Your Prayers

Thanks so much for your prayers on behalf of the school students that were planning to leave our Christian school for the government school several hours away. Brother Randy was able to meet with the two young men after church on Wednesday and discussed the problems that they would face if they choose to leave. He told the boys to come the next morning before school and tell him their decision. They each came separately and said that they had decided to stay and finish out the year. What a blessing! This a real answer to prayer and an evidence of the work of the Lord in their hearts as their decision to stay went against everything their culture and unsaved families would pressure them to do. Thanks for your intercession on their behalf.

Babies and School Kids

It's been sort of an up and down week. To start things off, last Sunday one of the national preachers approached me before afternoon church and told me that his sister and her husband had walked several hours to bring their sick baby for me to look at. I immediately went to his house to see it and found a quite lethargic 11-month-old, working very hard to breathe and burning up with fever. We went straight up to the clinic and I gave him a penicillin shot, a liquid antibiotic, and a bronchodilator (to ease his breathing). The parents brought him back every morning throughout the week for another penicillin shot. By the end of the week, his breathing was much easier and he seemed much better. But this morning (Monday), I got word that he had died during the night. It's the first baby I have lost since coming here, so that's a real blow, besides the fact that he really seemed to be better the last time that I saw him. In addition, I don't think either of his parents are saved.

On Thursday morning, a young Christian couple from church brought their 6-month old baby to the clinic. She also was having a hard time breathing and had actually stopped breathing several times during the night and once right there in the clinic. I gave her an antibiotic shot as well, and then Brother Randy was able to drive them a few hours to the nearest airstrip where they were able to fly to a government hospital. (We offered to take the other baby as well, but the parents declined.) As of yesterday, that baby is still alive and improving. Please pray for the continued healing of Joanna along with her parents Tu and Wari as well as for the comfort of Gabriel's family in his loss.

The school side of things is bringing its share of heartache as well. As I may have mentioned, age does not correlate with grade here, so several of our 4^{th graders are 18 or older. Due to some conduct issues, we did not reenroll some of last year's 3rd graders and they left home to go to a government school (about 6 hours away). The government school is on break this week and some of those kids have come back with rosy tales. Because of the quality of our education, the kids that had finished 3rd grade in our school were accepted into 6th grade in the community school and are finding the work much easier. This is tempting two of the 4th grade boys to leave our school and join them. I think this is an unwise decision from an academic standpoint (as they are getting a better education here and will be farther ahead the longer they stay with us), but I am more concerned from a spiritual standpoint. As I spoke with one of the boys today, I was encouraging him to pray and seek God's will and not just follow his own desires. Every time I brought that up, he looked anywhere but at me. I really fear for their walk with the Lord if they put their own plans over God's, not to mention that they will be far away from a Bible preaching church and the accountability of pastor, parents, and godly authorities. The boys have to make their decision this week as they would need to be at the government school by Monday. Please pray that they will seek and follow God's leading.}

House Building

Things are progressing slowly but steadily on my house project, and I'm learning about PNG culture in the process. I purchased the land last week from one of the men in the church. I got about 2500 square feet for $40! Don't you wish you lived here? Of course, it's kind of like buying land in the Everglades. I own a plot of land on the edge of a cliff in the middle of nowhereJ I actually offered about $50 for the land and was told that was too much and we settled on $40.

One of the challenges of the project is that just about every man in the village wants to be involved. So we made a list of all the various materials needed (from support posts to wood for the frame to woven mats for the walls) and figured that we need about 25 men for supplies. Those things we will assign to various unsaved men from the different neighborhoods or clans within the village (trying to avoid any accusations of favoritism). Then we are using Christian guys to do the actual construction work (so I don't have to worry about my nails disappearing). A group of guys came Saturday and dug out another meter of ground to enlarge the flat area where I plan to build. Tuesday they came to dig twelve holes for the support posts. The next step is to gather all the bush materials needed to actually build the house. I am very excited about the project and anxious to see how it will progress in the days ahead.

In other news, Ellie, another teen girl, made a profession of faith on Sunday. She had made a profession some years ago but had not really been living for the Lord. She now says that she didn't really understand what she was doing previously. The Lord has recently provided a national couple to serve as the youth leaders for the church. The wife of the couple and I are dividing up these girls to start discipleship classes with them. (She is taking the girls who read poorly or not at all and I am taking those who read better.) Please pray for the growth of these girls and their protection from the pressures of a heathen culture.

Teachers?

This seems to be the month for sharing things that are on my heart, so I thought I might as well continue the trend. This week I want to tell you about our need for teachers and even give you some specifics in case the Lord might lead you in our direction.

We have a small Christian school called Joy Christian School (JCS). There are several purposes for the school but the main one is to provide a place where the young people of our church can get a Christian education that will equip them to be the pastors, deacons, and Sunday school teachers of the future church of PNG. Education is not mandatory here, so many children do not have an opportunity to attend school and even those that do often get a quite poor education.

