Matthews Down Under – June 2009

July in Australia, we are in the middle of winter and it is cold. Football season, winter school holidays are around the corner (year round school), global financial crisis is still the blame for everything and ministry opportunities are happening everywhere. Thank you for your prayers and support, it is exciting to see what the Lord can do with your prayer and financial involvement. I will try to give you a quick summary of all that is going on in Sydney.

Glorious Hope Baptist Church

The church continues to grow and we have visitors every week. We are finalising our constitution for the incorporation of our church. We appreciate your prayers for wisdom of the leadership and the involvement of the church members during this process. Russ preached through Nehemiah 1-2 on Sunday and he will continue to work through this portion of the Bible in 2009. Pastor Sam is working through Galatians and challenging the church in many areas. We are looking to have 3-4 baptisms in August.

City Bible Forum

It has been a engaging and challenging season in the city for the past few months. We have had a two different series. One in the book of Luke called the Essential Jesus and another called, Running from God – Jonah: Prophet on the Run. We could use your prayers for the upcoming series in Hebrews: Getting Real with God and a short series on Relationships and Sex: What the bible has to say about both. Attendance has fluctuated through out the last few months, but we are continually having new people coming each week. We recently had a BBQ on Martin Place (in the heart of the business district) and many gospel related conversations with hundreds of people who came by for the free sausages and coffee.

Life of Jesus

After the completion of the Investigating Christianity courses at Westpac, we looked to do some other classes to keep the momentum and dialogue going. We started with a DVD series called The Christ Files (Dr. John Dickson*) a series on the Bible as a trusted historical text and what we can prove historically about Jesus’ life. The class grew each week, which is different than the trend, usually we experience a decrease in participation after the start of a class. On completion of The Christ Files we had further interest in another John Dickson series, a straight forward presentation of The Life of Jesus (great short DVD presentation on the basics of Jesus, leading to in-depth discussion on what we know about Him.) Pray for the growth of these groups and the 50% of attendees who are not Christian.

Urban Fight Club

There continues to be a need and a growth in this unique men’s ministry. We had ‘Fight Night’ around a bonfire last weekend. This is a time for the men to discuss, in confidence, their personal ‘stories’, the things the Lord is doing in their lives and the struggles they are having as men. Great time, sorry I cannot go into detail, but exciting days ahead for many of these blokes. This is a training ground for men, coming together as men to be …men. In the process they are getting to know God and the bible better. Tough row to hoe, but it is good to see the Lord working in these men’s lives.

Etc.

More to tell but that is all for now. Hope you enjoyed the VBS videos on Youtube. (Five days worth: e-mail me if you would like the link) Thanks for the prayers. Also, if any of the churches are looking for a project to sponsor this year, please keep us in mind. We have various projects through City Bible Forum and the Glorious Hope Baptist church that are always looking for assistance. We are grateful for all you are doing for our family and the ministries the Lord is doing in Sydney.

The adventure continues…

Russ & Cathy Matthews

PS- Thanks to all who comment on the Australian spelling. I am grateful you are reading our letters so thoroughly.Hope you are enjoying the cultural differences.

*www.publicchristianity.org   (John Dickson’s website)

Our regular monthly updates will come in the next week.

Cheers,
Russ Matthews

Our church meets in an economically & spiritually challenged area of Sydney. Most of the women in the area live hard and fearful  lives. To be treated with respect and love is a rare thing in many of the lives of these ladies.  On Saturday 2 May, 2009; Glorious Hope Baptist Church held their third annual Pamper Day for the ladies of the community around our church. Women of all races, faiths, economic and social backgrounds arrived for a day of hand & foot massages, makeovers and haircuts. Also, included in the day were a delightful morning tea, a delicious lunch and a gift bag. A speaker shared her testimony of hope through here family’s journey to coming to know Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Over 70 women came through the doors on the day and many left changed.

