the matthews family

team australia / church planters

11.29

Bi-annual Support update

Team Australia,

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. It has been an amazing year for our family. The opportunities for ministry continue to grow. We have had the privilege of seeing people come to Christ through the various ministries that we participated in this year. We hope that you are receiving our regular communications through our free RSS feed on our website, www.matthewsdownunder.com. Through the Lord’s will and your support we have been able to be a apart of this amazing work in Australia.

We committed to communicating our support levels to you twice a year. With all of the world economic challenges, Australia has been effected by the changes too. We have been very thankful for the continued support from all who have supported us regularly this year. With some of these adjustments we are currently close to our 100% support level, we are only experiencing a shortfall of $80 per month.

We appreciate consideration from you or your churches when evaluating your upcoming budget discussions.

Thanks, again, to God and you for all you have done for us this year. Know we pray for our supporters regularly. Please keep in contact with us. Happy Christmas and New Year.

The adventure continues…

Russ and Cathy Matthews

11.28

Restored Event update

An addition to our most recent update. Thank you for your prayers for the ‘Restored’ event (www.restored.org.au)  in February.

After a conference with the chaplain for the NRL (National Rugby League), we are building momentum for the ministry and the potential impact on western Sydney. After the meeting, the heads of the ministry have decided to postpone the event to February 2010.

Please be praying for specifics:

1. Commitment of Christian NRL players who will commit to participating in the event.

2. Youth groups and organisations will partner with the event to bring along attendees in the event.

3. Many young people would come into a relationship with Christ through this ministry.

Thanks for the continued interest and enthusiasm towards this event.

The adventure continues…

Russ

11.27

Simeon’s gift, Urban Fight Club and ‘Australia’

Team Australia,

What an exciting time of year. So, many opportunities this time of year for sharing the gospel. Exciting times. We have been having many In House evangelistic talks inside companies this time of year. Westpac, Oracle, Ernst and Young, KPMG, etc. With the current economic climate, many people are asking questions and seeking the answers from the Bible. Difficult times, but many opportunities to share the truth about Jesus.

Simeon’s gift: I will be speaking at City Bible Forum and PwC this year. The Evangelistic talk will be ‘Simeon’s gift: Joy in a joyless season.’  Based on the Luke 2 account of Jesus’ presentation at the temple. Please pray that many would come to the talks and here the story from the New Testament of anticipated gift that God promised Simeon, to see the Saviour. Then his response and gift of ‘Simeon’s song’ to Mary and Joseph.

Urban Fight Club Sunday: This Sunday will be the Sunday where the men take over the church. Our Men’s group (UFC) will be doing all of the work and service on Sunday. Serving the ladies and proclaiming the Word as men do. Exciting day and many friends and family will be visiting. Please pray for the men as they have this unique opportunity to serve and present the Gospel to the world.

‘Australia’ the movie: The movie has opened around the world. A campy, epic for this generation. We anticipate that many will come away amazed at the scenery, culture and beauty of this sunburned land. God has created a beautiful land, Down Under. Just a small warning for our supporters and friends. We hope that people do not come away from the film thinking that is today’s Australia. The film is based in Darwin and the outback. The reality of ministry in Australia is in the modern cities.  We hope that if you do see the film, that you come on holiday (vacation) to see the land depicted in the film. (That is the desire of the Australian tourism board.) Please go to the Northern Territory and Queensland and enjoy the outback. (Australia could use a boost in tourism.) If you come away from the film and want to come to experience the ministry of Australia, it is nothing like the film. The ministry is in the city, no kangaroos, Aborigines, or vast plains. So, not to dampen your mood after seeing th film, just a small reality check. Come ready to work in the city with people from all over the world. As many who have come before, there are not many times for riding horses, seeing kangas or traveling across the outback. Please pray for our ministry in Australia in the urban jungle, not the fictitious land of ‘The Drover.’ It is an amazing land, amazing opportunities for sharing the Gospel and an amazing open door into taking His Word to the world. (Just a small caveat, we do have a limited number of spots per year for coming to Oz and there is an approval process. So, make sure if it is something your church is planning, contact us early and we can work you through the process.)

‘The mythology of Australia is in the outback, the people (ministry) are in the cities.’ – Peter Jensen

We choose the city.

Thanks for your continued support and prayers.

The adventure continues…

Russ and Cathy Matthews

10.29

Thanks and prayer requests

Thanks again to Saylroville Baptist Church for your generosity. We received the care package from the States yesterday. Great memories of the conference. Also, our virus was fixed in the computer.

Prayer requests:

Planning for RESTORED, the many planning issues for this year and next year.

The last month of City Bible Forum for 2008.

Evangelistic events throughout Sydney at Ernst & Young, Mallesons, Department of Commerce, and Commonwealth Bank.

