Tickets booked!
We have been waiting for a while on the fuel shortage in Papua New Guinea to be resolved before going again but there does not seem to be any resolution in sight. So far our mission aviation crew has been able to source fuel another way in order to continue operations. After discussing the situation with field leadership they suggested we should go ahead and plan a trip over. So, we have booked tickets to PNG for about 6 weeks during March and April. Lately we have been busy making all the other bookings like visa applications and hotels for layovers. Aside from the travel planning we both have been working on translation transcriptions of the last chapters of Genesis.
Prayers Answered re: Persecution
A few months ago we shared an urgent prayer request about how the Simbari church was undergoing constant harassment from an opposing religious group. We talked to a church leader who told us that the persecution has subsided. The local government got involved and showed them the PNG Constitution which talks about freedom of religion and prohibits interfering with people observing their faith. We had given church leaders that document many years ago when this happened once before. The local government warned the group to stop the harassment and that if they continued, they would be breaking the laws of the country. For now, the overt harassment has subsided, however the internal sentiment behind it hasn’t changed. People who have begun to show an interest in the truth of God’s Word are still being scared away by this other group. Due to this ongoing social pressure one of the villages that had asked for Bible teaching has withdrawn their invitation. So please keep praying for the growth of the Simbari church.
Leadership Workshop
Last month the Simbari church leaders were able to participate in a Leadership Workshop hosted by missionaries in the nearby Wantakia tribe. The missionaries taught from the Bible about what it means to be a leader in the church. They had break-out sessions and times of prayer among the different language groups represented there. Please pray that the Simbari church leaders would live out what they have learned and that God would use them to faithfully shepherd the flock and to boldly share their faith with others in the community.
