In the church service this Sunday the believers shared a very exciting answer to prayer. Ever since completing the outreach in a neighboring village about an hour and a half away, the new believers down there have had the desire to construct a building which can also be used for continued Bible teaching and as a literacy school. However some opposition to the Gospel that sprung up during the outreach has prevented them from being able to have a village-approved meeting place. Since the completion of the outreach some of the believers from that village have been making the rugged hike up to our location every Sunday to worship with their brothers and sisters here but there are many more who would come to hear if we had the teaching in their own village. The believers have been praying together for the Lord to work in the hearts of those who are opposing God’s work and to open the way for the believers in that village to have their own place to meet. This Sunday we heard that approval to build in that village has been granted by the community. They said it was obviously “of God” and that they didn’t want to be opposing His work. So building plans are under way and we are all praising the Lord together for answered prayer.
The bones in Simon’s leg have been healing slowly but surely and he is gaining more and more mobility. Unfortunately the surgery incision site has taken longer to heal and this week he went to the medical clinic to get it checked. The doctor cleaned it well and then put adhesive sutures on the wound to pull the edges together again. He said if it does not do the trick he will have to redo the incision and use surgical sutures to pull it together. So, we would appreciate prayer for complete healing and that there would be no more complications between now and next Fall when we take him back down to Australia to have the steel plate and screws removed. He’s all caught up with schoolwork now and keeps very busy with Junior Class activities and homework.
Esther is living with her aunt and attending a nearby community college. She has been taking a couple of condensed winter classes which have kept her very busy. But it will be good for her to get a couple more credits out of the way before regular classes resume in February. We are hoping she can come to PNG next summer for a visit so we are all excited about that!
Rachel is doing very well in school and recently made the high honor roll with only five other students from 7-12th grade so we are very proud of her efforts. She loves music and has been volunteering some Sunday mornings to help on the worship team. Recently she was invited to join the adult choir and was very excited about that. There are some other teen girls who sing with them so she won’t be the only one.
Jason has really been enjoying the beautiful sunny days that the Lord has been blessing us with. He loves to be outdoors almost every waking hour so that makes it a bit hard for him to be motivated to do his home schooling. He is a typical boy! He has really taken an interest in a small guitar that Simon received as a gift when he was about the same age. Shari has taught him three chords and he has been practicing those and singing the same song (in Pidgin) over and over again. He loves to gather a group of Simbari kids outside on the lawn and give them other homemade musical instruments to play. A couple of days ago he must have had about fifteen kids (teen guys too) all around him in a circle as he was playing the guitar and singing with them. We thank the Lord for his outgoing, sweet personality which we know is a real example to these kids who need to hear about Jesus.
We would like to let you know about a need at our missionary medical clinic here in PNG. A donated portable x-ray machine has been received and installed. Supplies have been purchased and a dark room was built last summer but they need a qualified person to finish setting up the system and teach them how to use it. If you are a qualified x-ray technician who might be able to help please send us a note. The clinic serves hundreds of missionary families all over the field of PNG. Thank you so much for joining us in praying for this need.
We appreciate each one of you and are so thankful for your prayers, support and encouragement.
David, Shari, and family