November Update

G’day Praying Partners:

I realise that I missed an October update! We enjoyed celebrating our 35^th anniversary in the city. Then, we were able to take a few days off and visit Queensland – it’s our first time being there. We had several people tell us it would remind us of Florida, and it did a little bit. It was nice just to enjoy the warm weather. Our goal is to visit all the states/territories in Australia – a much easier task to accomplish here than in the U.S. With Queensland we have 5 ticked off.

This past weekend we enjoyed family camp. We had such a wonderful time of fellowship together. There is nothing better than a weekend away to get to know someone. We were gone from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. The weather was perfect and God provided some wonderful opportunities for us to encourage one another.

We are looking forward to Christmas. ALL of our kids will be in Australia with us – and our grandkids! It will be the first time in our almost 12 years in Australia that we will all be together in Australia for Christmas. Our son, daughter-in-law and grandson have never been here. Our granddaughter was here with Jackie’s mum 5 years ago. Tori is coming for her school holidays. We are SO excited!! Please be in prayer for safety as they travel and a wonderful time together.

In other emails we’ve asked you to pray for Milos – he’s the young adult who received Christ on Easter. Rob has been discipling him for a couple of months. Last week he was cleaning his motorbike and got his hand caught in it, amputating 2 of his fingers and breaking/cutting the others. The doctors have reattached the fingers, which is good. There are other surgeries ahead plus physio – we would ask you to keep him in your prayers. His family is not believers; we are praying that God would use this to show Christ to them. Pray for Milos, it’s a lot for a young believer to deal with.

We will be celebrating Thanksgiving with some friends on the 28^th. I always love this time of year that reminds us to focus on all that God has done for us. I was reading in Psalm 100 and verse 4 seems perfect for the celebration: Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. We hope that you will take the time to count your many blessings, name them one by one, and remember what God has done for you!

Shining the Light Down Under,

Rob and Jackie

September Update

G’day Praying Partners:

Thank you SO much for your prayers for the mini show! It was such an incredible blessing – I’ll fill you in on some of the details.

We are so blessed to have a church full of people who are willing to get involved and get their hands dirty! The theme for this outreach was “Digging for the Truth” – the idea being an Indiana Jones/archaeology type of day for the kids. The day began with registration. We ended up with over 60 kids (some of them were younger and we didn’t register them) and 25-30 parents/grandparents that stayed. At registration they received a bag – a couple of us sewed 75 of these! They looked very much like the bag Indiana Jones carries to put his artifacts in. The next thing they did was decorate their bags. We had several tables set up with markers for them to individualize their bags. After we were sure the majority of kids had registered, we began the day with a skit. We have a young man visiting family for a year and his passion is drama, so he wrote a skit which our young adults performed. It clearly presented the gospel message – not just to the kids but also to the parents. From there they were turned loose for fun! We had 7 quests set up for them to complete – upon which they received their treasure. The first was an obstacle course that one of our couples built. It was complete with a giant ball that rolled down after them as they came out from a tunnel and crossing snake and croc infested water. The second quest was learning how to land an airplane! We had airplanes that we purchased from Oriental Trading that they put together and landed on the landing strip. The third quest was learning how to shoot “poison” darts. We had straws with q-tips that they had to shoot at a target. The fourth quest was a puzzle that they had to assemble – which when completed correctly spelled “Jesus”. The lady that ran this game had each child read the result – it was something to see little Muslim children say “Jesus”! The fifth quest was finding the jewel in the rocks. This turned out to be their favourite activity - weird! I had made rocks out of coffee grounds, sand, salt, flour and water and baked inside each one was an “emerald”. They donned goggles and hammered until they found the jewel. The sixth quest was an archaeological dig. In the sand pit we buried 72 eggs that had dinosaurs in them. This turned out to be quite hysterical as the people who buried them got a little carried away! Different people were manning this activity and at one point I saw them down on their hands and knees digging furiously to try to find eggs for the kids – who weren’t having much luck on their own! The last quest was to write their name in hieroglyphics which we had posted on one of the walls. When they completed the quests they went to the treasure chest and received a goody bad with lots of treats plus invitations to church and a tract. This year we also made up bags for the parents to enjoy that had tracts and invites as well. Along with all this, we also had a jumping castle, face painting, a snack, a paint spinning craft and 2 carnival games to play. A HUGE thank you goes out to those who helped us provide all the toys from Oriental. At each quest they received a different item to put in their sack – a compass, magnifying glass, notebook, etc. My Afghani friend came and brought her 4 kids – this is the 3^rd outreach they’ve been to. She told me her son had been up at 9:00 dressed and ready to go – the activity wasn’t until 2:30! There are 2 other Muslim families that are “regulars” to our outreaches now – along with a Hindu family. We are so amazed at the people God allows us to minister to. The parents were so appreciative of the good time their kids had. Please continue to pray for fruit. We are sowing the seeds and watering, counting on God to bring the harvest! As missionaries, it thrills our heart to see the people God sent us to minister to ministering to others! Thank you so much for your prayers and support to this outreach! If you want to go to our blog ernstfamilydownunder.blogspot.com.au, I will have some pictures posted there.

