Farming for the Kingdom – Part 2

13 May 2013 by Donna Uning CM – 

 

Australian missionary Ps Pete Hack who was in Kuching recently, talks about his network in Africa, his journey with God, family, and more. With his farming background, Ps Hack also helps the pastors’ network with keys to meet the spiritual needs and provide a pathway to prosperity on his mission trips to Africa. The interview continues.

 

You talked about being a farmer in Australia. Are you still in the farming business?

Ps Peter Hack: I left the farm many years ago. Now I farm for the kingdom.

I want to bring blessing to the leaders. In Africa, there’s no ministry that supports and encourage church pastors.  Our ministry there met that need. They now have the Kingdom view about business; they are blessed spiritually and prosper financially in their context. Making $500 000 a year is a miracle for them.  This provides good education, healthcare and good life. We go to Tanzania, Africa, and Kalimantan Indonesia.  We are learning that these keys work anywhere.

 

What would you like see accomplish through your missions?

Ps Peter Hack: We want to strengthen the churches, help pastors, and build lifelong relationships of support and accountability. So they don’t feel out there on their own but part of the body of Christ and part of a team to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.

 

How long do you stay during your missionary trips? Do you bring a team with you?

Ps Peter Hack: Three months. So far, it’s just my wife and me. I have a team with me now and next month, some elders from the church are coming to Indonesia.

 

Tell us about your journey with God.

Ps Peter Hack: I don’t come from a Christian family. I go to church occasionally with my mother. I was longing for God in the Anglican Church. The church was very dead. I was in a town in the farm country; remote, in the outback or the bush.

In 1970, I was 15 years old when draught and recession affected the agricultural business. My father became an alcoholic and I was heartbroken, full of shame. Then a new minister came to our church. He’s an Anglican pastor, a born again. He preached from the bible. Many Anglican churches there don’t believe in heaven or hell.

I felt the Holy Spirit speaking to me. I was radically saved. The next year, there was a revival in our town, Boyup  Brook. In 1971, 140 farmers were saved in three months. In a town of 600 people, that’s a lot.

I prayed about our farm. My mom and I got saved together. We saw miracles after another. I was messed up before in school, after that I was able to learn. I went from the bottom of the class to the top of the class. I won a scholarship to go to university. While in high school and university, I was running the farm. My dad had quit.

I went from broke to prosperous. I was given 800 sheep that was left to die in the draught. But God gave me little ideas. Everything I touched turned to gold. I had no stock, sheep and machinery but after two years, when I was 17, I had 1000 sheep, two tractors, trucks, harvester, plough …. I was cropping 400 acres. We were going to sell the farm due to debt, but after two years, with the blessing of God, I could write the check for the whole amount.

There was revival in our town; it was an exciting time. I’m not the only one blessed. Because I found Christ in draught, dust and poverty, when I go to Africa and see the poor, I got a heart for them.

Now God’s given us keys, God use everything we’ve gone through. That was 40 years ago. I’m 58 years old now. I was 15, 16, 17, 18 then, now God use what I learned, that’s amazing!

 

 

Do you still have your farm?

Ps Peter Hack: Now, I’m looking after his sheep, not mine. I’m not a farmer, just a little worker. Jesus is the farmer.

 

Where do you live now? Tell us about your family.

Ps Peter Hack: I live in Joondalup now. I have three children and they are all serving God. One is a pastor, one is a chaplain and my daughter, an interior stylist, runs a lady’s ministry. She’s the evangelist in the family. It’s amazing how many people she led to the Lord a year. She has an amazing gift. She’s with Cornerstone Church. We’re very, very blessed.

 

Do you have a favorite book or verse in the bible?

Ps Peter Hack: Ephesians 3:16 tells, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

When you realize how great His love is, then you will be filled with Him. It’s just by realizing how big His love is.

 

Your wife didn’t come with you this time.

Ps Peter Hack: I’m married to the most beautiful woman in the world. Her name is Lesley. She’s born in Australia and grew up in California. Her father is American. She’s a very gifted lady in ministry, as a mother, pastor, and teacher in the Word of God. She’s an incredible girl. That’s just all about me.

Earlier, Ps Hack met with other friends/ pastors in Kuching.He also talked about his ministry with Cornerstone Church.

Ps Peter Hack: I was chairing the Pastors Fellowship in Joondalup. We work together with the city council and helped many young people. It helped open doors when the community sees churches working together.  Fellowship here is very strong too. I think it’s the key to the Kingdom. The world sees churches as selfish; always fighting among themselves, denominations fight. When we work together, the world can see.

In Perth, we work with the Department of Child Protection. They see behavioral problems in students and we help them out. They used to see us as the devil, now we run a program with them. The government funds this program. That was eight years ago. A lot of changes happened after this, the council was hostile and it was a struggle to get into high schools. Now high schools are phoning us. Our youth ministry exploded. We go to them, they come to us. The schools love us, the kids improved. It’s a miracle. In Australia, it’s the best thing happening among the youth ministries. We are blessed. That’s good news.

 

Thank you so much for sharing!

After the interview, Ps Peter Hack, Elder Lian Paran from The City SIB and mission team members Frank Dewar, Abraham and Walter Wright joined us for some local desserts and food. “I love Malaysian food and Indonesian food. You have beautiful food here, I love curry laksa!” admits Ps Hack. The ladies had gone out shopping, but we were the ones at the mall. We had a good time talking about God, meat pies, and more.

 

 

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