Home for Christmas
Simon and Esther just came home on the airplane today for their Christmas break. Rachel and Jason have been soooo excited that Jason banged on our door REALLY early this morning to tell us they were coming home today, just in case we forgot. 🙂 It’s wonderful to have them home and catch up with everything that has been going on in their lives. Simon played us some cool new songs on his guitar that he has learned from his roommates. And he has gotten a lot taller. He is several inches taller than his mom now. We hope all of you have lots of special family time this year to celebrate Christ together. And for those of us who are separated from loved ones we know that Christ went through an even greater separation when He left His father in heaven and came to this earth as a baby.
Pandanus Nuts Roasting On An Open Fire
Actually it would be more accurate to say, “above an open fire”. Pandanus nut season has been upon us for the last few months. The nuts are delicious, kind of like a cross between a nut and a coconut in flavor and they are a good source of protein for the Simbaris. So when they start to have a big harvest of nuts the Simbaris leave their homes and move high up into the rainforest where they will be close to the pandanus trees. They harvest the nuts and some are eaten fresh and some are dried in the rafters over a fire kept burning. The process takes a lot of time so the people are often gone for months leaving the villages deserted. It was starting to get pretty discouraging on Sundays with so few attending but the people are starting to come back from the pandanus gardens now. As a matter of fact by next week it should be very crowded around here for Christmas. A businessman has put up some prize money for all the locals in the area to have a sporting tournament. So people will be coming here from all the surrounding tribes for the games. Many of them haven’t seen white people so they are much more curious about us than the Simbaris are. So we go from deserted to crowded in just a few weeks.
Translation and Christmas Cards
In spite of the absence of so many locals we have been able to make good progress on the translation. We praise the Lord for our faithful translation helpers. Thanks for praying. Lately we have received some Christmas cards with notes from some of you praying for us. It was especially encouraging to realize that we were being upheld in prayer without even knowing it. Lately we have been teaching through the newly revised evangelism lessons and people seem to really be responding well. More and more are coming who did not hear the first time we taught and they are paying really close attention and it is obvious from our times of review that they are understanding well. So your prayers are being answered. Thanks so much to each of you who have given financially or through prayer this year. You are giving the gift of God’s Word to the Simbari, which makes CHRISTmas take on a whole new meaning for them!
Merry Christmas,
David & Shari Ogg
(Esther, Simon, Rachel & Jason too)
Prayer and Praise:
- Praise for work done to improve condition of airstrip.
- Praise for increase in attendance on Sundays and for good response to teaching of God’s Word.
- Praise for Esther and Simon doing well at school.
- Pray for those hearing the Gospel lessons for the first time.
- Pray for David’s translation helper who just came down with a chest cold.
- Pray for boldness for the Simbari believers to share about Christ with family and friends in the upcoming weeks.