"Never a dull moment" is perfect for our family and life here in
Papua. There is always something on the horizon coming or something we
are involved in. At this very moment, Chase is heading up a brand new Bible story building cluster project. The same workshops
and language project that saw the 50 Yetfa Bible stories created is
reduplicating
with 6 more languages, and the first workshop was Monday. It's an
exciting time! Chase is one of the coordinators and he is BUSY right
now, first making sure everything came together for Monday and then leading for the next 3 weeks. Please pray for
this. The enemy is pulling out crazy tricks to discourage the staff and
teams involved. He knows something BIG is coming and he doesn't like
it. YES!!! We have been on go-go-go mode
for...well...ever, but this last year has really ramped up
significantly. We are seeing leaps and bounds in progress, but things
like this blog get pushed aside to fill the needs of ministry and our
family. I have A LOT to cover! I will have to give the highlights,
so...buckle up and hold on!
In September, God sent
an amazing team from Holland Chapel in Benton, Arkansas and our
associate pastor and friend, Jonathon from Sublett Road to build
a playground in Bias. It was a bit hard for the Yetfa people to imagine
what we were talking about, but they faithfully helped and carried in
wood from the jungle. As the team arrived and the playground took
shape, the excitement grew! Adults were actually the first ones to try
it out!!
Although
their task and purpose was a playground, they did much more. They
encouraged us and the Yetfa people, listened to our stories, played
with our boys, and shared village life with us. We shared a few tears
and many laughs. It was a great visit!
And
as the team was leaving, Nena arrived! Another great visit with lots
of, "Hey Nena! Look!", "Nena, watch this!" We were a little bummed
because we couldn't take her to Bias. She only saw the house when it
was still just a frame. We wanted her to see it completed, but Corin
came down with hand-foot-and-mouth disease and was pretty much
quarantined. But we got to go to the beach and the lake and the capital
city. We just traded one sort of fun for another. :-)
October brought more fun and some milestones.
We did a group story crafting of a passage in Isaiah. I
went with our friend, Rachel, to "her" village again to talk with the
church there about joining the new One Story project coming up. Sion
and Jeri went along to share how much the project has impacted the
Yetfa people. It was a good, productive visit.
One
very exciting thing that happened in October was the start of a Yetfa
radio spot! Yetfa Bible stories are now being played twice a week on
the local radio station! They gave us prime time slots--7:30 am
Tuesdays and 7:15 pm Fridays. The radio station can still be tuned in
about 50 miles into the jungle. A church leader in a village about 40
miles from Bias heard a Yetfa story on the radio one day and was
completely amazed. He is Yetfa, but has lived in that village many
years. He knew nothing about the translation project and was so
intrigued at how this came about, he took a truck to town. A whole day
and 2.5 juta (about $185) later, he reached town (Sentani) and began to
search for information on how Yetfa stories are being played on the
radio. He talked with Sion and Jeri and was so excited to hear that
God's word is being translated into Yetfa! He also found out the
specific times to tune in so he and other Yetfa speakers in the village
could hear more...and then he returned home. All that way and money
just to hear about the translation project. What an encouragement!
Billboard
says: Listen to God's word in Yetfa on radio--Papua's Voice of Love.
The Yetfa people are SO proud of this billboard because they are the
ONLY people group in the area to have a big SIGN!
Uriah entered double digits! He's 10 now. Where has the time gone?! Jedi
(Master Poll), a sith lord, Darth Vader, Yoda, Princess Leia, R2D2, a
bigger Darth Vader and Queen Amidala, and a little clone trooper
In
November, I took 7 ladies out to Bias for a week-end retreat and
clinic. We had 5 nationalities under one roof! American, Canadian,
Australian, Korean, and Brazilian, and boy was it fun! We had many
laughs and many talks and helped almost the whole village during the
Saturday clinic. Among us were two nurses and a nurse midwife, and they
were able to treat wounds, skin infections, check for malaria, treat
fevers and colds, give ob checks and pregnant mamas got their first
ever ultrasound with a handheld sonogram machine! Quite a productive
morning! Afterward, we hiked around the village and cooled off in the
river. Sunday, the Lord's timing was incredible. I've been working
through our Bible story set each time I teach Sunday School. I started
at creation several months back and that Sunday, it was time for the
tower of Babel...and we had 5 nationalities among us! Perfect! We did a
little drama with the boys' blocks and when God confused the languages,
we all started speaking a different language. So much fun! It was
probably the most *fun* worship service I've been in. Lots of laughs! As
I said, the Lord's timing was perfect. Sunday night, a man brought his
sick wife to the house. She was having severe pain in her side and
classic symptoms of an appendicitis. I'm so thankful the nurses were
there! One "just happened" at the last minute to pack the exact
medicine needed to buy us more time until we could get her on a flight
the next day. They gave her IV meds that night and early the next
morning, and she spent the next week in the hospital. Amazing to watch
God work!
That was just 3 months! Now you can see why I haven't
had a lot of time to get an update out. Whew! Busy, busy, but a good,
productive, BLESSED busy. I will continue working on updates, so maybe
the next one won't be TOO long from now. We'll see...
