CHURCH PLANTING IN AUSTRALIA

DR. & MRS. DAVID C. BENNETT

PO BOX 1241, DUBBO, NSW 2830 - PHONE/FAX - 011- 61- 2 – 6884 – 2846

EMAIL – Bennett@BibleForToday.org

Sending Church

 Bible For Today Baptist Church – 900 Park Ave., Collingswood, NJ 08108

October, 2005

Dear Friends in Christ

Jeremiah 23:29 “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” 

Gary arrived back from his six month long service leave to England the first part of October and his mother arrived back in the last part of October. It is an encouragement to see their faces once again in the Dubbo service

Jonah 1:2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.”

Not long after we moved to Dubbo there arose the issue of a brothel making application to the local city council for approval to operate. As we know these places are an abomination not only unto the Lord but are not in the best welfare of a community. Ray was still living in Dubbo and attending our work and asked David to attend the council meeting with him. Ray and David attended the council meeting and that evening the brothel was approved. In the years since then, according to the local newspaper, at least two unapproved brothels have taken residence in the city and a sex shop has opened its doors right on the main street of Dubbo with council approval. Now another sex shop has sought council approval to operate from an industrial area only 200 metres from the Presbyterian church. The sex shop was approved by the Dubbo Council’s Environmental Services (composed of paid staff) with some stipulations even though approval went against Council’s Local Environment Plan (LEP). Council’s Works and Services Committee (composed of council members) rejected the application on Monday evening 19 September. Monday evening the 26th September the assembled full council at a regular meeting rejected the sex shop’s application five to four. Praise the Lord. At least for now Dubbo is spared another den of iniquity.

We attended the council meeting Monday evening 26th September and before the meeting began a gentleman came up to David and introduced himself as the pastor of one of the churches in town. He asked David for his email address saying he was going to communicate further with the other pastors concerning plans he had for Dubbo. Well, the morning of 28 September when David opened the email there was an email from this pastor. This email was sent to every church including the Roman Catholic, Uniting (which are debating the ordination of homosexuals into their ministry), and Anglican. According to the email he and his wife are senior pastors of the church in which they serve. In the email he wrote “In August 2000 God woke me during the night with a vision that lasted for approximately half an hour. I have shared this with some of you. The first picture was an oval filled with 10,000 people worshipping the Lord which I now believe to be Apex Oval. That picture then cleared away to reveal a large wagon wheel with a huge hub in the centre. The hub had the name of Jesus written upon it. I found out later that year that Dubbo is called the Hub of the West. There was a centre plate which was split in sections. These sections were the individual churches in town. Spokes were connected to the hub and the wheel rim. The spokes were the work of the Holy Spirit and the rim was the unified prayers of the saints of Dubbo. As that wheel turned it touched many towns surrounding Dubbo as the combined churches of Dubbo worked as one voice to see the Central West impacted with the Gospel. In 2001 …... a representative from WEC which is a missionary organization in Australia, came to our city to visit the Baptist Church.” This is the Baptist Union church of which he speaks. “He sought me out and informed me that God had shown him the same picture in a dream and that this nation was going to be touched and impacted by the move of God coming to Dubbo. I now submit this to you all.” To say the least we will not be a part of this “mixed multitude”.    

We know our Friday radio programme, CrossTalk, is being listened to at least by one person as they sent David two books written by a Seven Day Adventist on the topics of conspiracies and terrorism. David has been talking about Israel and Biblical prophecy so we assume these talks prompted the sending of these two books.  At least we know someone is listening and took the time to send the books. We continue to pray the Lord will use these two broadcasts to bring some lost soul unto Him and also speak to those who may know the Lord and identify with the Baptist fellowship we are seeking to establish in Gilgandra.

We have been praying about some new areas of outreach for next year as 2005 is quickly coming to an end. Please pray with us as we make these decisions. As it is there every day living expenses continue to rise. Petrol is well over $5 per gallon and along with that food and other consumable items have gone up. If your missionary budget allows for an increase in the next financial year please consider the ministry here.

Before we close this epistle there is one final note that may be of interest to you. In the 23rd September Daily Telegraph there was an entire page devoted to BUDDHISTS OF SUBURBIA. In the article it said “Buddhism is the second largest group in every state of Australia, after Christianity.” The article also stated that between the 1996 census and the 2001 census in our state of New South Wales, Buddhism rose 80.4%! Brethren, “…we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” Ephesians 6:12.   

Thank you for your continued financial and prayer support. “Finally, brethren,” continue to “pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you” 2Thessalonians 3:1.     

Joyfully Serving the Risen Saviour,

David and Pam Bennett