Progress In The Australian Work
Just a year ago Brother Rodney Wald landed in Sydney N. S. W., Australia. In the year he has firmly set his feet in the Australian soil and laid a good foundation for a growing work. He lives and works with the congregation in Adamstown, New South Wales.
In the year he has worked in Australia, Brother Wald has conducted four gospel missions (gospel meetings) for the Merrylands congregation in the suburb of Sydney, and has baptized four adults. Two of these were former members of the Church of England, one a Roman Catholic and one a Presbyterian. The work in Merrylands has taken on new life from the help they have received from these gospel missions.
In Adamstown, about 125 miles from Sydney, Brother Wald is a member of the small congregation meeting in the home of Brother and Sister Bob Jefferson. There are only three members in the congregation. The Jeffersons were members of the digressive church but left it some years ago to follow the New Testament pattern.
The Adamstown congregation has done a lot of work in the past year. They have written, duplicated, and distributed a correspondence course and have about 25-30 enrolled in the course and working faithfully on the lessons. The congregation has started classes for children and there are 'about ten students who attend fairly regularly. In addition to this, Brother Wald has written an article a week for one of the Newspapers. They are at this time negotiating for a fifteen minute weekly radio program. Such a program can be bought for about $10.00 per program, or less than $500.00 for the year. The coverage of the station has a potential of one quarter million listeners.
The work in Australia continues to progress despite the difficulties encountered. For further information on the work in Australia you may write to Rodney Wald, 70 Teralba Road, Adamstown, N. S. W., Australia, or M. T. Bishop, 41st Street Church of Christ, 2302 West 41st Street, Tulsa 7, Oklahoma.
Your support of this work by prayers and finances is needed, and all contributions will be promptly acknowledged. It is requested that you send your contributions directly to Brother Wald by cashier's check or American Express Money Order.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
April 11, 1955
This is to inform interested brethren everywhere of the fine work being done by Brother Rodney Wald in the land of Australia. We recommend Brother Wald wholeheartedly. He is a sound, faithful gospel preacher, and one who is not afraid of hard work. His experience in one of the hardest mission fields in this country prepared him to do a good work in difficult places. He is well qualified for missionary work from the standpoints of experience, training, deep interest and determined zeal.
It is our belief, further, that the method of supporting the work in Australia is scriptural. Brother Wald's support is sent, for the most part, directly to him by the contributing congregation. We prefer this arrangement as we feel it has many advantages, and fewer dangers than have some other plans. Under this plan Brother Wald receives regular, direct communications from the supporting congregations and in turn reports directly to them giving each a feeling of closeness that might not prevail otherwise. It is also encouraging to him to receive those communications.
We are happy that ours is the privilege of being the surety congregation for Brother Wald and we sustain that relation to him at this time. We can recommend the man and his work to you unreservedly.
Your brethren in Christ,
Marlin Cross
R. B. Lumpkin
R. G. Carns
G. R. Crutcher
Elders, 41st Street church of Christ.