Matthews Down Under» Misc.

Joshua’s knee

russ — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:22:37 +0000

We would appreciate prayer for Joshua. He had an accident awhile back and now is suffering from damage to the cartilage in his knee. Josh will need surgery on his knee soon.

We have been to a knee specialist (orthopedic) and had the spectrum of tests run and the mri shows the cartiledge behind his knee cap on one side is pretty much destroyed and there is some bone poking into the back of his knee cap. Most likely from a fall at a skate park, but then sports made it worse. He will have to have “keyhole” surgery to fix it and hopefully get cartiledge to regrow or else he will suffer from major arthritis when he is older. We are getting a second opinion just for peace of mind and will keep you up to date on details and all that.

We just need wisdom in who to take him to for surgery, how we are going to pay for it and a quick recovery for him.

Thanks for your prayers and support,

Russ & Cathy

Links to VBS videos

russ — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 20:12:58 +0000

A few years back we did some videos for a VBS. Quality is a bit lacking, but thought if you would like to utilise them you can.

Also, Here are some links we did for VBS in the States a few years back:

Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 & Day 5

Rain in Brisbane, QLD

russ — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 12:29:16 +0000

Just a quick note for all who have been asking about the floods in Queensland, Australia.

The floods are occuring about 10-11 hours north of us. We currently live in Sydney, NSW. We are not effected by the floods directly in Sydney.

The people of Queensland can use your prayers and support right now. At this time, the floods are not impacting our family or churches.

Thanks for all those who are concerned.

Cheers,
Russ Matthews

Happy New Year from rainy Australia

russ — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 04:09:55 +0000

We wanted to wish you all a Happy 2011. It is raining this week in Oz.

We hope to have an update about the coming year this week on key prayer points in ministry.

A taste of things to come…
Panel discussions and new formats at City Bible Forum, Men’s League, New school endeavours, City Bible Forum Afterwork , Nehemiah Series at church & more.

New Newsletter Format:

We will be trying out some new methods of formatting our Matthewsdownunder updates. We will be sharing our current ministries, future events, key readings and links that have impacted us throughout our year.

Getting back into the ‘Stream of Life’

We are finally ‘getting our feet’ after being back in Australia. It has taken more time to get back into all of the key ministries. After three & a half months away, we came to realise it was more of a disruption than we thought it would be, but all is good.

Canoeing on a river

They best way I can describe the post-furlough challenge is canoeing on a river. Canoeing down a river seems to be rite of passage for many in their formative years. I always look back fondly to riding quietly down the river in a canoe with a friend. It can be a good representation of your life’s journey.

Your life is represented by the canoe and you are canoeing on a river. The river is all the activities of your life. In a missionaries life, furlough is pulling the canoe out of the one river and putting it down in another. Going from your normal river to the furlough river. Moving from all that has become normal and moving into familiar but different waters. The furlough river is fast, exhausting work, exciting & a bit choppy, but parallels the river of your ministry life. When furlough is complete, you pull the canoe out and put it back into the river that was your ‘normal’ life. Anyone who has come back to navigating a river will tell you that most things are familiar, but many things will have changed. The current, the scenery and you have to get used to the changes that moving water causes. What you will remember about the ride will be familiar, but you have to make adjustments for the beginning of the trip that will influence the rest of the journey.

Our family, on return to Australia, is finally getting readjusted to the river that we call normal life. Putting our paddles in, getting used to the currents, realising that things are the same, but many have changed in our time away and looking ahead to an exciting ride in 2011.

Thanks for your continued prayers & support.

The new adventures continue…

Russ, Cathy, Becca, Hope, Joshua & Caroline

Merry Christmas to all in 2010

russ — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 18:53:45 +0000

Merry Chirstmas to all! Cooler in Sydney than usual for this time of year, but not complaining.

Celebrate the love of our Saviour today.

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:10-12

Love to all of you this day,
The Matthews

last, last furlough update & then we fly out

russ — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 03:38:54 +0000

We appreciate your patience, but we thought you would want to celebrate with us. We gave our last presentation for furlough today at Saylorville Baptist Church. What a great day & a great way to finish our furlough. We are thankful for our sending church.

Praise for God’s provision

-Spoke at a great youth event – over 100 kids there to hear a message about relationships and the Gospel

-Funds for 1 new laptop computers for city ministry

-Funds for 1 new laptop for family ministry needs

-Funding for church plant in Sydney

Projects to work on & prayer requests:

-Funds last new laptop computer - Our computers need an upgrade to keep up with the demand of the city ministry (Approx. cost :$800 -1000 per computer)

- Assistance with shipping of 2 donated, rebuilt desk top computers for city ministry ($350/computer – we have a portion of this raised) or if someone would like to purchase them as a donation towards new computer in city ministry.

