The Inside Story - September Edition

An inside look at the stories of those behind Aglow Australia.   

The Inside Story takes an inside look at the lives we love, perhaps only heard about, or may not even know at all. Mentors, leaders, valued Kingdom partners, and most of all you, of whom, together, are forming the wider, magnificent story of Aglow Australia today.  

Hello to Marg Lyle – Aglow’s Branch Development National Co-Ordinator! 

Marg, it’s such an honour to have you recently join Aglow’s Ministry team in this position. Already, we’ve been recipients of your keen strategic eye on matters concerning Aglow’s branches and particularly your prophetic insight. 

Q: We’d love to hear how long you’ve partnered with Aglow Australia and any experiences you’d like to share in your journey?* (Side note… we’ve also heard that with a background in hairdressing, you were responsible for doing our first National Leader, Joan Morton’s, hair?!)

A: My introduction to Aglow was in the 1980’s, attending for many months before signing up as a member.

It was through the prayers, love, and sitting under the teaching of the Word of God that ignited my spiritual life and brought healing and growth. The Aglow women were so gracious and welcoming. My husband saw the difference in me, and he too was saved through Aglow. Four years later, I became a Branch Leader.

My husband and I felt called to attend Bible College in Brisbane. Then I clearly heard the voice of the Lord say, “Darwin first, then Brisbane.”

Shortly afterwards, we were invited to join a mission-based church in Darwin. At the same time, the hairdressing company Tony and I were contracted to, asked us to expand into the Northern Territory for two years. We also accepted a voluntary position with Darwin Christian Ministries, working in Aboriginal health and overseas missions, while trusting God for income through the hairdressing company.

After four years working in the NT, my husband felt called to Bible College. The Holy Spirit opened the way to move to Brisbane. In faith, we resigned our sales contract, packed our clothes, and headed for Queensland.

I had been in Aglow for over 10 years when the Holy Spirit directed us to live in Brisbane. Not knowing anyone there, I corresponded with the Aglow National Office. I wrote to Joan Morton, our National Leader (Aglow HQ was in Brisbane City), to inform her of the move. She later told me that as soon as my letter arrived on her desk, the Lord said I was to be the next Leader of Brisbane Inner City Aglow.

On route to Brisbane, I was offered a teaching position at the Brisbane School of Hairdressing. My husband took a job in the evenings at a call centre and went to Bible College by day. We purchased a home in Brisbane, and I bought a hairdressing salon. I taught four days a week and went to Bible College two days a week, working in the salon in between teaching.

I became the Aglow National Board hairdresser and was on call for Joan! My workplace was in close proximity to the Aglow National Office. The most powerful lesson I learnt from Joan was the importance of obedience and being in right order.

As a new Christian, the Holy Spirit instructed me not to bury my talents, and I obeyed Him. “A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men” (Proverbs 17:8). This has truly been my experience. The Holy Spirit has honed my skills, opening the way before me as I’ve stepped out in faith.

Liz Keyes (from Brisbane Aglow) and I reached out for Aglow to Katherine NT and Kupang, West Timor, Indonesia.

My husband and I returned as pastors to the NT in 1999. We were attached to the RAAF, working in Christian Welfare, and pastored a church in Katherine. Katherine and Darwin Aglow branches were opened.

Q: What makes you so passionate about your role as Branch Development Co-ordinator? (You want to see Australia covered, right?!)

A: We returned home to East Gippsland, Victoria, in 2018 to retire. Since then, Aglow has opened new branches in East Gippsland, and more recently the Gippsland Lakes branch. We also saw Game Changers begin in Mallacoota, Lakes Entrance, Bairnsdale (an old Aglow well), Orbost, and Moe. God is on the move.

I believe the Holy Spirit has given me a vision for the women of Australia. My heart burns within when the body of believers come together in unity. That, I believe, is God’s heart too. When we moved to the Northern Territory, my heart was to see Aglow re-ignited across the Top End by digging and re-digging Aglow wells. It took 21 years to see that vision fulfilled.

When I was a new Christian, the Holy Spirit said, “I want you for Australia.” I pushed the thought aside, but over the years He has confirmed that word again and again. It’s taken a lifetime of pruning and breaking to prepare me for this role. God is so patient and gracious. His words do not fall to the ground or return void.

My connection with Aglow has widened my vision and prayer direction. It has expanded my focus outside the area in which we live. Attending National and International conferences has shown me how vast the Aglow family is. Through Aglow, He gave me a passion and love for Israel. The exposure to anointed teachers increased my understanding of His Word, again expanding my focus. We are so blessed to be a part of this ministry.

Jesus longs to give us His eyes through which to see. When He does, you don’t see a person as they are, but as He sees them — a completed work in Him: beautiful, radiant, and a reflection of a loving Saviour.

