In nearly every area of life, Ernie and Liz Veszely had experienced disillusionment: with the Catholic faith of their childhood, with Ernie’s success as an architect, and with big-city life in Perth, Australia. They walked away from it all and joined some friends in a farming cooperative in the outback.
In the process of settling onto the property, Ernie and Liz visited a couple that had been instrumental in convincing them of this move. But that night, storms hit, flooding the area and leaving the Veszelys stranded at their friends’ house for a full week. Strangely to Ernie and Liz, their friends had begun speaking a “foreign language,” the couple’s enthusiastic joy in their newfound faith in Christ. During the week together, the couple’s vibrant testimony began to make sense to the Veszelys. Ernie called on the Lord to save him, and Liz later did the same.
Others in the community found Christ too, and a small church began. Even as a new believer, Ernie sensed God had special work for him. He surrendered to full-time ministry, and the Veszelys made yet another move—to Melbourne to attend Victoria Baptist Bible College (VBBC).
BMM missionary Stephen Wivell, head of VBBC, grounded Ernie academically. When a new couple, Steve and Ricka Butler, joined the missionary team, they found a “Timothy” in Ernie. Steve had come to shepherd and rebuild Calvary Baptist, a struggling church in the Melbourne suburbs. With Ernie as associate pastor, Steve benefited from Ernie’s Australian perspective, and Ernie gained invaluable hands-on training. After three years, the church was strong again and called Ernie as its senior pastor.
In 2008, the Veszleys celebrated their 20th anniversary at Calvary Baptist Church. Ernie and Liz have moved the church full-circle: from needing missionary help to being a strong body of believers that sends out its own Australian missionaries. As the Veszelys look ahead, they pray for a Timothy into whom Ernie can pour his own changed life so that future leadership is in place for the ongoing life-changing ministry of Calvary Baptist Church.