Thursday 11 December 2014

December Update

G’day Praying Partners:

Is anyone else finding it difficult to believe that it is almost the end of 2014? It’s hard to grasp that in a matter of days it will be 2015! Is this THE year? That’s always foremost on my mind as the calendar turns over to January 1 – could this be the year that Christ returns? I don’t know, but I do know that it only gets closer with each passing year! Oh, that we would live each day like it could be THE ONE! It makes me think of Rev. 22:12 “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” May we be able to respond as John did in Rev. 22:20  “He which testifieth these things saith, ‘Surely I come quickly. Amen.’ Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Maybe in 2015!

We pray that each of you is enjoying this blessed Christmas season. It is definitely a different one for us this year! Today our daughter-in-law used FaceTime to let us watch our grandson perform in his school program. How thankful we are for technology – but how much we miss our family this time of year! Tori will be with Jackie’s family in Florida for Christmas – it’s our first year that both of the girls are not with us. Big adjustments all around! For the most part, days go by and life goes on, but during the holidays it can be tough to be so far away. Thank you for lifting us up to our heavenly Father, who knows what it means to be separated from loved ones! We’ve been busy getting prepared for the season. Jackie has been working with the children’s church kids as they prepare for their part in our Carols by Candlelight. We are joining with our sister church – Grace Baptist Church – to have our carols night.  This is a very popular event in Australia – each town may even hold their own carols night. It’s just what it implies – singing carols by candlelight! Generally, it’s outside, but we’ll have the comforts of being indoors with battery operated candles! Please pray for this – in the evening of 14 December – as there will be many unsaved friends and family members there.  Also, as a church family, we will be meeting Christmas morning for breakfast and a time to praise God for the birth of His Son. This is always a blessed time for us and allows everyone to focus on the meaning of the day before getting into all the family events! Personally, we’re looking forward to spending Christmas Eve with dear friends who will help us to celebrate even being far away from our own family.

School will be finishing up next week – remember, this is our summer! We’ve been invited to the 6th grade graduation dinner which we will be attending on Monday evening. It’s been such a blessed time at the school this year. God continues to open doors that we couldn’t have imagined. In typical Australian fashion, we are only sowing seeds and building relationships, but we trust God to bring it all to bear fruit in the future. We are humbled to be a part of God’s plan.

Things slow down dramatically in the summer time here. It’s nice because it gives us time to plan for the years activities. It also gives us a chance to take the time to reflect back on what God’s been doing over the past year. It’s been a crazy year for us – coming back from furlough in April and getting plugged back in here, saying goodbye to family and friends on that side – and hello to new friends on this side! God is SO good – we feel privileged to be able to serve Him in whatever way He deems fit. Thank YOU – each of you – for being a part of God’s work here in Australia. Who knows what 2015 will bring our way? “Even so, come, Lord Jesus”!!

Shining the Light Down Under,

Rob, Jackie, Stefanie and Tori

Sunday 16 November 2014

G’day Praying Partners:

Thank you so much for your prayers on our behalf last month! It is such an honor to us to know that you lift us up in prayer – and it’s such a blessing to us to see God answer those prayers!

We had so much fun at the school carnival! I have a couple of pictures on our blog – ernstfamilydownunder.blogspot.com if you’d like to see them! It was actually a lot bigger than we thought it would be. There were lots of people from the community, which was our purpose for being there! We were the only giving away lollies for free, so you can imagine that we were a big hit! I have no idea how many lollies we gave out that day – but we had a container full when we started and none when we finished! The kids loved playing the games. Rob and James (I mentioned him in my last email) were able to have conversations with several parents about the church and gave out information as well. We had several of our church family come to help out – even though most of it was during the day. It was such a blessing to be involved in the community this way as we were able to support the school where we meet. Our relationship with the principal has blossomed and we are just excited about what God is doing through us at the school. It’s certainly not in ways we would have predicted, but isn’t that just like God to do things outside of our own little “box”?!

