Letter from Fran and Dereck

Dear friends,

We are taking the liberty of enclosing a prayer card for our work with the mission Pioneers of Australia. This is the reason why we came to Melbourne at the end of 2001. (Why else would one leave Tassie to come to live in Melbourne - with apologies to all you Melbournians!) Pioneers is a relatively young (25 years old) international family with about 1,150 men and women in service in 137 teams in 58 countries.

Pioneers of Australia is a relative newcomer to the missions scene in Australia, but you may be familiar with some of the missions which have now come under the Pioneers umbrella - like Asia Pacific Christian Mission, South Seas Evangelical Mission, and Action Partners (formerly Sudan United Mission).

We are the oldies in a dynamic 'youthy' National Office team, located in Ringwood, about 30km east of Melbourne. The average age of the leadership team (headed by our Director, Tim Meyers) is about 40. The vision and enthusiasm of the team is certainly reflected in the operational side of the mission and in the output - young people heading off overseas as career missionaries (as opposed to short termers only). Twenty left last year, and there are no fewer than 33 who are preparing to leave in 2004. This represents an almost unprecedented response among mission agencies in Australia to the challenge of bringing the gospel to unreached peoples around the world.

As many of the countries are closed to Christian work in the traditional sense because of communism or Islam, trades, business and professional people are heading off in a variety of guises to represent Christ and to help build His church. So for example we have a PhD student studying petrochemicals at an Asian University, a man exporting furniture from a closed country in South East Asia, a wrestling coach in Mongolia, a doctor in Cambodia and a media professional in the Middle East.

It is hard to explain what a privilege and a constant challenge it is to journey with these folk as they prepare to leave Australia for overseas service and as they serve in many difficult, isolated and dangerous places. While we are mainly doing administrative and financial support tasks, it is an absolute thrill to feel an integral part of the whole mission operation, and we believe that God would have us work here, on a voluntary basis, for another 3 years at least.

We would deeply value your prayer support. We are often conscious of Satan's opposition in the lives and circumstances of those with whom and for whom we work, so please pray that we will have a positive and encouraging influence and that we be faithful and effective as we serve Him here.

We appreciate that in reading this letter, you have been able to enter into a part of our lives and ministry that is really important to us, and we believe important also in God's will for us. Thank you, and may the Lord bless you and prosper you, as you also serve our wonderful God. We would love to hear news of you and your family, so we can journey together in fellowship and prayer.

Your friends in Christ,

Dereck & Fran