What a year last year was….
Wow what a year 2006 has been. It was an adventure and a roller coaster all at the same time. The whole process of moving your family to the other side of the world and transitioning to the role of senior pastor is mind boggling. The challenges, the set backs, the frustrations, the emotions, and the excitement. It’s hard to understand sometimes why God in His divine sovereignty chose us for this awesome opportunity to pastor here in Melbourne Australia. One of the hardest things about moving to a new country and having a new and demanding role is the family dynamics. We are blessed to have the office in the home, but trying to find balance between the ministry and family hasn’t been the easiest. There is so much to do in pastoring the church and it never seems you can get caught up or ahead. Even if I put in ninety hours a week, there is always more to do. My focus this year is to have better balance with my family time. My family is my ministry. They are the most important thing in my life. They need me and I need them. What would it profit if the church became the largest church in the region and I lost my family in the processes. Again – we all need balance. Being away from family during the holidays was hard. We had some tough moments. But we know the Lord has us here for a reason and purpose. We do love the assignment that we have. We do have moments when our emotions get the best of us. We must keep pressing on, and continue to be focused. As you know from the last newsletter, we had a team from Calvary Chapel West Grove come out. It was an awesome time of ministry. I would have to say it was one of the best teams I’ve seen. Being on the receiving end was very different than being on the sending end. I loved putting together the agenda, the strategy, and the schedule for the ministry. It was great to see the team execute the plan and objective, and I look forward to seeing more teams come out.
Last week I had an interesting experience happen. One of the homes in our neighborhood caught fire and was burning down quickly in the middle of the night. I was able to assist the firefighters because of some past training with the fire department and as an EMT. It was a great experience to be on the front lines with these guys. I was quite frustrated with the lack of communication and plan of attack from the fire fighters. It took close to 10 minutes to dig up the fire hydrants, get a line going to hook up to the pumper truck. We are praying that we don’t see any more incidents that put the neighborhood in danger.
What is our focus this year for the church?
I believe that the focus this year is to continue to get the church healthy, to raise up leaders, and one of the main strategies I think will accomplish this is through discipleship. I meet with several guys through out the week and with the men for mens study. Niki is meeting with several of the women in the church as well.
Adventure Kids – Children’s Ministry
God continues to bless the Children’s Ministry. We have doubled in size over the past two months. Please pray that the Lord would continue to provide the strength and direction as we move forward into the new year. Please pray for Jennifer Bailey from Refuge, as she seeks the Lord’s provision and timing to join us here in Melbourne. She will be a huge blessing to the ministry team.
Prayer points:
For wisdom in leading the church
For favor in the community.
For provision- personal and church
For the Lord to radically pour our His Spirit on the church, the teaching, and the ministry.
We thank you for your faithful prayers, your encouragement and support. We are praying for you as well. Remember that God Loves you and so do we.
Support Information
Saving Grace World Missions
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Make checks out to SGWM, in the memo line for the Russell’s in Australia.
