>ORI RONGO – It is finish! As I was visiting with Allan (photo on the left) he was sharing with me his new found faith and these were the words he used to say that Christ has paid for all his sin, for all eternity and it is done with now, completed and finish! Never again will he have any worries about sin and hell! It was the Words of Christ on the cross just before His death saying He has paid the price for our sins in full for all eternity! It was also used during the teaching of the lesson 69 of Phase 1 amongst the Mengen people group. As I was sitting between the Mengen people in the Le Le village, which has become our home, I had an emotional moment agreeing that my sins have been dealt with for eternity in full as well! I sensed the men and ladies being deeply touched and stirred by this truth that Christ has dealt with all sin for all eternity in full and that even they can rest assure that the price for their sins have been paid forever! After the teaching session and over the last few days we had conversations with many people and I specifically heard many say – ‘Ori Rongo’ in Mengen or ‘Em I pinis na Em i baim olgeta’ in Tok Pisin – He paid for all my past sins and even more until I die!
Here is a short clip of Dave teaching, duirng the first session which we explained the truth concenring Christ death and resurection and what it means for us who trust Him.
After wards it has been reported that Allan has been going around and sharing his faith with many people. There is a new kind of vibrancy among the people, a kind of buzz and excitement which I believe is due to new life! Today we can praise the Lord for many new brothers and sisters!
The Mengen team has been busy sharing the phase 1 teaching to most people in the Le Le village of Papua New Guinea. They shared the 70 lessons, four times a week, twice a day starting in Genesis and ending with the death burial and resurrection and Ascension of Jesus. They have been hard at work translating the Bible and lessons, presenting lessons and spending lots of time visiting with people and checking their understanding!
I also used the opportunity to get some work done in our jungle house, which is truly a jungle house. As I was tearing down some damaged walls I came across nests of sweat bees and many many cockroaches not to mention the Gecko eggs inside the light fittings. Before After
Many places had damage due to termites and I had to replace some floor boards. Nothing is really level and I think our bath will always have a little water staying behind and not draining properly reminding me that I am living in a remote jungle. Even though we do not have the luxuries and comforts which we had in our home countries we will not want to exchange any of that for the blessings of sitting and chatting with Merengi, Allan, Loso and many more Mengen believers about their new found faith!
I of course had the opportunity to start using the Mengen language more and this was allot of fun. The best of all is that they are such fun loving people and we would have many laughs as I stumble over words and sentences. Sometimes if strange people come past our house I will run out to go through my greetings drill, and will basically say the following. Hi, How are you, My name is Lourens, what is your name, Say again, Say again Say again, Good, are you going, Ok go good, I am going to stay. Sometimes if they are very keen I will say the following, I am standing, I am sitting, I am walking, I am going, I am eating, I am drinking and if they are really keen I will do it in the first second and third person, sometimes adding some more verbs and nouns etc. Even though I am suppose to be in phonetic warm up I just can’t help but try all my new found sentences and vocabulary. If they really are having a good laugh at me I just ask them to repeat a few things in my language which is Afrikaans and then we all laugh at each other!
Thanks very much for your prayers during these last months as we presented phase 1 and also initiated our permanent move into the tribe. Please continue to pray for these New believers as they will now be taught more clearly into phase 2 and we slowly but surely start discipling them! I know that Satan will want to destroy these new believers and he will be sending his allies!