May 9, 2007	MARCH – APRIL NEWSLETTER Volume 2, Number 2
All in a Day’s Work: God blesses each of us in different ways. I am so blessed to feel a great sense of satisfaction because I have been allowed to share in the ministry here. Each week I sit down with at least six different groups of people and have Bible studies. God enables me to touch people during times of deep hurt. It is an amazing feeling to know that you are touching the lives of God’s servants. Undoubtedly, we would not have this opportunity if it were not for the prayers and support of so many of you. As you read this newsletter I hope you can rejoice in this ministry as it is the fruit of your labor as much as it is the fruit of our labor. Craig and Jeri Ford P.O. Box 912 Alotau, MBP 211 Papua New Guinea E-mail pngfords@gmail.com OR pngfords@daltron.com.pg Prayer Requests: o Wisdom, vision, direction, and the courage to submit to God’s will o Numerous spiritual and physical situations that are plaguing many of our church members. o A healthy pregnancy for Jeri and the baby. o Evangelistic study with Ricky o Development of additional male leadership o Ability to complete necessary tasks before leaving on furlough o Additional fundraising over furlough We thank each one of you for your prayers and support. May God Bless You!	Church lnvolvement: Our time over the last few months was invested in two key events. The first was a business seminar hosted by Dr. Ira Hill from Austin, TX. Dr. Hill was accompanied by his wife, June, who was busy teaching ladies classes. The primary goal of the business seminar was to make additional contacts within our community. In additition, it allowed the church to serve different members of our community. The event that lasted a day took three weeks of intense preparation. Following the seminar we also joined Dr. Hill as he conducted some follow-up consultations. During his stay, Dr. Hill also had a free seminar open to the public entitled “Biblical Principles for Owning Your Own Business”. The second significant event took place in April. It was the annual Camp that takes place over the Easter weekend (Friday – Sunday). Again this was another event that required many preparations. I was able to learn many news skills from climbing the mountain to get sticks for the kitchen to building a village toilet. Fortunately, as expected our hard work paid off with some very possitive feedback about the camp. There were over a hundred people in attendance from each of the three local congregations (Alotau, Gama, and Lautevateva). The three main class sessions focused on integrity, conflict management, and encouragement. The camp itself was held in the village close to the Gama church. The rain did its best to ruin the weekend, but was not successful. Our family did find sleeping in a tent difficult. Both nights we ended up returning to the house late in the evening because Hannah could not be convinced that the towel in the tent was her bed for the night. The pictures above were all taken at the camp and show some of the various scenes from preparation to presentation. One of the people I met during the camp was a young man named Ricky. We currently having an evangelistic study together. Pray that Ricky can find the peace and meaning he is seeking. In addition, there are many other events and activities we are involved in on a regular basis, but space limits discussing all of them. God is blessing the people, the church, and the ministry here. Feature Activity: Lautevateva Study For three weeks in April I have had the pleasure of leading a study at Lautevateva (a village area about 30 min outside of town). Les Williams usually does the studies out there, but has been in the States for most of April doing some work for his Doctorate of Ministry. There are two husband and wife couples who are Christians. For several months now the four of them have been having worship services with their small group. It is encouraging because the one family helped baptize the second family and now they hold their worship services without any outside assistance. For the three weeks I took the study with one of the young men from town. Our studies focused on the life of Joseph Many weeks were uneventful except for the first where the truck got stuck in the mud. After an hour of digging we were on the road again. But I guess that’s a different story for a different time. House Update: The house is essentially complete, though we have not closed on the house. There is not, however, any electricity. We will wait until the electricity is finished and then will likely move into the house (if there is any time left before we leave for furlough). 2007 Furlough: ½ June and July: CANADA Visiting the following congregations: Beamsville, Meaford, Tintern, Newmarket and possibly a few others. Also during that time my brother, Trevor, will be getting married and we will, Lord willing, have another son or daughter. August: WYOMING and COLORADO We will be visiting Lander, Cheyenne, and Colorado Springs to make presentations to churches as well as visiting friends and family. September and ½ October: HOUSTON Six weeks with the Church of Christ in Champions, our supporting church. Fundraising: If you are aware of any churches who may be interested in supporting us please let us know. We have been blessed to have some churches that have already responded to our need by increasing their support, but we do have some additional fundraising. Family Perspective, written by Jeri: Not many people get to celebrate Christmas in March, but we did! The Christmas gifts that Craig’s family shipped to us in September arrived just in time for Easter. (see picture above) Thank you, Ford family! Hannah has been blessed with some great friends here. She loves playing with Baylee Williams and the three Reese girls, Hannah, Hadassah, and Rochelle. She is especially keen of Rochelle, who is just 3 weeks older. They get plenty of time to play together each week. Hannah is talking more every day and continues to bring us so much joy. I’m thankful to have such an easy pregnancy thus far. I don’t know that we have really grasped the concept that we will have another child in less than 3 months, but we are excited nonetheless. We will have lots of adjustments to make in the coming months as our family grows and we do much traveling. Please pray for us in those transitions. It is hard to believe we have lived in Alotau for nearly a year now. We have grown to love our new home and have learned so much over the past year. Although we are still not in our own house, we can see the ways God has blessed us through the months. He has been so good to us. We look forward to seeing so many of you in the next few months. Thank you always for your love, encouragement, and prayers. Check it out: o If you interested in seeing more pictures or finding out a little more about our lives on the field visit our blog: pngfords.blogspot.com J o Previous newsletters have been archived on the Champions Church of Christ website : www.championschurch.org.