G’day Praying Partners,
I can’t believe it’s been 2 months since our last update! Time seems to
be flying by this year – but I feel like that every year! Here’s what’s been
happening down under:
In May it was a blessing to get to Sydney for the first time (we were
there back in 2001 but just for 24 hours). There was a conference being
sponsored by a local IB church up there (a speaker from Our Daily Bread was
there) and we thought it would be a great opportunity to finally meet in person
many missionaries/pastors that we’ve worked with through the years. Plus get to
spend some time exploring Sydney! The conference was a real blessing and we
thoroughly enjoyed meeting our brothers and sisters in Christ. We’ve made some
contacts that will be beneficial going forward. We also thoroughly enjoyed
exploring Sydney. It’s a beautiful city (not like our world’s most liveable
city of Melbourne😊) and it was a blessing to be able to spend
some time sight-seeing. The church is also enjoying some tremendous blessings. This year we decided to
pray for visitors each Sunday – and God has been answering! It’s been a real
encouragement to see new faces each week.
In June we had a special family blessing – we girls conspired to
surprise Rob with our youngest, Tori, coming to visit. I can’t believe we
pulled it off – but he was completely surprised. It was such a blessing to us
to have her visit, even if it was just for 13 days. Needless to say, we spent
every available hour visiting with her – even managed to get away for a couple
of days to the Great Ocean Road and enjoy some family time. Our niece is also
still here and we enjoyed having everyone together. Tori left on a Friday and
my niece’s fiancé arrived the next day! He is here for another week, so we’ve
been doing a lot of sight-seeing. It is well and truly winter so we’ve been
bundled up as we’ve explored God’s beautiful creation here in Victoria. This
month we received another tremendous blessing as one of the young men who has
been attending CBC for a couple of years trusted Christ as his Saviour! Dylan
grew up in church but came to the realisation that he’s never personally placed
his faith in Christ. We are so excited to see him growing as a new believer!
Jackie is making plans to fly back to the States for about 6 weeks for
the birth of our third grandchild. She is looking forward to being able to
welcome Liana into the world in early August. We’d appreciate prayers for
safety for her, mum and bub. She’ll be returning with our niece, which will
make the trip back much more bearable.
We would ask you to join us in prayer for continued visitors – and for
some to stay! Also, for growth for Dylan as he explores God’s Word as a child
of the King. Please pray as we begin to plan for our Malcolm Creek Mini Show
coming in September. Also, for the chaplain and grandparenting program at
school. We’ve recently had a couple of families attend church as a direct
result of these programs.
I recently read this in my quiet time – I Cor. 1:9b “But that was to
make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” Too often we
rely on ourselves, don’t we? Our own wisdom, strength and plans. But God allows
things in our lives to remind us that we can’t rely on ourselves – only God.
After all, it’s Him who raises the dead! What do you need to rely on God for
today? Don’t lean on your own understanding – allow Him to direct your path!
Shining the Light Down Under,
Rob and Jackie