Spring has sprung here in Melbourne. Finally it seems that we are heading towards warmer weather. Of course, a few weeks of a hot Australian summer and we won’t be so sad to see the winter again! October 4^th is our 35^th wedding anniversary! We are taking a couple of days off and going into the city to enjoy the “most livable city in the world”! I wish I could tell you face to face how much we still marvel that God chose to bring us here. What an adventure it is to follow God’s plan for our lives! We pray that each of you is on that adventure as well – following God wherever He may lead. We can promise one thing, it is NEVER boring!

Shining the Light Down Under,

Rob and Jackie

August Update

G’day Praying Partners:

“My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.” Psalms 121:2-3. We began our Bible studies this month and this verse is one that came up in our ladies study. What an amazing reminder that our God never sleeps or slumbers – there’s never a “second or third shift” where our lives are concerned. God is ALWAYS in control! It is such a comfort to know that our lives are in His hands. The majority of the men and women in our church are involved in the studies this year – including a few new faces. Please pray for God to grow us, change us and encourage us as we study His Word together!

The Malcolm Creek Mini Show – our community outreach – is on September 20^th. We are having a work day in preparation on the 5^th. Please join us in prayer as we seek to minister to our community through this outreach. We are looking forward to seeing how God will work through us to shine His light in Craigieburn. This year we are doing something totally different which means more work and planning but hopefully the kids will love it. I am preparing the postcards to go out as reminders plus we’ve advertised in the school newsletter. Continue to pray for fruit!

Jackie’s having some health issues and further testing is being done. We would appreciate your prayers on her behalf. The church graciously voted to buy Rob a hearing aide! We think they just got tired of having to repeat themselves several times. Seriously, though, this is such a huge answer to prayer. Some of you may recall that he is almost totally deaf in one ear (has been since a scuba accident when he was young) and the hearing in his “good” ear has been deteriorating. He is looking forward to having better hearing and continuously warns Jackie that she can’t “mutter” under her breath anymore because he will be able to hear herJ It has been a wonderful reminder that God sees and provides for our needs in ways we aren’t able to do.

It has been a hectic couple of months just being involved with people. Recently God opened the door for us to have lunch with Jackie’s friend from Afghanistan and her husband who recently arrived in Australia. He speaks no English! Other than the culture shock, I’m sure this Muslim man was amazed to be sitting at a table eating Afghani food with 2 American Christians. The 2 American Christians felt the same! We continue to be amazed at how God is allowing us to be involved with so many different people – some through church and some just in the community. It’s an incredible blessing to be serving Him in this country. And especially in Melbourne – which was voted the world’s most livable city according to The Economist for the 5^th year in a row! We praise Him for allowing us to live and serve Him in such a beautiful – but spiritually needy – place.

As always, thank you for your prayers on our behalf. During the difficult moments – and there are many even in such a beautiful place – your prayers are what keep us going!

Shining the Light Down Under,

Rob and Jackie

July Update

G’day Praying Partners:

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6. Very familiar verses, I’m sure, but ones that have become our best friends over the last week or so. There is something so comforting about the idea of God “making our paths straight”. Our family is struggling right now on a couple of fronts and these verses keep coming up over and over again. I shared with Rob how God was impressing these verses on my heart;  he just smiled and told me to wait until Sunday – God was also using them in the message! There isn’t anything specific that I can share, but I am asking you to pray – for wisdom and guidance and for God to be glorified through it all.

