It’s been raining in the Riverina. Up until yesterday we had only 0.4mm of rain all year (sounds more dramatic than just saying January) unlike northern NSW which has been experiencing far too much.

Everyday had been 34+ degrees until today. What a welcome relief! It has been so hot that bales of hay were self-combusting.

This rain, over 20mm, is a blessing. But it is a curse to those farmers whose hay was still outside and is now wet.

Thank you to everyone for their years of faithful prayers. Please join with me in thanking God and asking Him to continue to use this drought to bring many more into His kingdom.

And it would be remiss of me not to ask for prayers for northern NSW and the damage experienced there.

with thanks
Angela

Amen.

18mm here in Albury so far today.

We’ve also had a lot of rain up here in QLD, which has been wonderful. There still seems to be no end to the water restrictions though…

Angela Crittle - 19 January 2008 01:18 PM

Everyday had been 34+ degrees until today. What a welcome relief! It has been so hot that bales of hay were self-combusting.

What do farmers do when this happens? That’s gotta hurt!

Praise God indeed.

It occurs to me that just as we sometimes have denominational leaders call for nationwide prayer when drought happens, we should have those same leaders call for national days of thanksgiving when the rain finally comes.

Dave Lankshear - 20 January 2008 09:15 PM

Angela Crittle - 19 January 2008 01:18 PM

Everyday had been 34+ degrees until today. What a welcome relief! It has been so hot that bales of hay were self-combusting.

What do farmers do when this happens? That’s gotta hurt!

They lose their hay. The number of fires is high because of rain: moisture in hay from November rains makes for combustion in December-January heat. Here’s a rural fire service page with some explanation, and a video.

Last week I looked at the RFS information for the southern region, and of about 14 fires listed I think it was 10-12 were hayshed fires. One farm lost a million dollars worth of hay.

Gordon Cheng - 21 January 2008 07:05 AM

Praise God indeed.

It occurs to me that just as we sometimes have denominational leaders call for nationwide prayer when drought happens, we should have those same leaders call for national days of thanksgiving when the rain finally comes.

Couldn’t agree more, Gordon.

Cheers,
Andrew

Perhaps a national day of repentence wouldn’t be a bad idea either…

Brilliant ideas, Gordon and Dannii.

Hi there, all you residents of drought-ridden regions - what’s the update on the rainfall situation in your stricken areas?

TZ.

Tia,

thanks for asking. January 2008 reached its average rainfall - a first in about 6 years. February has all ready reached its rainfall average and the last few days have been blissfully below 30 degrees. Join me in thanking God.

What this means for our drought affected rural communities, I’m not sure. Has the drought broken - not yet. Wagga is definitely looking greener but as we know “looks can be deceiving.”

Please remain vigilant in your prayers to our merciful God for drought-breaking rain, for rural Christians to boldly proclaim the gospel even though they are hurting and for our nation to repent of its godlessness. It means so much to rural Christians that they have the prayerful support of their urban brothers and sisters in Christ.

It would be good to hear from others.

thanks again
Angela

Praise God once more for the rain in this drought-stricken part of Australia! It has been raining all night here, and Wagga Wagga has received just over 15 mm rain in the 24 hours to 9 am.

Still raining here, and more forecast!

Cheers,
Andrew

We’ve had good rain overnight here in Adelaide and most parts of South Australia & it looks like staying around for a day or two.
We thank God for the rain and some action from governments about the parlous state of our Lower Lakes.

Sincere thanks to all who have been praying. For the first time in 6 years, we surpassed the average monthly rainfall in Wagga. Praise be to God!

I hope this month has been a bumper month for other drought-affected areas.

I wonder if this month’s rainfall is not only God’s response to years of faithful prayers. Our minister, Sandy McMillan organized an inter-church prayer meeting earlier this month. It was attended by all Protestant ministers or their representative and by many church goers. Our local mayor also attended.

It was an incredible evening of hymns, songs of praise, and many many prayers including prayers for revival and rain. It was one of the most uplifting evenings I have ever experienced. I’ve recently been wondering if that evening of prayer has somehow caused God to relent and sent an above average rainfall for the month.

I highly recommend that such prayer events be organized by other churches. I’ve told my son I may not live to see God answer all the prayers offered up that evening but he may. In the meantime, the rainfall has been wonderful.

Thanks again to one and all.