As you’ve probably heard after two and a half years we finished up at Saltbush Church and in Broken Hill. This was very disappointing. We bought a house in  Broken Hill. We hoped to be there long term. We were sad to leave many people who we love and care about. We left because we needed greater support around us. So we made the hard decision to move to Cairns, where we have family. We start at Northern Hope Anglican Church in January 2026.

There are so many amazing little things about living in Broken Hill that I’m going to miss. Throughout the week I’d meet people one2one to dig into the Bible and visit the amazing cafes in town. Driving to a good cafe was easy because everything is 5-10 minutes away. While I would wait for my one2one and coffee to arrive I’d see someone I knew and have a great chat with them. The same thing would always happen when I’d go to the shops. It’s one of the wonderful little things about living in a small country town.

We had a great house for ministry. It had a pool (we only chose a house with a pool for baptisms and not for swimming on hot summers days ). I had a fantastic granny flat by the pool where I prepped sermons, ran growth groups, had some one2ones, leaders meetings and for a brief period, youth group. In the main house we proudly hung a picture of Geraldton which was given to us by St George’s Bluff Point and one of the art pieces David Dowden painted for us for our NAIDOC week celebration.

There isn’t enough space to mention the wealth of knowledge in the different museums, the beautiful scenery of the stars, the desert and the lakes at Menindee. Or the supportive and caring teachers our kids had. And Big Sky Stories – the most amazing children’s bookshop you will ever come across that is seeking to improve literacy in town (it’s also run by one of our core church members).

The little things are special yet as good as they are, it’s the big things that I’ll miss most.

Heaven rejoices when a sinner repents (Luke 15:7). For me the biggest thing I’ll miss is seeing people move from death to life. We had four professions of faith at Saltbush in our last six months. We’d been praying for a bloke named Mick for a while. He seemed like the most unlikely person to come to faith. He drank heavily to avoid his problems. He had no church background. His wife had been coming to church for a couple of years but Mick wanted nothing to do with it. One week out of the blue he came to church. A week later Mick called, “Brendan, Brendan, I see now. He’s real. He’s powerful.” Mick had encountered Christ. His life changed radically. He started praying with his kids and searching the Bible for its riches. Praise God!

Looking back another big thing that warms my heart is the way people have grown. As we’ve prayerfully preached the Bible we’ve seen people grow in their knowledge of God, their holiness and their love for Christ. I’ve seen Christians convicted by one sermon suddenly change how they speak and live. I’ve seen others align their hearts with God’s heart and long for the lost to be saved.

I want to finish by saying thank you to BCA, FIEC and to all who supported us while we were in Broken Hill. It was a privilege and joy to serve God there. Your prayers, encouragement and support are not in vain. It really is changing lives in the outback. I hope you will keep supporting ministry in rural, regional and remote Australia. God is doing great things in the bush.