In an article released by Assist News Service, NICO BOUGAS reports on Angus Buchan’s ‘Mighty Men’ conference…
An estimated 350,000 men gathered on a farm belonging to South African farmer/evangelist, Angus Buchan, over the past weekend for the Mighty Men conference in what was one of the largest gatherings of men for a Christian event ever. Some came from as far afield at Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Pakistan, and the UK.
Buchan is a farmer turned evangelist who exhorts people to trust God for the impossible, drawing on his personal experience of the miraculous. The author of the book, Faith Like Potatoes – released as a movie in 2006, says he has seen God intervene in his life many times including when his farm was saved from a raging bushfire by his family’s fervent prayers for rain, when a farm worker was raised from the dead after she was struck by lightning, and when God came through for him with a miracle crop of potatoes in the face of the severest drought.
TENT CITY: Tens of thousands of men gather to hear Buchan speak at the Mighty Men conference.
“Don’t run away from South Africa. Your problems will follow you wherever you go.”
– Angus Buchan
Buchan refused to comment on the numbers attending the conference, referring to the Biblical story of David who commissioned a census out of pride and was later punished. However he was prepared to say it was the largest gathering of Christian men in the world as far as he knew. He added, “there is no stadium in the world that could hold this number of men.”
Pastor Bruce Winship, official spokesman for the conference, also declined to give any official estimates of the crowd other that to say that this year’s number far exceeded that of last year when 150,000 men were present.
About 60 planes crowded out the small airport a few miles from the conference gathering while lines of car stretched for miles as they approached the farm. The tent village erected for the conference stretched over three million square meters on three farms.
Following the dramatic scenes last year when Buchan collapsed with a suspected heart attack and had to be airlifted to a local hospital, the evangelist demonstrated his fitness by jumping up and down and doing several press-ups and declaring, “Do I look sick?”
The weekend’s messages largely followed the theme of preparing men to go out and carry the word of hope. The theme of the conference was to ‘Be Watchmen’. Buchan exhorted the men to make sure that their own lives reflected God’s will and then to be like watchmen on the wall to warn friends when the enemy comes to steal and plunder.
He also spoke of the need to listen to God. He recognised that they lived busy lives, but he urged the men to be still and listen to God. He then let the men sit in complete silence for five minutes so they could come to a stop and listen to God.
Buchan also spoke of the fear for the nation’s future. “Don’t run away from South Africa,” he thundered, “Your problems will follow you wherever you go.”
On several occasions Buchan called on the men to be true men and not “wimps”. He said Christian men must take lead in their homes and families. They must place Christ at the head of their homes and places of work. Like Joshua of old they must declare, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
He further stated that men would never be able to be spiritual leaders in their homes if they themselves have not put their own lives in order.
Warned against negative talk and attitudes towards the situation in South Africa, Buchan said: “I believe our nation will change. I see new a South Africa, a land of peace and tranquility.”
He called on the men to confess their sins and to live for God without reservation. “God is here not to judge you but to give you a second chance.”
Inevitably there were critics who questioned his motives and his message. But one of South Africa’s most experienced and respected evangelists and Christian leaders, Rev Michael Cassidy, said he had never experienced any gathering to equal that of the Mighty Men conference.
Cassidy, founder and director of Africa Enterprise, has led mass evangelistic efforts throughout Africa and other parts of the world. “But nothing we have seen in Africa comes anywhere close to this unique gathering of men.”
He referred to the Biblical images of salt and light. He said South Africa was experiencing many problems and it is up to the church to make a difference and stave off the darkness and corruption.
“This gathering offers a challenge for church leaders to get back to the simple Biblical message of the Gospel which has been lost in many churches. Angus Buchan’s message touches a nerve because there is a great spiritual hunger in the land.”
One of the organisers, Frans Cronje drove almost 4,000 kilometres with his nine-year-old son and two friends/colleagues.
“This gathering offers a challenge for church leaders to get back to the simple Biblical message of the Gospel which has been lost in many churches. Angus Buchan’s message touches a nerve because there is a great spiritual hunger in the land.”
– Rev Michael Cassidy, founder of Africa Enterprise
“We spent four wonderful days in our tents,” he said. ” What struck me this year was the ‘sweet and gentle spirit’ among the men. I saw men arrive, full of the problems that we face in our country today, but within half a day I saw how the anger and fear left them. There was joy and peace when we left. Angus managed to lead all of us to focus all our attention on Jesus for the weekend. I never saw one impatient man on the farm, not even when it took a couple of hours to get off the farm in the traffic!
“What really struck me was Angus message on Saturday when he said we need to be quiet for long enough to hear God speak to us as individuals. This is so true for me! I came home on Monday evening and then spent Tuesday seeking God, instead of going to the office. I am faced with a few options at the moment and have had difficulty in deciding which road to follow, even after looking at the pro’s and con’s. Now I know I should simply trust God to show the way. My wife and I have always built our decisions around Proverbs 3 :5-6 and Angus just reminded me of this.”
Buchan, meanwhile, was nostalgic over what has been accomplished over the past seven years and the impact on men around the nation. “When I began seven years ago people asked me, Why do you call it ‘Mighty Men’? Aren’t Christians supposed to be meek and humble? “ I told them we are humble, but we are also strong in the Lord. We must hold our heads up high and boldly walk in God’s way.”
He announced that in the future many more such conferences would be held regionally in South Africa as well as in far away places such as Pakistan, India, Australia, the US and Canada. Buchan called on his audience to become a mighty army that would carry the message far and wide.
~ www.mmc09.co.za
~ www.shalomtrust.co.za
Nico Bougas is the international coordinator of Hellenic Ministries. He is the author or co-author of four books the most recent being, “New Every Morning” and “Champions for Christ.” He previously worked for Youth for Christ in South Africa and was Editor of In Magazine and Christian Living TODAY.
