Greetings from the Land of the Unexpected! It’s been a whirlwind of a time these last few months, and we are praising the Lord for you who have been praying for us and supporting us through your encouragement and finances! Thank you so much for faithfully standing with us!
In March, we took our first itinerant trip back into Dinangat. We were so encouraged at this time to find the Bible teachers faithfully leading and teaching. During our time out before this, the radio that we had anticipated using to communicate with them back and forth was completely out of commission. While we missionaries were frustrated about this, we discovered later that the church in Dinangat was actually Devastated! In their minds, losing contact made them feel a bit lost, they worried about us, not knowing how we were faring in the town of Goroka. Not knowing much about this town, they worried about their missionaries: Were they attacked by “rascals”? Were they finding enough food? In this time, they also had some major natural events; heavier wind than they’d experienced in many years, rainstorms that caused major flooding that sent man-sized boulders careening down the mountainside, carving new gorges as it went, wiping out gardens and ruining some houses. Many people in the villages who oppose God’s Word pointed and mocked, “Now that your missionaries are gone, God is going to punish you for letting them come in! You won’t survive!” We weren’t there to help them process these events, to lead them and advise them. They couldn’t even reach us by radio. What could they do?! THEY PRAYED! They TRUSTED the LORD, they DEPENDED on HIM, and they came through VICTORIOUS! Not ONE person lost their life, no one was even hurt! They saw the Lord provide everything they needed, and their faith grew. Later, Epepe said that even though they were so distraught that the HF radio didn’t work, she thinks now that it was a very good thing. They were forced to depend on the Lord, and they can now give Him the glory for how He protected them when THEY prayed (not because the missionaries prayed!). PRAISE HIM FOR HIS GRACE IN THEIR LIVES!
In May, Jeremiah went on 3 different CLA trips (culture/language acquisition). As a CLA consultant, he helps missionaries in the tribe progress through their study of that particular tribal language. On August 4th, one of the teams that he has worked with will begin teaching the Bible chronologically in their tribe, Pal. These folks have never had clear Bible teaching in their own language…pray with us for a vast harvest and for strength and wisdom for their missionary team!
And then half of June was spent teaching classes for our Interface program! Interface is an on-site, college level course in missions. I (April) was challenged to career missions among tribal people through my Interface experience in 1995. Before and since, God has used this program to open the eyes of so many hearts and lives to the need of bringing God’s Word to those who have never heard. There are 25 students involved in the program right now, and we were blessed to be a part of it for 2 out of the 6 week program. We’re praying that God will use the teaching and experiences of the entire staff to be a voice for those people, and that His name will be glorified! We are PRAISING HIM THAT WE COULD HAVE A SMALL PART!
Now that we are back in Goroka, we are teaching a short pidgin course for the MKs on the center that will end on Tuesday, and then on the 21st of this month, we begin teaching an official E2 course (“Equipping, Phase 2”) for several new missionaries who have just arrived to the field. Whew! Lots to pray about!
Please Pray:
- That we will FIRST and FOREMOST seek to walk closely and humbly with our Loving Creator, individually, in our family relationships, and in ministry.
- That we will be able to prioritize time for the Dinangat translation in the midst of so many other things
- Pray for the 25 students in the Interface program, that the Lord challenge their hearts to glorify Him with their lives, no matter where that may be and for the teachers as they continue to invest their time and experience into this program
- Pray for the E2 program, for wisdom for us as teachers and for encouragement and strength for the new missionaries
- Pray for the Dinangat Church. The radio is working again 🙂 and we have heard that several of the Bible teachers are being distracted from their ministries for various reasons. While this saddens us, in some ways, we expected it. It is natural that young believers would stumble while they’re learning to walk. Pray that they will turn their eyes to His Word for their strength and guidance! They must learn that His grace alone IS indeed sufficient to strengthen them for the work! On the other hand, we’ve heard that 9 young believers have just been baptized! This is their first baptism without the missionaries, and we are THRILLED at what the Lord is doing among them!