We are gearing up to begin our ladies and men’s bible studies. Prayerfully we will be starting the end of this month. Pray that God would bring our church family out to study His word together. It’s been a tough year for some of our faithful members and it’s beginning to take its toll on them. We are praying for a time of refreshment for all of us.

Three weeks ago we had a university student show up at church. She is from Colombia and here studying. The next week she brought her flat mate with her. They take a train and bus to get to us and the trip is about an hour each way! Their English is not very good, but she has shared she comes from a church background. Pray for them as we seek to minister to their needs – physical as well as spiritual. Our church family is always so friendly and welcoming – we are blessed to watch them welcome new people into our small congregation.

This Wednesday we will begin full on planning for our mini show in September. Thank you for the individuals who volunteered to ship our Oriental Trading stuff to us – we appreciate it so much! God will use it to see seeds of the gospel sown in so many lives. We are working on an archaeological theme – possibly “Digging for the Truth”, or something along those lines. There’s lots of work to do – our primary goal is to see the gospel clearly presented and God glorified!  Please pray with us that God would bring kids from all walks of life – and their parents – to hear the gospel message.

We just had 2 weeks of school holidays so we are back at school this week. Our prayer is always that we would demonstrate God’s love in practical ways. Please pray for us as we are at the school – that we would show God’s love to people that so desperately need it.

Our prayer for you is that you, too, would trust in the Lord with ALL your heart, don’t try to figure things out yourself, pursue after Him in all you do – then allow God to make those seemingly crooked paths straight before you! The path isn’t always easy, and there may be many bumps and bruises along the way, but we can be confident that when we stay on it, it leads straight to His glory!

Shining the Light Down Under,

Rob, Jackie, Stefanie and Tori

May, 2015

G’Day Praying Partners:

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Phil 4:6 Worry and anxiety – our world is plagued with it! If we’re not careful, we can fall into the same trap! What a hope we have in a world without hope – the peace of God that passes ALL understanding! Our church family is dealing with a couple of heartaches. One family, Con and Michelle, are dealing with her mother slowly slipping away with a brain tumor. She is in her final stages of life and Michelle is unsure of her spiritual condition. We are praying for wisdom as Michelle shares the gospel message with her and daily points her to the Saviour. Then there’s Susanna, or as she’s known to every person who walks through the doors of our church, Nanna. Susanna has been a tremendous blessing to our family and became a surrogate “grandmother” to our girls. She is from Hungary originally and has a tremendous tale of God’s provision as they escaped from Hungary when she was about 10 years old. Just this past week she has been diagnosed with breast cancer. This has deeply affected our church family and we’ve been blessed to watch them rally around Susanna and her family. She has 2 daughters and one son and many grandchildren – but we all claim her as our own. Words like “be anxious for nothing” are easy to read but much harder to put into practice when the harshness of this world intrudes. May we all, like Susanna, demonstrate to a lost world that God’s peace truly does pass all understanding and that it’s available to all of us who name His name!

It was a busy April for us that ended with some much needed R&R. We had lots of people in our home including a missionary family from Australia returning to Kazakhstan – what a challenge to us! We both met several people for a cuppa and time of fellowship and encouragement along with a couple of discipleship opportunities. We had our AGM for Baptist Mid-Mission of Australia and a farewell lunch to one of our missionary couples retiring after 30+ years on the field! Also, we continued with our weekly ministries of chaplaincy, grandparenting program and Bible study. One of our church members rented a house for us down in San Remo on Philip Island for 3 nights for us to get away. It was beautiful – very peaceful. We were able to take some walks, a one hour cruise around the island, watch pelicans being fed and even managed some reading and a nap or two! It was wonderful for the 2 of us to get away for a bit.

On a personal note, Stefanie has a job! Thank you for your prayers for ALL these months! It’s a “casual” position (sort of like part time) but she is just happy to be working. Also, Tori has found work over the summer so will not be returning to Australia. This has made us happy for her but sad for us. It’s very hard for us having her so far away, but know that God is watching over her. Anxious for nothing, right? Rob’s step-father just had triple by-pass surgery and a valve replacement all while his mum is going through chemo and radiation for a cancerous spot found on her lung. It’s times like this when it’s particularly hard to be this far away. Please pray for healing for his family and wisdom for us to know if a trip back to the States is needed.

