Lake Illawarra Community Church

A young church plant in a marginalised community, seeking to reach the disadvantaged with the hope of the good news.

We meet each Wednesday evening 6:30pm-8:30pm at 69 Benaud Cres Warilla.

 

“What impressed me about Jesus as I read about him, was that he took people who were completely broken and made them whole again, this was an important thing to learn about Jesus because I knew that I wasn’t living a good life and I knew I desperately needed the type of healing that Jesus was offering”.

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John Delezio

John Delezio had a massive career change in his 40s: after owning a successful business, he decided to do an MTS Blue Collar apprenticeship and study at Vocational Bible College.

After his formal training, John was ordained as an Anglican minister and spent five years at Church @the Peak in South West Sydney continuing to be trained as a church planter.

In January 2023, John and his wife Kate were invited to start working and serving the community of Warilla North with the hope of getting to know and build trust with the people who live in that community.

By November that same year, John and Kate, along with a small group of Christians from the community, opened the doors of Lake Illawarra Community Church. It now has a weekly Wednesday evening service.

Please pray that God continues to help John build relationships and trust that lead to Gospel conversations as he serves at the local op shop, the local food bank, the weekly cheese toastie event, as well as in the Warilla North public school each week as the SRE teacher and a volunteer at the homework club on Thursdays.

This ministry is a team effort and would not be possible without the prayers and financial support of many. Would you consider joining the LICC team by praying and giving? Sign up below.

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Sam Trotter

Sam joined the Lake Illawarra Community Church as the Children’s Pastor (1 day per week) in 2026. She loves sharing the Good News of Jesus with young people and seeing His transformation in their lives.

Her hope is to build strong relationships with the young people of Warilla North through teaching kids church on Wednesday evenings, teaching scripture in the local schools and serving in the local community.

Sam worked as a pastry chef for six years after finishing high school and still enjoys making tasty treats for her church family. She then went to Youthworks Bible College and did an MTS apprenticeship in her local church because she wanted to be better equipped to teach the Bible to young people. She has experience working as a children’s minister and primary school chaplain and is excited to use these skills to serve the community at Warilla North.

Please pray for her as she settles into her new role and gets to know the community, that she will be a safe and trusted adult to the young people of the area and can develop deep relationships which shine the light of Jesus into people’s lives.