team australia-
 Winter is coming to an end in Australia; there is a change in the air. The weather is changing; people are looking forward to cricket and the beach. There are things happening in the churches and we are looking forward to the spring and what God has to bring for us. We would like to ask you to be praising the Lord with us and praying for these specific events coming up.
 

Winter is coming to an end in Australia; there is a change in the air. The weather is changing; people are looking forward to cricket and the beach. There are things happening in the churches and we are looking forward to the spring and what God has to bring for us. We would like to ask you to be praising the Lord with us and praying for these specific events coming up.Praise
 Many of you have been praying for our Homebuilders group that has been meeting on Friday nights. It is a specific group for young families in the church. We have a good combination of Christian and non-Christian people coming along to the group. One of the ladies who have been coming to the group came to know Jesus as her personal Lord and Saviour a few weeks ago.  What an exciting time in her life and would ask for your prayers for her husband. We are praying that he would also accept Christ. The work that this group is doing in the community is exciting. We hope to be able to be an outreach in the community and pray for more salvations and growth of the Christians that are coming along.

Many of you have been praying for our Homebuilders group that has been meeting on Friday nights. It is a specific group for young families in the church. We have a good combination of Christian and non-Christian people coming along to the group. One of the ladies who have been coming to the group came to know Jesus as her personal Lord and Saviour a few weeks ago.  What an exciting time in her life and would ask for your prayers for her husband. We are praying that he would also accept Christ. The work that this group is doing in the community is exciting. We hope to be able to be an outreach in the community and pray for more salvations and growth of the Christians that are coming along.
Prayer
 

The Ecom team is doing another Introducing God outreach in the city this Thursday. We will be having Dominic Steele do the talk. We are inviting more people to come along and inviting many back that have attended the course in the past few months. The talk will be based on the Good Samaritan and how we can relate with being the man beaten on the road. A powerful message and we are praying for building on the relationships with many of the non-Christians that will be coming along and that the message penetrates through to the hearts of those coming.
  Planting
 As our transition period (First 2 years on the field) is coming to a close, we are looking ahead to the time to plant a church in Sydney. We are praying for people to partner with us in the ministry, the place where we will be working to plant the church (we have been studying specific communities in the Sydney area) and provision from the Lord for direction on this journey. As the reality of this coming, we are overwhelmed with His desire to us, but we are encouraged by His continual supplying of our needs. Please pray for our God centered direction.

As our transition period (First 2 years on the field) is coming to a close, we are looking ahead to the time to plant a church in Sydney. We are praying for people to partner with us in the ministry, the place where we will be working to plant the church (we have been studying specific communities in the Sydney area) and provision from the Lord for direction on this journey. As the reality of this coming, we are overwhelmed with His desire to us, but we are encouraged by His continual supplying of our needs. Please pray for our God centered direction.
Spring is almost here and we are thankful for the opportunities that await us in this new season. Thanks for being apart of this journey.
The adventure continues…
Russ and Cathy Matthews

team australia-

Sorry for the recent Christmas update. Not sure why it was sent out, but we hope you had or will have a Merry Christmas and that you are doing well. It is coming to the end of winter here in Australia. So, we wanted to celebrate the spirit of the season.

 Thanks for your continued support and prayers. We will send out another “current” update soon.

The adventure continues…

The Matthews Family

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ… Colossians 4.2-3
 

Visiting team and ministry
We want to say thank you to Matt Borst and Lisa Behrends for leading an incredible team to Australia to assist in the ministry. Thank you to the churches (AFC and FCC) for sending this incredible team to work with us in Sydney. The youth group was a blessing to all of the churches and ABWE team that they came in touch with during their visit. Their ministries while they were in Australia, Holiday Bible Club at Madang Primary School, serving at Cornerstone Baptist and Glorious Hope Baptist and participating in the Ecom ministry in the city. Their servants’ hearts and willingness to be involved in various ministries opened the door for sharing the Gospel and being a light in the “dark places” of Sydney. The ministries were fruitful and exciting to see the doors God opened for us. All of the churches and people say, “Goodonya, mates.” And “Come back soon!”
 

