{"id":3073,"date":"2022-10-10T16:57:31","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T06:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/bart-allen\/?p=3073"},"modified":"2022-10-10T16:57:34","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T06:57:34","slug":"god-at-work-in-amdu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/bart-allen\/2022\/10\/10\/god-at-work-in-amdu\/","title":{"rendered":"God at Work in Amdu"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cFor the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart<\/em>.\u201d  Hebrews 4:12<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have been privileged these past couple months to see the reality of this verse at work here in Amdu.\u00a0 As you read these short accounts, please rejoice with us about what the Lord is doing and pray for more of our Amdu friends to trust in Christ alone for salvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s Word Convicting of Sin<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0 In Amdu, community is huge, and everyone pretty much knows what everyone else is doing. Disagreements are often played out in public, and recently one of our believers was right in the middle of this.\u00a0 He ended up acting in a way that was totally normal in Amdu culture but not a good picture of a child of God.\u00a0 Immediately afterwards he came to talk to Bart about how ashamed he was of the way he had acted, and they had a good conversation that was helpful for this young believer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Later that week as we met together as believers, this man apologized to the group for how he had acted and how he had not been a good testimony.  His confession prompted another man to share something wrong that he had done.  It was a blessing to see this evidence of the Holy Spirit working in their hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s Word Challenging Traditional Beliefs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  As we meet together at various times each week with the believers, there are usually some who join us who are not yet in God\u2019s family.  A few older men in particular are faithfully coming and listening attentively to God\u2019s Word.  One week, one of the men shared how he was seeing that what he had always believed (what had been passed down to him from his ancestors) couldn\u2019t be correct if God\u2019s Word was true.  He is thinking hard about all he is hearing.  \u201cI\u2019m thinking a lot about my sin and I\u2019m worried that I will be guilty in God\u2019s eyes when I die.\u201d Will you pray for him and others like him \u2013 that they would understand their hopeless position and trust in Christ alone for salvation? <\/p>\n\n\n

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Burdened to Share God\u2019s Word with Others<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0 One couple in particular is very burdened to share this amazing message of God\u2019s grace with their family.\u00a0 The wife is from another neighboring language group and this couple has been trying for several months to go visit her family.\u00a0 The river was too high and dangerous to cross last time they attempted to go, but they are making the trip now.\u00a0 Please pray for safety for their long journey, for clear communication of what God\u2019s Word says, and for receptive hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Friends Encouraging us with God\u2019s Word<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  We have shared before how our little group of believers is getting harassed and persecuted by the rest of the community.  We know that behind our backs, people are saying things about us, too, but it isn\u2019t often to our faces.  Recently though a man took the opportunity to openly and angrily malign us and what we are here doing.  Two of the believers afterwards shared this with Bart, \u201cDon\u2019t listen to him or worry about what he is saying.  Remember, people hated Jesus too and so that is what we can expect in this world as His followers.\u201d  What a blessing to have brothers and sisters like this!  Living out God\u2019s mission in this world together, walking through life\u2019s difficulties holding on to God\u2019s promises\u2026could anything be better?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  We really are here to work ourselves out of a job.  We will not live in Amdu forever.  Our goal is to train and equip the believers to be able to feed themselves, share God\u2019s Word with those who haven\u2019t heard, and continue to grow on into the future when the time comes that we no longer live here with them.  It is always encouraging to see evidence of what they have been taught taking root in their lives. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Family Update<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Thank you for praying not only for the church planting work among the Amdu people but also specifically for our family.  Here is some news about our boys:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke<\/strong>\u00a0 – We miss our oldest son, but we are thankful for technology that enables us to still be in contact even as we are in our remote village.\u00a0 Please continue to pray for him (in his sophomore year of college) as he balances a full schedule of classes, homework, his on-campus job, and the social aspects of college life.\u00a0 He has a good group of godly friends (many of whom are also missionary kids) who encourage him and many friends of ours in the surrounding area who care about him.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Titus<\/strong> recently had the opportunity to join a group of seniors from the MK school in town to climb Mt. Wilhelm, the tallest peak in PNG!\u00a0 At almost 15,000 ft., he even got to see snow!\u00a0 He was also able to participate in some industrial arts classes and thoroughly enjoyed that opportunity to learn from a skilled woodworker (fellow missionary at the MK school).\u00a0 Pray for him as he continues through his senior year and is praying about what the Lord has for him once he returns to the US.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Caleb and Micah<\/strong> are doing well in 6th<\/sup> and 4th<\/sup> grades.\u00a0 Recently they\u2019ve really been enjoying playing soccer with kids on the airstrip.\u00a0 A few weeks ago they got to help with a little service project for one of our believers.\u00a0 They joined Bart and several other believers in cutting and carrying sago palm leaves to another village to help repair a friends\u2019 roof that was falling apart and leaking.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Continued Thanksgiving<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0 We have dealt with some health issues lately which have caused us to be more thankful for the good health that we normally enjoy.\u00a0 Sometimes when things are going well, we can forget to be thankful for things that seem normal.\u00a0 It\u2019s always good (though not always easy) to have reminders not to take things for granted.\u00a0 We are not guaranteed a certain amount of time remaining here on earth.\u00a0 How are we using the days and minutes God gives us?\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0
And as we thank the Lord, we are always grateful for the group of supporters and prayer partners the Lord has put together for us.\u00a0 We are very grateful for you and your willing sacrifice to be a part of what is happening in Amdu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cFor the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.\u201d  Hebrews 4:12 We have been privileged these past couple months to see the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":392,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3381],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3073","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-ministry","7":"category-news-article","8":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/bart-allen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/bart-allen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/bart-allen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/bart-allen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/392"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/bart-allen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/bart-allen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3073\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/bart-allen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/bart-allen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/bart-allen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}