Visit to Western Australia, Singapore and Malaysia

We returned home yesterday from a wonderful visit to our congregations and ministry in Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. It was an enriching experience. We were happy to share goodwill from the home office in the Work of God that connects people from all over the world and brings us together even from the remotest of places. The outcome of the Australia leadership conference that we concluded last Monday was beyond our expectations. We are happy to see the Church continuing to build community within itself and transition to future leadership.

After the conference that ended a week ago last Monday, we took time to visit the Australian church office in Burleigh Heads and spent the day with office manager and dear friend Ruth Root, along with our hosts Mark and Ileana Robertson. We drove out to see some spectacular scenery at nearby Springbrook National Park.

Last Wednesday, we flew to Perth, Australia, on the west coast and stayed with Perth and Bunbury pastor Grant Chick and his wife, Kim. The Chicks moved to Perth about seven months ago. Stephen Clark ably cared for these congregations from the Melbourne area, his principal area of work. He was highly regarded and loved by the brethren in the West, but the distance from Melbourne to Perth is about the same as New York to California and having a resident pastor is much more desirable for the brethren.

We really appreciate the Chicks' spirit of service in this remote part of Australia. He has plenty of work with the Perth and Bunbury churches in Western Australia, along with a visit every 6 weeks to our congregation in Singapore. Perth is considered the most isolated city in the world.

Grant and Kim showed us the venue for the Feast site in Rockingham, which is only 20 minutes from their home. It is a beautiful location on the Indian Ocean.

We held a Bible study last Thursday evening in Perth. 26 people came. Most of the people stayed for almost two hours to fellowship following the Bible study. The group is warm, motivated and appreciative to be part of God's Church. In all the areas that we visited we found the brethren to be this way: reflecting God's working in their lives and the able leadership of their pastors.

The next morning about ten of us met at a coffee shop in Hall's Head for more fellowship. It included some people who were not able to be at the Bible study.

Last Sabbath, we met for a combined Perth/Bunbury church service about 20 minutes from the Chicks' home. There were 65 in attendance. The level of hospitality, warmth and friendship was phenomenal. I spoke during the sermonette and sermon time as well as answered questions from the congregation following services. Then there was a potluck and fellowship for a few hours. Following that, we went over to the Chicks' home where we fellowshipped some more at a meal that Kim and others prepared.

On Sunday, we flew together with the Chicks to Singapore. The distance is almost the same as from Brisbane to Perth, a flight of about five and one half hours.

The real beauty of Singapore is the people. This past Monday evening, we held a Bible study at Rosalyn Yong's 25th story apartment overlooking the harbor. Our host, Rosalyn, found out that her mother died at 5:15 pm, which was less than two hours before the Bible study. We offered to cancel the meeting, but she insisted that we carry on. Rosalyn was not there for the first part of the study. Her mother had been failing in health; one is still sobered by the death of a parent. Death is an enemy.

After the meal and Bible study, we all sat out on the patio of their apartment and talked for a long time before going back to our hotel. I also showed some slides of the conference in Australia as well as photos of our visits earlier in the year to churches in Malawi, South Africa, Italy and the Netherlands. I was happy to visit with Clement Lim who calls me from time to time at the home office. Then we talked with Rosalyn, JJ, May, Clerice, Lillie, Han, Henry, Carol and others.

The next morning, which was two days ago, we drove to Malaysia across the causeway linking the two countries to visit longtime faithful member Lawrence Wong. We were accompanied by Arthur Lim, who was not able to come to the Bible study the evening before, and Clerice Chew. The visit with Lawrence Wong and his wife, Maria, was so encouraging to all of us.

The day ended by having dinner with Clerice and Lillie. We thoroughly enjoyed their company and appreciated their faithfulness to God and their conversion. My prayers for the churches include gratitude for the good that we see our God building the lives of our people who come to conversion.

Words cannot adequately describe how much we appreciated this visit to our congregations and ministers. We are so thankful for what God is doing in people's lives as we all prepare for eternal life in God's Kingdom.

Much more detail can be found about our visits with the churches at http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/victorkubik/19/tpod.html

You may also want to follow Jorge de Campos, who is visiting in Angola and South Africa at this time on his travel blog at http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/jorgedecampos/4/tpod.html