Considering Tasmania

In our recent trip down under we were able to take the opportunity to specifically visit Tasmania.  For those who may be a little rusty on their geography, Tasmania is an island state of Australia 150 miles south of the main part of the country across Bass Strait.  Named for Dutch explorer Able Tasman who first sighted the island on November 24, 1642.  Tasmania has a land size equivalent to West Virginia and a population of over 500,000  Their summer (December to February) average will range between 70 to 75 degrees while winter (June to August) will vary between 37 to 54 degrees.  Annual rainfall will be between 26" to 106" depending on location.

Tasmania was settled as a British penal colony in 1804.

The largest city and state capital is Hobart with a population of 211,656 followed by the city of Launceston with 106,153 and then the city of Devonport with a population of 25,551.  Thirty-four percent of the population of Tasmania claim the major part of their income as welfare.

For the last four years I have been attempting to locate any Independent Baptist in Tasmania.  There is a history of many who have been there but I have only been able to locate one claiming to be an Independent Baptist Church - Faith Baptist Church and Pastor Brutus Balan in Hobart.  God gave us the privilege to meet up with Pastor Balan and most of his folks at his house on a Wednesday night while we were there and he confirmed that to his knowledge they are the only Independent Baptist Church on the whole of the island.  500,000 souls and only one Independent Baptist Church! 

Without a doubt there is a GREAT spiritual need in Tasmania.

Devonport

Port Arthur

Abandon Anglican Building

Along the East Coast

Country Anglican building

 

Historic Female Penal Site

MEANWHILE - Back on the Field

I still have some more updates scheduled for our trip to Australia but I need to also update what is happening here on the field as well.  God has been and is at work and we can only rejoice in His goodness upon us.

A ROUGH FLOOR

Our building has a very uneven and very rough cement floor.  It is hard to keep the dust in the building at minimum because the floor is so bad.  The problem with tiling the floor is that it also very uneven.  Within twelve feet it will drop over and inch and a half but then the next twelve feet will change that much more in various ways.  Actually the best answer would be to break up the floor and pour a new one.  The problem is that we only rent the building.  So ... I have decided and begun to attempt to lay tile.  It is a job that has proven to be tasking.

THE REAL FOCUS

Buildings though while necessary are temporal and not our focus.  The focus is the individual soul.  God has been blessing.  We have had two special days recently.  The first was "Children's Day" which is celebrated nationally here in Mexico and the second was "Mother's Day".  Children's Day was celebrated with a fiesta, pinata, candy, ice cream and cake.  Mother's Day was celebrated with a special gift to all our mothers in attendance and we also had two cakes.  One for those who were not mothers and a second special one for mothers only.

The highlight of the day though was that we had a high attendance of thirty-nine and seven who made a public decision to follow the Lord in believer's baptism.  Those decisions have been a long time in coming and we thank God that the Holy Spirit has worked in the lives of our people to make this personal decision.  We are excited about all that God is doing in our midst and look for even greater progress to report in the months to come.

One Unlevel Floor

The Local Sand Store-The River Bed

                                       

Finally a few tile laid

Day of the kids

Mother's Day

      

Mother's Day Fellowship

West Wyalong, NSW - Gateway Baptist Church (mission)

 After leaving Canberra we had the wonderful privilege to be with the Gateway Baptist Church in West Wyalong, NSW.  Gateway Baptist Church is a mission work of the Sherwood Hills Baptist Church in Campeltown.  The work was started many years ago from contacts made on an "outback circuit ministry" that Sherwood Hills Baptist Church sponsored to reach out into smaller communities.  I am not dogmatic on all of my dates and facts but the just of it all is that not too long after it's inception the work was abandoned by the missionary in charge.  Sherwood Hills Baptist Church has poured a lot of time, effort and finances into the continuation of the work sending one of their pastors or laymen to West Wyalong three of four Sundays a month.  With the advent of live streaming the work has been strengthened as every service of Sherwood Hills Baptist Church can be broadcast.


Anyway, it was our privilege to be invited to spend a Sunday morning with these dear folks.  Brother Steve Thomas who was our tour guide for Sydney also became our guide to West Wyalong.  He picked us up in Canberra and drove us out to West Wyalong where we spent the night, enjoyed the morning with the work and then drove us back to Sydney for the evening service.

There is a GREAT need for help here.  I have been praying for several years and will continue to do so with an even greater burden that God would send His man to continue the work that has been given a basic start there in West Wyalong.  I would go tomorrow but I am a little busy here where I am at.  Surely there is someone that is free to go - Gateway Baptist Church is a great opportunity.