Cathy was overseeing one team of service. She was able to talk and pray with most of the women who came to the day. One of the highlights of the day was having the opportunity to share and pray with two Muslim women who had come for the day. Hope and Rebecca were able to serve child care and with whatever areas needed assistance on the day. Every woman walked out feeling and looking transformed and all were given the opportunity to know the transforming power of the Gospel.

All the ladies of the church came away exhausted, but encouraged by the opportunity to touch and pray with women of our church community in a unique way. Touching many women that this world considers untouchable. They arrived in the morning to bless the people of the community, but at the end of the day, came away blessed indescribably  by the opportunity to be the hands and feet of our Saviour, Jesus.

Yes, it was a good day!

Thanks for your prayers and maybe consider being  part of this incredible ministry in years to come.

Cathy was overseeing one team of service. She was able to talk and pray with most of the women who came to the day. One of the highlights of the day was having the opportunity to share and pray with two Muslim women who had come for the day. Hope and Rebecca were able to serve child care and with whatever areas needed assistance on the day. Every woman walked out feeling and looking transformed and all were given the opportunity to know the transforming power of the Gospel.

All the ladies of the church came away exhausted, but encouraged by the opportunity to touch and pray with women of our church community in a unique way. Touching many women that this world considers untouchable. They arrived in the morning to bless the people of the community, but at the end of the day, came away blessed indescribably  by the opportunity to be the hands and feet of our Saviour, Jesus.

Yes, it was a good day!

Thanks for your prayers and maybe consider being  part of this incredible ministry in years to come.

Thanks for all of your prayers. This has been an exciting, exhausting and encouraging month. This is a quick note on all that we have asked you to pray about during this critical month. Easter opens the door to communicate to others about what we believe as Christians. Parades in the city, editorials in key newspapers, special services at church, and everything that comes with this month allows for open dialogue on Jesus. With your prayers and support, you are part of this process and we are grateful for you. There is quite a bit to share this month, so this note will be longer than our normal updates. Thanks for taking the time to celebrate with us and pondering the privilege it is for us to be part of this amazing ministry.

Easter

At City Bible Forum and Glorious Hope Baptist, we had many different events throughout the city. City Bible Forum had our talks on during the week and many new people coming along to ask the tough questions about the Bible and Jesus. We work with many different groups from all over city to have evangelistic events within corporations. We assist with the preparation, the talks and communication. The goal of the events are to give people opportunity to come to effective and timely follow up and we assist in teaching these classes called Investigating Christianity. One of Sydney’s largest banks allowed a group within the firm to run not one but four events. This bank is going through very difficult times of redundancies (mass firings), mergers and reorganisation. You would not think this is not an ideal time to be planning evangelistic events, but the result shows that God can do an amazing work all of the time. Inside this bank, we had over 100+ people come to the various events, with upwards of 40+ signed up for courses on finding out more about Christianity.

Church events: We had special services on Friday and Sunday. Russ had the opportunity to preach on Good Friday. He taught through 23-24 Luke and the witnesses throughout the death, burial and resurrection of our Saviour. Many people were challenged to know the Lord and communicate to others about what He is doing in the lives of the people of the church.

Fireproof

Great film, great conversation and great results.

Many of you may have seen this film in the US, but it was not shown in theatres in Australia. After seeing the film, the Urban Fight Club (Men’s’ ministry) committed to have a professional showing of this film for the people of our community. It reflected two of our key values, fighting for our faith and for the family. It was quite a bit of work, but it was worth it. Our goal was to get the non-Christian spouses of our church members to come to this great film. So, we were originally thinking a small group of people on a Friday night. Well, God had different plans. We started giving out tickets and the numbers grew steadily every week and on the night we had over 60 people come to the evening with close to half being visitors. Many atheists, non-Christians, skeptics, single adults and married couples came to the showing of Fireproof. We had good food, nice venue (not at the church) and a good quality film. Explaining to the crowd it has a Christian message, insight into marriage and that it was good entertainment value. After the movie, claps and cheers, but the best part was most people turned their chairs around and started talking. Asking questions and discussing the film. Some complaints from the atheists, but they were impressed with the quality of the event. As a pre-evangelistic event, it was perfect to plant the seeds and for our group to effectively meet with many non-Christian men who would not come to our church in the past. Pray for many of these families and lives of these men.