Family camp was also an incredible blessing. Again, God did things differently than what we would have thought! We were scheduled to do camp with a sister BMM church, but all of their people cancelled (except the pastor and his family) and our church was left with a big bill to pay! Since we had to outlay a bit of money, we decided to invite families from our church that couldn’t pay – and that’s where the blessing came in! These families told us over and over again what a blessing camp was and how much they enjoyed the time away. Our church treasurer told me that where she is always concerned for the finances of the church (understandably!), God had caused her to see family camp as more of a ministry than just a bottom line.  It’s caused many to look beyond just money to see people. I love it when God opens our eyes and changes our hearts in such dramatic ways! On a personal note, a one and half hour trip took us 5 hours to do! We have been having issues with the car and Rob thought he had fixed it, but alas, he had not! After limping the car home, we had a mechanic look at it and he said it was the water pump and would cost about $1500 to repair! (For you car people, we have a Subaru Outback and apparently you have to take most of the engine apart to get to the water pump, very labor intensive).  We just didn’t know what to do. Rob contacted a man who use to go to our church who is a mechanic. He lives about 3 hours away now. This lovely man took the time last Wednesday to come to us and “help” Rob fix the car (Rob was actually the helper!). The whole thing cost us less than $200! God is so amazingly good and we are thankful for people like Juhani who are willing to use their talents for the Lord.

James time in Australia was a blessing as well. It was so nice to see our church family embrace him. This Sunday we voted as a church to sponsor this lovely family into Australia. Please continue to be in prayer for this as it is a long process. Pray for the Peavy’s as they continue to raise support. When they get here they will be heading up our children/teen/young adult ministry – this is a desperate need for us!

Sunday night we had a man from Creation Ministries come with a display of Noah’s ark. He did a fantastic job of explaining the ark and the flood. We thoroughly enjoyed it! While we were in the States we were able to visit the Creation Museum. If you ever get the chance – GO! It is fantastic.

All this talk about church reminds me of a verse James shared with us at family camp: Psalm 127:1a “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain that build it:” Our heartfelt prayer – constantly – is that God would be the one building Cornerstone Baptist Church in Craigieburn, Australia. We want NONE of our labour to be in vain! Thank you for joining with us as we are God’s hands and feet, building HIS house in Craigieburn!

Shining the Light Down Under,
Rob, Jackie, Stefanie and Victoria


Sunday 19 October 2014

October Update

G’day Praying Partners:

Wanted to take a minute to get an email out for a couple of prayer requests that I don’t think I mentioned last month.

On Friday, 24 October, the school where we meet is having a carnival. The principal told Rob that we could set up a booth for the church. We are going to have 2 of the games from our mini show for the children to play and give away lollies. There will also be information about the church available. This has been a fairly new development so we didn’t have it on the calendar last time I wrote. Please be in prayer that we will be able to make some contacts with people in the community. It will be nice to have the carnival at the school where we meet – just one more opportunity to let people know a church is there!

On Thursday, James Peavy will be arriving in Australia. He and his wife, Lauren , are currently on deputation to come to Australia. We asked James to pay us a visit since it’s been a few years since they were in Australia. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to get missionaries into Australia on a permanent basis – the immigration laws are getting more and more strict each year. Because of this, our church will have to sponsor them into Oz. This will be a long, difficult and frustrating job! James will hire a solicitor to handle all the “legalities”. He and his family will be working with us at Cornerstone – at least for their first term. Please pray for safety for James and for the work he will be involved in while he is with us. He will only be here for 10 days!

On 31 October our church will be going away for 2 days for family camp. This is something that we do every year as a way to have fellowship together away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.  We have around 30 signed up to go. Pray that we would have a wonderful time together fellowshipping around God’s Word and in His beautiful creation!

