Eph 2:19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.
In general PNG culture and particularly the Mengen culture family ties are very important. If you are in a good family, you will gain a good name, you will always receive help in times of trouble; if your gardens fail, if your children need a babysitter, if you get in a fight, if you are making a garden or building a house, if you need to borrow tools, if your are short on money for school fees, your family will help you out, they’ve got your back. Now if you behave badly or step out of line, your family will threaten to remove all of that help and will turn their back on you in order to force you back into line.
These family pressures have been wearing hard on some of our believing families; we believe the story of the, “police, a dead and a growing family” have helped the family of God in our Mengen village to come together like never before.
Easter Sunday: We had a great service, 20 believers took part in reading through the story of Christs last days on earth. We started with the upper room, reading through Gethsemane, Golgotha and finished with the empty grave. Many believers were touched in their hearts as they thought on Christs struggles in the garden. Many for the first time, hearing that His burden was not just great because of the physical pain awaiting Him, but the burden of carrying our sins and separation from the Father were almost too much to bear.
As we finished our service the local Kevung cult leader came down the hill drunk, threatening the believers and challenging me to answer his questions. Some believers restrained him and we gave him time to talk. As he started to walk back up the road his friends came down the hill and a fight broke out on the road. I went to bring our believers back and thankfully no-one was badly hurt or injured. This group of drunk men went up to the main village as one of the believers houses are there. They proceeded to break up the the believers house with their axes. This brother went up to defend his house and property and got beaten up in the process.
At this time word was sent to surrounding villages were the Kevung cult is prominent to come down and fight against the church. They blew there shells as a sign they were on their way; at this point our believers and big men in the village got very worried and asked us to call the police as they were afraid a fight might break out. The community leaders gave money to us to help pay for the police and came and made the call to get the police in. Word quickly spread that they had called the police and that they were on their way also. The police came in and our wives and children went out; Lourens also came in with the police and we stayed to be a help and support to the church. We are thankful that the police came in as they were a calming influence on the community in general and their presence stopped any further fighting. The police did stop a group of drunk men coming down from the village above that night and they disbursed quickly.
In the next days the guys who caused the trouble hid out in the jungle; the police made every effort to find them but were unable to. Our village grew quite empty during this time as many went and hid in the jungle or slept in their gardens for fear of further trouble. We are happy to tell you that on Sunday past the community came together as a whole, the culprits came out of the jungle and with the help of the police they held a village court and sought a resolution. It seems that the situation is resolved for now and it looks like things are getting back to normal.
When these whole series of events unfolded you wonder what on earth is the Lord doing? The stress, fear and worry grip you and it’s hard to see the purposes of God. But it seems that one purpose has come into focus; I am sure there will be more to come as we serve a good and faithful God. The Mengen branch of the family of God came together under this time of trial and fear. It has helped them to see the body in action, it has showed them that their earthly family are quick to become their enemies simply because they trust in Jesus for their salvation. The church came together on Thursday night like never before, they sang, prayed and shared, encouraging their hearts in the Lord. Many who have been far off because of family pressures have came back and some shared how the church family is now their true family. They are seeing they can receive greater support and security through the love of their brothers and sisters than they ever could have in their family groups. Pray that the Lord would continue to grow them in these things and that the church would mature and be grounded in God in these days.
We will write more soon. Thank-you for your prayers during this time. Please continue to pray for restoration and peace in the community at large.
Much love in Christ,
Simon, Annika, Nya and Noah.
Simon says
If you want to know more about the dead pig let me know!