the matthews family

team australia / church planters

10.08

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

5.03

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.

4.25

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.)

8.04

“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

6.29

Amazing and Busy Days

Acts 20:24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

 

Amazing Days

 

I was preaching from John 4 on Sunday, the story of the woman at the well with Jesus. A timeless story and a timeless application to our lives. The portion that hit me was the monologue to the disciples, expressing that most of the time in ministry, we benefit from the work of those who went before us. Yet, God allows for us to witness and participate in his amazing harvest.

 

We have been working hard for the past few years in Sydney. Yet, the opportunities God opens to us have been in partnership with people who have been doing a work here before we came. So, the things I am going to share with you is part of the work we are doing, but much of the credit needs to go to those who have been doing the work prior to our arrival.

 

Why are we here? Exploring the glory an uncertainty of humanity

Talk Series from the Book of Psalms

 

City Bible Forum has had resurgence in the past few weeks. There has been more and more people coming to be apart of this great series that is based in the Psalms. We had over 240 people come to the lunch time talks. Many non-Christians have come along to hear the message from the Bible. We had two people come to know Jesus as their Saviour last week. It has been amazing to see this ministry grow and seeing people coming to an eternal relationship with God.

 (Ministry partners: Peter Kaldor, Craig Josling, Ray Galea, Amalie Parmerlee, Janet Hueng, Ken West) 

 

Prayer points:

  • Pray for more people to come each week to hear the continuation of the series in Psalms.
  • Russ will be the primary speaker in September. He will be speaking through the ‘I am’ passages in John. 

Urban Fight Club: 1st rule of Fight Club: Do not talk about Fight Club.

 

I cannot speak about this enough or really at all. It is in the rule book, but if you would like to know how we are getting men into action for faith, family and the body. Email me. We had 17 men come on Saturday. Not for a talk or just to have a good breakfast. It was a call to action. We were tired of complaining about men not coming to church, so, we are teaching them how to ‘fight’ for faith, family and the body. Warning: Understand this is not for everyone and is not just another men’s prayer breakfast.

(Psst… ladies this is not for you, sorry!)

(Ministry partners: Sam Bassari, Aaron Ralston, Andrew Mannah, Andy Rae, Sean Nolan)

Prayer points:

  • Pray for men to stay committed to the ‘Fight!’
  • Pray for men to connect with one another and God. Also, for them to lead.

 

Connecting with God

 

We had a ‘Connecting with God’ Sunday at Glorious Hope Baptist. It was a great day and God provided many opportunities for people to bring their non-Christian family and friends. I preached through the story of Jesus and the women and the well. Pray that many would come to a saving knowledge of a ‘connection’ with God.

 (Ministry Partners: Sam Bassari, Lody Bassari, Cathy Matthews, Celeste Bassari, Andrew Mannah)

 

Prayer Point:

  • I will be preaching this message at Chatswood Baptist’s evangelistic outreach on Wednesday night. Pray that people’s lives would be impacted by this message.

 

Family matters

 

The family is doing well. Caroline just celebrated her 3rd birthday, Josh is continuing to lead in Scouts and Sunday school, Hope is growing in her guitar playing and Becca in her story writing abilities. Cathy and I will be doing marriage counseling and mentoring within the church this coming year.

 

We are praying for you and thankful for your continued support and prayers.

 

The adventure continues…

Russ & Cathy Matthews

 

10.07

Evangelism in Australia

Holiday Bible Club and Introducing God…
 

We had Holiday Bible Club (VBS) this past week at Cornerstone Baptist Church. This is spring break for schools (remember, the seasons are opposite in Australia) and it was a short week for HBC, due to Labor Day being on Monday. Cathy was able to read the Missionary Story (Hudson Taylor’s life) and Russ did the Bible lesson and was the director of the puppets (The Puppet Master). Even with the shortened week, we had good attendance. Hope, Rebecca and Joshua invited four of their friends from the neighborhood to come to the HBC. Some could not come the whole week, but they had a great week of games and hearing the Gospel. There were many salvation decisions and Russ had the opportunity to lead two boys to the Lord, David and Kyle. What a privilege. Please be praying for these boys as they go back to non-Christian homes.
Our “Introducing God” course will begin next Wednesday, 18 October. We have been doing training for this course throughout the month of September. This is an evangelistic outreach that will be done in the home groups on Wednesday nights. We are asking for your prayers for non-Christian friends and family members to come and learn about the Bible and Jesus Christ. The tool of outreach was developed by Australians and has been very effective in directing people to relationships with Christ. During the month of November, Russ will be preaching through the “Introducing God” course at Inner West Baptist.  We pray God’s will be done at Cornerstone and Inner West.
Thanks for your continued financial support and prayers. We are privileged to be representing Jesus in this area of the world.
The adventure continues…
 

The Matthews Family
We all like sheep…
The story of Josh and his shepherding expedition will be coming up in the next edition of The Message On-line (ABWE’s publication).