-Funds for a new desktop for family needs – Ours are in need of replacing at home

-Funds for a small vehicle to assist in travel needs for future ministry. (ex. Toyota Corrolla) Approx. cost: $15,000

-Direction for new church plant; we have the opportunity for new church plants in 2011

-Flying out of Des Moines on Thursday & health of the family

Thank you for your prayers and support.

If you will not see us at the churches, here is how you can support us monthly, increase your support or with a one time gift.

It is easy as 1-2-3

1. Go to www.abwe.org and click on the GIVE tab (It is in the upper right corner in an orange box)
2. Put in our name and the amount & follow the instructions
3. Our account number is 0132363

The adventure continues…
Russ, Cathy, Rebecca, Hope , Joshua & Caroline

Less than a week … hope to see you before we fly out

russ — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 11:40:23 +0000

This will be our last furlough update, the next update will be from Australia. In less than a week and we will flying home. We have had a great time with our supporters, friends & family at the Australian BBQ on the 27th (good turn out, especially with all of the play-off games going on in Iowa) and at First Family Church on Sunday. In the mean time we will be assisting with other events and packing to go.

The last opportunity for us to see many of you will be at Saylorville Baptist Church on Sunday, 31 October during the am & pm services, for details go to www.saylorvillebaptist.com.

Thanks for all who have asked to get together with us. We would encourage any of you to come to Saylorville for some time with our family. If we are unable to see you during this time in the US, we will look forward to seeing you on our next furlough in four years.

Projects to work on & prayer requests:

- Speaking at a youth event (Mt. Pleasant @ Calvary Baptist – 30 October)

-Funds for 2 new laptop computers - Our computers need an upgrade to keep up with the demand of the city ministry (Approx. cost :$800 -1000 per computer)

- Assistance with shipping of 2 donated, rebuilt desk top computers for city ministry ($350/computer – we have a portion of this raised) We cannot ship them with our luggage on the plane with us due to the x-ray systems.

- Funds for 1 new laptop & 1 new desktop for family needs – Ours are in need of replacing at home

- Funds for a small vehicle to assist in travel needs for future ministry. (ex. Toyota Corrolla) Have you ever thought of donating your current vehicle for ministry needs?

-Direction and funding with church plant in Sydney; we have the opportunity for new church plants in 2011 – Our goal is to raise $5000 or more for this fund.

That is it for now. Thank you for your prayers and support. We hope to see you at the churches.

If you will not see us at the churches, here is how you can support us monthly, increase your support or with a one time gift.

It is easy as 1-2-3

1. Go to www.abwe.org and click on the GIVE tab (It is in the upper right corner in an orange box)
2. Put in our name and the amount & follow the instructions
3. Our account number is 0132363

Thanks for the questions and the support.

The adventure continues…
Russ, Cathy, Rebecca, Hope , Joshua & Caroline

Thanks for the prayers

russ — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 20:43:58 +0000

We wanted to send you a quick update and thanks for the prayers:

1) Hope received her passport today. Looks like we get to take her with us to Australia.

2) We had a generous church member from one of our supporting churches write a cheque for a new laptop for the city ministry. Just two more computers to go!

Thanks to all who are praying for us and we will keep you up to date on the next two weeks here in the US.

The adventure continues…
Russ Matthews

Prayer request – Hope’s passport

russ — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 12:47:38 +0000

We received all of the kids US passports in the post yesterday, except for Hope’s. The photographer had not told us that she could not have anything in her hair. So, we had to get a new picture taken and sent her application back to her express post. Pray her passport gets back before we plan to fly out on 4 November.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

Clarification on computers & shipping

russ — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:54:59 +0000

During our time in churches on Sunday, we had a question and I think we need to clarify on the the computers and shipping.

In previous correspondence, we requested computers for the city ministry. We had a generous individual donate 2-3 rebuilt computers to the city ministry and we are currently looking for someone to assist with the shipping of two more computers. We are thankful for the donation from one of our supporters for the shipping of one of the computers.

For the other needed desk top and laptop computers (personal & ministry related), we would prefer to purchase the computers in Australia. We are grateful for purchases made in the US, but the shipping costs can be costly. If you would like to donate funds for those specific needs, please contact us through our website.

Thank you for the question on the computer requests and I hope this helps people to understand the process.

Cheers,
Russ & Cathy