G’day
Praying Partners,
Thank you to
all who prayed for our mini show this past weekend! We can’t wait to share how
we saw God work.
This is the first mini show we've been able to have in 3 years! As you may recall, during Covid we were the most locked down city in the world - which meant we were unable to have our outreach in 2020 or 2021. We were so excited that this year it would be able to go forward! But it wasn't without it's difficulties. The week before the mini show, 6 of our families came down with Covid! In Melbourne, if you contract Covid you are required to isolate for 5-7 days (depending on severity). In a church of around 75 people, 6 families are a lot! We were reminded that, although we had been faithfully praying for so many aspects of the show, we had neglected to pray for health! We earnestly sought God’s face for that week that no one else would contract it. God was so incredibly faithful to ensure that was the case (although a couple of people were still quite ill and not able to help out – including the lady that was over our decorations!).
Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to set up on Saturday as the school was being used by 3 other groups on the day. We were there for a couple of
hours doing what we could. The decision was made to come early on Sunday, set
up what we could, then complete the rest after church (the show started at
2:30). Rob and I walked in on Sunday morning to a disaster. The group that had rented the gym the night before had allowed, we
assume, their children to pretty much destroy everything we had accomplished on
Saturday. We put out a call for help and many of our congregation showed up
early to get it put back together – plus get more done. I imagine you are
thinking the same thing we were – obviously the enemy did not want this mini
show to go forward! In all our years of doing this, we have NEVER had this much
to overcome. Everyone was rejoicing over what was going to occur knowing that
if the enemy was working this hard, it was going to be awesome!
We are
incredibly blessed with our church family in that when we have an event like
this, there is almost 100% turn out to help. Some couldn’t stay for the whole
event, but helped out with set up. Some had to leave before we cleaned up. But
everyone had a part in being God’s hands and feet on the day. After much
planning, preparation and prayer, we opened the doors at 2:30. We were
awestruck to have around 50 children and around 20 parents show up on the day! It was incredible. I had put together a script
for the gospel presentation – we had someone interview Jonah about his
experience “under the sea” and used that to then share the gospel with those
70+ people who would probably never set foot in a church. The kids loved it! It
was somewhat interactive so that they could be a part of Jonah’s experience in
the belly of that big fish! We then turned the kids lose to play the games and
enjoy the day. All the children receive a gospel tract and invitation to
children’s church as part of their goody bags. Pray along with us that God
would take these many seeds that are sown and produce fruit for His kingdom!
We hope this gives you a small taste of the ups and
downs that came before the outreach – and the incredible blessing that occurred
on the day! Our church family learned so much about our faithful God – and we
are excited about what He is going to do with the seeds sown on the day. “so
shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing
for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11. We hold on to God’s promise in Galatians
6:9, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap,
if we do not give up.” No matter what discouragements the enemy throws your
way, don’t give up! The harvest IS coming – how incredible is it that God
allows us to be a small part of it?!
Shining the
Light Down Under,
Rob and
Jackie
