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The Pioneering Workers

Australia - Clem Geue Speaks About Sam Jones
Australia, South Australia:  The Bethel Mission, South Australia, 1910
Australia, South Australia - Gospel Mission Meeting Tents
Australia, South Australia - Early Convention Scenes
Australia, South Australia - Yorke Peninsula, S.A.
Australia, Western Australia - The Work of the Gospel and Conventions in Western Australia
Australia, Queensland - Pioneering Ways of the Gospel in Queensland, Australia

Australia & New Zealand - FIRST Two Workers to go to Australia & NZ
Australia & New Zealand - Adam Hutchison arrives in 1905
Australia & New Zealand - John Hardie's Arrival
Australia & New Zealand  - Ralph & Rene Beattie, Married Worker Couple

New Zealand: First Workers in New Zealand
New Zealand:  Friends Who Lived in the Hutt Valley 1901 - 2006

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Australia States:

Australian Capital Territory (ACT)  National Capital: Canberra
Western Australia (WA) Capital:  Perth
Northern Territory (NT)  Capital:  Darwin
South Australia (SA)  Capital:  Adelaide

Queensland (QLD)  Capital:  Brisbane
New South Wales (NSW) Capital:  Sydney
Victoria (VIC)  Capital:  Melbourne
Tasmania (TAS)  Capital:  Hobart

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Around 1904-05, John Hardie and another worker* went to Australia. They lived in a tent where they used one half of the tent for their living quarters and the other half for meetings. One day a big storm came and totally ripped their tent to shreds. They then spread newspapers on the ground and slept on them. One day the elder worker woke to find his companion gone with all their money. He never knew where his companion went.

Alone in a strange place, he decided to keep spreading the gospel. A man from another city came to listen. He and a group of others left their old church in search of truth and because they felt the preacher wasn't preaching according to the Bible. So they started their own weekly gatherings. When this man heard John speak, he knew he had finally found the Truth. He spoke to John and asked him to come to his city to share with the others.  John said he would like to, but he confessed that he was broke. The man paid his train fare and asked him to come on the following Friday

So on Friday, the worker arrived. They had quite a gathering waiting, and they had a meal prepared for his arrival. Sitting down to eat, the first time in a long time, John was ravenous. He was able to maintain good manners, and take appropriate portions of food even though he was starving--until dessert. When he was passed the apple pie, he couldn't keep composed anymore and proceeded to eat the whole pie.  The children around the table watched in awe and in despair as they saw him devour the whole pie!

Most of the people in that little gathering professed.

They lent him a bicycle to get around. Starting for a neighboring city one day, he was soon drenched by a sudden rain storm. The rain in Australia turns into a clay-like substance that is terribly sticky. It kept getting stuck on his tires, and he had to get off every few yards to knock it off. Finally, when it got so bad that he couldn't go on, he left his bike by the side of the road and walked the rest of the way to the next town.

Upon getting there, he went into a store and asked if there was lodging. The storekeeper laughed and said, "In this small town? No, but there are some farmers up on the hill that often take people in." John trudged up the hill where the farmers had been sitting on the porch and had seen him ditch his bike, go into the store and then plod up the hill. They invited him in to stay until the rain stopped. It rained for 6 days. For those six days, he preached the gospel and at the end of the 6 days, all of the farmers professed. Later, he was sent a companion from England.

Later, the two workers went into a town looking for a place to put up their tent. They noticed a nice empty lot beside the blacksmith shop immediately. They went in and asked the blacksmith if they could put up their tent in the lot. The blacksmith wanted to know what they would be using the tent for, so the workers told him it would be for spreading the Gospel. The Blacksmith gave an emphatic, “NO.”  The workers went door to door asking for a place to pitch their tent. No one was willing to help. Finally, they only had one house left, and even though they noticed there wasn't room for the tent, they decided to ask anyway. The man in the last house suggested the blacksmith. The workers said they had been there first and had been refused. The man chuckled, and said it was no wonder, since the blacksmith was a staunch Irish Socialist who was anti-religion.

John, who was Irish, said to his partner to stay where he was, and he would go talk to the Smithy alone. Off he went, entering the blacksmith shop, stating, "Democracy is the only good government!" Those were fighting words to say to the Smithy. Pretty soon they were in a heated discussion as to which system was better. As the hour progressed, John pretended to let the Smithy convince him of some of the merits of Socialism. Getting ready to take his leave, the worker said to the Smithy that he was glad that they had had this conversation, since he had learned about Socialism, and that he had had his mind opened to other possibilities than just Democracy. As he turned to go, the Smithy stopped him and told him that he could put up his tent in the vacant lot beside his shop.  The blacksmith professed and a few others, but only the blacksmith remained faithful.

