March 2005 Monthly Newsletter

Practice What You Preach
Tonight I preached at West Penno from Matthew ch 3 and talked about "producing fruit in keeping with repentance". We looked at producing the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22) by remaining attached to the vine - Jesus. (John 15)
I was particularly challenged. One characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness. This is something that God is. But it is also something that I so often am not. Man I desire to be consistent and faithful in my daily walk with God. I'm preaching again the next two weeks. I feel very much my need to rely on God and to work in His strength and not my own efforts.

New Zealand
I'm glad the rugby season is here because we can't play cricket for nuts. February was a great time in NZ. Look up the website for the weekly reports and photos about where I have been and what I have been doing.

Back in Aus
God has blessed me immensely. The Watkins family, good friends from church and school, have kindly given me a room in their house and are looking after me very well. I will be based here until the middle of May. They live at Middle Dural and welcome visitors if you would like to drive out for a chat and a coffee. I'm also doing casual relief teaching at Pacific Hills Christian School. So far I have taught Prep (4 yr olds) and Kindy. I'm sharing at their staff devotions this coming week.

Some Future Plans
March 28-31 will be a road trip to Bourke and Bathurst. If you live out West and would like to catch up please let me know.
April 12-14 I will be in Rockhampton, QLD. If you live anywhere near Rocky please let me know so I can catch up with you there.
April 20-29 I will be back in NZ for a family reunion.
May 14 I will be speaking at the West Pennant Hills Community Church Missionary Conference. All Sydney-siders please feel warmly invited - and yes, dinner is provided.
May 28 I will be speaking at Village Ave Community Church Missionary Conference in QLD. If you are in Brisbane you are also cordially invited to attend.
I hope to head back to Ukraine right after this. I'm now starting to get together the things I need for a visa and look into booking flights. Please pray for ease in the paper work and a good price for the tickets.
If you have a church or youth group or home group that you would like me to come and share at then please don't hesitate to contact me.

Ukraine
I received an update from Ben and Tamara Clarke and thought I'd share it with you. I do miss being in Ukraine but right now God has me here.
Ben writes:
"Just a check in from this half of the world. We are doing well, and seeing God work in our lives and in the lives of those around us. I know numbers are not something to use as a gauge of God's blessing, or of our obedience, but we are regularly seeing all the chairs at youth group and church nearly full. Last night at YG we were talking about lending and money and debt in general and there was some really great discussion, and personal sharing about God's miraculous intervention in situations and also some horror stories of why not to go surety for someone else (a big problem in Ukraine). I was really encouraged to see the young people handling the Word of God well and hearing about how they are applying it to their lives.

Pray for one guy Jenya. He fell at YG a few weeks ago and he is not a small guy. He twisted his ankle badly and still can't walk. As the same time his Grandmother had a shoulder operation that has since got infected. Pray for healing in this family, they are all believers. Also praise God that Jenya is still delighting in God's word and has not been drinking for ages and is still trying not to smoke.

Pray for Larissa and Natasha. They have both got jobs as bookkeepers. This means that they have to work out what to do when their Boss lies about money. They desire to be honest and have both told their bosses that they will not falsify documents they find it hard.

Pray for Gresha who leads the youth group at the 14th technical school. Sometimes he gets discouraged but at the moment he is really enjoying having one of my disciples & give lots of support. That would be Igor. Pray that God will strengthen them both, and for the meeting's immediate future when Gresha goes on placement in a few weeks.

Pray for Valera. He was baptized last summer, and has since fallen away from God. He is an orphan who grew up on river boats in far north Russia. He has roots in Rzhyshchiv and works on fishing boats in the summer as well as on construction sights. He has a real problem with alcohol. He needs God's help.

Pray for Tamara, Ben, Joseph, Oliver, Xavier, and Jordana. We are dedicated to serving God and want to stay that way and not be detracted by anything else. We want to keep our eyes on Jesus.

Technical Stuff
I may not have received all my emails over the last week as the server was undergoing a reconstruction. If you have failed to receive a reply please try again on jono@jonomiller.com

Praise God
for a great time in NZ
for accommodation and work
for help in preaching

Please Pray
for more sermon preparation
plenty of work
for the all the 'paperwork' that needs to be done before I return to Ukraine
for the church in Rzhyshchiv

Love Jono
Keep Looking Up

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