At present, JCS has 1^{st, 2nd, and 4th grades, but since students start school at any age our students range from 9 to 18 years old, with a mixture of ages in each grade. English is the national language of PNG so all education is conducted in that language. This enables us to use Bob Jones University Press materials for most of the school subjects. As you may recall, we are awaiting the arrival of Elizabeth Ellinghausen, a short term teacher for the school. She will teach during the remainder of this school year and 1-2 more years. Tiffany Parks, our present head teacher, will return to the US at the end of this school year to make plans for her future ministry in the Philippines. That will leave us once again with one full-time teacher and my part-time assistance to teach 3 grades of students. We would love to start a prep (or kindergarten) class for the many interested young people of our church, but that is impossible without another full-time teacher.}

So what exactly is the need, you may ask. We need folks who are willing to give 1-2 years to come to a rather remote location and participate in this ministry. An education degree would be nice but not essential. However, an adaptable spirit and servant's heart are absolutely necessary. Our school year attempts to follow a PNG schedule, so each new year starts sometime in January. As you may have deduced from Elizabeth's long wait, sometimes paperwork approval can take a lengthy time so that would be good to keep in mind. If you have an interest in this ministry, please feel free to communicate with us directly or with our mission agency (Gospel Fellowship Association).

More Prayer Burdens

I have been struck recently with the vital importance of the prayers of God's people. As a missionary on the foreign field, I can only do so much, but through your prayers the Holy Spirit will work in the hearts of the people to whom I minister, bringing lasting fruit. It is for this reason that I often share with you the prayer burdens that are on my own heart and this blog entry is no exception.

First, thank you for your continued prayers for the teen girls in my Sunday school class. Another girl came forward at the morning service yesterday. When I asked her why she had come, she said that she wanted to repent (the Pidgin term for becoming a Christian). I asked why she needed to repent and she stated that she was a sinner and needed God to save her. What a blessing! Please pray for Mwhity along with the other 4 girls saved in recent months (Regina, Wendy, Jaunika, and Jocelyn). [Note: I sometimes hesitate to list the names of new believers as it seems to sometimes result in a special attack of the enemy, so please do not sin against them in ceasing to pray for them.]

Today at clinic I had opportunity to speak to a young couple that I am burdened for. The woman, Anita, had come to clinic a few months ago and immediately caught my attention. Her dress, manner, and speech indicated that she had had a bit broader education and experience than is common amongst the women in our village. I asked her where she was from and she stated that she had just come from Port Moresby (the capital city of PNG). It was school break time, so I figured that she had just come for a visit and thought no more about it. When she came back today though, I asked her if she was staying in our village permanently. When she answered affirmatively, I asked if she attended church anywhere. She replied that she had attended a Baptist church before but had left her church clothes behind when she had come to our village. I, of course, told her not to worry about clothes but that we would be thrilled to have her at church. I made a mental note of her name so that I would remember it if she should take me up on my invitation.

A few patients later, I saw a man from her same neighborhood that I knew well from previous contacts. His name is Mishach and he unfortunately has rather a bad reputation in the village. As I greeted him, I realized that Anita's last name had been listed as Mishach. (In PNG, a married woman takes her husband's first name as her last name.) So I asked him about her and he smilingly confirmed that she was his new wife. I told him that I had invited her to church and told him that he should come as well. He dropped his head and told me that he had been saved some years previously but had backslidden. I continued to encourage him to come. Please pray for a real working of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of this young couple.

Prayer Burden

I want to share with you a burden that has been on my heart for some time for the ministry here. I am concerned for our young people. I know that have mentioned the teens from time to time, and they definitely face a number of struggles. But the particular group I am thinking of are not even teenagers yet. Most them are 8-12 years old and many of them have Christian homes where both their parents are saved and even church members. But they have not yet made a personal decision to trust Jesus Christ as their own Savior from sin.

They are a new phenomenon here – second generation Christians. All of the adults in our church were saved in their 20s or even older. Most of them had never even heard the gospel as children. But now we have a crop of young people who have been in church for most of their lives, can recite numerous Bible verses and Bible stories, and can sing nearly every song in the hymn book. Yet they are as lost as those who have never set foot in the church. A few of them are even students in our Christian school.

Please pray that the Lord will do a convicting work in the hearts of these young people. Pray that they will recognize their personal need of a Savior and have the courage to make the decision necessary.

The Usual

Things have actually been pretty normal around here for a change. Clinic attendance is up and averaging more than 20 patients each day. I am told that the local government health worker is out of medicine as is the nearest government clinic (about a 6 hour walk away). I am seeing patients from as far as 8 hours away. Pretty amazing!

A man passed away in the Kensa neighborhood last week. He was older and had gone to the government hospital in town. It was quite the production figuring out how to get his body back so it could be properly mourned and buried. They ended up flying the coffin into the airstrip and Brother Randy went and picked it up. He was related to several of our church families and 2 of our school students.

Another one of the teen girls went forward for salvation on Sunday. That makes 4 girls in my Sunday school class that have made professions. What a blessing to see the Lord at work!

I'll close with a humorous side note. Last night I went to a fellowship in one of the neighborhoods of our village. I was sitting there in the hut with a dirt floor, a grass roof, and a fire in the center of the hut. The children sitting next to me were barefoot as was the older couple seated on the ground. One of our national preachers was leading the singing, but he had to stop to turn off the cell phone that was ringing in his pocket. What a clash of cultures and times!