Treasure

Remember a couple of months ago how we told you that our coworkers, Ralf and Elli, had finished translating the book of 2 Corinthians and it was ready to print for Dinangat? In June, Jeremiah had the privilege of going in and handing out the printed copies to the believers! The buzz in the air and the looks on their faces were priceless! They knew they were holding TREASURE in their hands! You guys- what a JOY and privilege it is to be a small part of people reading God’s Word in their heart language for the first time! Through your prayer and the many ways you encourage and support this work, YOU are a part of this epic event as well!

2 Corinthians 12:9   But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Now that they have this book in their hands, it will become the Bible teachers’ responsibility to write lessons and teach through it to the believers. But first, it would need to be taught to the teachers in a 3 day long workshop. Contrary to popular belief, all missionaries do not come pre-packaged with the gift of and love of teaching! Jeremiah felt deeply the weight of this responsibility, (aka, stress!) and to be honest, really struggled with the balancing of this workshop with prep for the translation projects he’d also need to work on while in the bush. Praise the Lord for the amazing work He did as His Word went forward among this group of teachers! They all (including Jeremiah!) marveled at the truth of His grace being sufficient in weakness, and being weak was something each and every one of them could identify with! There were so many other truths they discovered and delighted in through this intense workshop, and we praise the Lord for the work He did in each of them to better equip them for walking with Him and for teaching the believers!

Also in June, Alayna and I had the amazing privilege of attending the wedding of Ralf and Elli’s oldest daughter, Naomi. We’ve known Naomi since she was two; she and her sisters grew up with our kids in Dinangat as our families have worked together for over 20 years now. This girl is Precious to us! Unfortunately, there were only enough flyer miles for 2 tickets for us to get there, so my amazing husband sent us home while he kept going in the tribe. An extra bonus was spending 4 days with Judah (even though we were all sick for part of the time!) then, 2 weeks with Jordan, Sarah and my grandbaby, Jace, and a few more days with extended family. Our quick 3 week trip to the US was a blessing I will be forever grateful for!

Lastly, we praise the Lord for the team that is pursuing starting a church plant “near” Dinangat! If the Lord opens these doors, not only might there be a future new batch of brothers and sisters in Christ in the mountains of Papua New Guinea, but it could be the first real avenue for fellowship outside of themselves for the Dinangat church! The Brendles and Theks spent a week in Dinangat with Jeremiah, just getting to know the believers and do some more linguistic investigations to understand the language dynamics of the group they’d potentially work with. There is also another family on their team that is currently on their home assignment. Please continue to pray for this team as they seek wisdom and work through the logistics of allocating to a new work! If you didn’t catch their video on our facebook page, here it is…   Are we the only ones?

For those of you who just need the bullet points, here are a few prayer requests and praises:

* Praise the Lord for a profitable time in Dinangat teaching through 2 Corinthians and accomplishing several translation projects!

* Please pray for the Dinangat teachers, that they continue to seek His face in their daily lives and to serve the church well.

* Praise the Lord for a great trip home for Alayna and April!

* Please pray for both of them as they start a new school year. Alayna will start her junior year, and I (April) have taken on a new role as 11th grade Bible teacher in our mission school. Pray for the Lord’s guidance and strength as I look to Him to work through me in a new way!

* Pray for strength and wisdom as we seek to honor the Lord in our roles as husband/ wife/ parents, Dinangat church planter/ translator, area leadership, culture and language consultant, facilitator/mentor for new missionaries, and Bible teacher. We are grateful to serve a God whose grace is sufficient in our weakness!

* Please pray for our finances. We are still trying to catch up from some big medical expenses and are looking to the Lord to raise our support closer to our recommended level.

* Please pray for our friend and Dinangat Bible teacher, Basa. He continues to have painful complications from his surgery a couple of months ago. He’s scheduled to see the surgeon again in August. Praise the Lord that the finances for his treatment have already been covered!

* We praise the Lord for all of you on our support team who already regularly sacrifice for the sake of God’s work in PNG!