Go Away Ghost!
We woke up at 5:30 this morning to a loud noise at a nearby house. Just behind our house at a village hut the “yumbunja” was starting for an old lady who died last week. Not too long after a death the Simbaris believe they need to scare away the ghost of the deceased. So they pound on the thatch of the roof very early in the morning and start spinning the bullroars. The bullroar is a bamboo switch that has a string and a little thing tied at the end that makes an eerie howling sound when twirled quickly enough. These are believed to chase off the ghost so it won’t stay around the village causing trouble. The “yumbunja” lasts for days and the noise is a constant reminder to us of all the people here that are still blinded by Satan and without the hope of Salvation through Jesus. Pray that these deaths in the village would cause people to be more concerned of their spiritual condition before God.
Stranded In Town
On Tuesday David and another missionary were flying to a nearby tribe to give some practical help to some other missionaries who are studying a tribal language. The destination airstrip was covered with clouds so David and the other missionary were taken to Goroka to wait out the weather. While David and the other missionary were waiting in Goroka the pilot took the plane out to do another cargo flight to an airstrip in a different area and because of a gust of wind while he was landing the plane was damaged. We’re so thankful that the pilot is ok, but the plane will need completely rebuilt. This accident stranded David in town for a few days until yesterday when he was able to get in with Esther and Simon who just came home for summer break on one of the other planes. Pray for our flight program as they will now be functioning with a shortage of planes.
Translation Progress
We completed the rewrite of the evangelism Bible lessons a while back and have been working on finishing the translation of our Old Testament Bible portions which we need to start an outreach. David finished most of the work on Genesis and should be done with the other OT portions in 2 or 3 months. Then he can get started on translating the book of Acts and Bible lessons to go with it. Thanks for your prayers and partnership.
Summer and Next Year!
Esther and Simon are done with their school year and are now home for the summer break. Esther will be starting 11th grade in August and Simon will be in 8th grade. It’s so good to have them home. They are already working on their first summer project: making their own little movie. It’s been clouded in and raining most of the time since they got home which we hope will improve so they can get out of the house once in a while before ‘cabin fever’ sets in. There are still many staff shortages at the school and it looks like Esther might end up with a correspondence class for science this coming year. Many departments that play key roles in supporting tribal missions here in PNG are suffering from staff shortages this coming year. Pray for folks who would be willing to come and fill some of these gaps.
By His Grace,
David & Shari Ogg
(Esther, Simon, Rachel & Jason too)
Prayer and Praise:
- Praise for protection of pilot involved in the incident.
- Praise for progress in translation of God’s Word.
- Pray for NTM Aviation as they operate with a shortage of planes in PNG in the months ahead.
- Pray for the Simbaris to come to the teaching of God’s Word so that they might hear the words of eternal life.
- Pray for more laborers “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few” Lk.10:2