By CAROLINE STRAINIG
THE dream of young Port Macquarie man Zac Young who was killed by a shark is coming true – at least in part.
Nineteen-year-old Zac, an intern with Youth For Christ, wanted to re-establish an active branch of Christian Surfers in Port Macquarie and one day preach the gospel in every country in the world.
More than 1000 people turned out to celebrate his life at the St Columba school hall on Saturday and hundreds went on to pay tribute in a paddle-out at Town Beach later in the day.
Since then, local churches he was associated with have experienced a surge in inquiries from people who wanted to discover or rediscover God, with four people already baptised at Town Beach and another one scheduled for today. The Facebook page set up in his memory has also received comments from people throughout the world inspired by his story, some moved enough that they went to church for the first time in years or wanted to discover Christianity for the first time.
Dave Malvern of Christian Surfers, Zac’s close friend and mentor, said he personally knew of around 20 people who wanted to discover God as a direct result of Zac’s faith, and he had been away for much of the time since the funeral so there could be many more. This included five surfers Zac had known for whom the timing had not been right previously for one reason or another. He said those approaching him were a mixture of people with and without any previous religious background.
He said the response was heart-warming and amazing.
“I have just been blown away by the number of people who turned out to celebrate his life and the response since,” he said.
“I think Zac has really impacted on people and influenced them. I hope that it continues – my job is to help people discover God and that is what Zac also wanted.”
In an interview with the Independent just before the funeral Mr Malvern said he thought Zac would have gladly given his life if it helped people connect with God.
“I think he would give his life to see that, for people to rediscover their faith or connect with God because of him,” Mr Malvern said. “Yes, I know he would. He would have been happy to.”
In another direct result of Zac being killed by a shark at Coffs Harbour on 30 November, a campaign has started to bring back aerial shark patrols in Port Macquarie. A petition was started at the paddle-out tribute to Zac on Saturday afternoon, with mothers in particular telling the Independent they were worried about their children after what happened to the 19-year-old keen surfer.
Full tribute in this week’s Port Macquarie Independent.
