God is so good! After our last prayer letter, the year sped up quickly. I was ill for four weeks, and the doctor still has no idea what I had. However, the antibiotics got the job done, and all we could do was push on and praise the Lord. We were able to attend the National Baptist Fellowship (NBF), which was hosted by Missionary Chris Eckles. It was a wonderful time to see a lot of the national pastors and fellow Baptists to remind us that we’re not all alone. We got to take a lot of our church members to multiple services, and they were all surprised to see that it’s not “just us.” It reminded me of when I first went to Pastors’ School in Hammond, Indiana, with my home church in Warsaw. The preaching was superb and truly encouraging. It was preached by Dr. Randy Starr, one of Bro. Eckles’ dear friends.
We also attended an Aussie wedding. A son of a national pastor, whom we are trying to encourage and help, had a beautiful, Christ-honoring, three-hour wedding. It was good to see the difference between what we would consider a traditional wedding and what the Aussies have.
In about 12 months, we will be coming back to America for our first furlough. It’s hard to believe that we have been here for five years now, and we are truly looking forward to seeing our daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. Please pray for me; around July or so, we are hoping to start scheduling meetings with many of you.
Our church had its third year of Christmas caroling at the local aged-care facilities. We were very well received and had a great group go out this year. We were able to go to three different facilities. We had one change their regulations and require police checks on everyone coming to carol. I explained to them that we can’t require each of our people to pay up to $80 for a police check for a one-time singing event. Please pray that the other facilities in the area do not adopt the same regulations, or we will no longer be able to go and be a blessing to the saved folks and give the Gospel to everyone. This year we were able to preach the Gospel to about 300 residents and staff. Again this year, I had a retired pastor, who was confined to the home, and many senior ladies thank me for giving the Gospel to their friends and loved ones.
Thank you so much for the Christmas gifts many of you sent to us. I know Christmas is a very difficult time financially, and we appreciate every one of you who sent us a Christmas card; it truly brightens our year to see how many of you care so much for our family. Please continue to pray for our ministries to grow; we are hoping to start a Jail Ministry this year. Pray for hearts to soften towards the Gospel and for the folks in our church to grow spiritually and also join the church.
Sincerely,
Ron Back
Missionary in Australia
