Prayer for rain in Tamworth attracts about 500 people

Tamworth area residents flocked to the event, hosted by the ministers fraternal, yesterday evening.

Regional mayor Col Murray, a former grazier himself, said he empathised with the pressure farmers were under.

“It’s just that acute shortage of feed, [and] when everyone runs out of water and you’re trying to make those decisions to either sell or keep your breeders, it’s a pretty tough time for farming families,” he said.

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“I think it’s good to come together and seek help from God.

“There’s a lot of strength in numbers, I think, and a lot of good citizens were there praying for farmers last night.

“It was a great show of solidarity and strength in a healthy community.”

Ministers Fraternal secretary Howard Barnes said there’d been a great variety in the people who attended, “from really old farmers who’d been through it, to a beautiful 10-year-old boy who gave a prayer he composed himself on the spot”.

“There were prayers about supporting each other, emotional stability, resilience and there was also an air of confidence that God is going to send rain and, while we can’t dictate when that happens … trusting God.”

Mr Barnes said there had been “a lovely feel in the town hall, of people there together with one accord to focus on God but also reach out to each other”.

He said there had been people leading prayers from the stage, but also people in the crowd who had stood with a microphone to speak, including the young boy.

The event lasted only about an hour.

“People were slow to leave after that, they wanted to touch base with each other and keep on praying.”