Crest Baptist Church Family Camp

It is summer break in Australia and this is the time for the beach, holidays, Australia Day and camp. Our family was asked to come to a Family Camp for Crest Baptist Church. It is an Arabic church in the heart of Sydney. People from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq and other areas of the middle east. A loving and vibrant church that was getting away for the weekend. The camp was in the beautiful tip of the Southern Highlands.

I was asked to talk to the English speaking portion of the church throughout the weekend. Yet, most of the time it was an interesting mix of Arabic & Australian culture. Consistently I had to remind myself where we were and even though I did not speak the language of the majority of the people, the testimonies and enthusiasm for the Lord was contagious. It was a great reminder that Jesus & the Holy Spirit transcend cultures and languages.

Highlights:
1. I was speaking through Nehemiah, the church leaders asked for this series due to the building time in the church culture. The first night I brought a huge tub of Lego to encourage them to build something individually, a fun way to start the weekend. The following night I asked I asked them to take apart their individual creations and make something as one unit, for one purpose and for one name. Building something together, like the people of Jerusalem in the book of Nehemiah. It was late and the Legos just sat there until I went to bed at midnight. I woke up the next morning for a run and as I came into the main hall, there was a bit of a buzz. As I turned around to see what everyone was so excited about, I saw not just a wall but a city had been built! Pictures are on Facebook.

2. Ammon – on Friday night I got to meet Ammon. He is the same age as Joshua (our son). Quiet and friendly, but kept to himself. After my first talk on Saturday morning, I noticed one of the leaders actively engaged in a conversation with Ammon, who had just started coming to the church. Then I noticed that they went to go pray. After my second talk I had an opportunity to talk with the leader. Ammon had become a Christian that day! Nothing mores satisfying to hear.

3. Gus- after the Sunday morning talk, the music leader asked me to pray for a man who had just come to the camp after. An invitation during a church building project. Gus is a truck driver who was on medical leave from his job. Right after we prayed, Gus came walking up to us and began peppering us with questions about the church, the Bible and why these talks were so different than anything he had experienced in church. He was not ready to become a Christian at that time, but you can be praying for him.

4. The girls were not there! This may seem a bit negative, but it is a gift to us. We wanted to the Hope & Becca to be with us, but they were counseling at a camp on the Central Coast. It was a sacrifice to not have these incredible young ladies with us, but it was worth it. They were counseled at a camp for under-privileged children. It was their third year counseling. This year they had the incredible opportunity to lead 14 girls to the Lord! I know it is all of the Lord, but I am so proud of what the Lord is doing through our daughters. Praise His Name!

Prayer points: we would like to share a few prayer points for 2012

1. Exciting start to city ministry: panels, evangelism training, new fellowships in the city and evangelistic events inside corporations. Please pray for their start this year and for the Lord to sustain the ministry in 2012.

2. Glorious Hope Baptist Church: growth and direction for 2012

3.Hope and Becca’s final year of high school : wow, are they growing up!

4. School year begins on 31 January: New uniforms, new teachers, new challenges

5. Finances: we would appreciate anyone willing to assist us with a new ministry vehicle

6. 20th anniversary: Cathy & I celebrate 20 years of marriage this year. We are looking to get away in March for a long weekend.

7. Wisdom in our decisions with ministry partners and direction for 2012

Thanks for your faithful support and prayers.
The adventure continues,
Russ, Cathy, Becca, Hope, Joshua & Caroline

As pastors and teachers teach through the Luke account of Jesus’ birth this weekend, I wonder how many people begin to do the ‘seen it, done it, been there’ experience. We get wrapped around everything else this season and lose sight of the true meaning of the season. I recently preached through Luke 2:22-35. Forty days after Jesus’ birth,  Mary and Joseph run into a man named Simeon. A man who had been promised to see the Messiah prior to his own death. Now, in the temple Simeon not only sees the Messiah, but gets to hold Jesus in hands. What does Simeon do? Sings. Not what most men think would be the response of the most significant thing in a man’s life. But I cannot imagine it was the singing you would see on Glee, with all the right wardrobe and choreography. No, I would like to think this is the singing you see in the eyes of those who have experienced a win by their favourite football team. Or of a child getting the ultimate gift at Christmas. Simeon is singing from a position of the anticipation and emotion that comes from seeing the promises of God fulfilled in your life.

Take the time to read through this portion of scripture and see, maybe for the first time, the fulfillment of the promises to a man, a nation and to all mankind. The gift of eternal life that could only be found in His Son, Jesus. 

