Upon first glance, everyone wants to live in Byron Bay. It looked fun, maybe somewhat similar to a Florida beach town where everyone walks around with surfboards and no shoes. But there was a heaviness to Byron Bay that was immediately felt by some as we entered this town a month ago. Byron Bay was a place where nothing was really as it seemed. Everyone looked happy-go-lucky and laid back. In reality, they were all hurting. Everyone there was searching for something, and most were trying to fulfill this longing with everything but the one that works.
One of our last days in Byron included a meeting with Ian from the YWAM base. He thanked us for coming, for working hard and for not losing hope or giving way to apathy during our month of organized chaos ministry. And then we started having an interesting conversation. We told him that in several of our ministry efforts, we’d been met with resistance by the Byron Council, and also that we couldn’t find any bookstore in town that sold Bibles. The council has banned Bibles from being sold in Byron, and I honestly believe that is one reason the place is so heavy. This is why YWAM gives away Bibles every Friday night at their free barbeques.
I’ve been wondering why this information came at the end of the month. And in the middle of writing this blog I had a conversation with a World Racer that I don’t know very well. But I was telling her about Byron and the fact that while I feel a sense of relief after leaving, it’s not a place I want to forget about. It holds the eastern most point in Australia. It has significance. And it can be a shining light for the world when it comes alive for Jesus and for Truth. So my prayers are still with Byron Bay, and I hope you’ll join me in that also. When all other lights go out, may the light of God shine in Byron Bay, in Australia and in the rest of the world.
