06.10.10

Questions about furlough

“ I just jumped on the train after leaving Circular Quay, the home of the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We completed the City Bible Forum today where close to 100 people came to hear from Ian Powell on ‘Jesus – Mad or Majestic? I am the Bread of Life.’ We have a swim carnival this afternoon and we were preparing for an evangelistic weekend away with the City Bible Forum group.” – Russ

This was just in one day, how do we begin to communicate all the Lord has brought into our lives in four years? It is a challenge, but a challenge we look forward to sharing with you. We are coming to a church near you. As it gets closer, we have been getting more questions. Here are areas where you can pray or assist us with in the process of furlough.

Will you be doing school? – Cathy and the kids have been asked if they look forward to having a holiday from school for the months we are in the US. We will have a few weeks of travel where the family will not be able to do school work, but once we are in Iowa, school begins again. The kids will work on school through a distance education programme at Australian Christian College.

Do you have a full schedule? – We have been fortunate to coordinate a time to spend with all of our current supporting churches. Also, all of our individual supporters and church families are welcome to come to our Matthews Family BBQ on 27 October @ Saylorville Baptist Church. During our church visits and at the BBQ we will be presenting our ministries and the opportunities of sharing about our Saviour, Jesus Christ, in Australia. We will be in a different church every weekend and our schedule is very full now. I appreciate all who have responded to or have requested assist with different ministry opportunities in the US. We do love sharing about what the Lord is doing in Sydney and in our lives. Our schedule is filling quite quickly.  I would encourage anyone who would like for us to come to any events or groups while we are in the US to email us prior to 15 July.

How are you doing for funds? Based on the projected budget, this furlough will cost approximately $25000. The costs: plane tickets, petrol, a van for travel, prayer cards, rent for housing in the US and maintaining our home in Australia, phone, etc. The airplane tickets and accomodations in Maryland and Iowa are taken care of in the US for furlough, but we could use some assistance with the travel funds. Anyone that is willing to assist us in this area, please contact us at matthewsdownunder@bigpond.com. We can direct you to where to send the funds. Thank you for this assistance.

How are you getting around? We are blessed to have a van for the time we are on the East Coast, but we are still looking for support for a van for our travel from the East Coast to Iowa and for the time we are in Iowa. Does anyone have any contacts or access to a van we could utilise during this time? Please send any information to the email address above.

Thanks for the questions. We look forward to seeing you soon.

The adventure continues…

Russ, Cathy, Becca, Hope, Joshua, & Caroline

05.21.10

A Sydney perspective

John 21:16a

16He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”

We are so grateful to God for all He is doing in our lives.

I know throughout John 21, we find different applications of the word love in the Greek. Yet, in studying this word, love,  many times we lose sight of who we love. The object of our affection is lost in the action that He calls us to do. In the passage, Jesus asks Peter to feed and tend His sheep. But we can only do that through our love of Jesus. It is easy in Christian ministry to begin to focus on the work or the people. This is good in a human sense, but if this is our focus, because the sheep and the work can be quite frustrating to care for, many times bitterness and frustration begin to enter into our thoughts. It was made apparent to me that our focus and our love has to be first to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus. Surprisingly, something I preach daily, but still have to be reminded to do. No wonder Jesus had to ask Peter three times if he loved his Lord.  Only from this position of love for Jesus can we begin to love Christian work or love His people. I am thankful to be reminded to always remember my first love, Jesus.

Thanks for the prayers for the events going on this month and what is coming up soon.

Winning the City Dinner – This is an annual fundraising event for the ministry in the city. The three weeks prior to the event we had seven people registered and on the night we had 98 people attend. A great night to communicate the opportunities and the needs of the ministry in the city. We had many new people come along and we did get some new supporters. There are always room for more, please pray for more supporters of this unique and groundbreaking ministry, City Bible Forum. (Link provided on this website)

Fellowship plant- We had a great time in Coogee with an evangelistic event in the Eastern Suburbs. We met at a friends house, had a BBQ and a good talk from Al Stewart. There were 8-9 couples there and 50% of the room were not Christian. (with children there were 30+ people there the first night) Exciting night and has the potential for a fellowship. Please pray for the next event on 6 June. Could this be a new church in the future?

Pamper Day – Glorious Hope Baptist’s women’s group puts on an evangelistic event to reach the community around the church each year. Many of the women in the neighbourhood do not get to get their hair and nails done. So, the ladies of the church put on a Pamper Day with volunteer hairdressers and other nail & make up professionals. They have 60+ women come through and then have a lunch which includes an evangelistic talk. Cathy and the girls love assisting in this event. This year the first four women that Cathy served were Muslim and Cathy had the opportunity to pray with most of them. An exciting event for God’s glory.

