Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you.” Deuteronomy 9:4
At the start of 2021, my wife, Leah, and I prayed that God would set the tone for our home and our young church plant in Bundoora. We were inspired by the slogan: “We depend only on God; and expect great things from God!”
This year, in facing the uncertainties that Covid brought with it, in navigating repeated lockdowns, not having a firm location to worship in, and being a young church plant, we realized our dependency on God… but we also leaned more heavily on God’s goodness, believing in His might to build and grow His church despite challenges!
I’m thankful to the Victorian Conference’s leadership, prayers and investment into our church plant and am happy to report the addition of six new souls into the kingdom of God! Here is the amazing journey of each of these individuals who are now helping to build our church:
- Todd De Vries – we met Todd through the Revelation Today program with IIW in the Northern site in May 2019. Todd had been bringing a group of his friends from the Pentecostal church, his home church, almost every night to hear the meetings. I sat beside him on the night where he realized it was time to give his life to Jesus once again. Early this year, Todd was baptized, and now leads multiple prayer meetings per week for our church of his own initiative! We praise God for Todd…
- Nick and Avalon Teboneras – we met Nick and Avalon when we first started work in Preston church. Nick and Av, father and daughter, walked into church after watching a series of Adventist programs online not knowing which church these programs were coming from. What followed were weekly Bible studies at Av’s mum’s home with almost 6-7 people each time and amazing dinners! We are so thankful for Nick and Av. After her baptism, Av organized her first 10,000 steps challenge for our church plant where over $600 was raised for Adra.
- Sol Luque – Coming from Colombia, Sol is a ray of sunshine in our church plant! She hugs literally everyone… even with Covid restrictions! Sol experienced God in a very real way through her visa application process to stay in Australia as she and our church prayed. Sol was baptized on Dec 18, 2021 in the Goulburn river, Seymour.
- Lawrence and Mycah Padilla – Lawrence and Mycah have been on an amazing journey together with their two small kids. Moving from NSW to Vic, they Google searched the church closest to them and walked into our church one Sabbath pre-Covid. They are now part of our family and have used their talents to sing for church worships and uplift others with their encouraging testimonies. They were baptized as husband and wife also on Dec 18, 2021 in the Goulburn river, Seymour.
Please pray for our church plant in Bundoora and for those who’ve been baptized this year.
Vikram Panchel