Last week we had a team meeting for Baptist Mid-Missions of Australia in Apollo Bay. This is a small town on the coast. There are some pics on our blog page ernstfamilydownunder.blogspot.com – check them out! We had our mid-annual meeting and just some time to come apart and be an encouragement to one another. It was a lovely time – and we always enjoy being on a beach, even if it was quite cold!

It is Spring in Australia. Jackie is enjoying putting a small veggie patch in and potting some flowers for us to enjoy. Spring is always a reminder of the awesome Creator that we serve – just looking at the flowers blooming with the variety of colors makes me wonder how anyone could believe that happened by chance!  I am reminded of just Who made all of this in Isaiah 40:28 “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.”  What a mighty God we serve – whether it’s down under in Australia or across the pond in America! Go and serve in His mighty power!

Shining the Light Down Under,

Rob, Jackie, Stefanie and Tori

Monday 22 September 2014

G’day Praying Partners:

Last month we asked you to pray for a couple of things. Our “personal” request was that our daughter would have safety as she travelled back to school. Tori has been in school for a couple of weeks now and we appreciate your prayers on her behalf. It has been hard for us to have her away, but we know that she is following God’s will and are so grateful for that. Please pray for her as she is looking for a job on campus – and continue to pray for Stefanie as she is still looking for employment here!

The ministry request was concerning the Mini Show – our outreach in September. Thank you so much for your prayers – which God answered tremendously! For those of you unfamiliar with this outreach, we do this in conjunction with Melbourne’s Show – like a state fair. We have several activities for the kids to do – a jumping castle, face painting, several crafts, popcorn and this year 6 carnival games for them to play.  We offer it all free of charge as a way to present the gospel and minister to the children in our area. I shared in last month’s update that we had decided to do it on a Sunday afternoon, but that we were not sure how many kids would come. Our largest group of kids has always been when we do it on Friday because on the weekends kids are involved in sport activities. Last year, while we were on furlough, they had it on a Saturday and only had about 25 kids attend. After much prayer, we prepared for 50 – and God gave us a few extra! We ended up with 55 kids (only 2 from our church!) – and even better than that, we had over 25 parents stay with their kids! Our theme was “Superheroes”. About 30 minutes into it, we gathered the kids together and Rob and Mick (one of our deacons) did a skit as “Flatman and Bobbin” presenting Jesus as the greatest “Superhero”. All the kids – and parents – listened attentively. We make sure that, in addition to the prizes for playing the games and all their crafts, the kids go home with “goody” bags that have a children’s gospel tract in it. This year we also put in “wordless book bracelets” with verses to explain each bead. We are so thankful for this opportunity to share Christ with children – and their parents – who would never step foot in a Christian church. There were so many good comments from the parents and many expressed their appreciation for all our hard work! Please pray for the many people that heard the gospel that day – many for the first time – that it would penetrate their hearts. It was also such a blessing to us to see our people serving the Lord with a servant’s attitude. Everyone jumped in to lend a hand. We have a young couple who haven’t been coming very long – they started just before we returned from furlough. In keeping with our theme, he volunteered to put together a costume and dress up like Captain America; they brought their Polaroid camera so the kids could have their picture taken with him. Needless to say, it was a BIG hit with the children! It was such an encouragement to us to see our people reaching out into their community with the gospel!

Rob’s message Sunday, before the mini-show, was about reaching the world together. He reminded us that the great commission is for ALL of us and it takes ALL of us doing the work – TOGETHER! Thank you for partnering with us financially and with your prayers as we reach out into our community in Melbourne – we are praying for YOU as you reach out into yours. It will take ALL of us working and praying TOGETHER to reach the WORLD!

Shining the Light Down Under,

Rob, Jackie, Stefanie, Victoria

Sunday 17 August 2014

G’day Praying Partners:

Thank you for your prayers on our behalf. We never want to take for granted the blessings that we enjoy because you are bringing us before the throne of grace! You faithfulness to lift us up in prayer is appreciated more than we can say. We are living proof that the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much!!