9.17

Introducing God and House of Prayer

Introducing God
We are coming to the end of the training for our “Introducing God” (evangelism) series at Cornerstone Baptist. We are asking for your prayers, as the church will be working to bring their non-Christian friends to the course that we will be introducing during our small groups on Wednesday nights beginning in October. It is exciting to see the enthusiasm that people have toward the evangelistic outreach in their communities. We are praying that evangelistic zeal will take hold in the church and that the church will continue to reach this area of Sydney for Christ.

Struggles of David
Russ had the opportunity to share a message from 1 Samuel 27, at the Australian Fellowship of Bible Believing Churches Men’s conference, on the struggles of David’s life during this “renegade” stage of David’s life. We pray that the conference would challenge the men to turn back to their “true” security (God), develop the craft of wisdom and get a grip on Grace. It was a great conference on the Life of David, the man after God’s own heart, in a beautiful setting South of Sydney.

House of Prayer
We are continually challenged to make our home a house of prayer. Now one prayer point is praying for our house. Trusting God with all that comes our way and knowing he has the best plan for our lives. In the past month, this has become a reality. Our landlord has decided to sell our home. We hope that we would be able to remain in the house, but it will be up to who the house is sold. We have been able o build relationships with our neighbors and see the needs for a church in this area. We pray for the Lord’s will on this issue. Our van was vandalised the other night. We were able to fix it quickly, but the realities of a fallen world become more evident everyday. We just ask for your prayers for our house and safety, but most importantly that we will continue to go forth with the Gospel regardless of what may come our way. The Lord is our strength.

Thanks for your faithful support and prayers.

7.30

Action Packed Month-July

What a busy month! We had the team from the Expedition team here for Holiday Bible Club, my parents (Ron and Dee Matthews) came to visit, we have started a new ministry in Bondi Junction (through ecom) and preaching at East Bowral and Inner West Baptist Churches.

We did have the privilege of leading young ones to the Lord, seeing some of the great land of Australia (Canberra, Blue Mountains and Sydney) and getting to know more about the ministry in Australia.

Looking ahead to August we just ask for your prayers as I will be teaching a series on personal evangelism (Introducing God) and Cathy will be actively teaching children’s Sunday school at Cornerstone Baptist Church. I am overseeing the in-house Bible studies at many of the corporations in Sydney. We have John Dickson speaking at many of the different venues. I am overseeing his talks and preparing four evangelistic events in the city in August. Pray for an evangelistic impact at Telstra, Patricks, PWC (Price, Waterhouse & Coopers) and Mallesons (largest law firm in Australia).

It has been challenging and humbling to learn how to be effective in ministry here in Australia. We have had many good experiences in serving here in Australia. We are learning more everyday about the differences there are here in the land Down Under. We have just begun to understand how to work within our community and reach people with the Gospel effectively. This has been an amazing time of spiritual growth for us all. Our dependence on the Lord grows daily. As you can imagine, it is not always easy, but as we grow we seek to serve Him more everyday.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

“ The glory that you have given to them, that they maybe one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. “
John 17:22-23

4.07

April Update

Psalm 119: 63-64(ESV)
I am a companion of all who fear you, of those who keep your precepts. The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes.

Since our last update, there has been many different things going on here. We are learning more everyday and we have been given team members that have been helping us through the good and the bad. We miss our family, church and friends, but we are falling in love with the country and the people. The opportunities are abundant, it is just discerning what the Lord has for us to do specifically.

Churches
We have been on the road for the past month, travelling to different churches. Our opportunies to serve in the different churches are plentiful, but we are still looking for direction on the church we will be working in consistently. It has been great to see all of the different ministries, but we will be ready to settle in to a church home. We ask for your prayers in this area. We will be attending Glorious Hope Baptist this weekend. We cannot head up a church plant for a couple of years, but the doors are opening for us to assist in new churches through our current ministries with ABWE.

Introducing God
I had the priviledge to teach this course during JAWbreak in the states. It is an impactful, evangelistic outreach course. Last week, I was able to meet Dominic Steele, the main speaker and leader of the course. We are looking to start a class in our lounge room (living room) in the next few months. Pray for the people to come. Scott and Carol, Who (next door neighbor),Melanie, Joshua and Peter. I also heard Leigh Hatcher speak. (The MC on Introducing God.) Fantastic evangelistic message.

ecom
The opportunies to share the Word and learn about effective ministry in Australia have been some of the blessings from my expereince with ecom. Street evangleism, evangelism in the Work place, effective preaching in Australia and developing an argument and defend your theology in this culture have been some of the fruits of working with the team in the CBD. My work here is limited to a few days a week, but the value to our ministry has been great. There is the potentiel, in the near future, to assist with a church plant in the city is an exciting oppotunity that I will keep you informed about soon.

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