Thank you for your prayers for Benjamin, Tony and Dennis while they were doing survey work this past week. They originally planned to be gone until Monday, October 3rd – but as is normally the case, plans change rapidly on these trips! The guys were able to completely avoid one two day hike between villages by using the helicopter so they were able to get home on Friday morning instead. The best part was they were able to surprise the wives and kids with their early return!
We were able to reach all of the main villages on the route we had planned, and were able to connect with all of the right people in each village. The data collection process went really well as the people were very cooperative and eager to answer questions. While we weren’t hosted as well as we had been on previous survey’s the people were more than willing to provide guides to take us from village to village! On one hike we had to cross the river 7 times. At least three of those crossings were nearly chest deep with strong currents. Our helpers were able to carry our bags across for us without getting them wet! But we didn’t have as much success keeping ourselves dry!!
The bottom line conclusion from this trip is that we have identified yet another people group without the Gospel. They are tangled in a web of confusing lies that have been expertly woven by the Father of Lies to keep the Light of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ hidden from their view. Where do we go from here? A full report will be written about this survey and will be submitted to our field leaders. They will evaluate the information in the report and will begin to determine what the best strategy is to reach these people. As the field strategy develops we’ll have a clearer picture of what our options are and will begin to be able to make personal plans for allocating with one of these people groups. All of this takes time, but this process has been given the highest priority and we believe that we’ll have some clear options to consider by Christmas, if not before.
Please be praying with us in all of this. There are some giant decisions in our not too distant future. We need wisdom from the Lord to be able to make the best choices. Along with wisdom we are also waiting on the Lord for the necessary funds to be able to proceed. The cost of allocating into a tribe is hard to estimate but you can get a more detailed picture by looking at our Bush House Building Project brochure. Just click the button below:
As always, we want to communicate to you all how grateful we are to be on the receiving end of your faithful generosity. We could not be in this exciting place in life and ministry without your help. It is a privilege to represent you here in Papua New Guinea – and someday right in the heart of a people group yet to be reached with the Gospel. Our sincere thanks!!
Benjamin and Missy
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