God is so good! We saw a personal prayer request with the church here in Warragul answered, as Marg, a lady Laura knows, has beaten cancer and is now cancer-free. We prayed for her for six months. We are truly surprised at how many people we are meeting who either have or have had cancer. It is such a blessing to see the Lord work.
Laura and I spent the last three months soul winning/door knocking in Thorpdale. It is a beautiful, quiet town up in the mountains about 30 minutes from Warragul. We didn’t have nearly as much negative feedback as we normally do. We also had four great contacts made, one of whom was a young girl, about 14, named Chloe. She was quite surprised that someone was knocking on her door from a church; but, praise the Lord, she was open to receiving the Gospel. I asked her, after I explained the Gospel, if she would like to be saved, and her response surprised me: “If I needed to be saved, I would.” We were able to explain to her that death can come at any time and that she does have a need to be saved today. She then timidly prayed with us and thanked us for coming. We are praying that the Lord moves on her young heart to come to church.
We also got to speak to a lady named Eve who was about 60. She was not saved, even though her step-dad witnessed to her repeatedly. She said that he was a Salvo, a member of the Salvation Army, and I encouraged her to trust Christ also. She told me that was exactly the same thing he had been preaching to her for years. Sadly, all she wanted to tell me about was going to a concert and visiting the USA. Please pray that the Holy Spirit works on Eve’s heart.
Laura and I got to speak to another lady, and she told us that we were the first people to knock on her door in 30 years except for the Jehovah’s Witnesses. She was proud to be Lutheran and closed to the Gospel. We finished up that area recently, and it broke our hearts to think that we don’t know when we will be able to get back up to that area. There is so much work to do here and so few laborers. Please pray for more soul winners here in Gippsland.
We had a huge blessing when our neighbors, Anthony and Monique, whom we have been praying for and witnessing to for over a year, came to church. Anthony came the first week with two Japanese young men who are renting a room from them. He was surprised at how much he liked the service. The next week, he came with Monique to the morning service, and she came by herself to the evening service, as Anthony had to work. We are praying that God continues to work in their hearts. They are only 10 years younger than we are, and they call us “Mom” and “Dad,” because we are responsible and they are not. I’d love to see Anthony get saved. He is the president of his bikie (“motorcycle”) club, and he would have an amazing influence on others with the Gospel, giving us the opportunity to witness as well.
Please continue to pray for Chloe, Eve, Anthony, and Monique, for God’s protection, and for more soul winners.
Sincerely,
Ron Back
Missionary in Australia