“Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, there is no one else that we can go to! Your words give eternal life. We have faith in you, and we are sure that you are God’s Holy One.’” (John 6:68,69)
These are the verses that come to mind when we think about Serolin who used to be part of a false religious group in her village who teach that salvation can be obtained apart from Christ by trying to follow certain laws and abstaining from certain foods, etc. Like many who are immersed in this way of thinking, Serolin was constantly carrying a burden of guilt and fear, never knowing whether she would be accepted by God or not. But then through an outreach in her village by our local church she heard in her own language of what Christ has done for her. Since then she has been hiking to the village here on Sundays as often as possible to hear more of the Bible teaching.
So the leaders of the other religious group in her village started pressuring and threatening her to start attending their meetings again. She did go back a couple times but found that after hearing the “words of eternal life” she could no longer endure the false teaching. She told the leaders of that group to stop pressuring her to come because their teaching “didn’t go inside and stay” but the truths she was hearing about Christ however were “stirring her up in her inward parts”. The believers from our location are finishing up a building for the church in her village to meet in so they won’t have to keep hiking so far and so that others will be able to come.
Summer Plans
We just came out of the tribe to stay at the school center for about a week so that David could download tax docs and fill out Simon’s FAFSA forms online before the deadline. Time is fast approaching for Simon’s high school graduation this June so he has been filling out college applications. Esther ran into trouble trying to get transferred to CSUN to finish her degree so her future is a bit up in the air too. Please pray for God’s intervention for both of them so they can go where the Lord want’s them to go.
We thank the Lord we’ve been able to purchase our tickets for going to California this summer after Simon’s graduation. We will be in Santa Clarita for about 6 weeks getting Simon settled in, visiting family and friends, and getting some medical work done. We’ll be back in PNG in time for Rachel to start school and then in three years when Rachel graduates we have planned a regular 1 year home assignment. We have a place to stay lined up but still need a vehicle to use during the summer, and also need to buy an inexpensive one for Simon to use after we come back. Thanks for your prayers regarding all these things.
In the meantime there is always lots to do with finishing up Romans lessons and with Bible translation. David finished the preliminary draft of Ephesians and is working on chapter 6 of 1 Corinthians.
Thanks so much for your prayers and encouragment. We appreciate each one of you!
Because of His faithfulness,
David, Shari, and family