Dating, Rating and Mating …a biblical perspective – Let me share a perspective on ministry in Sydney. I was asked to do a two part series for a young adults group in Bankstown. Worked all day on preparing for the Sydney Prayer Breakfast in the city. Took the train home and then I ate dinner with a good Lebanese friend at Habib’s Charcoal Chicken shop (Yummy), then go to the church and speak on Dating (finishing with a gospel presentation on the ultimate relationship with Jesus) to a group of 40-50 young people and then counseled a young Iraqi Christian on his relationship with his Maori (native New Zealand) girlfriend. How they can live godly in their relationship and whether they should get married. No one can train you for this experience, the Lord has done some amazing things in our lives (There is a video link for this series on this website and on Russ Matthews Facebook account.)

Furlough – We could use your prayers on this area. We are excited to see our family, friends and church families, but it will be hard to be away from home (Yes, Sydney is home) and all that the Lord has opened up to us here in Sydney. Here are some key prayer points:

  • All of the paperwork will be completed prior to leaving
  • We will be able to organise all things for the ministries while we are away
  • We will be able to be part of a swearing in ceremony for citizenship prior to July
  • We need a van for our time from Maryland to Iowa and while we are in Iowa
  • Extra finances for the trip: Higher plane costs, fluctuating exchanges rates and additional costs in the US have put a pinch on the budget
  • Churches in the US will see the need for the work in Australia and the opportunities that the Lord has allowed us to be included and God would be glorified in this whirlwind tour of the US

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. Exciting & exhausting days, but we are grateful to be part of all the Lord is doing in Australia.

The adventure continues…

Russ, Cathy, Becca, Hope, Joshua & Caroline

04.28.10

Prayer Points for May

Hello to all of our supporters,

I will be sending along an update about all of the activities from April and May soon. Here are a few prayer points for things for the immediate future:

1. Winning the City Dinner – Vision setting & Fundraising for city ministries
2. Youth Leader – We need a youth leader for our youth group at Glorious Hope Baptist. (Praise: The Youth had a great time at a recent event in the Blue Mountains, KYCK)
3. Preaching opportunities: Inner West Baptist, Youth group in Bankstown and a young adults retreat on the 15 May
4. City Bible Forum Weekend Away: An evangelistic weekend away in the Southern Highlands. We are praying for 50 people to come away on the weekend.
5. Pamper Day: An evangelistic event for the women of o the community around Glorious Hope Baptist
6. Continued growth and salvations at City Bible Forum, Sydney. Al Stewart’s series in Ecclesiastes and Ian Powell’s continuing series in John.
7. Planning and financial preparations for US ministry trip: we need a van during our time in Iowa, a house-sitter for our Australian home and the necessary finances for the travel in the US.

Thanks for all of your faithful support and prayers. We look forward to seeing you soon.

The adventure continues…
Russ & Cathy Matthews

04.01.10

Happy Easter & Citizenship

HAPPY EASTER! To all of our freinds family & supporters. We are grateful for all you do for us in prayer and support. The Matthews would like to wish you all the happiest, safest & healthiest Easter. We hope that beyond the chocolate, eggs and Easter bunnies that you can rejoice with us in our Saviour’s resurrection. He is risen! Happy Easter!

Citizenship: For all who have sent questions on our citizenship application. We did receive the letter of acceptance for dual citizenship in Australia. Quite an exciting day. We will be attending a swearing in ceremony soon and it will all be official. To clarify, we will be dual citizens in Australia and the US.

Sending lots of joy your way during this incredible celebration season,

The adventure continues…
Russ, Cathy, Bec, Hope, Josh & Caroline

03.09.10

Caroline’s Heart Update

Thank you to all our family and friends who have kept us in your thoughts and prayers this past month. We rejoice in telling you we had an excellent doctor’s visit, with a great prognosis for Caroline.

Her actual condition is called sub-aeortic membrane. It is very, very mild at this time and is in no way dangerous or threatening and therefore there is no need to do any procedures any time soon. She will need to have once or twice yearly heart checks to make sure the condition hasn’t worsened. There is no time frame on how quickly this could change, but based on the fact that it has only progressed very slowly in her almost 5 years, we don’t foresee sudden changes occuring. This most likely will need to be dealt with at some point in her life, and the only way to deal with this is through open heart surgery. But the good news is, this is one of the simplest and easiest procedures that is done.

So that sums up today’s doctor’s appointment. Again, we thank you so much for keeping us and especially Caroline in your thoughts and prayers. We will definitely let you know of any future changes or needs in this specific area.

I’ll finish with a beautiful Bible passage that really blessed me:
“For You formed my inward pars; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” Psalm 139:13-14

Rejoicing,
Cathy for all

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