YOUTH RALLY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23026, 2 May 1938, Page 7

YOUTH RALLY

TOWN HALL GATHERING INLAND AUSTRALIA* WORK OF THE REV. JOHN FLYNN • ii Au i "* ** * V 1:' An audience of about 2000 young people gathered in the Town Hall under the auspices of the Auckland Christian Youth Council yesterday afternoon chiefly to hear an address by the Rev. John Elynn, superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission. It was the annual rally of the council, and was presided over by Mr. A. Sutherland, its president. A preliminary service of song was conducted by Mr. Y. T. Drew, and Mr. Ivon Lambert was at the grand piano.

The council represents the Bible Class movements of the Anglican, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and Congregational Churches, the Churches of Christ, Salvation Army, Student Christian Movement, Young Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations, the Nurses' Christian Union, the -Boys' and Girls' Life Brigades and Christian Endeavour. Representatives of various churches assisted in the conduct of the opening service of worship. The Lonely Interior

Mr. Flynn, who was accompanied on the platform by Mrs. Flynn, had a very cordial reception. His subject was "The * Romance of Missions in the Vast Interior." Referring to the many sections of the Christian church represented in that gathering, Mr. Flynn said it brought to his mind a small meeting in the heart of Australia at which 17 people sat down at the Lord's table and found that they represented 13 different branches of the Church. Even in Australia- people did not realise how very lonely the great inland was. In an area four times the size of New Zealand there lived only twice as many people as were in that hall. Ninety per cent of the people in the

remote parts of Australia v ( ere bachelors, and the places whera the mission could hope to hold pnblic worship in the regular way were strictly limited. Other means had to he found of spreading the Gospel and "making the Word flesh'' there. Work of Other Churches /

Mr. Flynn paid tributes to the work of the brotherhood movement of the Anglican Church, which had been carried on for more than 30 years, to the Buph Church Aid Society of the Anglican Church, to the Methodist

Federal Inland Mission and to the Catholic Church in the inland parts. The Presbyterian mission he represented sought to get men who would live among these lonely people, and these men from time to time returned on holiday to the settled parts and so made contacts between the inland and the coa^t. Magnificent service was done by the nursing sisters, by the wireless organisation and by the medical air services. „ Thei simple wireless equipment was not only used to call medical aid in emergency, but at the close of the day's work women could sit down and talk to a friend 200, 400 or even 600 miles away. Thus the isolation was defeated, and personality conquered distance.