At Kingsland, we believe one of the most strategic ways to impact the nations with the gospel is to strengthen homes. Last year, we launched an intentional effort to take our Empowered Homes conferences beyond the United States to locations where we have strategic international partnerships.
Our Empowered Homes Conferences help parents understand their role as the primary faith trainers of their children. We also cover family and parenting topics, have breakout sessions for men and women, and introduce families to our Empowered Homes website where they can access free resources to help them on their parenting journey.
Our vision to take our Empowered Homes conferences global has already taken our teaching teams to Uganda, Spain, Brazil, Colombia, and now Australia. But how did we end up in Australia? That story actually began more than a year ago.
In April 2025, as part of Kingsland’s 5511 Initiative to give away 1,000,007 copies of the Scriptures, my friend Jay Lowe and I came to Australia. We had 10,000 copies of Luke’s Gospel printed in country. Power to Change, Australia’s Campus Crusade for Christ, helped coordinate points along our route where we could ship boxes of Luke to resupply along the way.
Our 10,000-kilometer journey took more than three weeks and took us from coastal cities deep into the Australian outback. Along the way, we met many pastors and made lots of new friends. Ryan Rush, Kingsland’s senior pastor, joined us for the first week.
When we reached Sydney, we met Matthew LeClaire, pastor of Parkside Church. Pastor Matthew kindly invited Ryan to preach at Parkside, which gave us a chance to worship with the congregation and get to know this great church family.
Like Kingsland, Parkside is a multicultural church that is dedicated to sharing the gospel with people from many backgrounds. We quickly felt connected to the church and its passion for reaching others. Parkside’s focus on helping families and reaching the nations made it a perfect partner for our global Empowered Homes initiative.
We arrived in Sydney on Friday morning after a 17-hour nonstop flight from Dallas. After getting some much-needed rest, we kicked off the Empowered Homes Conference that evening with a special session for married couples.
The evening began with a delicious meal before Brad Flurry and Leslyn Jacks challenged the couples in attendance to be intentional about building Christ-centered homes. Throughout the evening, they emphasized strengthening marriages through intentional love, lasting commitment, and keeping Christ at the center of the home.
Saturday’s sessions focused on all things parenting. Bobby Cooley and Laura Hearn encouraged parents to build strong, Christ-centered homes. They also talked about how to discipline children with love and consistency, and creating an environment where faith can flourish.
We had breakout sessions for men and women to explore specific challenges and responsibilities. I had the privilege to share six essential of intentional fatherhood with the men. Leslyn, Laura, and Kayla Self met with the women. Throughout the day, we emphasized that our goal is not simply to prepare children for success in life, but to raise a generation that knows and follows Christ.
On Sunday, Bobby preached at Parkside, and Leslyn joined the church’s worship team. After a great morning of worship and lunch, we spent the afternoon with Pastor Matthew and his family.
We are grateful for Parkside’s warm hospitality. Most of all, we are encouraged by Pastor Matthew and Parkside’s commitment to empowering homes in Australia. We look forward to seeing how God continues to use Parkside to strengthen families and impact future generations with the gospel.
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