God is so good! Since our last prayer letter, the Iranian converts, Ray and Zarra, have been talking about getting baptized. They seem to be very busy and difficult to stay in contact with. We are excited because they are our first Iranian/former Muslim converts.
The Evans family had a wonderful time in America and had the opportunity to meet two of our supporting pastors. They were super impressed with the churches they visited. They also were pretty impressed with our recommendation of Cracker Barrel and chicken fried chicken! They had never had sawmill gravy before. When they got back, we realized how much we missed little things like Cracker Barrel biscuits. We are looking forward to coming back for our first furlough in early 2020.
The radio program has been going very well. If you would like to tune in, we are on 3BBR 103.1 FM West Gippsland Community Radio on Sunday mornings from 8:00 to 8:30, local Victoria time. It is a huge blessing, because this is not a Christian radio station. However, because it is a community station, we are able to give a Bible study and give the Gospel, plus play good, godly music for a half hour every Sunday.
We have been praying for the sister of one of our church members to be saved; and, praise the Lord, in June she trusted Christ as her Saviour. Her brother Marc, still a young Christian, could not believe that God had used him to share the Gospel with a loved one. Every Sunday I try to encourage the people to share their faith with their families and loved ones.
The church has been continually blessed with new visitors each week. It seems like every time we have a slight setback, God blesses with either someone being saved or visitors coming to the church. Recently I was fortunate/unfortunate, depending on how you look at things, to have an auto accident. I totaled my UTE (truck) but received no injuries. As I was driving from the office supply store here in town, something broke in my steering about six seconds after I pulled onto the road, and I sideswiped a compact, parked car. I praise the Lord that I was insured and not hurt. Both vehicles were totaled or, as the Aussies say, “written off.” The man in the other vehicle was waiting for a friend, and all I could do was praise the Lord that he wasn’t hurt. When I look back and see how God is using us to help Christians grow and lost people to be saved, I count these setbacks as blessings, because I know Satan is kicking against us, but we are winning.
Please continue to pray for the new converts to get discipled and grounded, for Ray and Zarra to be baptized soon, for visitors, for souls to be saved and baptized, and for the church to continue to grow.
Sincerely,
Ron Back
Missionary in Australia