So, mate, break out in song and celebrate the entrance of the King into this world. It is all good, God did it for you, too!

Thanks for your prayers:

1. Josh’s knee has healed well and has been given the okay to participate in sport.
2. City Bible Forum finished well this year. Exciting year with the panel discussions this year. We had the opportunity to introduce the Gospel to so many who had not heard it before. Please pray for our preparations for 2012. Check out the videos.
3. Plans for 2012, Glorious Baptist Church have gone well and we are looking forward to seeing what the Lord will do through the church this year.
4. I will be speaking at a Family camp in January, could use your prayers for the preparation.

¹ I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: ²preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. ³ For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, ⁴and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. ⁵As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

The Big E

I was leading a training course in the city, ‘How to Renovate Your In House Group.’ It was exciting to see the room packed with people who wanted to do evangelism inside their workplaces. They see the workplace as a strategic place to evangelise. Since they spend the majority of their time there (Look at the statistics, more time working in your life than doing anything else) and seeing that the Lord has placed them in this work space, these leaders see the opportunity to reach people for Christ. Many had given the Bible reading group a go in their company, but they did not see much growth and that is why they had come to this seminar. We had lawyers, IT specialists, accountants and various other backgrounds attending. One attendee invited his pastor to come, also.

We walked through the three Ps (Prayer, Purpose and Plan) and two Rs (Resources and Realistic Expectations) of renovating or starting and In House Group. (Any good renovator has a plan, knows what resources he has to work with and seeks his purpose through the Masterbuilder - if you want more details, email me.)

The key question of the day from one of the attendees was, ‘I have been in many Bible groups at work and most of them have peaks and valleys in regards to attendance. Also, most eventually cease to exist. How do you fix that?’

Great question and I had two answers. First, any ministry will experience peaks and valleys, in the workplace, church and on a mission field, but you need to be committed to be there for the long haul. Do not be focused on the numbers as much as they direction you are going and why you are doing it in the first place (hopefully for the glory of God and reaching people for Christ). Secondly, your group needs to have at its core, evangelism. Realistically, any work place only has 2% Christian working within its population (Australian statistic). If that is the case, the only way you can grow this ministry is to reach out to your workmates with evangelistic zeal. Also, if all you are doing is rallying the Christians (which we should be doing in our churches) you will start to see the minor issues that can divide the church opposed to the core of the Gospel. Look at it this way. If you link arms as Christians and continue to look inward at one another, you will get tired of the view and will eventually stop linking arms. But if you link arms as Christians and look outward with the purpose of Evangelism (The Big E), you gather strength from one another, through the Lord and will be unified to reach your workplace for Christ.

Interestingly, the pastor chimed in at that point. ‘Wow, what a concept! This should be implemented by all Christians and especially our churches.’

Outside of being a bit disappointed that a pastor had not taken on this idea before, he was right.

You can take on so many different objectives in your group, home and church. All of them can and should have eternal benefits for people. Yet, if we forget to incorporate evangelism into the mix. Our groups, ministries and churches will die.

Quick CEO story: I remember a CEO of a company I worked for any years ago. He was addressing huge audience of managers at a conference. He was addressing the  question of over saturation in a specific market. Had this Fortune 500 company, which he had started, grown as big as it could grow? The CEO stepped up to the podium and merely stated, ‘If you do not grow, you will die.’ Then he sat down. No numbers crunching, no inspirational speech, just the cold hard fact. ‘Growth means life, no growth means death.’

I think this truth can be applied to all things and especially to our spiritual life. We need to grow personally in our walk with God, we need to grow in our relationships with others and we need to grow through Gospel work to reach others for Christ.

I have had numerous discussions on this topic in my short tenure in ministry and talking with missionaries, pastors and ministry workers. With the ever changing focus of world wide missions. The churches get on a band wagon of the latest catch phrase: Social Justice, Disaster relief, Church Planting, Tent-making, 1040 window, etc. None of them are bad and I do get excited about these ventures (Come on, we are part of them), but if we lose sight of the growth opportunity ofevangelism and proclaiming the Truth of the Bible, any and all of these things will die.

There maybe nothing new for you here, but hopefully a reminder as you look ahead to 2012, is your spiritual life &  your ministry growing? If not, have you looked at the Big E? Are you doing all you can to reach others for Christ and growing His Kingdom or just focused on building your own ‘kingdom’? It has been a good reminder for me and I am looking forward to what we can do for Him in 2012.

