Douglas Dispatch emails

Douglas Dispatch - Furlough Update Sept. 2020

Dear Friends,

God is so good! He has protected and kept us through our furlough. We are healthy and safe. He has given us good face-to-face meetings with our Northwest partners (both churches and individuals).

We arrived in the US on July 2. We have enjoyed time with our son and daughter-in-law in Salem, and we’ve travelled in our RV into Washington, Idaho and Montana. We flew back to Michigan for two weeks with Matt’s family and partners back there. During that time we had some repair work done on our trailer. Now we are back in Salem for a couple of weeks, then we’ll head to Southern California to meet with friends and fellow organizers of the S.E.E. ministry. Then (finally) we’ll be travelling to Albuquerque to visit with our daughter and son-in-law for a couple of weeks.

It is our hope to return to Australia the 1st of November, after visiting our sending church in Vacaville, CA. To return earlier would cost around an extra $9000. Whew!

We have changed our US mailing address! If you want to mail anything to us, please note that our new address is:

Our friends at that address will be helping with our mail when we’re overseas. Of course you can always reach us by email: matt@abwedouglas.net.
Our phone numbers while we are in the states are (503) 409-6811 (Matt) and (916) 430-1573 (Barb). Keep in mind that as we travel we don’t always get good cell phone reception or internet access.

Please be in prayer for our financial needs. In order to return to the field, we will need to raise $460 per month. If you currently partner with us, please consider an increase at this time. If you would like more information about partnering with us in the ministry in Australia and Sports Event Evangelism, please email us. Or if you are affiliated with a church that would like us to come and present our ministry, please let us know.

Also, please pray for our continued safety as we travel (we’ve been in a number of near-misses on the roads here), health, and ease of return to the field. We know we will have to quarantine at a hotel in Sydney for two weeks (we are grateful to those who have given to cover this expense!). The Australian government at this time is restricting the number of travellers that are allowed to enter Australia each day.

Please pray for Living Hope Baptist Church as we are away. Praise God that several new people have been attending. The church is carrying on, but they are missing us–things are never quite the same when we’re away. We are rejoicing in the salvation of Mick–he was saved just after we left Australia and is growing, yet he is dealing with some issues from his former life without Christ. Please keep Al in your prayers–he is dealing with severe medical issues. Michelle also, for medical and housing issues. We miss our friends.

Matt is holding 6 of the 9 languages we plan to use at the Tokyo Olympics!

S.E.E. had its annual meeting today and the organization is strong and healthy. We would ask that you would please pray the Olympics go ahead next year, and that they will allow spectators to attend. This is such a great evangelistic ministry, and we trust that God will allow it to go forward.

Thanks for all your prayers for the ministry in Australia and around the world.

In His service,
Matt & Barb

ABWE Australia   &
Sports Event Evangelism (S.E.E.)

Please pray:

Praise the Lord with us:

17 Oct. 2014

Further Furlough Travels

Hello everyone,

Thank you for being so patient with us as we have been traveling around the past several weeks. We have neglected to keep in touch to let you know what God is doing. So sorry! Our time in Alaska was a blessing. We stayed with some great people and enjoyed telling churches and individuals about the ministry. Thanks to Calvary Baptist in Kenai for increasing our support, and for some new individual partners from Homer!

After Alaska, we spent time with Matt's family in Michigan, and with our daughter and son-in-law in Ohio. That was a wonderful time. Amy was Aunt March in the university's production of Little Women. What a delight to see her acting! Amy is close to finishing her degree, and she and Casey will be moving to Albequerque NM just before Christmas.

Luke seems to be doing well in his first semester at Corban University. We don't hear much from him, so he must be keeping busy.

We have been asked to head up a new ministry: SEE (Sports Event Evangelism). This will be the Summer Olympic Games outreach that has previously been sponsored by Answers in Genesis under the direction of Dr. David Crandall. He would like to retire, and we have been excited about this ministry since the 2000 Sydney Games. As you know, Matt has also been going to the FIFA Soccer World Cup events since 2006. We are still church planting in Australia, and will be able to direct this new ministry from there. We have seen such great results from each event since 2000, and we are eager to take on this new role.

Below is our schedule for the rest of the year. We would ask you to pray for continued safety as we travel, and also that God would supply new partners in church planting in Australia and SEE. Our support needs have increased this year with the new ministry and the rise in insurance and housing costs. Please pray about whether you or someone you know might be able to partner with us so we can return to the field by mid-January.

October 19: Highland Baptist Church, Hayward, CA
October 26: Calvary Baptist Church, Paradise, CA
November 2: Orchard Ave Baptist Church, Vacaville, CA
November 9: San Francisco Bible Church
November 10-15, Salem, OR, attend Corban University fall production of Camelot (Luke is in the play!)
November 16: Sunrise Valley Baptist Church, San Jose, CA
Fly to Michigan
November 19: Nashville Baptist Church, Nashville, MI
November 21: Attend Amy's Senior Theatre Project at Cedarville, OH
Thanksgiving with Matt's family
Fly to California

Thanks for praying!

Matt & Barb
ABWE Australia