Phil Eagling Newsletter January 2003

Volume 4, Issue 1 January 2003

Gday from down under again. Sharon, Savannah, & I are sure thankful to God for you all. We are so thankful that God has allowed us to be in partnership together. Thanks for your continued support.

I wanted to let you all know what has taken place in the last two months. In the month of December we had the usual Christmas celebrations. The church Sunday school children put on a Christmas play. As you will see by the photo’s in this letter. We also had a BBQ on Sunday the 22nd of December, where we invited the parents of the Sunday School children to come. One thing that you need to know, is that the parents of most Sunday school children in Australia don’t come to church. I am not sure if that is the same in America, but it happens here. The aim for us is to get them to come to church.

Some great things happened on the 22nd. I went over to the skateboard park, which is behind the church, and asked some of the young lads, (teenage boys,) to come over and have a sausage sizzle (hot dog). Two of them came over. One of them has kept coming ever since. Please pray for him, his name is Mitchell. He has started to bring his mates, (friends) as well. He is excited about coming to church. Praise God!

Also there are new families coming to church. We had 27 people at church last week. I know that might not be a lot for some of you, but praise God it is happening. This year we would like to see the church grow. We are planning to have nine Sunday’s this year, one a month, totally geared towards asking and bringing non-saved people.

Just this past Sunday I had several people say that they came close to coming forward, to rededicate their lives. Also on this Sunday there was certainly an excitement in the people. I praise God for those of you who are praying for us on a daily basis. Some of you said you would, and we know you have, because of answered prayer.

On a more personal note, Sharon and I have been struggling somewhat with our finances. Since we left Murwillumbah, we have lost some income. Plus loosing the support of two churches did not help. Also because the Australian dollar has gone up, we are experiencing some difficulty with trying to pay our bills, and to help projects in the church get moving. So if there is any church that can increase their support of us in anyway, it would most certainly help us. We also have a tax bill which we need help with. Coming over to the States, changed how we could save for that bill. We genuinely need help with this! If you want more info about this, please email us. Or call us. The address for the email is on Sharon’s desk page. As well as our phone number. I know that some of you have helped us more than others. We still need help. We were told by some of you to let you know of our need.

Thanks again,
God bless,
yours in Christ,


Philip.

Greetings, I pray that your Christmas was Christ filled, with fond memories of family get togethers and fellowship with fellow believers in Christ.

We had a quiet Christmas, apart from what took place at our new church, we had my Father with us for three weeks over Christmas. We saw Philip’s brother and family as well, so that was great.

That is something that I have had to learn to deal with over the years. Being away from family can sometimes be a tough thing to do, but I know, that the ministry side of things takes precedence. I have begun to learn to make the church people my family. Being a shy person at times, it takes me a little while longer to make friends, but when I do, I know that most times I have made a friend for life.

Please can you pray for me, as I am getting ready to start another women’s fellowship, and lead in a women’s Bible study. As you can see, this is helping me come out of my comfort zone. We are going to go through a Bible study that is titled, "Women of the Bible". I believe that this will be most valuable. The women that are here are looking forward to what might take place with this Bible study and fellowship time. It is our aim to make it an outreach into the community. That God would move in a mighty way.

We want to see this church become a place where people can find answers to their question. We know, somewhat, about some of the people that live here. There are some families with major problems. Two of the Sunday school families have both lost their fathers tragically in the last two years. So the message of Christ is so needed here.

We need your prayers as well. On a personal note. Savannah will be starting preschool in a couple of weeks for one day a week. She is looking forward to that. She has made a nice little friend in Ben a downs syndrome boy that comes to the church. They love playing together. I had better go. Take care.

God bless and bye for now,
love

Sharon.

G’day, hope you all have had a bonzer Christmas, and that you all had fun in the sun. Ha, Ha just kidding. My mummy said that you most probably had a cold Christmas. We had a hot one here.

My daddy spoke to me about why we were in this new place. He said that the people here need to hear about Jesus Christ, because they want to live without the knowledge of God. He said they don’t want to know because some of them are hardened to the gospel message. I am not sure what that means, but I guess it means that they don’t want to change their ways.

My daddy said that I should pray for them, and ask my friends in the neighborhood to come to Sunday school. That is the only way they will know what it truly means to know God, if they come and find out.

I have had fun getting to know Ben, Liana, and their big sister Selina. Also Daniel and Christine. There are also those Sunday school kids, that will be back on February the 2nd. So I have a lot to look forward to, and a lot of kids to get to know as well.

My mummy said That the kids all go back to school at the end of January and beginning of February after having six weeks, some eight weeks off school. This is there summer holiday. What would that be like having six weeks at Christmas to go skiing or playing out in the cold? I guess it seems strange for you to think that we have summer holidays (vacation) during your winter?

I talked to my adopted grandparents the other day in Chattanooga and they said it was very cold, and that I would not like going outside. I don’t know about that, I know I like it here in the sun. Well I need to choof off, may Jesus Christ be strong in you, I will write soon,

love

Savannah.

• Franklin Christian Church
• Franklin Christian Church Missions
• Philip Eagling in Australia Missions

How do I Keep Informed?