Battling Snakes and Demons in Australia’s Outback

Tuesday, 23 November 2010 04:42 PM EST J. Lee Grady
Aussie missionaries Les and Sally Freeman have given their lives to reach the neglected Aborigines.
Most Americans fondly remember Steve Irwin, the Australian wildlife lover and gregarious host of Crocodile Hunter who wrestled reptiles on camera and then died in 2006 after an attack by a sting ray. He was the epitome of Aussie spunk. Yet I’ve learned there are Aussie Christians with the spiritual equivalent of Irwin’s daredevil courage.
A prime example: Les Freeman, a 31-year-old Pentecostal preacher who has been planting churches in Aboriginal areas of northern Australia for nine years. He doesn’t wrestle crocs, but this tough guy and his brave wife, Sally, have battled snakes, demonic curses and environmental hardships to take Christ’s love to a neglected mission field.
“Barbaric things were done to these people. In the early days, Australians taught that the Aborigines could not come to Christ because they were animals. Men would actually come out from church and go out shooting black fellows.”  --Les Freeman
Not long after Les and Sally pulled into the Aboriginal town of Borroloola in 2001, their two-year-old son was bitten by a deadly king brown snake, one of the world’s most poisonous creatures. The boy went into a coma, his blood pressure began rising and a doctor told Les to prepare for the worst.
The Freemans refused to believe the doctor’s prognosis and clung to Luke 10:19, which promises authority over “serpents and scorpions.” Miraculously their son was spared, and the Freemans had five more children over the next nine years—and raised them in the dangerous Outback while they learned Aboriginal culture.
“The devil was trying to get us out of this town,” Les told me during an interview in Sydney last weekend. He planted another Aborigine church in the town of Robinson River in 2005. His goal is to bring the gospel to these unique indigenous people who were marginalized and mistreated when whites settled in Australia many years ago.
Wes, a native of Victoria, in southeastern Australia, first visited Aborigines when he was 18 during a church mission trip to the Outback. At that time he heard an “almost audible” call from God to serve as a full-time missionary to the Aborigines, he says.
“But I kept rejecting the idea,” Wes admits. “I couldn’t understand the people. I didn’t have the cultural knowledge. I couldn’t even tell whether the people were drunk or not. But finally I decided to give my future to God.” Eventually, after their wedding, Wes and Sally partnered with an organization called Australian Aboriginal Outreach Ministries and moved to Borroloola.
Their son’s brush with death was the first in a series of intense spiritual attacks. Once, someone put a curse on Les and his leg began to swell. He has confronted visible demonic powers. He’s had disturbing nightmares. And he’s buried 15 people he led to Christ because the life expectancy of Aboriginal men is so low.
Yet God has worked miracles to give the Freemans access to Aborigines, who are entrenched in witchcraft and superstition. A 100-year-old tribal elder saw a vision of an angelic being who told him that Les would tell him how to get to heaven. That man’s conversion gave Les and Sally credibility in the town. Another Aboriginal man who was known for his violence received Christ and became a model convert.
“Many other people have been healed, and many have been delivered from mental illness,” Les says. “But it’s not always dramatic power encounters. Sometimes it is easy. The people make a stand for Christ and get delivered quietly.”
The need in the Aboriginal community is huge. Sociologists say the gap that exists between white Aussies and the dark-skinned Aborigines is the largest cultural divide in the world. A nomadic people, Aborigines have changed little over the past few hundred years. The cruel treatment they received in previous generations has led to rampant alcoholism and a high suicide rate.
“Barbaric things were done to these people,” Les says, noting that professing Christians participated in the atrocities. “In the early days, Australians taught that the Aborigines could not come to Christ because they were animals. Men would actually come out from church and go out shooting black fellows.” (The Australian government issued a formal apology for crimes against Aborigines in 2008.)
Thankfully there are extraordinary heroes like Les and Sally Freeman who are willing to risk everything to heal the pain of these misunderstood people. And if you are willing to brave king brown snakes, demonic curses and maybe a few killer crocodiles, Les has a job for you.
“This is my lifelong calling, and I plan to train missionaries to present Christ in a meaningful way to Aborigine culture,” he says. “If we had 100 couples we wouldn’t have enough.”

FAMILY FIRST News December 23, 2009

Hi,

As you’re aware by now this newsletter is in response to the many people wanting me to keep them up to date with the latest news.

CLIMATE CHANGE – My trip to Copenhagen
I went to Copenhagen to the United Nations Climate Conference to make sure Australians got the full picture about what was going on. There were a lot of negotiations done behind close doors but no binding agreement was entered into. Listen to more here or watch more here or you can watch my speech on the Rudd Government's Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme here.