The arrival, ministry expereince and health of a friends from the States in November.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

The adventure continues…

Russ and Cathy Matthews

10.18

Computer virus issues

In coming back to Australia, we seem to have acquired a computer virus. Our computer system may be down for a few days, so please forgive any delays in communication. Thanks for your patience.

Russ and Cathy

10.16

Thank you and back home

To all at Saylorville Baptist Church and all our friends and family who attended the Big Picture Missions conference,

THANK YOU! What a great two weeks of celebrating our Lord and all He is doing around the world. Thanks for your gifts, prayers and encouragement. We were so blessed by the experience. Your generosity was overwhelming and appreciated.

We are back in Australia. Long flight, but we made each connection and we are able to get some sleep. (Hard to sleep on the plane with a three year old.)

We hope to keep up with many of you through e-mail and facebook. You are in our prayers and we appreciate all of your prayers.

The adventure continues…

Russ and Cathy Matthews

9.27

Prayer Point- Holiday Bible Club – Boot Camp

Glorious Hope Baptist Church (Our home church in Australia) will be hosting a Holiday Bible Club; 7-10 October. The Club is called ‘Boot Camp’ and looks to be great fun. Please be praying for the club and many children from the neighbourhood and church would come to learn about Jesus and the Bible. The sign up has already begun and the kids are excited. Pray for the event and the workers for ‘Boot Camp’ at GHB. Thank you to Faith Baptist Church in Knoxville for thier generous support of this ministry.

Cheers,

Russ Matthews

9.24

Finishing ‘I AM?’ , Restored and ‘Big Picture’

I AM

Thank you for your prayers for the ‘I AM?’ series at City Bible Forum. It has been a great series to work through in the City, many questions on who Jesus is and who we are if we follow Christ. Many of our regulars have been bringing their non-Christin friends for this look into the biography of Jesus. CBF has attendance each week of 150-250 people, based on the season. Please pray that many would come to a saving knowledge of Christ as I conclude the series with I AM the true vine.

The Big Picture

We will be on a plane in less than a week to come to ‘The Big Picture’ missions conference at Saylorville Baptist Church. Please come along to hear about all that is going on in the land Down Under. (www.saylorvillebaptist.com for all of the details)

Two updates, our good friend Andrew Mannah will be traveling with us to the US. He has been actively involved in many of the ministries we have been working with in Australia. Great chance for you to meet him and hear about the ministries directly from him. Also, we have been asked to do a full presentation of our ministry on Sunday night 12 October at Saylorville. We will be keeping to our original speaking schedule at the conference, but if you would like another chance to hear the full details of our ministry in Australia. Please come along on Sunday night. We would love to see you at the conference  and then on the following Sunday night.

Restored

One of the ministries that Andrew Mannah has coordinated is ‘RESTORED.’ a specific evangelistic outreach to reach the lost and broken in Sydney. The event will be on 13 February. We will be having Christian NRL stars coming and talking with the audience of teens and young adults. More details will be forthcoming, but please be praying for the fundraiser this next week, for the event and for the Word to be proclaimed. More details at www.restored.org.au. Also, you an join the Restored FACEBOOK group. The promo for the event is posted at the website and on Facebook.

Prayer points

Please pray for our three older kids who will be staying with friends while we are in the US.

Traveling mercies for us as we come back to the US. That Caroline will travel well and that we will adjust to the jetlag on our arrival.

The conference would open the door for many to know more about missions, but most importantly to know the Lord Jesus as thier Saviour.

Hope to see you all at the conference. Thanks for your support and prayers.

The adventure continues…

Russ and Cathy Matthews

8.14

‘I AM’ Talk series

I would appreciate your prayers for this upcoming event at City Bible Forum. These are evangelistic talks to a professional audience. The prayers would be for God to be glorified, many would be drawn to Christ through His Word and my abilities to deliver the talks that God desires and to handle all of the questions that occur in the open public forum.  Exciting and terrifying at the same time. Thanks for your continual prayer support. PDF: i-am-invititation

Here are the links to the promotional material.

 

The adventure continues…

Russ Matthews

7.06

Connecting with God

Thanks for your prayers and interest in the ‘Connecting with God’ event at Chatswood Baptist.

The church invited me to speak at an evangelistic event on 2 July. The event met in a Chinese restaurant, near the church, where the members of the church had invited their non-Christian friends to the dinner. After the dinner, a testimony and a brief introduction, I was given the opportunity to share from John 4, the story of the Samaritan woman and Jesus at the well. The talk was called ‘Connecting with God.’ Focusing on the only means of a true connection with God is through Jesus. Fifty percent of the audience were non-Christian. Most came from an Asian background and would state that English was their 2nd language. Even with these challenges, God was glorified. Two people accepted Christ as their Saviour and seven more were interested in being apart of a course to find out more about Christianity.

Thanks for your prayers for this event. It is great to see God work.

The adventure continues…

Russ

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