(For more details of our work in evangelism in Sydney, check out our latest newsletter, City Bible Forum, Sydney)

Thanks for your support and prayers,

Russ, Cathy, Becca, Hope, Joshua & Caroline

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

It has been planned for over a year and a month prior to their arrival, they closed the main train line to our part of the city, so transport became an issue. Yet the team and the family persevered.

You cannot tell everything by the numbers, but it is pretty amazing to see all that the team has been able to be part of in just 13 days. When you come to Sydney, it is not a typical mission field. No building projects (Due to strict building regulations, etc.), just straight forward people work. You would think that would be easier, but it was not the case. I think the team will go home tomorrow pretty tired, but excited about what the Lord is doing here to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. A mission here is ‘hold on and get ready for an exciting ride!’ (It ain’t for the faint hearted.)

28 Train rides, 11 bus rides, 2 international, plane rides, 2 ferry rides, and a Rivercat ride

6 City Bible Forums

2 Afterwork Bible studies

4 Lunch time Bible Studies

3 Firehouse tours – Yup. Even Firehouse 1 in Sydney (Luke is a firefighter)

2 Evangelism Training sessions

A church service, a Young adult picnic / talk , a Young City Workers Evangelistic Talk (20 attendees) and a Walk- up Evangelism session

The Smith Lecture (178 attendees – 1/2 non-believers)

10+ one-one mobilising /evangelistic meetings

2 BBQs

2 Kids Clubs

1 Scripture class

A Lebanese meal, Lebanese pizza, a Vietnamese meal with noodles, a Thai dinner, Fish & Chips, Meat pies, Sausage Rolls & Pavlova

2 beaches and a scuba diving adventure

1 1982 Honda Civic

Fed kangaroos, petted a koala and saw a huge crocodile

1 trip to Chinatown

Too many coffees to count

One God, One Faith, One Saviour

Key stories: Alex,Vince,‘the bus rides’, bus stop parking, CBF, Smith Lecture, Street evangelism conversations, Rugby League v Rugby Union

Thank you for this incredible team of people. Your dedication, flexibility and willingness to go out of your comfort zone was a blessing and we will have many stories to come of the Lord working in the lives of the people of Australia.

To our supporters, family and friends, if you have the opportunity, look to see when they will be doing their presentation at First Family Church in Ankeny and come along.

Our mission field and style of mission is not easy and not for everyone, but this team was exceptional and we are grateful for their work in Sydney!

Holiday conversations  

We had friends (One of my work colleagues at City Bible Forum and his family) invite us to go to Griffith, NSW for a short holiday. It was a great time of relaxing and enjoying a unique part of the country. Griffith is the farming centre of New South Wales. They have an irrigation system that allows for the growth of grapes, citrus, rice and various other foods. It was beautiful part of the country.

One night we were invited to go out to dinner with a high school mate of my friend, Craig. It was a great time of conversation and making new friends. Craig’s friend had brought his new girlfriend. She began to enquire about what Craig and I do for a living. As we were able to share about the work of the Gospel, she started in on the questions. Everything from creation to cults to death was out on the table. It was great. At one point the friend said to Cathy, “I did not know she had some many questions…” As things began to spiral around more questions, it came down to differentiation of beliefs. How were we different?

We were able to say that with all that is in the Bible, it all points to one thing, to one point in history to one person, Jesus. Once you can see that, the differentiation is how we respond to Him and the offer he gives to us. Grace within the Gospel. The difference from other beliefs, Jesus.

It shows that regardless of the time and place, you never know when you will have the opportunity to share the Gospel. Also, it made us appreciate your part in this process through your prayers and support.

Prayer Points

FFC team - We are excited to have a team coming from First Family Church in Ankeny in October. Pray for all the preparation, opportunities for ministry and their experience of the culture. The Lord did provide for us to borrow an additional car to assist with transport. The team will be participating in evangelistic outreach, scripture classes, Kids Clubs, Young Adult outing in Sydney, street evangelism, the Smith Lecture, church and many other events. Pray for their safe arrival, their many opportunities to minister and for the Lord to be glorified in it all.

Introducing God (Church) - It has been great, speaking through the Introducing Course at Glorious Hope and Grace Baptist Churches this past month. Pray for many to hear the Gospel and for Christians gain the training to share the Gospel with others through this clear presentation of the message of the Bible. We close each talk with a Q&A time. People have been searching out what they believe and we have been able to develop an atmosphere for them to engage with the Bible and God.

Thanks for all of your support and prayers

Introducing God (Afterwork) - We are into our sixth week of the IG course. We have many enquirers coming each week. Please pray that in the discussion groups people will see the opportunity to ask their questions and see the need to be Introduced to God. Please pray that many of the attendees will consider coming along to the ‘Weekend Away’ which will be an evangelistic weekend.

