Audio | Video

Pat Nemmers
AM Service
Matthew 25:31-46

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

On November 15th both Camilla and Gabriel were baptized on a very cold day, in a pond at the Rincão churh-plant along with five other people from the three churches. What a family celebration it was in the water after. There is nothing like baptizing your own kids. Thank you for your many prayers for our family. Both Gabriel and Camilla have clubs for their friends where they invite them over to play and have a snack with Bible study moments that they teach.

We met Eduardo and his family in 2007 during a storm while we sought shelter in the mountains near the Guarani tribe in Alto Caraá about 90 minutes from Gravataí. At that time we camped in his garage by the river and shared with him “The Story of Hope”. He put his trust in Jesus Christ in 2007 and we continued to visit his family in 2008 for discipleship through the chronological “Way to Joy” material. Pastor Geferson has taking the lead in this church-plant bringing the young Rincão church into their first missions outreach. In evangelism, we have learned to return to the simplicity the redemptive narrative in scripture where we have seen people like Eduardo trust Christ and be baptized in the face of family persecution for his faith.

After two local tattoo artist trusted Christ (also through the biblical narrative), they helped us put together a visual walk through the Story of Hope burnt into eight leather panels representing the chronological bridge to life from ABWE (God-Man-Sin-Death-Christ- Cross-Faith-Life). We have taken this to into public schools and seen dozens of children understand and respond with faith in Jesus.

Thank you Lord for 2008, please lead us into 2009 toward whatever adventure you have for us. Amen. The Latham’s

After a conference with the chaplain for the NRL (National Rugby League), we are building momentum for the ministry and the potential impact on western Sydney. After the meeting, the heads of the ministry have decided to postpone the event to February 2010.

Please be praying for specifics:

1. Commitment of Christian NRL players who will commit to participating in the event.

2. Youth groups and organizations will partner with the event to bring along attendees in the event.

3. Many young people would come into a relationship with Christ through this ministry.

Thanks for the continued interest and enthusiasm towards this event.

The adventure continues…

Russ

Simeon’s gift: I will be speaking at City Bible Forum and PwC this year. The Evangelistic talk will be ‘Simeon’s gift: Joy in a joyless season.’ Based on the Luke 2 account of Jesus’ presentation at the temple. Please pray that many would come to the talks and here the story from the New Testament of anticipated gift that God promised Simeon, to see the Saviour. Then his response and gift of ‘Simeon’s song’ to Mary and Joseph.

Urban Fight Club Sunday: This Sunday will be the Sunday where the men take over the church. Our Men’s group (UFC) will be doing all of the work and service on Sunday. Serving the ladies and proclaiming the Word as men do. Exciting day and many friends and family will be visiting. Please pray for the men as they have this unique opportunity to serve and present the Gospel to the world.

‘Australia’ the movie: The movie has opened around the world. A campy, epic for this generation. We anticipate that many will come away amazed at the scenery, culture and beauty of this sunburned land. God has created a beautiful land, Down Under. Just a small warning for our supporters and friends. We hope that people do not come away from the film thinking that is today’s Australia. The film is based in Darwin and the outback. The reality of ministry in Australia is in the modern cities. We hope that if you do see the film, that you come on holiday (vacation) to see the land depicted in the film. (That is the desire of the Australian tourism board.) Please go to the Northern Territory and Queensland and enjoy the outback. (Australia could use a boost in tourism.) If you come away from the film and want to come to experience the ministry of Australia, it is nothing like the film. The ministry is in the city, no kangaroos, Aborigines, or vast plains. So, not to dampen your mood after seeing th film, just a small reality check. Come ready to work in the city with people from all over the world. As many who have come before, there are not many times for riding horses, seeing kangas or traveling across the outback. Please pray for our ministry in Australia in the urban jungle, not the fictitious land of ‘The Drover.’ It is an amazing land, amazing opportunities for sharing the Gospel and an amazing open door into taking His Word to the world. (Just a small caveat, we do have a limited number of spots per year for coming to Oz and there is an approval process. So, make sure if it is something your church is planning, contact us early and we can work you through the process.)

‘The mythology of Australia is in the outback, the people (ministry) are in the cities.’ – Peter Jensen

We choose the city.

Thanks for your continued support and prayers.

The adventure continues…

Russ and Cathy Matthews

We are still amazed at what God had planned for Wee Ones Care and Share this year. We had no idea, but are so thankful He did! During the event there were 17 individuals that made decisions to accept Jesus into their hearts. Praise the Lord! This included fathers, a Hope ministries social worker that just drove someone here, many Mothers and even Grandparents. In addition to these there were another 37 that indicated they were interested in bible studies or learning more about God’s grace and the love his son has for them. In all, we served 188 unique families and 586 total people (children, grandparents, parents and family members). To think, we were praying for 100 women to attend, ye of little faith!

This year 5 churches and hundreds of volunteers came together to do our little part in reaching out to those in need. Wee Ones doesn’t end here. As you can imagine with that many attendees we ran out of a few things. Below is a list of specific requests from mothers who came later in the day, after many of the items were gone. If you are interested in donating a new or used item from the list below please leave it in the Church office.

Another way that you can still help with Wee Ones is to make a commitment to mentor a family/mother throughout the year. This could mean a variety of unpredictable things. For example, they may want to go through a bible study, they may need a ride to church or they may just need a solid spiritual influence in their lives. If you are interested in becoming a mentor please call me directly at 515-778-5967 as soon as possible. Lastly, please pray for all the mentors that will be calling on these Mother’s and Families. Pray hearts will be opened, relationships will be built and that it will all be done to God’s Glory.

Thank you to the hundreds of hands that made this outreach ministry possible. A special thank you to the committee members that put in so many hours throughout the year to make this possible, to those people that helped with picking up items week after week, to those that prepared all the food for the event and to those that spent hours in prayer for the event. Thank you to those that refused to take a lunch break because there were Mom’s still in line, to the men who loaded car after car and to everyone working together to quickly move families through the event. We could continue to say thank you to so many more people… thank you and know you have made a difference in someone’s life through Wee Ones.

Proverbs 31:20 She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.

Wee Ones Committee

Items in need:
12 Spanish Devotional Bibles, 1 English Devotional Bible, Children’s Bible
Newborn Winter Coat
Booster High Chair with Tray
3T boy pull ups, Size 3 and 4 Diapers
3 Toddler Car Seats
Booster Car Seat
2 Potty Chairs
High Chair
2 Pack & Play
Stroller and a Double Stroller
Light up Toys
Crib with mattress, separate crib mattress
Bottles
Infant Swing
Clothes for 7 & 10 year old

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