God is so good! Since our last letter, we’ve had a visit from my pastor, Sam Carns. I didn’t realize how much I missed him until I saw him. We got to spend about a week together, and he was so encouraging of the work here. He gave me several sermons and some great music, and he preached to our people several times. He was a huge blessing. It was awesome to hear him preaching on stewardship, and the Aussies responded so well to the messages on giving.
My pastor got a little bit of culture shock while out soul winning with me. In the churches here, there are a lot of folks who have the same world view that Americans have, and a few of them are anti-globalists. My pastor had been fellowshipping with these Aussies and thought most Aussies were the same way, when the truth is that most Aussies who are conservative in our area would agree with Hillary Clinton and former President Obama politically. When Brother Carns and I got to go knocking doors together, we met an Aussie he was trying to witness to. Pastor was trying to get him to open up by talking to him about world events. The Aussie immediately got offended and refused to even take a tract. I told Pastor that everything here looks similar to America and feels similar to America, but the people here are morally and spiritually hard to reach. As we continued along, it was funny, because several of the people we met already knew me from doing business around town. Pastor thought it was wonderful that even though I hadn’t knocked on their doors before, I was trying to make myself known in town.
Just a few weeks ago, we had Pastor Ronald Petrick come for a visit to see Brother Abrell. He asked if Pastor Petrick could come down and preach for us while he was here. He did a good job preaching for us, but before he was supposed to go back to America, he was sightseeing with Bro. Abrell and had a heart attack. They rushed him to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, and he had emergency surgery to place two stents in his arteries. Bro. Petrick is doing better, but he was not able to fly home because of the surgery and will be here an extra four weeks. We need to praise the Lord that he had his heart attack here, because if he had flown in that condition, the doctor said the pressurized cabin of the plane would probably have killed him. Please pray for Bro. Petrick’s recovery over the next few weeks; pray that he will be able to get home safely. Also, please pray for Mrs. Petrick, as her husband of 50 years is ill and away from her.
Prayer Requests
Mary’s wedding
Our health
Souls to be saved and baptized
Pastor Petrick’s medical expenses
Sincerely,
Ron Back
Missionary in Australia