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Daily Scripture
 
"I will give You thanks in the great assembly; I wil praise You among many people."

Psalm 35:18

INAPANG BELIEVERS TAKE THE CUP

Bill with several Inapang believers.

October 8, 2008

by Dena McMaster

Inapang believers in Papua New Guinea are preparing to teach another group of villagers to read and write.

Missionary Bill Housley, Mike Henderson, a missionary who is experienced in tribal church planting, and Aaron Hefner, a missionary from Senegal, flew into a Inapang village to encourage the believers as well as assess the church's growth.

Bill wanted to make sure the literacy teachers had all the supplies they needed and that they were looking to the Lord for strength and guidance. Bill is returning to the USA for home assignment soon and the Inapangs will be without missionaries for several weeks.

The chief and the literacy supervisor told him, "The Lord is helping us.… "because you all taught us well and have put it in our hands like you said you would."

Bill was very encouraged by that answer. As he and his co-laborers discussed the upcoming literacy classes they were excited that the Inapangs seemed comfortable teaching on their own.

Bill used this analogy: "It is kind of like holding a cup and asking someone else to hold it for you. If you keep encouraging and exhorting that person to take the cup and hold it carefully but you never let it go on your end, it makes for a bit of an awkward struggle.

"This time really is important for them to see that the reason things are being 'held together' is not because the white man is with them, but because God Himself is with them through the presence of His own Holy Spirit who is indwelling those who are His children, and He will make the difference in their lives as they study and teach His Word in their own language."

Pray for the Inapang believers as they begin their first literacy outreach. Pray that they will look to God for strength and guidance.