Please pray for Milos, the young man who was saved on Easter. Rob has begun discipleship with him but it’s difficult because he lives about an hour away! He’s taken his first step of faith after salvation – asking for Sundays off work so he can be in church! We are so excited to see God at work in his life.

May we all display God’s peace this month – the kind that passes all understanding – no matter what comes our way. What a blessing to know that we can trust God to work it all for our good.

Shining the Light Down Under,

Rob, Jackie, Stefanie and Tori

April, 2015

G’day Praying Partners:

“And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen…” Luke 24:5-6a He is risen – were better words ever spoken? We pray that you celebrated Jesus’ resurrection praising Him for His redemptive work on the cross. For us, Easter is usually very low in attendance. It falls during school holidays and there doesn’t seem to be an urgency to be in church. There was a pretty good group on Sunday, though, even some new faces. But, the best part about the day was when a young man that has been coming sporadically over the last couple of months, genuinely seeking the truth, accepted Christ as his Savior on Easter day! It has been an amazing journey watching God work in this young man’s life – we look forward to the rest of the journey!

Last week we held our Easter “Eggs”travaganza. Thank you so much for your prayers as they were answered abundantly above more than we could have asked or thought! This is one of two outreaches that we do at the school. We advertise in the school newsletter and they also let us put a banner in front of the office letting kids know about it. It’s on a much smaller scale than the one we do in September and generally we have about 30+ kids there. We decided to prepare for 60 – faith! God brought us about 75 children and more than 30 parents who stayed to watch! Rob had asked the young man who is preparing for Bible classes to bring the Gospel presentation, assuring him it would be just a small group of children. Needless to say, it was a bit intimidating to speak to over 100 for his first time! He did a great job, though, and it was good experience for him! We hid over 650 eggs, colored about 120 eggs and gave away lots of lollies! The kids had a great time and went home with gospel tracts and invitations for children’s church. We have about half a dozen Hindu and Muslim families that come faithfully to all of our outreaches. What a blessing it is to be God’s hands and feet in this community.  Our church family was so excited about what God had done! The funny part was, because of other obligations, we only had 1 boy from our church that attended – all the others were from the school or kids that had been before.  Please continue to pray for the seeds of the gospel that have been sown. Our job is just to give the message – it is God who brings the increase!

As joyous as all of this is, when we turn on the news we are reminded of the world that we live in. It all hit very close to home when a young man, 18 years old, from our little area of Craigieburn, recently joined ISIS and took part in a suicide bombing. We saw an interview with his father. The young man was raised in an atheist home and his mum had passed away about 2 years ago; he never fit in at school. He had even started collecting chemicals, hoping to do something here if he couldn’t get over there.  My heart breaks even as I write this, wondering if I ever saw him in the shops or around town. So many people without hope – and we have the answer! May God give us the boldness to share the message of hope that we have – that we just celebrated on this Easter Sunday! We never know, do we, how desperate the people are that we meet every day.  May God give us eyes to see people as He sees them and may we demonstrate His love with every breath that He gives us on this earth!

Shining the Light Down Under,

Rob, Jackie, Stefanie and Tori

G’day Praying Partners,

I just realized that I had better get an email update out or it wouldn’t be February anymore! This month we were able to attend a Biblical counseling module – the first of 4 – and one of our assignments is to study through Ephesians. It’s hard to get past chapter 1 – it’s so full of God’s blessings to us! Verse 3 says this,  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:”. ALL spiritual blessings – I hope that is as much an encouragement to you as it was to me! If you need a reminder of just what God has done – and is doing – in your life, give Ephesians chapter 1 a read. Incredible!

The kids are back to school – and so are we! We’ve started our grandparenting program back at the school. Jackie is working with the same girls that she had last year. When she went in to her class the teacher told her that she “fully supports” what we’re doing and is willing to help out any way she can. It’s a blessing to have the teacher on board! Rob is also acting as chaplain at the school (we still marvel that the public school allows this). He’s had some fantastic contact with kids and staff, but also with parents as he’s volunteered time at parent/teacher events. Please continue to lift up the school to the Lord. We know that He’s using us to demonstrate His love in practical ways.

We’ve started a new Bible study with the church family on God’s love. We’re meeting fortnightly after the Sunday service. We have a good group attending. Please pray for all of our church family, that studying God’s love would change us all!

