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Grace Prayer Bulletin # 48
March 21,1999

As a prelude to this letter, we are opening ourselves to an opportunity for you to help us be an assistance to grace Missionaries who do not access to the Internet. Either send us a snail mail letter or type a letter in email and send to us. As time continues we will offer anyone the opportunity to receive a prayer letter from different missionaries as they come in. This will be a separate list from the current list in our address book. If you know of missionaries that are on the Internet, send them to us as well. It is for His glory we are seeking to give access to missionaries who teach the doctrines of grace. Thanks. (My snail mail address will be at the bottom).
This week we are going to hear from a Pastor Wal Cane & his wife Alma Cane. As you will see they are Church Planters from Australia. I would love to hear from any and all who have a church planting effort. This is why we do what we do. We are hoping many will be stimulated to love and see that missions is international and next door. If we can assist or help by encouraging you in church planting let us know. They do not have email but their mailing address is as follows if you wish to contact them:
5 Sarina St.
Stafford Hts.
Brisbane Queensland.
Australia 4053
(07) 33599536
Dear Rob & Jenny,
Greeting in our Saviour's Wonderful Name! We were so thrilled to receive your letter, it is a real encouragement to receive a letter from people you have never heard of & discover that they are praying for you & the work of the Lord which is so dear to your heart. Thank you so much for that letter. It's hard to know where to begin, but my first thought is to include a copy of an article from the last issue of Rosalie Churches Magazine which featured our work. By the way, the Church Planting work we are involved in is at Samford, not at Stafford Hts. Stafford Hts is where we live, which is about 15 minutes drive from Samford.
On second thoughts, I might send this by E-Mail ( courtesy of Jeff Gibbs) then sent the article via Snail mail, as it has a picture of us. Rosalie cannot send pictures by E-Mail as yet.
The Samford District is a semi-rural area on the North Western side of Brisbane, made up of 3-5 Acre lots. Most people work in the city & commute back & forth. It takes about 45 minutes to drive into the city from Samford. As you will see from the article, we commenced the work at Samford as an outreach ministry of Rosalie Baptist Church in October 1990. However, we began without any core families or people of like mind. We simply followed up as many contacts as possible, put an advertisement in the local paper, hired a local hall & began. The first few years were a bit rocky, as we accepted all who came through the door. People from all sorts of Denominations & most had never heard of the Doctrines of Grace. However, by God's good Grace & much Prayer, Preaching & Teaching, we now have a committed membership of 19 & an average attendance of 43, with a maximum of 59, including many children.
We have two Deacons, Mike Shellard (Secretary) & John Taylor (Treasurer). Even though we have a loose association with the Baptist Union of Queensland, which is General Baptist, we adhere to the 1689 Baptist
Confession. There are no Particular Baptist Churches in Queensland, although there are a few Baptist Churches with Pastors who would call themselves Reformed. There is a Carey Fellowship which meets each quarter which gives Pastors of like mind some opportunity for fellowship. So you can see that we do feel isolated & therefore appreciate so much this offer of yours to have a regular contact with other Churches of like mind around the world. I'm sure this will broaden our horizons & revitalize our Prayer meetings.
One other word of explanation. I still have to work in secular employment four days a week, as the Fellowship can only afford to pay me for one day per week at this stage. This of course has put a lot of pressure on me & my wife during the past 8 years, so we are praying that the Lord would add to our number, so that we will be able to put more time into the work in the years ahead.
My wife's name is Alma & we have two married children with seven Grandchildren. Tricia & her husband Norm have three children & Troy & his wife Jenny have four. Troy by the way is a Pastor at Rosalie Church & is in his third year at the Baptist Theological College. The following are some Prayer points which you could share with others Churches of like mind.
The Johnson Family who have recently begun to attend. These people are from an Anglican Church background but are not regenerate. However they are very attentive & are showing great interest in the Scriptures. Never heard anything like it before. There is real evidence that the Lord is at work. Please pray for them & for us.
Young People. We have a number of young people who attend with their parents, but have never made a public declaration of faith. Please pray for the convicting & converting work of God's Spirit.
Husbands & Wives with unbelieving partners. We have six women & one man is this difficult situation. Some of these spouses are very difficult, but others are quite open. Please pray for wisdom for the believers & that God would soften these hard hearts. Gail Shellard is a young lady who has just accepted work in a privately run Pre- School in Khartoum, Sudan. The people she will be working with are not believers. However she will be able to have fellowship with believers associated with Churches in the city. She starts work there on 14th August. She is our secretary's daughter. Please pray for her safety & opportunity for involvement in a good local Church.
Pianist. We have a real need for a good pianist. The present pianist does her best, however she cannot lead or teach us new Hymns. No one seems to be complaining, however I know that a good pianist of like mind, would assist our congregational singing greatly. Full time Pastor. Obviously our greatest need is for the Fellowship to have sufficient income to support me full time. Because we don't have many committed couples with a regular income that is not possible as yet.
The other way is for a that another Elder become available to assist on a part time basis. Please pray for God's leading in this matter. There is much more that I could write, but we will leave that till another time. I can see I will have to make it a priority to upgrade my computer so I can send E-Mail.
Thanks again for this wonderful opportunity for interaction with other Churches of like mind.
Your in Christ's wonderful Name.
Pastor Wal Cane.
Samford Baptist Fellowship.

Rob and Jenny Gerard
2000 Woodlawn Ave.
Middletown, Ohio 45044-4578
(513) 423-3145
robjenny@netzero.net

Grace Prayer Bulletin # 48

A ministry of The King's Chapel