In another town, two workers were getting ready to start Gospel meetings.  One worker went door to door inviting people, and the elder worker went into the shops to invite people. The elder worker entered one drug store and invited the owner/pharmacists to the meetings. The owner said that he didn't have time to go to any Gospel meetings, because his church had services every evening and twice on Sunday. They talked a little, and then the owner invited the worker to come to his church. The worker asked if they had services Saturday evening.
    "Yes," the owner replied.
    "O.K.," said the worker, " I'll be there Saturday."
As he turned to leave, the owner said, "Since you are a servant of God, and I am a godly person, I consider everything on my shelves as godly merchandise. Whatever you need you can have at no charge, since it is for God." The worker turned and said to him, "I'm not interested in what you have on your shelves, I'm only interested in your soul.”

That Saturday night, the two workers entered the church quietly, hoping to be able to listen unobserved, but the preacher saw them and invited them to speak. So they did. The congregation was visibly moved. They were asked to speak the next Saturday also. The elder worker decided that he would speak more openly, freely and directly. The preacher was extremely mad. He told them to get out, and let it be known they were not welcome again.

Some of the congregation realized that this was the truth and was the right way, so they left that church. Soon they professed.  A couple who professed were friendly.  All their friends saw the changes in them.  The woman’s friends saw that she had something that they didn’t.  Upon discussing it with their husbands, their husbands mentioned that they had noticed a difference in the husband too.  A Wednesday night Bible Study had been set up in this couples’ home. One Wednesday night, the others decided to go to this Bible Study and see exactly what their friend had found. As it so happened, the head worker happened to be there that night. They decided to turn it into a Gospel Meeting. By the end of the meeting, everyone professed, taking 1/2 of the congregation away from that other church. When the preacher found out, he was furious. He depended on those people for his livelihood.  Now that they were gone, he had to find odd jobs around town.

As the years went on, every so often the worker and the preacher would run across each other in town. The worker was always nice, but the preacher wasn't. One day, eight years later (the worker was in that area for eight years), the worker was walking down the street when he noticed the preacher painting the theatre screen. The worker walked in and said hello and asked the preacher to sit for a while and take a break with him. At first the preacher refused, then he agreed. After they got started talking, they talked for twelve hours straight. Soon after, the preacher professed. He said he knew it was the truth the first time he heard them speak, but refused to believe it because it was his livelihood, and what would he do to earn a living?

Talking later to the storekeeper after he professed, he also acknowledged that as soon as the worker left his store, he knew it was the Truth. The owner kept a diary, and he wrote in his diary after the worker left that first time, "Today I have seen and heard the Truth, he is a true man of God." Asked how he knew this, the owner said, "All other supposed men of God, when offered anything in the store, left with their arms full, and you left with nothing in the store, but a real concern for my soul.”

The first family that professed had a son. He was rebellious. He went to Sydney to become a policeman. He became worldly, leaving the Truth behind. He saw his best friend murdered when they were trying to capture an escaped criminal. That is when he first started thinking about the truth again. The day after the shooting, the head police officer called a number in roll. No answer. He called the number again, louder. No answer. "Oh, ya, he is the one that was shot yesterday. Scratch his number off the list. I wonder whose number will be next?''

This young man transferred to another town. He called his mother to tell her. She asked where he would be staying.
    "Oh, probably in the pub," he responded.
    "Oh, no, you can't do that!" She replied, horrified, "Call me before you leave. OK?
As soon as she hung up talking to him, she got on the phone and called all over to see if there was someone in the area that could put him up of the Friends. She found a young couple that had been married just two weeks. They hesitated at first because he didn't profess, but finally agreed.

The mother told her son of this place, and he agreed to go. They were really nice to him. One day he came home from work late, and they had  already eaten. That was unusual since they always waited for him. He was angry that they hadn't waited, so when the woman came in to talk to him, he was surly. Then the man came and talked to him, and he was still surly. They were trying to get enough courage up to ask him to the Gospel meeting that night.  Finally, they mentioned it, and he eagerly said, "If I hurry, I can go with you." So he hurried and they all went together.

Their convention is over Christmas-time, and being a policeman, he couldn't get the time off, since it is a busy time of year. So he travelled miles to get a convention. Sitting at the dining table, he looked across the table and noticed a man. He thought to himself, “That man has seen many years in prison.”  The other man was thinking, “That guy is a cop.” They began talking. They shook hands, and the ex-prisoner said it was the first time that he had shaken hands with a policemen. He then told his story. He and his wife were professional thieves. Every time they were caught, their two daughters had to go stay with the grandmother. The last time this happened, the grandmother had been exposed to the Gospel, and all three of them had professed. When the man and his wife got out of prison and took their daughters back, they noticed a change. Pretty soon they started going to meetings too, eventually professing. He ended by saying that it was the first time he had ever heard of children being good influence on their parents, since it is supposed to be the other way around. That really spoke to the policeman, and soon after he re-professed.  Now he is in the work.

