November, 2020

 G’day Praying Partners:

“But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly; wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” Heb. 11:16

How thankful are we that this country – world – is not our home! God has prepared for us a place of indescribable blessings where we will spend all of eternity with Him. I don’t know about you, but after 2020 I am looking forward more than ever to that heavenly home.

I just looked over our email update back in August – it has been a looooong 3 months and not because a lot has been happening – it’s been the exact opposite! We’ve been in lock down since March in one form or another until about 2 weeks ago. Now we are slowly opening back up again. It was exciting to be able to meet a friend in the park just to have a chat! School is back to in person learning as of this term (about 4 weeks ago) so we are working with them to sort out a plan for us to hold in person services again. It looks like, God willing, we may be able to do that the first Sunday in December. It will have been 9 months since we met in person. We are incredibly thankful for the technology that has allowed us to continue to meet online for service, Bible study, prayer meeting and even game and fellowship time. But to say we are ready to join together for worship would be an understatement. We would ask you to continue to pray with us that God would prepare the way for us to worship together.

Although we haven’t been able to meet, God has continued to work. We’ve seen people come to know Christ as our members have shared their faith at work and we have at least 4 people ready to get baptized as soon as that’s possible again. Jackie has been discipling one of the ladies from church who recently trusted Christ and it has been incredible to watch her grow in her faith. Praise God that nothing “locks down” the Gospel! We have been encouraged to watch our church family faithfully proclaim God’s love even during extremely trying times.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving celebration - whatever form that takes - and we pray that it will be a special one as you look back and see how God has blessed you during a year like no other! Speaking of looking back, we looked back on the calendar that we had planned out with all the activities and outreaches for the church for 2020, it was a great reminder that we can plan but only God knows what a year will hold. And what a year it’s been. As we think back over this year, the word that comes to mind is “faithful”. God has been incredibly faithful to provide, bless, comfort and challenge us during this time. Now, we look forward and begin our plans for 2021. They will be very different but one thing we know – 2021 will look EXACTLY how our sovereign God planned!

Shining the Light Down Under,

Rob and Jackie

May, 2020

G’day Praying Partners:

It seems like so much has happened – and not happened – since our last update! As you may or may not be aware, Australia has been in a very strict lock down for the past 6 weeks. Victoria, where we are, has been the strictest and the last one to consider reopening. It has been an interesting time, for sure. It has been challenging for us as everything has gone virtual – since our tech capabilities are very slim😊 God has been good to have people around us who can help, but our services are most definitely low tech. That’s ok, though, as our people are used to that!

Some blessings that have come during this time: As you may recall, our youngest daughter lives in Los Angeles. Because of our going online, she has been able to worship with us! What a blessing it has been for us – even if we can’t see her in person. Also, our grandkids have tuned in while Jackie does the children’s lesson. They were all hoping to visit this year – which is not going to happen – so it’s been nice to have them “join” with us in this way. Our services have reached people that we wouldn’t have expected – as I’m sure your virtual church is finding. We have a family from India that had just started attending before the shut down – they are sharing our service with family back home. There’s a family in the Philippines that’s been worshiping with us as well. There have been many more views of the service than just our church family – which has been encouraging. I’m sure your church is experiencing this, too. What the enemy hoped to use to keep us quiet is actually giving opportunity to spread the gospel further than we could have planned!

Schools have been closed (remember we’re not halfway through our school year) with virtual learning being the method used to continue the kid’s education. Essential workers have been allowed to have their children at school – at our school there are about 70 children attending out of the almost 900 they normally have! Rob is still the chaplain – but he spends most of his time on the phone with children and parents. We are so thankful that he's had an opportunity to be a blessing.

It’s a new world of livestreaming, Zoom, WhatsApp and many other online communications! We are doing our church service on Facebook, our prayer meeting on zoom, a weekly discipleship with a couple on WhatsApp and getting ready to do our men’s and ladies bible studies on Zoom and YouVersion. This past Saturday Jackie had a ladies’ prayer “brunch” on Zoom. Although it pales in comparison to actually being with each other, we’ve been so blessed to be able to keep in touch through all these different technologies.

We’re probably looking at a couple of months before we can even begin to meet again as a church family. We know for many of you, that will be happening much sooner.  As you pray for wisdom for your church leaders, pray for us as well. It is a huge responsibility for the leaders to do the right thing by God, the government and their congregations.  Know that we will be continuing to pray for safety, wisdom and God’s glory as you begin to come out of isolation. Before any of this hit, God had led Rob to start a series from the book of Ecclesiastes – it has been so incredible to see how this book is so applicable to our current situation! One verse to make you smile: Ecc. 3:5b “a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.” God’s got this! We don’t know how He is going to use this all for His glory – but what an honour to be a part of His big plan!

March, 2020

G’day Praying Partners:

We pray this finds you feeling great peace despite all the upheaval going on literally around the world! It’s been a chance for us to remember just Who is in control – and the opportunity to share that with others. Empty shelves are a reminder that our God is our provider. The panic we see in people we encounter is a reminder that God is the One who gives peace despite our circumstances. The uncertainty all around us reminds us that God is omniscient. These are particularly trying times. The full responsibility for a congregation is weighing heavily on us – as it would be for your own pastors/deacons. Decisions that we make affect not just our family but the families of those who worship with us. We have decided to cancel our outreach for Easter. Seems like the only decision we could make, in all honesty. We are continuing to meet for church – but going in early to sanitize the area before people arrive. This could change tomorrow – we don’t know. How thankful we are for a congregation that is seeking God’s face and open to however He directs our leadership. Baptist Mid-Missions has put a stop to any travel – not that we’re affected by that. We would covet your prayers – just the same that you are praying for your own church family – for wisdom, guidance, and peace. Selfishly, perhaps, we pray for good health, but know that is also in God’s hands.

There won’t be much to report for the foreseeable future! Know that we are lifting you up even as you lift us up. God’s got a plan – He works His plan – and we are blessed to be even a small part of it. To Him be the glory! Prov. 16:9 "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."

Shining the Light Down Under,

Rob and Jackie