The Face of Suffering

During this difficult economic time in world history, many people have questions. Where is God? If he does exist, how could he allow things like this to happen? Is he even listening?

During this month it is school holidays in New South Wales (year round school in Australia) and many people are out of the city. CBF is usually at its lowest attendance, but not this year. We had a series delivered by Justin Moffat, ‘The Face of Suffering’ -Three things you can do with God in the face of suffering. Wrestle, Wait and Rely- based out of the book of Habakkuk. (I know not your typical Easter passage, but doesn’t the entire Bible point to Jesus?) What a great series and many people coming along to ask some of the hard questions, also, getting the answers. Again seeing how even the Minor Prophets point us to the redemptive message of Jesus.

Prayer requests:

1. Ladies outreach in the community around Glorious Hope Baptist.

2. Working through the growing pains of a church plant.

3. Thinking through the growth of the church and how to effectively minister within our community.

4. Investigating Christianity courses in the city.

5. Furlough details for 2010

Thanks for hanging in there and reading through this update. It is amazing to see what God is doing in this city. Thanks for your support and prayers.

The adventure continues…

Russ & Cathy Matthews

(To those concerned, we try to use the Australian spellings for our updates. Thanks for your feedback.)

What is happening in Australia?

Easter: Russ will be sharing the Good Friday message at Glorious Hope Baptist Church,”Eyes on the Road”. Looking at the historical implications of the witnesses of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. He will be sharing a evangelistic message at a group at Commonwealth Bank, also.

Bible Reading Groups and Investigating Christianity: Russ has been working through the Bible with various groups around Sydney. Many of the studies are BRGs, which appeal to a non-Christian audience, due to their format of allowing for many questions about the specific portions of the Bible. He will, also, be teaching two Investigating Christianity courses in the city and assisting with a evangelistic series called, The Christ Files.

Fireproof: The Urban Fight Club (Men’s ministry) is sponsoring a night out for couples to watch the movie, Fireproof. Great film and it looks to be a great evening of fun and outreach.

Home-school and Sunday School: The house has been busy this year. Through new laws in the New South Wales system, the kids are enrolled in a distance learning program at the Australian Christian College. They attended classes for a week at the school, through a special program for the Distance Learning kids. Made for a crazy schedule, but they thoroughly enjoyed it and have learned many new things about our ‘home’ country in the process. Cathy is coordinating and teaching Sunday School at GHBC this year. She is enjoying the time with the kids and they truly enjoy her.

Kids Corner: The kids are excited about the school break coming up next week. (Remember, we are on a year round school system.) Hope and Rebecca will be going to a Youth Convention. Josh has finished Little Athletics (Track and Field) and has joined an AFL team (Australian Rules Football). He is loving it and enjoys the time with his mates. (Pray for Mum on this one!) Caroline just finished Little Athletics, too. She is enjoying pre-school this year and continues to be a light to all she comes in contact with at church and in the neighbourhood.

That is it for now. Love hearing from you all. We will be sending details out for our 2010 furlough soon.

We appreciate your prayers and pray you all have a wonderful Easter season.

The adventure continues…

Russ and Cathy Matthews

Exciting testimony: During our orientation meeting in the city, we were able to hear the testimony of one man who has been coming to the City Bible Forum for over five years. He said, ‘I have floated for the past few years of my life. I came to your talks and enjoyed the discussion, but was not ready to commit. Then just a few months ago, I crossed the line. People ask me how I know so much about the Bible when I talk to them about Jesus. I can tell them it is because of all I learned at your talks.’ Now, he is a volunteer in the city and goes out and does regular street evangelism with our team.

