God is so good! According to the Washington Post, September 15, we live in the most restricted state in the world, and they call our premiere (state governor) a dictator. We have had 137 cases of COVID-19 in the last 14 days, 0 cases in the area we are in, but we are all locked down because of metro-Melbourne. Daniel Andrews has reported that we will not be free to move around, without our allowed 4 reasons, until there are less than 5 cases in a 14-day period. They want to start mandatory, door-to-door virus testing. Please pray for us, as there is no country in the world dealing with the restrictions that we are. Our spirits are being vexed because we just want to share the Gospel with people, but people are absolutely terrified of COVID-19 and basic human contact and conversation.
We have started meeting in small groups, house to house, for church on Sundays, with everyone logged into the sermon at the same time. This is stretching the laws as far as we possibly can. Please pray that we don’t get any fines or jail time over this act of worship. Sadly, bars/pubs are allowed 20 people, but churches are only allowed 5 people and outside only, as we are deemed not as essential as alcohol.
The conditions we are living in right now remind me of 1995 when I was in the Marine Corps on a ship, the USS Essex, on our way to Somalia. They played the movie Groundhog Day, which is about a man’s life looping over and over, on the ship for 180 days straight as a joke. Laura and I are feeling like every day is the same. Our friends are even telling us they are losing days and even forget to watch church. We have been praying more and reading our Bibles more. I am about to finish my Bible for the third time this year. I do praise God for the time spent in Scripture, and I have received several blessings from just meditating on God’s Word. I do pray that many of you, if you have extra time, would please spend it in God’s Word and prayer. I got to preach for Russel Blanchard, via YouTube, while he went in for a surgery; please pray for his recovery. I also got to preach on Facebook for Johnny DaToy, a brother in the city.
Please pray for me; I am going in for a hernia surgery on November 10. It looks like I will be down recovering for about six weeks. I have to have a COVID-19 test and quarantine for a week before the surgery; this seems to be the new normal. Please also pray for witnessing opportunities and for God to open the hearts of the lost to receive the Gospel. Please pray for the saints here, as the Devil tries to make many despair. Laura and I love you brethren. We are praying for you and for the churches in America to remain strong and continue in the faith; please pray for us to do the same.
Sincerely,
Ron Back
Missionary in Australia