Jane Hansen Hoyt says, “The woman is the first teacher of the children. She has great potential for good when she gives her life to Jesus.”

My heart is to see families restored to leave a godly inheritance for the next generations. Within me, there is a deep longing to see the wounded and outcasts brought into the body of Christ to be restored, loved, and healed. I’ve watched so many precious sisters grow in dignity and be restored through the vehicle of Aglow. Jesus has nursed them into new life in body and spirit.

The friendships made through Aglow last a lifetime. You can always spot an Aglow woman. It doesn’t matter where you go in the world, when you’re part of the Aglow family, you have family.

Q: During our recent ‘Keeping Informed’ meeting, which was then addressing the three topics of SEE, SPEAK, ACT, the Father has been calling the Aglow movement to arise as one. One of your points was that Aglow is standing at the door of her destiny. Tell us a little more of what you prophetically see here.

A: We are in a time of transformation so Aglow can and will overflow out to the nation and throughout the South Pacific. It’s your time, Aglow in Australia, to arise. We are gatekeepers and watchmen. We will not be caught off guard. The Holy Spirit is releasing a move of God over the nation. The atmosphere is charged with prayers, decrees, declarations, and the Word of God spoken out. We wait in anticipation for a great Holy Spirit wind to blow afresh and the latter rain to fall.

The Holy Spirit has been hovering over this Great South Land for centuries waiting for this moment — this Kairos time. There is great change coming in the midst of great upheaval. I’m reminded of when a cyclone hits land. Aglow, I see, is in the eye of the storm; it’s perfectly still. Outside the cyclone’s eye, the storm surge rips up everything that isn’t firmly established. I believe we are going to be caught up in the eye of this spiritual cyclone. Great peace and protection — yet we will not be stationary, but moving across the land in His power, all the while staying in the eye of God’s cyclone. We move where He moves; He carries us above all the debris and destruction.

The enemy knows this God-ordained storm is building. The storm is coming upon him and all he has planted. This is why we need to pray, keeping our minds and eyes set on Jesus. He alone is the author and finisher of our faith. We were born for this. We are the generation who “seek you, who seek your face, O Lord.”

For many years you have prayed and believed for your loved ones. Now is the time you will begin to see your prayers answered. Others have struggled under oppressive things that have kept them from reaching their full potential in God. This is the time those things will be uprooted.

Post-Conference:

The presence of God rests upon us and upon Aglow. We have crossed over the Jordan and the view is different from the other side of the river. We have now entered our promised land. There will be battles to win and ground to claim, but we will possess the land. We wait on You, Lord.

Vision – Thursday 21st August 2025 ‘Arise’ Conference:

During the conference, I had an open vision. I saw ancient wooden sailing ships (galleons) sailing into the South Pacific. The Holy Spirit took me back to 1606, when Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernández de Quirós landed on Vanuatu, believing he had landed on the mainland of the Great South Land. In honour of the Holy Spirit, he dedicated the land and proclaimed, “This is The Great South Land of the Holy Spirit,” reflecting his desire to spread Christianity across these new lands.

I believe the Holy Spirit was showing me that this declaration (rooted in a historical claim over the South Pacific) has been held in the hand of God since it was spoken in 1606. Father God has breathed upon these words, and now it is time for the heavens to release God’s glory over Australia and the South Pacific.

I saw a large gold bag with a drawstring, covering the sky across the South Pacific. The drawstring was tightly knotted.

My understanding was that all God has stored up for the ‘Great South Lands’ is about to be released. I believe the atmosphere is alive with the promises of God. They are for now — this is His Kairos time, His appointed time. “Now,” I heard the Holy Spirit say. “Now — declare and release these prophecies over the nations, starting with this nation.” From my heart I cried out, “Release Your promises, Lord Jesus, all You have stored up for this nation.”

Then I saw an armada of Aglow ships. (An armada is a large force or group of moving vessels, often military.) They were sailing from Australia and New Zealand out around the islands of the South Pacific, carrying God’s people to every corner. The sails were propelled by the wind of the Holy Spirit.

The vision continued. I understood: we receive to give. Before me, I saw Aglow ships sailing from the shores of Australia and New Zealand. As they took sail, other ships joined the armada. They too appeared as old ships. I asked, “Why sailing ships, Lord?” His answer: “They are sailing ships because they relied on the wind of the Holy Spirit to propel them. When the wind stopped blowing, the ships lay quiet in the water. When the seas were rough, the Holy Spirit’s wind in their sails propelled them above the waves and the storms.”

At the conference the following morning (Friday), during the commissioning as the speakers prayed and prophesied, I knew in my spirit that the prophecies and promises that had been stored up for centuries were released over these Great South Lands.