Within our 26-day trip, we spent our time in three regions: began in Melbourne (Victoria), then traveled to Sydney (New South Wales), and finished up in Brisbane (Queensland). Realizing that we never gave you a synopsis of our Brisbane week, here’s a summary of our ministry opportunities and blessings…
After ministering to Life Gate Baptist Church during Sunday morning and afternoons–see Life Gate Baptist Church (Brisbane Region) post–we turned our attention to BIMI veteran missionaries Joe and Melissa Marshall and their ministry at New Beginnings Baptist Church (NBBC). Beginning our trip with BIMI missionary Josh Zacharias and finishing up our trip with the Marshalls definitely kept the “missionaries” in the “missions” trip. Because Pastor and Mrs. Zimmermann were feeling crook (sick) and were not present during our Sunday ministry at Life Gate, on Thursday it was great to finally meet up with them at Mt. Coot-Tha and get a group photo with them and the Marshalls overlooking the beautiful city of Brisbane!
Because the main focus of our week would be both the Super Saturday Youth Rally and NBBC’s Sunday Services, we spent the week mainly preparing for the Super Saturday outreach to both local churches as well as to the community surrounding NBBC. Sprinkled throughout the week were special training sessions, letterboxing opportunities, family work projects, and special outings involving both the church as well as with the Marshall family. Overall, it was good just to fellowship with the Marshall family and to glean from their 20+ years of experience as well as encourage them in the work of the ministry.
One thing that the team learned throughout the week was the principle taught in I Corinthians 14:40 as the Marshalls shared how to do all things “decently and in order” which was a very evident hallmark of their various ministries. Except for our daily brekkies (breakfasts), Mrs. Marshall did an outstanding job of feeding our troops and the team pitched in to help assist where needed. When not in the kitchen assisting, others were entertaining their three-year-old son Thomas as he really enjoyed the team. A special blessing is when a few of the ladies were able to take Tommy letterboxing throughout the week (putting Super Saturday flyers in people’s mailboxes–which is perfectly legal in Australia) and the rest of the team spent some quality time shopping in downtown Brisbane with their daughter Kaitlyn and son Josiah.
The Marshalls were greatly encouraged during NBBC’s Super Saturday outreach as almost 90 people were present, especially since this was their first post-COVID Super Saturday since 2019. Whether leading the teen group, sharing their testimonies, running game time, teaching the Bible story, or leading Bible songs, it was great to see our team step up and use their various talents for the Lord. An added blessing was that missionary Josh Zacharias flew into Brisbane on Thursday as he would be preaching during the Super Saturday teen program. Whether it was at our Tuesday evening beach pavilion cookout or at the Friday evening back yard cookout, the team spent some quality fellowship time with several of the New Beginnings members and bonded really well. During Friday evening, we were able to celebrate Morgan’s birthday as well as introduce this year’s team to the famous Australian Tim Tam Slam (yes, this is legit and there are instructions on Google!). They all passed with flying colors! Speaking about fellowship, on Thursday we had a memorable time with the just the Marshall family at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary where the team got their fill of koalas and kangaroos (and some birds too!).
During NBBC’s Sunday Services, the team again had ample opportunity to serve and be a blessing by teaching one of the Growth Groups, sharing a testimony, playing in the orchestra, and singing special music. Sunday was a special Sunday as it represented NBBC’s 9th Anniversary. Because Chris was a skilled videologist, he was able to be a blessing to Pastor and Mrs. Marshall by assisting them with their 9th Anniversary Church video. Pastor Joe brought the morning message and missionary Zacharias brought the evening message. Once the evening service was over, Pastor Marshall thought it would be good to spend another hour or so just fellowshipping and playing basketball which was enjoyed by all. Another neat blessing during the Sunday evening service was to meet Dr. Stephen Thomas (along with his children), a Pensacola Christian College (PCC) graduate, that successfully practices Dermatology medicine south of Brisbane. He couldn’t stop talking about how God had wonderfully used PCC in his life and how thankful he was to have attended there.
Between a busy Super Saturday and a full day of Sunday ministry, our team went home quite tired but very blessed in all that they had seen and done in serving our Lord and being a blessing to many people. On Monday morning, we met over at the Marshall home one last time as Mrs. Marshall had cooked a delightful brekkie as our last meal together. It was a special time as both the Marshalls and Josh Zacharias gave one last challenge to all of us greatly highlighting the huge and continuing need for Australian laborers to make up the hedge and help stand in the gap. After praying together, we all said our good-byes and left the Brisbane International Airport later that evening bound for Los Angeles. As an important side note, we were so very thankful to Pastor Marshall for assisting us with our luggage transport both from and back to the airport!
It was wonderful spending time with seasoned missionaries, gleaning, and catching their vision of what God is doing in the hearts and lives of His people in the Land Down Under and particularly in the Brisbane region. Praise the Lord for the Marshall Family who continue to faithfully serve our Lord with both zeal and passion and thank you, Joe and Melissa, for your warm and gracious hospitality toward our team in ministering to us and allowing us to serve you and New Beginnings Baptist Church.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow…
Team Australia