According to an update from Mallacoota SUFM Team, everyone is currently safe.

“Thank you everyone for praying for us! At the moment we’re singing songs at the waterfront. Praise God,” the team said on Facebook.

“We can confirm that all SU volunteers from the SUFM and Theos teams are together and accounted for. Please keep praying as we support these teams.”

Hannah McArdle, who is directing on Mallacoota beach mission in the midst of an emergency red zone, also thanked the hundreds of people praying for them.

“We really appreciate it!” she said in a Facebook post.

“We were evacuated out of our tents and main base yesterday arvo and onto the beach for most of the evening with the rest of the community and eventually were allowed to move up to sleep in the church next to the relief centre.

“The smoke is very thick and heavy and our team is exhausted and stressed. The fire turned towards us when the wind changed at around 3am so please pray that it turns on another direction soon and that our amazing firefighters will be able to contain it and that the community will be spared.

We are currently following CFA instructions and are in the safest possible place at the moment.”

Daniel A’Vard on Facebook posted about an amazing answer to prayer in Mallacoota.

“I just heard an interview on ABC News 24 about the bushfire situation in Mallacoota where 4,000 people have been at the beach, trying to stay safe. To set the scene, it was 9am and pitch dark with smoke,” he wrote.

“When David (who used to be an atheist) heard that the bushfire had reached the airport (literally the edge of town), he started praying to God and Jesus to turn the wind. And He did. The wind turned against itself and blew the fire away from Mallacoota for a full 5 minutes.

“Then it stopped and everything was calm.

“20 minutes later the original wind returned, but stronger. Instead of destroying the town the stong wind cleared the smoke and people could start to see the sun again.

“Thank you Jesus.”.

Towns in Victoria’s East Gippsland have been hit by out-of-control bushfires and homes are expected to be lost, while 4000 people are sheltering on a beach.

Meanwhile, a firefighter has been killed in a truck rollover near Albury in New South Wales, as out-of-control infernos threatens homes and lives in three states, with conditions set to worsen in some regions.