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March 11, 2007 |
aBUNDANT BLESSINGS Volume
2, Number 1 |
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Furlough News: As we mentioned in our December newsletter Jeri, Hannah, and I will be
returning to While we are in
After studying
with Nede for several months I rejoiced with the angels in heaven as she gave
her life to Christ. .
The kids loved
eating popcorn at the New Years party. Craig and Alotau,
MBP 211 E-mail
OR Prayer Requests: o
Wisdom, vision,
direction, and the courage to submit to God’s will o
Spiritual
situations that are challenging some of the church members. o
A healthy
pregnancy for Jeri and the baby.
Pray the baby will go full term J. o
Evangelistic
study with Cathy o
Development of
additional male leadership o
Our cultural
adjustment We thank each one of
you for your prayers and support.
May God Bless You! |
Church lnvolvement: These last couple of months we have
been blessed to witness many people put on Jesus in baptism. I put the pictures of the baptisms on
our newsletter, but the memory was too much that I could not email it. I have put the baptism pictures up on
our blog. In the first few days of January Richard was
baptized. One of the local
Christians studied with Richard.
Still having a few questions we studied together and he made the
commitment to be baptized. Also,
baptized in the last couple of months were Norma and Mable. Both ladies had been studing with
Les. Pictured to the left is Nede’s baptism. It was such a joy to share in this occassion
with Nede. We had been studying
for months. She had been
faithfully attending the Gama church, but was not prepared for a long time to
make this commitment. However,
with the encouragement of the members at Gama and the guidance of Marcus she
realized her need to be baptized.
Another exicting event was the baptism of three
people in one of the villages outside of town. Out of those baptisms has grown a new
small church. A local man,
Robert, and Les have been studying with these people. It certainly is exciting to see this
new church beginning. As I mention these new Christians I feel like it
would be helpful to mention some of our ongoing church activites that are
designed to help everyone grow spiritually. Each week we have small groups meeting
for people according to where they live.
These studies take place on Tuesday and Wedneday nights. In addition, each Thursday the men
meet for encouragement, study, and business issues. One final blessing was being able to celebrate a two
year anniversary wih the Gama church.
The picture above is at that celebration. Marcus works with this village
congregation. Like any church we are exposed to joys, failures,
and frustrations. In the midst of
everything we continually pray that we can be a light and example of the Word
and ministry of Jesus Christ. Feature Activity:
Transportation It may seem strange to list driving
as a featured activity of our ministry.
Including both the Gama and Town church there are only 4 people with
private vehicles. Three of those
are missionaries. Since the
majority of people do not have vehicles we are often called upon to help in
times of need, crisis, and convenience.
In each senario we need the wisdom to decipher what is what. Since Jeri and I are now living at
Nawae Construction (about 5 k.m. west of town) every time we head into town
we pick up a handful of people. Most frequently, people will come looking for some
help with a ride to the hospital (about 7 k.m.) away. We have made trips to the hospital in
the early morning and late at night.
We feel that this is a way to show God’s love and care. I personally find it maintains my perspective
when I spend time around the hospital.
Anyways, this is not a ministry we plan or
coordinate, but now have learned to expect. It is a ministry, however, where we
feel in our actions we can show God’s love. House Update: Since the beginning of January we have been living on the property of
Nawae Construction. Nawae is the
company who is currently building our house. Because we have encountered so many
delays in the process of having our house built, Nawae had compassion on us
and has let us stay in one of their apartments until our house is
completed. Things are not all bad
as you can see from our view below (we
are currently staying in the downstairs of the middle house).
Our house that is being built looks like a house. It is currently sporting many
essential elements of a house – roof, walls (inside and out), and floors. However, it is impossible to estimate
when it will be completed. My
uneducated guess would be about 3-4 weeks. However, that has been my answer for
the last 3-4 weeks. Either way we
are very content as we have more than sufficient living arrangements. Family Perspective, written
by Jeri:
We now have a very busy,
independent, fun 20 month old.
Hannah is really a joy to us.
Her favorite hobbies include reading, emptying the kitchen cupboards, playing
in the rocks outside, and jumping on our bed. She is indeed keeping us on our
toes. Her vocabulary is expanding
rapidly – although Craig and I have to interpret what she is saying to
others. One of her favorite
fruits she has discovered this season is watermelon, and she never fails to
ask for it at a meal. Hannah’s
repertoire of experiences is growing.
Her most recent adventure is our glass bottom boat ride (pictured
above). We are excited about the new
baby coming. Thankfully, I have
been blessed with another easy pregnancy so far. I have had some interesting
experiences at my prenatal check-ups.
There is no such thing as an appointment at the clinic here. All expectant mothers can visit the
clinic on Thursdays. Since there
are plenty of pregnant women in Alotau and the surrounding areas, it’s
not uncommon to wait for 2 or 3 hours (or more) for a check-up. I have definitely spent a lot of time
with some of the mothers while we’re waiting in line. We are served on a first come, first
serve basis. I am now 20 weeks
pregnant and haven’t heard the baby’s heartbeat because they do
not have adequate instruments. I
did, however, have an ultrasound. I was able to see the heartbeat clearly
with the scan. The best
part? I only had to pay 5 kina
($1.65) for the ultrasound and my check-ups are free! Although I can’t say
it’s been easy to be a nomad since we’ve been in PNG, I am now
seeing some incredible blessings from our multiple moves. We have been able to live in three
different parts of town so it has given us a chance to meet a variety of
people. We are thoroughly
enjoying our third home in Alotau.
We have a beautiful view of the ocean from our house. Hannah enjoys looking at the fish from
the pier. Maybe by the next
newsletter we’ll be living in our own home … we are not holding
our breath though!! Check it out: o
Visit our blog:
pngfords.blogspot.com J o
Visit the church
website: www.championschurch.org |
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