Gateway Baptist Church (mission) West Wyalong, NSW

The Families of Gateway Baptist Church

Sunday March 24th AM at Gateway Baptist Church

Sunday March 24th AM at Gateway Baptist Church

Fellowship after the morning service

CANBERRA

The main purpose for our recent travel to Australia was due to the invitation of Pastor Ian Stevens and the Emmanuel Independent Baptist Church to preach for their annual mission's conference.  What a privilege and blessing for us!  We found Pastor and Sister Stevens and each member of the church to be most gracious hosts.  God truly blessed each aspect of this center part of our trip with each service and with the whole stay.

We were also able to see a few of the sights of Canberra as well.  We toured the Canberra History Museum, as well as the War Museum.  Pastor Stevens also took us to several look out points where we were able to get a overview of the whole area.  Of course Canberra is the capital of Australia and we were able to tour the capital buildings.

Our thanks to Pastor Stevens sons for their hospitality towards Ezra.  These young men are brilliant examples of godly young men and their potential for the Saviour is unlimited.  They take an active part in serving the Lord Jesus Christ and were an encouragement to both Peggy, Ezra and I. 

We did not lack in any way during our stay.  We ate well.  The meals at home, at church and in various restaurants were tremendous.  The lamb was amazing!  We were also given some terrific gifts which will be timeless treasures and memories of God's goodness in Pastor Stevens and Emmanuel Independent Baptist Church invitation to us.

And we finally did see Kangaroos in Canberra. 

 Emmanuel Independent Baptist Church

 The Down Under Egg Toss Championship

Enjoying the lamb!

 Visiting the War Museum

Kangaroos

Honor Paislee

We interrupt our trip updates for this breaking news:


Congratulations to our son Simon and his wife Autumn on the birth of our second grandchild.

Honor Paislee was born yesterday at 7:07 PM weighing in at 6 pounds, 11 ounces at 19 1/4 inches.
Both mom, baby and dad are doing very well.  Peggy had stayed in Bullhead City awaiting Honor's birth and to help Autumn for a few days.  It was thought that there might be some birth complications but God has seen fit to confound the wisdom of man and all was normal.  Autumn's family was also able to be in town but are scheduled to leave tomorrow.

Anyway - CONGRATULATIONS to Simon and Autumn.  Grand baby number two for Peggy and I!

Our Recent Travels -Part One

As I am sure you are aware of Peggy and I along with Ezra had the privilege to travel to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii.  We had a great time and enjoyed our time there.  This will be the first update of many as I will take the trip step by step.

SYDNEY

Our invitation to be in Australia came from Canberra but we started our stay in Sydney.  We left Bullhead City after Sunday evening service and flew from Las Vegas, Nevada arriving in Sydney on Tuesday evening.  We were scheduled to be with Sherwood Hills Baptist Church and Pastor Don Stewart.  One of the men of the church picked us up at the airport and took us to a motel for a much needed rest.  Wednesday we spent the day with the several of the church folks and then were part of the services that evening.  God had given me an unusual approach to a "missionary" message but the folks were able to understand the thought of the reality that how we witness defines what we really believe about God.

Brother Steve Thomas generously took off a day of work and took us into Sydney proper on Thursday to see the quintessential sites of Sydney.  We toured the Opera House, the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Governor's house, walked under the Harbor Bridge and other parts of the downtown and harbor area.  Brother Thomas is a photographer and I am sure that many wondered who we were as we evidently had our own paparazzi.  Brother Thomas was a great blessing and I thank him for his desire to be a help to us.  The pictures in this selection are taken by him.

We had a great time in Sydney.  We enjoyed getting to meet the kind folks at Sherwood Hills Baptist Church and were blessed of God with a great service there on Wednesday night.  On Friday Pastor Ian Stevens of Emmanuel Independent Baptist Church in Canberra drove down to pick us up and we spend the next week with them but we'll save that for the next blog update.

Riding the train into Sydney

Harbor Bridge

Opera House

Royal Botanical Gardens

Governor's House

Taking a break

Ladies Meeting

It takes a whole lot of effort and hours for Peggy to prepare her Sunday School class notes each week for the children but she recently added weeks of preparation to hold a ladies meeting.  All of our ladies enjoyed the whole time.  They had a gift exchange and were excited to see what surprise awaited their choice.  Little by little our people are growing in the things of the Lord and as they grow they invite others to come along and we grow numerically as well.