part of the whole church, taking the whole gospel to the whole world.
One man arrived carrying years of unresolved pain. He had grown up in a dysfunctional family and believed he was a Christian. He married a Christian woman and had children, but the issues he had never dealt with eventually caught up with him. He became trapped in pornography. When it was discovered, the consequences were devastating. His marriage fell apart and he was kicked out of his home.
It was through Mighty Men that he was able to recognise the abuse and dysfunction he had experienced. Through counselling, discipleship and surrendering his life more fully to Jesus, he began a journey of restoration.
And the transformation didn’t stop with him. His marriage was restored and he has gone on to disciple others who had faced similar struggles.
“Healing isn’t about the level of brokenness,” says Danny Everingham, one of the organisers of Mighty Men, “it’s about the power of Jesus to bring forgiveness, freedom & restoration.”
Another man discovered Mighty Men through a Facebook advertisement. He had grown up attending Catholic school but had never been to church or truly understood what it meant to follow Jesus. He drove six hours to attend the weekend.
Before coming, he’d been asking his doctor to run tests on him because he knew something wasn’t right.
On Saturday night, the men heard the story of Jesus’ final hours and his journey to the cross.
Afterwards, men were invited if they wanted to respond, to come to the foot of the cross (there’s a large cross on the site). Danny met this man there. They talked for around ten minutes, and the man surrendered his life to Jesus. He was encouraged to get into God’s Word and told that following Jesus would change everything.
A couple of months later, this man arrived at Danny’s church one Sunday morning, he’d driven the 6-hour trip again, this time to bring his wife, & to tell Danny that he was almost finished reading through the Bible. Eighteen months later, his whole family is following Jesus. He’s continuing to be discipled himself & has brought friends to faith & is now leading a couple of groups discipling men.
He had arrived searching for something he couldn’t name. He left knowing Jesus and wanting others to know him too.
“This isn’t unusual, we see all sorts of men come, from blokes who know nothing of Jesus, to mature believers who want to be equipped to be more effective serving our Lord. This is where we’re now seeing more growth, men are taking it back into their workplaces & communities, men are discipling other men.
We see Mighty Men weekends as a tool to serve the local church.
These weekends provide an opportunity for churches to send their men, they’ll hear clearly from God’s Word, they’ll be encouraged as they stand shoulder to shoulder with other believers, they’ll be equipped to strengthen their marriages & lead their families. And they’ll be sent home hungry to be discipled further.
These weekends aren’t organised by any one church, but men from lots of churches right across our region who are passionate to see men become disciples of Jesus. This includes the elders of Real Hope, a local Baptist church in Inverell.
“Many churches don’t have the resources or numbers to run their own men’s camp,” explains Danny, “we want to build up those churches. And this has can be better than having your own camp, there’s something powerful being part of a big mob of men, from right across our nation, worshipping our King. That’s part of the vision, seeing men fired up for Jesus, taking that fire back into their families, into their churches, seeing it spread across our land.
Men are encouraged to bring their mates, sons and neighbours, and to respond to Jesus together. There have even been moments where fathers and their sons have surrendered their lives to Christ on the same weekend.
There are many men on the fringes of church whose faith has remained immature, or who simply don’t feel comfortable in church. But many are willing to come camp in the bush. But we don’t try to make them feel comfortable at all, actually the opposite. We challenge to them surrender, we call them to be obedient, we urge them to become the men God created them to be.
God has shown us again & again the power in prayer. We have a group of blokes who meet on our hill, under the cross at daybreak on Saturdays for months to intercede for the men who’ll come to each weekend. Then we also have a WhatsApp group who prays for 40 days leading up to. This is where the spiritual battle takes place, so when we get to the weekend, it’s a time of harvest.
“There’s an openness,” says Danny, “men often say to me, I’ve never been with men who are so open & real, so I can’t help but be real myself.” That’s a result of prayer, and we’re able to speak Jesus into hearts like that. Something significant happens when men set aside an entire weekend away from the distractions of everyday life to seek God together. The Holy Spirit meets them is there.”
Ultimately, Mighty Men isn’t about creating a particular kind of bloke. It’s about seeing ordinary men become men who are surrendered to Jesus, honest about their struggles, committed to their families and willing to disciple others, living for their King.
Because sometimes a bloke who wouldn’t walk into a church will drive six hours to camp in a paddock, eat steak around a fire and talk honestly with other men. And in that space, he might just meet Jesus.
The next Inverell Mighty Men gathering will be held on 2-4 October, with organisers expecting over 500 men. They also have a Mighty Men weekend in the Riverina between Wagga & Albury. And a weekend especially for teens on the Darling Downs near Pittsworth. You can see details at www.inverellmightymen.com
If you or your church wants to be involved, contact Danny at info@inverellmightymen.com.au
