CHURCH PLANTING IN AUSTRALIA
NOVEMBER 2000
Dear Prayer Partners,
1Corinthians 1:3 "Grace be
unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ."
Greetings once again from the "Land Down Under." Please take note of
our new email address: Bennettatdubbo@aol.com. Recently in the newspaper we read
an article on an approaching locust plague. "Grain farmers in western NSW
are about to face their worst locust plague threat since the mid-1980s. But
while the insects might have been dormant, the boffins haven't.
Eastern Australia hasn't seen the
pests in plague proportions for many years, with the last big attacks coming in
1984 and 1979, according to the Australian Plague Locust Commission (APLC).
Conditions for plagues are ideal on both sides of the continent in the same year
for the first time since European settlement, according to APLC records."
So far we have only seen a few
locusts. The article said the farmers must wait for just the right time to spray
so we will see what happens. As with America one wonders what it will take for
people to turn to the Lord. Exodus 10:14 "And the locusts went up over all
the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt: very grievous were
they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall
be such."
Last month David received a
telephone call from Andy Thompson with whom he had taken a computer course a
couple of years ago. Andy professes to know the Lord and at that time was
attending the Presbyterian Church. David began sending Andy our Independent
Baptist Newsletter right after he met him in the computer class. The second week
of October Andy telephoned and said he really agreed with David's newsletter and
that he and his wife were going to begin attending our fellowship that next
Sunday. He had since left the Presbyterian Church and was attending the
charismatic Baptist Union and was not content with what he was hearing. We are
still waiting for them to attend. Sometimes you wonder why people do the things
they do. Also in October Veronica telephones and wants to talk. She is divorced
with a twelve-year-old daughter. She gives testimony of having been saved five
years now. She came to our house and we had a good two-hour talk. David told her
what we believed and gave her some literature to read. She didn't attend the
next Sunday but did 22 October. She said she enjoyed the service so pray the
Lord will work and lead her to fellowship with us if it is His will.
Clayton and Lexie visited our
service 22 October. He is a constructional engineer working on the bridges in
Walgett, NSW for a few months. Walgett is about two and one half-hours north and
west of Dubbo. They came to Dubbo to visit the zoo with their two-year-old
daughter and worshipped with us. They were a delight to have and are members of
Emmanuel Baptist, Brisbane, Queensland. They took some Eternity tracts to
distribute around Walgett and in the hospital. Lexie does hospital visitation
with an elderly aboriginal lady there.
Jim and Margaret attend our Gilgandra fellowship and have three grown children. Their youngest is a twenty
two-year-old living in Sydney. He has been in and out of minor trouble but the
last week of October told his parents he was on heroin. This of course
devastated them. They went to Sydney 31 October to try and get him into a
hospital and as of this writing we have not heard back from them. Please pray
for Jim, Margaret, and their son Malcolm.
Abel Morgan who also attends the Gilgandra fellowship was in hospital a couple of weeks in October. He is now
home but has lost a considerable amount of weight. His speech is very garbled
and he has a hard time walking any distance.
Pray for the Lord to work in hearts
of those who claim to know Christ that they will "grow in grace, and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 3:18 Then pray we
will see the unsaved turn "to God from idols to serve the living and true
God." 1 Thessalonians 1:9
Thank you
for your continued prayers and financial support. Philippians 4:15-17 "Now ye
Philippians (SUPPORTERS) know also, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I
departed from Macedonia (UNITED STATES OF AMERICA), no church communicated with
me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica
(AUSTRALIA) ye sent once and again unto my necessity. Not because I desire a
gift: but I desire fruit that may abound to your account." Romans 15:33 "Now the
God of peace be with you all. Amen."
Your
Missionaries to the Central West of New South Wales, Australia,
David and Pam Bennett 