Last month we asked you to pray for our fellowship together enjoying the film “Evolution vs. God”. We all had lunch together first – Jackie called it a “soup-a-licious Sunday” – where we enjoyed a variety of soups. Everyone appreciated the reminder that when evolution versus God, God wins every time! If you’ve never seen the documentary, it’s definitely worth viewing.

We have begun preparing for our mini-show. Our church family wants to try it on a Sunday. We’re guaranteed plenty of help that way! There’s a concern that we won’t have as many kids because we’ve had consistently smaller groups on Saturday as opposed to Friday, but we’re happy to give it a go to get more of our church family involved. Please pray with us that on September 21st we would have a good group of kids come out to hear the gospel!

This week we had a young adult activity at a new indoor trampoline venue. As in the States, this is a difficult group to keep on the right track spiritually and we try to schedule opportunities every other month to give them the chance to fellowship together. We have a real burden to see this age group stand firm spiritually and share their faith with their peer group.

There has been an interesting development with our ministry at the school. You may recall that a couple of years ago the principal at the school asked Rob to pursue being the chaplain at the school. This was a door that the Lord had opened since it was nothing we had even thought about, let alone pursued, and just as quickly it seemed like the door closed. The school has had 2 chaplains since then. Recently, the principal again told Rob he wanted him to be the chaplain. The “rules” have changed again and Rob was able to get the clearance to be the chaplain at the school! Again, we know that this is completely from God as it was a closed door until recently. To explain, a chaplain in a public school is not like a chaplain in the military. Rob’s ministry is one of encouragement to children that are struggling with various difficulties. The principal has been thrilled with how it’s been going. This has opened so many doors for Rob at the school – he’s been able to meet parents, meet all of the staff, minister to hurting children, encourage students to do the right thing and even developed a great relationship with the principal. This is one of those things that we just sit back and marvel over what God has done! Recently a lawsuit was brought to the Supreme Court here concerning the chaplaincy program and it was ruled “unconstitutional”. Because of this, we know that this ministry will probably be short-lived, but we are going to be faithful to shine God’s love as long as He allows this to go on! We are also still doing our grand-parenting program and enjoying every minute of it! Please pray with us that God would allow us to demonstrate His love at the school to all those we come in contact with.

Our family time was wonderful. We spent 3 days in the mountains – the view from the house we rented was beautiful! Every morning we had kangaroos across the street, and Jackie’s favourite animal visited us daily as well – the beautiful kookaburra! (the above pic was taken in our front yard) We took our dog for a walk and found emu’s not far from where we were staying. Have we mentioned this is a beautiful country? We reveled in God’s beautiful creation and just enjoyed being together as a family. Please continue to pray for Stefanie as she is still looking for a job. Tori returns to California on the 30th of August. Oh, a praise for that is we were able to combine frequent flyer points and get her back for under $200! God is SO good! We would appreciate your prayers as we say goodbye – again.

Our granddaughter just returned to school. She was given a “questionnaire” to fill out – she’s  9 by the way. One of the questions was “if you could be like any one great person, who would you choose”? Her answer? Jesus! Our prayer is that we would all have that attitude each and every day – a desire to be more like Jesus!

Shining the Light Down Under,

Rob, Jackie, Stefanie and Tori

Monday 21 July 2014

G’day Praying Partners:

Another month goes by! Thank you for your prayers for our men’s prayer breakfast. There were 10 men here. Jackie enjoyed cooking them up a southern breakfast. There were mixed reviews for the grits – some men liked them and some thought they were “interesting” – but everyone loved the biscuits and gravy! The missionary-pastor from our sister work is from Illinois – he had never had grits before, either. That doesn’t seem possible for us southerners, but we were happy to show a northerner the error of his ways! The men enjoyed gathering around the table not just for a meal, but also to bring their prayers and petitions before God’s throne. 