March 29 is our Easter “Eggs”travaganza. Please be in prayer as we finish up preparations. This is one of two outreaches we do at the school. Pray that God would be glorified in all that we do – and that lots of kids would come! This year the gospel will be presented by a young man at our church that is starting up online courses in the States to get his degree in theology.  He has been such a blessing to us and we are excited to see what God is doing in his life! He has an unquenchable thirst for God’s Word and is a faithful witness to all those around him.

Rob’s been preaching through I Corinthians and the last couple of weeks about the power of the resurrection.  Ephesians chapter 1 references that power in verse 19 and 20. That great power is available to us – we already possess it in Christ! Pray that we would walk in that power each and every day – and we will be praying the same thing for you!

Shining the Light Down Under,

Rob, Jackie, Stefanie and Tori

January, 2015

G’day Praying Partners:

2015? Does that seem difficult for anyone else to comprehend? As we welcomed in the New Year with friends, I couldn’t get over how it seems like just yesterday we were “dreading/anticipating” Y2K! That was 15 years ago. I know, I’m just old. It does seem like time is literally flying by. Every year I ask the Lord to give me a verse for the year because He is the only one Who knows what my year will hold. This year it is Prov. 16:3 “Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.” Another way to say thoughts is PLANS. We spent time with some of our church family this past Sunday planning the calendar for the church for 2015. Do we want our plans established? Then our works must be committed to God. That is our prayer for 2015 – that all of our work will be committed to God so that all of our plans will be established – because they’ll be HIS plans! This year, may ALL see how great is our God!

Thank you for your prayers for our Carols by Candlelight. We had approximately 80 in attendance – many unsaved. The kids did fantastic with their skit/song. Rob shared a Christmas devotional – plus he and 2 other men in our church sang a Christmas song. It was a lovely evening and we know that the seeds of the gospel were sown. Our Christmas morning breakfast together was wonderful as well. We met at 9:30, had a beautiful banquet of breakfast items, sang some carols and then had our hearts focused on the birth of the Saviour from Rob. In fact, it was so nice that many stayed for long after we were finished! How blessed it was to celebrate the birth of our Saviour with our brothers and sisters in Christ! That night we stayed up late to skype with the grandkids and watch them open their pressies. In fact, we were able to actually watch them come out of their rooms and be surprised. It was an extra blessing when our son asked Rob to read the Christmas story with the family before the presents were opened (this is something we started when our kids were young and we’ve been blessed to watch our son continue). It made us feel like we were participants in the festivities. Tori was there so we were able, in a small way, to have Christmas with her as well. It’s in those moments when we feel God’s love – He knows how much we needed to feel part of our family at Christmas and He provided a way for that to happen. Isn’t that just like Him? To meet our deepest needs when we need them most.

We did attend the 6^th grade graduation. It was so much fun. The office staff gave us the sweetest note, thanking us for spending time with the kids and commenting that we may be the only positive influence in their lives. We are so thankful for these opportunities that God continues to bring our way.  Several of the kids gave us Christmas cards – and a couple of gifts as well. Our cup runneth over with praise for our God for allowing us to serve Him in this beautiful and needy country.

We’ve talked before about how relational Australia is. Continue to pray as God opens doors to us in the community. Recently Jackie met a new friend who is not a believer for a cuppa. She goes to the same cafe every time so that she can establish a relationship with the ladies that work there.  After the visit, she was able to "be their counselor" (as the ladies at the cafe said!) to talk through some strife that was happening. It was possible because Jackie is in there often and has been able to establish a basic relationship. This is the face of ministry in Australia. Our prayer is that we remember that, everywhere we are, that is ministry opportunities! Although Rob excels at this type of thing, God is really stretching Jackie! Pray that we would be always sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading as He brings people into our lives.

We have lots planned for 2015! This Sunday we will be having a church picnic after the service. Just pray for a lovely time of fellowship together. Last week we had a lady visit with us. Her family has just relocated to Craigieburn. She has 2 teenage sons. We’ve been praying about a teen ministry (all of ours have grown up!). Maybe this is God’s answer?? We don’t know, but we are excited about what God will be doing through our plans committed to Him.

As always, we are so thankful for your part in our ministry. Your prayers help to sustain us in more ways than we can communicate. It’s awesome to be a part of God’s community of believers together – you serving in your corner of the world, and us serving in ours.  In all things, may His name be glorified!

Shining the Light Down Under,

Rob, Jackie, Stefanie and Tori