Nuts
Because of a poor showing on Monday morning we put off teaching for this week. Some more would have showed if we waited long enough but it is not fair to the ones who came on time to make them wait. One reason for the poor showing is nuts. The pandanus trees up in the mountains produce nuts and certain years when there will be a big harvest the people become semi-nomadic and leave their homes to go off and live in the mountains where they can collect the nuts. Actually, when it isn’t nuts, its coffee gardens. And the list of activities that can draw people away from the teaching is quite long. While some have chosen to commute to the pandanus gardens so they can still hear the teaching many won’t do that. And we really want the group who have been coming regularly to not miss anything. Pray for wisdom as we try meeting again on Monday. We were planning to give them a break from the daily teaching for a couple weeks during the holidays but we may need to start the break early.
Translation
We have mentioned how we have been trying to keep up with translation of Scripture to use when teaching. This week has given us extra time to get a lot of translation done. There is still a lot to go but we are in better shape for future teaching than we were last week.
Family
Jason woke us up at 6 sharp this stormy Saturday morning. But his winning smile always makes up for waking us up early. He likes to make car and “balus”(airplane) noises by blowing raspberries. And he has just started to imitate Shari’s duck talk. He has taken a couple of steps but still hasn’t caught on to walking. He is almost 11 months old now. The other kids are having fun getting ready for Christmas by decorating and making Christmas cards with Shari’s stamps. The rain is falling horizontally outside right now and blowing hard against the side of the house, then running down the window in sheets. It is about 63 degrees. Kind of chilly for New Guinea isn’t it? The home fires are burning (in the wood stove) to try and warm up the inside of the house. It does make if feel a little more like wintertime though, especially with the Christmas music that is playing in the background.
In Him,
David and Shari Ogg
(Esther, Simon, Rachel and Jason)
Praise and Prayer:
- Pray for wisdom about the teaching schedule for the next month.
- Praise for the opportunity to get extra translation done.
- Pray for the Simbaris to not just be hungry for food for their stomachs but also for the spiritual food of God’s Word.
- Pray for David’s back pain. Several years ago he injured it and once in a while it flares up. Sitting aggravates it and so all the hours in the office working on translation have made it flare up again.