This same weekend we also had a “singspiration” at the home of one of our deacons. Again, we enjoyed a meal together – a sausage sizzle together with beautiful sides and desserts that everyone brought along. The fellowship was sweet, but what we truly enjoyed was gathering together in Josh’s living room and singing praises to the Lord around his piano! Truly it was a joyful noise to the Lord!

Jackie had the opportunity to speak at a “Christmas in July” ladies tea. Christmas in July is celebrated in Australia, but as Jackie did research on the subject found out that it actually started in America back in the 40’s. Jackie challenged the ladies to use this Christmas reminder to think about the reason we celebrate Christmas – without all the stresses that go along with it – which is Christ! She compiled a list of 31 things to praise God for – one for each day of the month – relating to Christ. The ladies also enjoyed some lovely food and did a Christmas craft together.

Our grandparenting program is going well at the school. We continue to be blessed to be able to demonstrate God’s love to these children in a practical way. Our men’s Bible study and ladies book club is going strong as well. It is a blessing to us to see the majority of our church family engaged in studying God’s Word together.

Some things for you to pray about: 1) on the 10th of August we will have a church fellowship and watch the documentary “Evolution vs. God”. Please be in prayer that it will help to strengthen our church family. 2) In September is our big outreach – Malcolm Creek Mini-Show. We will began planning and preparation for that. We would covet your prayers. 3) Continued growth for the church – both in numbers and spiritually. Personal Requests: 1) Stefanie is still looking for a job! Please pray that God would lead and guide. 2) Tori will be returning to school the end of August. Pray for safety and grace for mum and dad! 3) We will be taking a brief family holiday (3 days the first week in August). Pray for a time of refreshment together.

Thank you for visiting our new blog! There are a couple of interesting things for you to see. Recently Tori had a friend from university come to visit us for a week. The picture above is them after we braved a 2 hour trip to Ballarat with a car that was overheating, freezing cold, rain and yes - even snow!! It was worth it for Charlotte to get to pet the joey's, though! You'll see a picture at the bottom of the blog where we took her to feed the birds in Mt. Dandenong. Looks like fun, doesn't it? Anyone want to join us??

As a church family we are memorizing Nahum 1:7 “The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.” May this promise bless you as it has blessed us – as His children, the Creator of the Universe knows us intimately and personally! What a mighty God we serve!

Shining the Light Down Under,

Rob, Jackie, Stefanie, Tori

Thursday 26 June 2014

June, 2014



G’day Praying Partners,

It seems like another month has flown by! We are just coming into our winter weather – where many of you are enjoying the heat of summer, well, maybe not enjoying! I have to say, this time of year in particular I prefer the cooler Melbourne weather to the heat of Florida.

It has been a busy month for us. We’ve enjoyed catching up with some people that we hadn’t seen since we’ve been back. Our “grandparenting” program at the school is in full swing. What an encouragement it is to see the kids each week. The Lord has opened up other opportunities at the school as well. Just recently they had a “sausage sizzle” for the school kids (sort-of like hot dogs, but not really) which we volunteered to help serve. We were able to meet several of the parents, which was great. Please continue to pray for opportunities at the school to demonstrate Christ's love in practical ways.

 Recently, the Lord brought a Muslim lady into Jackie’s life through a “divine appointment”. Jackie’s had the opportunity to take her shopping and spend some time with her. They have had some discussions about religious “customs”, but nothing heavy duty. Please lift Jackie up in prayer for great wisdom as she sows seeds where God allows.

The men are continuing with their Bible study on Revelations. The ladies are beginning a “book club”, preferring not to do an in-depth study at this time. We have several new ladies attending. Please be in prayer as the ladies and men meet fortnightly to discuss God’s Word – that lives would be changed.

This Saturday we will be hosting the men’s prayer breakfast for our church and another BMM work. Jackie is planning to serve a good “southern” breakfast – biscuits and sausage gravy along with grits (that is IF the American store gets them here in time!). The sausage here is VERY different from what we have in the States, so Jackie gets ground pork and makes her own. Biscuits from scratch – of course – because a biscuit here is a cookieJ and the only thing remotely similar is a scone! She is glad she brought that shortening back with her! Sunday evening we will be enjoying a “singspiration” with our church family in the home of one of our deacons – along with a sausage sizzle (see above!).

