God is so good! We want to wish everybody a Happy New Year! We hope your year is going well. Our year is starting to ramp up quickly. We are excited to announce that on March 24, we get to swear in and become Australian citizens; then we will have our dual citizenship. If you would, please continue to pray for our safety so nothing hinders us from taking part in the Citizenship Ceremony. We are hoping to come back to the States on June 2 for four months of furlough. This will make it over six years since we have been back. Please pray, as we are wanting to report to as many of our supporting churches as possible. If you have any openings from June to October, please email us at Ronback230@gmail.com with dates.
It’s amazing where you find people to witness to. I always try to look for an opening; for instance, in February, my son and I got to go into the city because I needed my phone fixed. The repairman made me wait for almost four hours and then realized he wasn’t going to be able to fix it that day. However, on the bright side of things, my son and I got to see a lot of the markets and had a nice time together in the city. When we started home, we were forced to take buses because the trains were not running. We were in line to get on the first bus when one of the employees forced us to stop and board the second bus. When we got on, I suggested we sit behind the driver. As we sat there, we had a wonderful talk with him for 45 minutes. We asked him if he had been born again, and his reply was “Yes.” He told us, though, that he was not in a church. I handed him a tract, thinking he would never come to church with us, but he replied that he lived in Thorpdale, a little town where Laura and I knocked doors just two years ago, which is very close to Warragul. I praise the Lord, because Ben and his wife and four of his children have been regularly attending Calvary.
We are praising the Lord that all the fires are finally out in Victoria and Queensland. Thank you for your prayers. I believe that the folks in America were praying for us, and the Christians here helped keep us all safe from the fires.
In February, we were able to go up to Brisbane (1,242 miles/2000km) in order to encourage a national pastor and his family while they are struggling to get their church grounded. While we were there, we also took a paper folder and stapling machine that the Lord allowed Brother Blanchard and me to purchase for $100 three years ago. This is going to a missionary in East Timor. While I was in the area, I was able to preach on a Wednesday night and encourage the folks to continue their commitments for Faith Promise. The church I preached in had promised to give $39,000 to missions this year.
Please pray for a man named Rodger, whom we recently letter-boxed; he has been attending church for the last two weeks. Please also pray for more souls and baptisms for Christ.
Sincerely,
Ron Back
Missionary in Australia