Archive for the ‘Monthly Updates’ Category

02.11.10

A great season in ministry

For those in the frozen Tundra (The Northern US), to give you a warmer perspective on things. We are currently in the middle of the hot season here in Australia. It has been unseasonably humid, but February is generally hot every year. (30+ Celsius everyday) Also, this is the time of year when things start to ramp up in ministry opportunities. We would appreciate your prayers on many items that are on our plate at this time. It is exciting to be part of all that is going on in Sydney.

read more

10.08.09

Just the other day…

(A good friend asked for a recent story from our ministry, I thought I would share it with all of you.)

Inspiring people: We have been working with a new concept of outreach in the Sydney area. It is a panel discussion with key leaders in various fields in Sydney, who are Christian. The events were held at various locations throughout the city. The panel would draw a certain crowd due to their notoriety in specific fields of work.They would address life issues and how Jesus is key to their lives. How do they tackle life’s challenges and achieve results—from the boardroom to the sports field. This is an opportunity for people to hear a panel of some of Australia’s most inspiring people discuss their successes and failures, celebrations and difficulties, faith and doubts. It is called Inspiring People. The crowds have ranged from 40 to 160 people for the for the twelve events we have had in Sydney and we have three events left. Please pray for the upcoming events.

The amazing thing has been we have close to 150 people interested in an evangelistic course called ‘Life of Jesus’, a six week course to be run in the city. Great to be part of what the Lord is doing through this initiative. Pray for the coordination of all of these courses.

But that is not the full story…

It has been inspiring, but quite exhausting for our team. The other morning I started out in Parramatta at 6am with one event, then had a pastors meeting with the Glorious Hope Baptist team (which ran late–surprise) and after the meeting, I had to rush into the city (45 minute train ride) to lead a Bible Reading Group (A new evangelistic tool we are using in the city–I can send you the details). I was tired, late, hot, had to make all of the copies for the group, I wanted to postpone the class, and needless to say, I was not in the best mind set to lead anything, much less a Bible Reading Group.

It was a bit too late to cancel, so sweating and tired I came up to the building for the meeting. The group was small that day, but the faithful few came wandering into the room. Linda, who is a regular attendee and is very evangelistic minded, had brought a friend that day. Linda turns to me and says, “My friend Olivia is enquiring about Christianity. She is here to ask some key questions about Jesus and the Bible.” With that statement, all of my frustrations, concerns and weariness seemed to fall to the side.

For the next hour we studied through 1 John 2. Olivia started in with all of her questions, ” If I am to love God first, how about my family?” “Do we ever achieve perfection in this life?” “If I love God, can I still have my material possessions?” “What does it mean to love the world?” And the questions kept coming for the next hour.

What was encouraging about the morning, was not just to get to answer the questions for Olivia, but to see the people I have been working with over the past months in action. They assisted in handling the apologetic answers beautifully. Gently, but without compromise. Olivia went away from the group with solid answers to her questions. Also, she asked to come back next week. Please pray for her and that she would come to the saving knowledge that can only be found in Jesus Christ.

The rest of the day involved getting ready for another event with close to 100 people coming to hear another Inspiring People panel. I got home about 10pm that night.

It was a great day. To start off and finish the day with big events that proclaimed the Gospel to a large audience in Parramatta and in Sydney. But the thing that excited me most about the day was that dispite my attitude and weariness, I had the priviledge to sit down and share the Gospel and the finer points of the Bible with a young lady that I hope to see in a relationship with Christ one day. Me, a man from small town Iowa, sitting in a boardroom in the largest bank in Australia, sharing about Jesus.

That is what it is all about. Without sounding trite or cliched, it was not how good I was feeling that day that made the difference. Quite the contrary, despite me the Lord was able use this former businessman who had a stinking attitude to share the most amazing gift in the world, the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a young lady in Sydney, Australia. Figure that one out. It can only be with God.

This makes me thankful for all of you that support us. This is an amazing priviledge. God is utilising your financial giving and prayers in mighty ways. God is amazing! Thank you.

The adventure continues…

Russ Matthews

05.03.09

How to reach a community of predominately hurting women? Pamper them!

Our church meets in an economically & spiritually challenged area of Sydney. Most of the women in the area live hard and fearful  lives. To be treated with respect and love is a rare thing in many of the lives of these ladies.  On Saturday 2 May, 2009; Glorious Hope Baptist Church held their third annual Pamper Day for the ladies of the community around our church. Women of all races, faiths, economic and social backgrounds arrived for a day of hand & foot massages, makeovers and haircuts. Also, included in the day were a delightful morning tea, a delicious lunch and a gift bag. A speaker shared her testimony of hope through here family’s journey to coming to know Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Over 70 women came through the doors on the day and many left changed.

Cathy was overseeing one team of service. She was able to talk and pray with most of the women who came to the day. One of the highlights of the day was having the opportunity to share and pray with two Muslim women who had come for the day. Hope and Rebecca were able to serve child care and with whatever areas needed assistance on the day. Every woman walked out feeling and looking transformed and all were given the opportunity to know the transforming power of the Gospel.

All the ladies of the church came away exhausted, but encouraged by the opportunity to touch and pray with women of our church community in a unique way. Touching many women that this world considers untouchable. They arrived in the morning to bless the people of the community, but at the end of the day, came away blessed indescribably  by the opportunity to be the hands and feet of our Saviour, Jesus.

Yes, it was a good day!

Thanks for your prayers and maybe consider being  part of this incredible ministry in years to come.