In July we will be celebrating Cornerstone’s anniversary – 7 years ago we began the church in our home. We continue to be amazed at what God is doing in our small group and in this community. Jackie will also be speaking at a ladies “Christmas in July” get-together (very popular in Australia). That will be on the 5th. Please pray as there may be some unsaved ladies there as well. The first 2 weeks in July are school holidays so things will be a bit slower during that time! Tori has a friend from college coming for a week – we are looking forward to showing her this beautiful country we call home!

Rob is currently preaching through I Corinthians. As we prepare to celebrate our church anniversary – and recently celebrated 10 years in Australia – it would be easy to be discouraged by “numbers”. Chapter 3, verses 7-8, are a beautiful reminder to us: “So then neither he that planteth is anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his labour.” What a wonderful reminder to be busy about God’s work, knowing that it’s not about us and all about Him! He brings the increase – our job is just to plant and water. As we labour together, let’s keep our eyes on the eternal prize!

Shining the Light Down Under,
Rob, Jackie, Stefanie, Victoria

Wednesday 28 May 2014

May Update


 
I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; that in everything ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge;” I Cor. 1:4,5 Rob is currently preaching through first Corinthians and these verses remind us of God’s provisions for us – and for you! How can we do anything but thank Him for the knowledge we need to speak His truths to a world that is lost without Him? What a blessing it is to know that as we share Christ with those on this side of the world, you are doing that same on that side!
 
Thank you for your prayers concerning our daughter, Tori, and her return to Australia . She arrived safe and sound and is feeling back to “normal” now. It is lovely to have both the girls with us. It was especially nice for Jackie to have them here for Mother’s Day! We would ask you to please keep both her and Stefanie in your prayers as they search for work. Stef needs something permanent and Tori desperately needs work over the summer to help with her college costs next term.
 
Now that we are feeling settled, it’s time to put our minds to the church and ministry here. We would ask that you lift us up in prayer as we seek to put together a calendar of events for the church – for outreach and “inreach” as we seek to be a lighthouse in our community. Rob has already been in touch with the principal at the school and we will be starting up our “grandparenting program” in the next couple of weeks. We are looking forward to being able to be a part of the lives of the kids at the school. Sunday we had a bbq at our home for our church family to see our house and know where it is since there are many things that happen here! Not everyone could come, but we managed to squeeze in about 30 people and had a great time of fellowship together.
 
A new house always means new neighbors. We’ve met some of the people on either side of us. It is our belief that God puts us in a house intentionally, because He wants us to be a witness to those around us. Please pray for direction as we meet our neighbors and seek for ways to get to know them better. Remember, it’s all about relationships in Australia !
 
Rob recently had a cuppa with the man who is pastoring the Baptist Union church that started up in Craigieburn about the same time we did. They have grown quicker than we have, but it was a bit discouraging to find out that most of their congregation comes from outside Craigieburn; in fact, he indicated that he had very few from here. God has given us a burden for this community; we would ask you to pray with us that God would work in the hearts of the people here, giving them a burden to seek out the Truth. Pray also that He would give us wisdom to know how to reach so many that are lost. As we look around, we see a community that is fairly bursting at the seams, but with seemingly no interest in spiritual matters. Pray for the Holy Spirit to be at work here as never before!
 
As a matter of praise, after our last prayer letter, a ladies mission’s group of one of our supporting churches decided to send us $500 to pay for our driver’s licenses! What an incredible blessing – and one we never expected! It is such a beautiful demonstration to us that you are reading our letters and praying for us. God continues to provide for each of our needs and we are so thankful for that. Thank you for your continued prayers for us and our ministry. Together, we know that we can Shine the Light Down Under!!
 
Rob and Jackie