Introducing God (Church) - I will begin speaking through the Introducing Course at Glorious Hope and Grace Baptist Churches this month. Pray for many to hear the Gospel and for Christians gain the training to share the Gospel with others through this clear presentation of the message of the Bible.

Especially when the culture and theology come together. We hope that this is so the kids can reach more kids for Christ!

Back story: Caroline has come to enjoy having a meat pie for breakfast or lunch regularly. It is truly an Australian food and she loves them. Yummy.

So, while she was in Sunday School the other day, the teacher was teaching the kids a rhyme. It was to help them to remember the 10 plagues in Egypt in the book of Exodus. 

Here is how it went…

Teacher:

Water to blood

Frogs in the mud

Gnats and flies

Livestock dies

Caroline:

…and they are they are made into pies!

You have to love it when theology, culture and the mind of a child come together.

Well done,Caroline. Praise God.

This is how the discussion group went at Afterwork a few weeks ago. One of the young ladies who came to our Introducing God course. Was very keen to engage in the discussion about the Bible, but did not have any history of it in her life.

It made for an fascinating conversation of walking through the basics of the Bible, Jesus and how she could know God. We want to ask for prayers for her and many other non-believers who come to our courses every week.

Upcoming events:

• “How was your review?” – Workers get reviewed each year in their jobs, but what would you say if someone was to review your life? How about if the review was based on one issue, one person and how you responded to Him? Russ will be giving a talk to young workers on the topic of judgement. God’s judgement. Timothy Keller describes this topic as “…the most despised topic to those outside of Christianity.” Please pray that all of the young workers will bring along friends and co-workers to hear a straight talk of judgement of God and life.

• Introducing God (Afterwork) – We are into our third week of the IG course. We have many enquirers coming each week. Please pray that in the discussion groups people will see the opportunity to ask their questions and see the need to be Introduced to God.

• Two Ways to Live – Russ is currently working through evangelism training with a group in the city. It is a great course that gives people the ability to explain the big points of the Bible in a short presentation. It is rather intensive with memorising and practical application, pray that the participants will be willing to go through the work and develop their skills in sharing their faith in Jesus Christ.

• Authentic Spirituality (How to be a follower of Christ without being religious)- We are in the middle of a course that explains what the basic beliefs of being a Christian. It has attracted a fascinating mix of people from various backgrounds and more keep coming each week. Pray for Christians to gain a clear view of their faith. Also, for those who are not followers of Christ would see that Christianity is not a religion or another list of do’s and don’ts, but lifestyle that is centered on this person, Jesus.

• Party in the Barn – Next Friday our youth group from Glorious Hope Baptist will be coming out to the ‘Barn’. (Our new garage is rather large!) We will be having games, food and watching Soul Surfer. Good end of winter bash. (Remember it is winter down here!) Please pray for the presentation of the gospel and for the night be be a great time for the kids to understand that their lives have more value than XBOX and Facebook. It is looking to be a good turn out, pray the Lord is glorified in it all.

• FFC team - We are excited to have a team coming from First Family Church in Ankeny in October. Pray for the preparation and opportunities for ministry and experiencing the culture. Pray for the team as they are raising funds for the trip. Also, we are running into transportation issues due to track work in October. Pray for an additional car to assist with transport.

• Car- We are looking to purchase a smaller support vehicle for the ministry. The cost for a small used vehicle would be approximately $8000.

Family update: Cathy has started in a new Bible Study called BSF and is enjoying a Book Reading group each month with ladies in the community. Hope and Becca are taking driving lessons and doing well at their job at Subway. Josh is completing his AFL season (They will be in the semi-finals next week; Quakers Hill Bombers v Rooty Hill Power) and looking ahead to Little Athletics (track and field) in the spring. Finally, Caroline is loving her violin lessons and looking forward to Little Athletics and going to the beach soon.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

The adventure continues…

Russ, Cathy, Hope, Becca, Joshua & Caroline

How can you help? If you are able to assist with any of the financial needs we would appreciate your contribution. You can go to the ABWE website and either give one-off or become a monthly supporter. Also,  you can send cheques to ABWE or Saylorville Baptist Church for one-off gifts. If you would like to contribute to the vehicle, merely mark on your contribution O&P funds for Matthews vehicle. Please do not send cash and cheques to us. We have to send cheques back to the US to be processed and it is too risky to send cash in the post. Thanks.