Hi Friends,
It’s been a busy period of time for us as a family; Nya is potty training, Noah is on his third tooth we have had a bush trip, and we are packing in preparation for our move to live amongst the Mengen people.
As you know I flew into our work a few weeks ago to renovate the Laureti’s into a smaller house; the purpose of this was to get us some materials to kick start our house off and save us some money so we could move in quicker. You can see the picture to the left of Lourens and Maries house as it was before we started. The main aim was to move the end wall in about 18ft, drop the internal walls to provide enough room to put in a loft. This would then give us all of the , bearers, stud walls, perlins, rafters and roofing iron to use on our house. We are really thankful to the Laureti family for there generosity as this has saved us a good bit in material costs.
Lourens and I flew in on a Friday and worked solid 12 hr days from sun-up to sun-down to get the job done, it was a long hard, hot and sweaty job but the Lord enabled us. So you can see we took out the internal walls –
This meant removing the walls inside and using that material again to make Lourens and Marie a bedroom and bathroom. Before we could make those rooms we had to drop the walls by a foot so there would be enough headroom in the loft for the girls.
The next stage was to take off the end gable wall and get that moved in so we could get the house secured and keep the weather out. This activity really caused a lot of interest and we had a lot of people around the house all the time spectating to see what was going on and to laugh when we dropped something or hit our thumbs with a hammer. When we got the gable wall moved in things seemed to go a little quicker and we then started to rebuild the internal walls and lay the flooring on top of that for the loft. The renovation turned out really well; the Laureti’s are happy with there new home and the girls seem to love there new loft bedroom. As you can see from the pictures there is an open end section of the house. This is the section which is yet to be broken down for use in our new house and that will be the next phase in the project.
A question needing answered:
So when do we intend to move in and get our house going? That’s what many of you have been asking.
It’s a little hard for us to answer the question, but we do feel we need to provide an answer. Annika and I would love to be living in the tribe already and be started with learning language and being part of the church planting effort there. The reality is that we do not just have the funds at the moment to enable us to make that move and when the Lord provides that, we will be moving in. In order to move in quickly we want to make something small so our house plans are for a 16ftx24ft one room house; we will construct and move into that when we can and extend it in the future. We trust Lords timing and leading in all of this and know that He does all things well.
This is not a wonderful shout of the house as we left it; but this back section that is open will all be used in the construction of our house.
Mengen news:
Some news from the Mengen church: We are pleased to report that we have been able to give the book of Mark in print to our dear brothers and sisters in the Mengen church. This is the first book of scripture they have held in their hands, and they are so excited. Many are thrilled to think they can read it anytime they want and in their homes! There have been tears and many questions about the life of Christ as they read. Praise God for His wonderful word.
There are many difficulties that our new believers face, persecution and pressure from the community that follow animistic practices and cults. This has been what they have all believed and followed for years; recently when one of our believers new born’s was ill they put pressure on to follow animistic rituals and magic, performed by a shaman. Some have been pressured to not attend meetings, this persecution has developed into physical harm in a couple of instances. We see our believers learning and growing through all of this and we trust the Lord that these trials will grow them. There testimony of following Christ is having an impact on the community and we are seeing many develop an interest to have the gospel presented again. Pray for this babes in Christ that they will follow their Savior and honor Him, these things are not easy and it is hard to see them struggle; but we trust God is looking after them as a loving father.
On Saturday, 3 guys from our village hiked to another village just up the mountain from us. Their desire was to share God’s Word with some of their unsaved friends from that place and also to have fellowship with some of the Mengen believers who live up there! It was exciting to see them taking the initiative to step out on their own and start ministering to their own friends! On Sunday morning, these guys returned from their overnight trip and shared with us a few things that the Lord did on their behalf. Apparently they sat up till 1:30 am, talking about God’s Word!! One young guy who had attended some of the Bible teaching here in our village, but has not made a clear profession of faith, was also there during these late-night discussions. From the sounds of it, he is now a new believer in Jesus Christ, through the witness of these 3 Mengen believers! Hallelujah!! The Lord is at work!
Please pray:
1) That we will be content with the Lord’s time table for our move into the village. And that the Lord will provide the resources in such a way that it glorifies His name.
2) Continue to pray for our new believers that the Lord will grow them through trial and that they will continue to share their faith.
3) Pray for team unity and a love for each other and the people we work with, there are many pressures and issues that come up on a daily basis.
4) Pray for Lourens and Marie as they learn language.
5) Pray for the literacy classes, that our believers will continue to see the value of being able to read the word of God. And be able to write – not a big thing in their culture.
6) Pray we will walk closely with God; without Him all our efforts are in vain.
Much love in Christ,
Simon, Annika, Nya and Noah