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 Unexpected
Fruit
The other day we told Austin to quit throwing his apples in the
road in front of our home. He said that he had not thrown any.
That is when we discovered that we had a beautiful Granny Smith
Apple tree growing right in front of our home. A lot of folks
don’t know that Maria Anne Smith was a lady who lived in the
mid-19th century right here in Australia. She threw out some bad
crab apples which sprouted seedlings which she transplanted and
nurtured. Those trees produced the world’s first Granny Smith
apples. Those beautiful green apples were everywhere. We have
lived here for almost two years and never noticed that it was an
apple tree there until the fruit started dropping from the tree.
It made us think about our ministry here. It has taken us over a
year and a half to really begin seeing the fruit that has grown
here. We could have given up many times, like when no one showed
up for a service or when we had no response to sending out
thousands of flyers to homes in the area. However, we kept
pressing on. Now we can see the fruit. Right now Dwayne has
three men in discipleship classes. He has led two men to the
Lord in the past few months. He is counseling one of them. This
man is going to get baptized next month. The young lady in Val’s
Bible study is getting baptized this month along with Austin who
realized early last year that he needed to make a true
confession of faith, one that he remembered and understood. We
had 25 people come to our Christmas party, including four people
who do not know the Lord. We had 8 kids at the kids Christmas
party and 23 people at our Christmas celebration service. Two of
our men played guitar solos and sang for the first time in our
service. We also had a room full of kids for our Children’s
church that Sunday. We have three young adults coming right now
that do not know the Lord but are very interested in learning
more. We see the fruit everywhere now. Our Granny Smith apple
tree is a visible reminder of what God can do through ordinary
people and your support and prayers. Thank you!!
Outreach in ‘08
Wow, it’s hard to believe that it is 2008 now! We already have a
full schedule of events and outreach planned. On the 12th we
will have our first baptism in this new ministry. Next month we
will host a Hawaiian party in our home and plan to invite our
unsaved friends and neighbours. Val will be starting a new
ladies Bible Study and host a ladies craft night. Dwayne now has
several discipleship classes going and a counseling session each
week with one of our men. Valerie will be teaching the unique
stick drama in the local public school to the 6th graders which
will be presented at the Easter school assembly. We truly
appreciate your faithful support and prayers. Thank you!
Dwayne, Valerie and Austin Keefe
Lifting Christ Up Down Under
Phil. 1:3 |