Ladies in Investigating Christianity: I am teaching a weekly Investigating Christianity Study (ICS) inside a large corporation. It is a course that talks about Who is God, Who is Man, Who is Jesus, and how to get Right with God. Two of the ladies are so intrigued and keep asking many of the difficult questions. ‘How can you say that Jesus is God? Why is Christianity so different and show me how it is different from other religions, etc’ Please be praying for them and their acceptance of the Lord. Also, they would commit to a Bible Reading Group at their local offices.

At Glorious Hope Baptist, ACTION DAY. We will be doing a ‘Clean up Australia Day’  of our community with the Urban Fight Club. It gives us a way to serve our local community and come in contact with many of the people we are trying to build relationships with in the community. Pray for our safety, strength and opportunities to talk with many who will be helping during the day.

Exciting days. Great way to start the new year.

Thanks for your support and continued prayer.

Russ and Cathy

Additional prayer requests: New Initiatives

City Bible Forum: We will begin a new season at CBF and the first series will be Connections for Life. A look into the first four chapters of Revelation and how people can have life in Christ. Our usual attendance for CBF can be approx. 150-200 with 40-50% being non-Christian. Pray for great attendance and many non-Christians would come to hear this year’s series. Also, many would come to a realtionship with Jesus.

Investigating Christianity: (evangelism) I have started a new class in the city. We have eight people in attendance and five of them are non-Christian. Please pray for the class and that people will come to have a relationship with the Saviour.

Glorious Hope Baptist Chruch: (Church) We have many new initiatives at the church. Changing things around for the congregation to attend an additional prayer meeting, new kids outreach programs and Helping Hands (caring for the needy in our community).

Urban Fight Club: (Mentoring) This month we will be having an Action Day within the community to assist with cleaning up the community for Australia clean up day. Next month will be a movie event, showing the ‘FIREPROOF’ film for the community.

An exciting new year and we look forward to all the Lord has planned for our family. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

The adventure continues…
Russ and Cathy Matthews

This time of year is one of reflection and thankfulness. We look back at 2008 and we continue to experience ‘awe’ at what we have the privilege to be included. We are thankful for our Lord coming to this earth, living and dying so that we could have life eternal. We are thankful for our friends, family and supporters who pray and give to our ministries in Australia. Finally, we are thankful for our friends and family in our new homeland. We see more and more the reason for God bringing us to this land and the praise He deserves for allowing us to be part of His work in Australia.

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel”

Matthew 1:23

We want to wish you a great Christmas season and continue to remember Jesus as the Emmanuel, God with us. He is not just the reason for the season; he is the reason for all things. He is what we live for and we pray that all who reflect on this time of year would come to know Him, Jesus. As you look to 2009, know that you can have a future with the author of life, God the Father, through His Son, Jesus.

Thank you for all you are to us.

The adventure continues…

Russ, Cathy, Becca, Hope, Joshua, and Caroline

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. It has been an amazing year for our family. The opportunities for ministry continue to grow. We have had the privilege of seeing people come to Christ through the various ministries that we participated in this year. We hope that you are receiving our regular communications through our free RSS feed on our website, www.matthewsdownunder.com. Through the Lord’s will and your support we have been able to be a apart of this amazing work in Australia.

We committed to communicating our support levels to you twice a year. With all of the world economic challenges, Australia has been effected by the changes too. We have been very thankful for the continued support from all who have supported us regularly this year. With some of these adjustments we are currently close to our 100% support level, we are only experiencing a shortfall of $80 per month.

We appreciate consideration from you or your churches when evaluating your upcoming budget discussions.

Thanks, again, to God and you for all you have done for us this year. Know we pray for our supporters regularly. Please keep in contact with us. Happy Christmas and New Year.

The adventure continues…

Russ and Cathy Matthews