BANKS – Interest rate pain
Working families are being hit by ever increasing interest rates putting more strain on the family budget. A Senate Inquiry into Family First’s legislation, which would stop the big banks from hiking up rates by more than the Reserve Bank, found homeowners are being slugged 2.8% above the official cash rate while the PM does nothing to protect consumers. Read more here.

YOUTH ALLOWANCE – Rural students hung out to dry
Family First stood up for the bush and put a stop to ridiculous changes proposed by the government which would have made it harder for rural and regional students to get to university. 26,000 students would have been worse off. Read more here or listen to more here.

PENSION PAIN – a fair go for our war vets
Recently I gave a speech in Parliament calling on the Rudd Government to make sure veterans are given a fairer deal on their pensions. I have written to the Minister and plan to meet with him to make sure our vets are looked after. Read or listen to more here.

You too can make a difference – tell us what you think about these issues soon to be debated in the Senate, or any others important to you. Send me an email from my website: www.stevefielding.com.au

•    Childcare … Accreditation standards for childcare will increase, but this means parents will have to pay more. What do you think about that? Read more here.

•    Alcohol … We’re now entering what’s dubbed the silly season. Remember to take care and look out for each other in the festive season.

•    Twitter … I’ve taken the plunge and joined Twitter. You can follow me at: http://twitter.com/senatorsteve. 

Please feel free to forward this email to others who might be interested and encourage them to give us some feedback on these or any other issues.

Finally I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thank you all for your feedback though out the year.
 
Regards,
 
Senator Steve Fielding
Leader of Family First
255 Blackburn Road
Mount Waverley, VIC 3149
Ph: (03) 9802 1922

Khesed Indigenous Ministries, June 16, 2009
The Kingdom of God is love, joy, peace '
            We walk in our full inheritance
                        when we walk with Jesus in the Kingdom of God
Praise.
* news of God dropping His fire in diverse places across remote Australia
* youth praising & worshipping the Lord (a new generation), & growing in leadership, prayer for healing in their communities & beyond
* growing worship with new songs in local heart languages
* men rising up in the Lord
Pray

* Jameson at Easter was a time of great fellowship, worship, encouragement and challenge for people from a great range of places. Pray for the Lord to protect what He did & bring continuing growth in individuals & communities. Pray for the Kingdom of God to be established.
*Pastors in isolated places often have limited fellowship, training, resources, support, finance, etc.
Pray for encouragement, especially from the Lord as they wait on Him. Gal 3.6 Consider Abraham: He believed God, & it was credited to him as righteousness.
Worship & messages from relevant churches & ministries to encourage & build up these pastors. Eg Derek Prince Ministries, maybe Eagle Rock Community Church, etc
*Indigenous business enterprises are developing increasingly. They are offering training & personal development opportunities for youth and older people. Pray for fruitfulness, success & endurance in these difficult times. Pray that the community will rejoice as they see the godly integrity in many of these enterprises.
*Health issues. Pray for communication & for understanding of issues. There are many misunderstandings between staff & patients. One was highlighted by the Indigenous SIDS staff recently (The West Australian 10.6.09). Anti-smoking strategies talk about babies of smokers having a smaller birth weight. Some young mums see this as a good thing but dont really hear the rest of the warnings.
*A Healthy Vision See Christine Jefferies request in the newsletter & pass it on to all relevant people, radio programmes, communities, churches, etc. PLANT A FRUIT TREE Pray that this request will spread widely with great results.
*Healing the Land Pray for the spirit of forgiveness to grow and grow in this nation.
*The intervention in the Northern Territory is raising many issues it is helpful in some ways and disruptive & destructive in others. The Federal Government has suspended the Fair Trading Act & The Racial Discrimination Act to implement the intervention.
It is resulting in discrimination against people who were managing their lives effectively and is causing a few large business chains (often multinationals) & new government businesses to prosper, while denying trade to many smaller businesses, including some which have served towns & communities effectively for many years. Please pray for justice for all.
*Education. Students in schools, universities, colleges, etc.
*Grief especially from untimely deaths & frequent funerals continues to cripple many people. Pray for justice & mercy. Pray for Gods love, peace & joy to break the cycle.

Ministries.
* Willie & Carlene Pickett in Victoria based in Geelong.
* Robyn Green - for breakthroughs in ministry, sales of CDs and other needs.
* Gloria Dyer - for strength & continuing wisdom & anointing.
* Indigenous leaders, Khesed Directors, resource development & use, August trip + other issues in Khesed News as the Spirit leads.

God bless you heaps as you bless heaps of others.
Yours, in the joy of serving Jesus Christ, John Blacket.
Khesed Indigenous Ministries, Khesed Education and Khesed Publishing:
Rebuilding nations through partnership, indigenous identity and reconciliation in Jesus Christ

Phone/Fax:  08 9451 7213  Mobile: 0409 20 90 23 Website: khesed.org.au