Housing
We have been encouraged by support that continues to come into assist with the ministry needs in Australia. The housing market has been exceptionally difficult and our rent has been increased for our home. We had been looking for the Lord’s guidance in moving from our home. The family has been encouraging in their willingness to move. On 13 Friday, we received a check from a supporter. It was marked specifically to be used to pay for the difference on our rent for one year. This check, along with other support, we will be staying in our home for one more year. With this support and other financial support, we ask for your prayers on how we can continue and do more to impact our community for Christ. We still are in need of monthly support, but it has been improving monthly. Thank you.
 

Prayer requests:

• Continued opportunities to share the Gospel with the people of Sydney.
  
• Direction with potential church plant opportunities
  
• Support needs
  

team autralia-

A prayer request: Russ will be starting to teach a four week course tomorrow (5 June) called Investigating Christianity at Westpac Bank. After the evangelistic talks by Greg Clarke, “Is it sane to believe in the resurrection of Jesus?” The attendance within the bank was over fifty people. We had numerous people interested finding out more about Christianity. Please pray for the class.

Madang Holiday Bible Club- Please be praying for the the Youth Group coming from the States and the team that is preparing for the club at the Madang Primary School. We had approx. 70 kids last year and we pray for 100 kids to come along to the “Trailblazers Holiday Club.” Please pray for safety, for fruit and for God to be glorified!

Russ

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13

team australia-
The first part of 2007 has brought exciting opportunities and new challenges for our life in Australia. We hope that our monthly updates, through our website, have been able to keep you informed of all the Lord is doing in the land Down Under. This is our bi-annual update of the details of our ministry, which will include our financial information.

ministry

• homebuilders – We have been privileged to start a new home group at Cornerstone Baptist this year. The growth of the church meant we needed to look to a new home group for mid-week Bible studies. We started the ‘Homebuilders’ group that will primarily have an outreach to young families and married couples. It has been great to build relationships with the current six couples; we ask your prayers for each of the couples and the potential for new families in the next year.
  
• introducing God – I have been running an iGod on Thursday nights in the city. The team has had increased interest in the course and many non-Christians coming to hear more about the God of the Bible. It is a pretty labor intensive course, but in establishing an environment for the non-Christians to come has made it worth the effort. We have between 30 -45 people attend each week.
  
• holiday Bible club – We have a youth group from the US coming in July to work with our HBC at Madang Public School. (Yes, we are able to do a HBC in a public school!) Please be praying for Matt Borst, Lisa Behrends and the youth team that will be coming.
  
• preaching – I have been regularly preaching in the evenings at Cornerstone Baptist Church, working through Acts. It has been challenging and motivating to see the missionary journeys, growth and persecution of the first century church. We are looking forward to the opportunity of starting a church in the future in Sydney.

• jason parmerlee – What a blessing this man has been to us this year. Jason has taken on some big tasks this year and it has been great for the churches and for our family. He is teaching scripture in the public schools, running the youth group at Cornerstone Baptist, helping me with the Introducing God course in the city and strives to find other ways to serve the team in Sydney. He has only been here four months, but we are grateful for his servant’s heart.
  

family

• melbourne – The family was able to get away for a long weekend to Melbourne. It was a long drive, but it is a beautiful city. We stayed at a caravan park and thoroughly enjoyed the city. We visited Tim Loftis’ church, Suburban Baptist and had a nice day with their family. We, also, had the opportunity to learn all about Ned Kelly, the notorious bank robber. Read up on him, if you are coming to Oz. Fascinating history.  
  
• youth group – The girls are apart of the youth group this year. Wow! Thirteen years old. They love it. Making friends. They went to a big youth conference; KYCK in April. It was great to be apart of the ministry and see the youth group growing as a team. The youth group will be apart of the HBC in July.
  
• scouts – Josh is looking to join the Scouts. He had a great time the other night at his fist meeting. He even was pretty good at cricket!
  
• talking- Caroline is talking up a storm, still a bit of babbling, but she is not short of words. She is the center of all conversations at church. Caroline likes to get around to all of the families, but seems to like spending a good portion of her time with the Young Adult Men, hmmm….    Pray for us!
  

financial

Thank you for your faithful support. We committed last year to only do a financial update twice a year. Please contact with any questions.