04.25.09

Easter: exciting, exhausting and encouraging

Thanks for all of your prayers. This has been an exciting, exhausting and encouraging month. This is a quick note on all that we have asked you to pray about during this critical month. Easter opens the door to communicate to others about what we believe as Christians. Parades in the city, editorials in key newspapers, special services at church, and everything that comes with this month allows for open dialogue on Jesus. With your prayers and support, you are part of this process and we are grateful for you. There is quite a bit to share this month, so this note will be longer than our normal updates. Thanks for taking the time to celebrate with us and pondering the privilege it is for us to be part of this amazing ministry.

Easter

At City Bible Forum and Glorious Hope Baptist, we had many different events throughout the city. City Bible Forum had our talks on during the week and many new people coming along to ask the tough questions about the Bible and Jesus. We work with many different groups from all over city to have evangelistic events within corporations. We assist with the preparation, the talks and communication. The goal of the events are to give people opportunity to come to effective and timely follow up and we assist in teaching these classes called Investigating Christianity. One of Sydney’s largest banks allowed a group within the firm to run not one but four events. This bank is going through very difficult times of redundancies (mass firings), mergers and reorganisation. You would not think this is not an ideal time to be planning evangelistic events, but the result shows that God can do an amazing work all of the time. Inside this bank, we had over 100+ people come to the various events, with upwards of 40+ signed up for courses on finding out more about Christianity.

Church events: We had special services on Friday and Sunday. Russ had the opportunity to preach on Good Friday. He taught through 23-24 Luke and the witnesses throughout the death, burial and resurrection of our Saviour. Many people were challenged to know the Lord and communicate to others about what He is doing in the lives of the people of the church.

Fireproof

Great film, great conversation and great results.


Many of you may have seen this film in the US, but it was not shown in theatres in Australia. After seeing the film, the Urban Fight Club (Men’s’ ministry) committed to have a professional showing of this film for the people of our community. It reflected two of our key values, fighting for our faith and for the family. It was quite a bit of work, but it was worth it. Our goal was to get the non-Christian spouses of our church members to come to this great film. So, we were originally thinking a small group of people on a Friday night. Well, God had different plans. We started giving out tickets and the numbers grew steadily every week and on the night we had over 60 people come to the evening with close to half being visitors. Many atheists, non-Christians, skeptics, single adults and married couples came to the showing of Fireproof. We had good food, nice venue (not at the church) and a good quality film. Explaining to the crowd it has a Christian message, insight into marriage and that it was good entertainment value. After the movie, claps and cheers, but the best part was most people turned their chairs around and started talking. Asking questions and discussing the film. Some complaints from the atheists, but they were impressed with the quality of the event. As a pre-evangelistic event, it was perfect to plant the seeds and for our group to effectively meet with many non-Christian men who would not come to our church in the past. Pray for many of these families and lives of these men.

The Face of Suffering

During this difficult economic time in world history, many people have questions. Where is God? If he does exist, how could he allow things like this to happen? Is he even listening?

During this month it is school holidays in New South Wales (year round school in Australia) and many people are out of the city. CBF is usually at its lowest attendance, but not this year. We had a series delivered by Justin Moffat, ‘The Face of Suffering’ -Three things you can do with God in the face of suffering. Wrestle, Wait and Rely- based out of the book of Habakkuk. (I know not your typical Easter passage, but doesn’t the entire Bible point to Jesus?) What a great series and many people coming along to ask some of the hard questions, also, getting the answers. Again seeing how even the Minor Prophets point us to the redemptive message of Jesus.

Prayer requests:

1. Ladies outreach in the community around Glorious Hope Baptist.

2. Working through the growing pains of a church plant.

3. Thinking through the growth of the church and how to effectively minister within our community.

4. Investigating Christianity courses in the city.

5. Furlough details for 2010

Thanks for hanging in there and reading through this update. It is amazing to see what God is doing in this city. Thanks for your support and prayers.

The adventure continues…

Russ & Cathy Matthews

(To those concerned, we try to use the Australian spellings for our updates. Thanks for your feedback.)

08.04.08

“The Big Picture” Missions Conference

To all of our supporters and friends,

In case you may have missed the previous messages about our arrival in Iowa, we will be back for “The Big Picture” Missions Conference at Saylorville Baptist Church. Many of the events will be open to anyone to come and participate in the conference. We would love to see you and encourage you to come and be apart of the conference.  I have attached the events that are open for anyone to participate.

Sunday, October 5th

9:00-10:00 am          First Service – Main Speaker: Russ Matthews (ABWE – Sydney, Australia)

10:00-10:45am         Coffee Cove and Missionary booths open

10:45-11:45am         Second Service – Main Speaker: Russ Matthews (ABWE – Sydney, Australia)

5:30-6:30pm             Missionary Presentations in Adult, Youth and Shine Modules
6:45-7:30pm             Evening Service – Church Plant Commissioning Service

7:30-8:30pm             Dessert and Coffee Reception with the Missionaries in the Coffee Cove

 

Wednesday, October 8th

6:00-7:00pm             Buffet Dinner
7:00-8:00pm             Missionary Christmas and Main Speaker: Mark Nikitin (ABWE – Hungary)

We do have a pretty short schedule while we are back in Iowa, but we hope to see as many of as possible during the trip. If this does not work out for your schedule, we understand. We are planning on being back in the US for a longer period in 2010. We will contact you for that schedule soon.

Thanks for your support and prayers.

Please go to www.saylorvillebaptist.com for updated details on “The Big Picture” Missions Conference. All of the locations for the public events will be held at Saylorville Baptist in Des Moines, IA.

The adventure continues…

Russ and Cathy Matthews

« Older Entries