Willie Jamieson had only professed 2 weeks before he went into the Work. He was baptised the same time as those in his field were. He professed the same day that he heard the gospel.

People in England sold all of their goods and priceless antiques to pay for passage for workers to be able to go to Africa, Australia' and America. The first workers came to America about 1904.

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NOTE:  The author of this account was not given (unknown)

NOTE:   Other sources say the two went to Melbourne, New South Wales, Australia  in July, 1904.  Sandy Alexander was the other worker, according to George Beattie (Secret Sect p. 37, Note 28).  Sandy is listed on the 1905 Workers List.  Reportedly Sandy Alexander left the group and became a Plymouth Brethren preacher.

NOTE:  According to The Secret Sect, "Similar hostility and opposition in other districts motivated preachers to travel overseas, one being John Hardie, whose wooden mission hall was burned down by Roman Catholics in Kilkenny. He was said to have used the money awarded by the court for damages to pay his passage to Australia, instead of putting it into the common purse. He pioneered the movement in New South Wales."  (Secret Sect by Doug & Helen Parker, p. 31)  

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The first two workers, who came to New  Zealand, were: John Hardie and Sandy Alexander; then John Hardie went to Australia, where he remained.

In 1905, (8) workers came to N.Z. from the homeland, (Great Britain). In 1906, the missions were worked.

John Frazer and Jimmy Hodgins went to the Auckland Province and worked a mission at Pukekohe, about 40 professed. Among them were Teenie Walker, Alice Begbie, Percy Hartland and many others.

Maggie McDougal and Frances Hodgins had quite a few to profess in Wellington, among them was Jim McCleod.

Adam  Hutchinson and Joe Williamson went to the Canterbury province the same year-1906, and worked a big mission at Oxford, a few miles out of Christchurch.

Then Annie Smith and Fanny Carroll worked in the Otago province, started a mission at Berwick, 30 miles from Dunedin.

The workers went out visiting, called on people by the name of Graham, dairy farmers, and invited them to meetings. They  were shy Presbyterians, and wouldn't come, but said they thought their dairyman would come, who was no less than Jack Craig, a Plymouth Brethren. He used to attend the Brethren meetings, but never took part, said he had a dumb devil.  Jack Craig started to go to the sisters' meetings, came early one night, before the meeting started, and told the sisters that as a result of what they had been preaching, that last night, he made up his mind to make the Lord his Master. That meant Jack Craig was the first to profess in Otago.  After Jack professed, he went back to the Brethren meetings, and told them all how he had received light, and they came to the conclusion that he certainly had received something.

Next, the same sisters went to Otokia, about 18 miles from Dunedin and started a mission there, quite a few came out. Among them was the Blair family, Gerald Morris and several others. They had a meeting one  Sunday afternoon, and Jack Craig came along and gave his testimony. After that, the Blairs professed. My brother Robert, wouldn't attend the meetings, because the Brethren didn't believe in women preachers, but some time after we had decided, it sort of worked an interest in him, and he attended a meeting. He was also a Plymouth Brethren. He became quite interested, and the first night he thought he had received light, and told the sister workers he had been believing in a dead Christ, and consequently he made Jesus his Lord and  Master.

The next thing, there was a church to be formed, and owing to my mother not professing, we couldn't have the meeting in the home so it was held in the barn.  This was the first church in Otago.  Jack Craig used to come the 8 miles to attend the fellowship meeting.

Sometime after that Mother became much softer and decided it wasn't right having the Lord's supper in a barn, and invited us to meet in her front room.  Later, she herself professed, and opened her home, which was the first open home in Otago.

The FIRST convention we went to was held in Harper Street, Sydenham, Christchurch. 70 people were there.  It was the only convention in N.Z.

The sisters stayed about one year after we professed, then went to Tasmania.

Jack Craig went out from that convention to preach. The next preacher who came along was, H.  McNeary (Harry).  He had some meetings at Dunedin and 1 or 2 professed, one being Lizzie Stevens.  And in 1908 he worked a mission out at Purakanui just out of Dunedin,  he and Jim Mcleod had about 40 to profess. Quite a number went out to preach, among them being the Wix family; of that family 4 went out to preach the Gospel and Robert Blair went out later.

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TTT Editors Note: George & Lottie Wix (brother and sister) pioneereed the work in Switzerland.

Harry McNeary left the Faith Mission in 1900 to become one of Wm Irvine's workers.

 

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