NTM

Aaahhhh! The school year is over! All the students finished the year well and we had some fun and profitable times together in the dorm. The high school teens finished up their year-long novel project and we celebrated with blizzards. Not from DQ, but the homemade kind. We all liked it so much we had to celebrate with them again the last week of school with the whole dorm family. They were just too irresistible!

Being involved with tribal missions as dorm parents has many rewards, not just blizzards, and this week we heard some exciting news from one of our dorm daughters home for the summer in the Mengen tribe. Here is Katelyn’s perspective, “I tell you it has been really exciting seeing what the Lord is doing here. I think we have at least 20-30 new believers….” How exciting for all of us to be a part of this team to see the gospel brought to the Mengen people. Rejoice with us over these recent events and pray that these young believers will continue to follow and grow in the truth that they are hearing from God’s word.

We Praise the Lord for giving Anna a safe trip as she went half way around the world and now she is at CYIA (Christian Youth in Action) training camp back home in Maine. After she finishes up her training, she will begin her summer missionary work with Child Evangelism Fellowship. We do miss her, but we are excited about this opportunity for her to be involved in outreach and to meet other teens who are serving the Lord this way. Please pray with us that the Lord of the Harvest will make this summer as Anna put it, “…all that He wants it to be.”

Our ministry role has once again taken a surprising turn for us. We will continue to serve in the school dorm, but because of families on furlough and changes in education plans for some of the students we will only have two teens boarding with us this year. So…hang on to your seats for this one, due to a shortage of staff and an urgent need in the school for this year, I have been asked to cover as school administrator in our MK school. Many of you are probably chuckling right now as you think of me sitting in the principal’s office (only this time on the other side of the desk ). Yes, the Lord does have a sense of humor and He loves to put us in those places where we have to look to Him to do the work, realizing once again, we are only the vessels He uses. He is the one that does the work and gives us the privilege of being a part as we trust in Him.

The Ivanga church continues to press on and we are encouraged with what the Lord is doing among the people there. This week we are waiting for the arrival of a couple of the Bible teachers so we can spend some time together working on some translation projects this summer. Tristan and I would like to get into the village for a visit, but it is the season of unexpected rough seas so pray for God’s timing and guidance in it all.

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.

Dave, Shirley and Family,

• Pray for Dave as he has several responsibilities outside the dorm the more recent being the administrator of our school here.
• Pray for someone to come and take over the dorm for us for the 2010-11 school year.  They need to arrive soon in order to get through orrientation.
• Pray for us as we continue in our ministry here in the Dorm caring for teens who are away from their  families working in remote areas.
• Pray for wisdom for us as we continue to work on Ivanga lessons and translation.
• Pray for the Ivanga church to stand firm on the truth of God’s Word and to look to Him for strength and encouragement. 
• Pray for the teachers as they start teaching a small group through the evangelism phase of teaching.
• Pray for our support level to increase.  Our recommended support was recently increased to reflect rising costs, so we are now at about 62% of what is recommended.  For more info go to:www.ntm.org/dave_diepenbrock/give.php

If you had to chose between two routes to travel 86 miles, would you choose the quick 48 minutes or the adventurous 24 hours? We got to do both. It was great to get back to the village for a 10 day visit. Ryan, a new missionary to the our area, and I were able to fly to the village by boarding our mission’s Cessna 206, flying 40 minutes to a remote airstrip, and then taking an 8 minute helicopter flight. Such a quick, easy trip! However, on our return trip it was a much different story. We hired a village boat, started our return trip late in the afternoon and spent the night in a village down river. Early the next morning, we continued our trip down river and out onto the ocean following the north coast of New Britain for 5 hours. At one point in the trip we were about 15 miles from any land, so the really calm seas were a huge blessing. After our ocean travel was over, we waited an hour to catch a PMV (Public Motor Vehicle) to continue our trip. On our rough, 2 hour long truck ride to town we passed the PMV we missed getting on earlier that day. They had a flat, without a spare! Both Ryan and I were very thankful not to be stuck on that truck. That afternoon we connected with our supply buyer in town and caught a ride to the mission center. Would you believe, just 5 minutes from home we felt the bump, bump of a flat front tire? The 4 of us guys (2 very determined ones) changed that tire in just a few minutes. Ahhh! Home at last!

The trip back to the village recently was really encouraging. It was a great opportunity to spend some quality time with the church leaders. They were excited about receiving the newly revised Phase 1 lessons (Creation through Christ). Together we talked about the need to start a couple of outreaches nearby and it was a blessing to hear that they plan to use this time to train new Bible teachers. They are now asking God to show them who should go and who should be trained. During our time, we also discussed the direction the Lord has lead us for this coming school year. They were understanding and supportive of the need for us to be in the dorm another year.

The families there were thankful for the much needed medical supplies and it was to spend some time working with the guys who oversee the medicine in the village. They are so far from any kind of medical help, it is good that these men now have a basic understanding of some medicines and if needed they can seek further help via radio.

On Sunday the main Bible teacher taught from Ephesians 3. It was great to have the opportunity to support his teaching with some more examples from the Word and the importance of each one of us walking daily by faith. The timing was right for me to explain that God has temporarily moved us to another ministry. How I pray they too will understand the importance of following God wherever He leads and the peace we can have from just being right where He wants us to be.

Maintenance on a house in the jungle can be challenging, it’s more that fixing a couple of rusty pipes! Thanks to some very hungry termites. What used to be plywood on a wall in the teacher’s office was only nails and paint. Inside the house Ryan and I replaced many termite infested boards in the floor, a couple support posts inside our house and one of the main beams under the house. Outside the house, three groups of men willingly helped by digging a new septic hole. Our old one had caved in and tree is growing out of it. We are so thankful that the Lord provided the opportunity and the help to get these big jobs finished on our house in the village.

“Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.” Jeremiah 10:7b

What an amazing God we serve! It is a joy to be involved in the work he is doing among the nations.

It has been a privilege in the last months as we continue to serve as your co-laborers here in the Island’s Region of Papua New Guinea. For this year, taking on the ministry of dorm parents at our support center has sure been a dramatic change for us, but it has been a blessing to be a part of the body in a new way. Two of the teen girls that are living with us at the mission center are from the Kunzer family serving in the province of New Ireland. For the first time in the history of the Patpatar people God’s truth is going forward. Butch Kunzer and his coworkers began the first outreach there last month teaching in Genesis and will continue on in the coming months until they are able to present the hope of the gospel. Praise God that we have the privilege of serving with them in this work as we care for two of their daughters, in the dorm. Here is one of the latest updates from the teaching going on among the Patpatar:
Butch had just finished teaching about Noah and the first rain. He had explained God’s patience and mercy toward mankind in waiting 120 years while Noah preached repentance and the impending flood. However mankind had refused to believe God’s message and believe in God Himself. They had continued on in their daily lives filled with self gratification and sin until the day God fulfilled His Word and wiped them from the face of the earth.
From the back of the group a man stood up and began to quietly address the group. This was the same man that had been opposed to us teaching in the village. "The people of Noah’s day were sinners," he began and started listing some of their sins. Then he continued, "The people here on New Ireland, we are just like the people of Noah’s day. We fight, we kill, we do bad things, and we don’t want to hear God’s message. It would be good if we all came to hear this teaching of God’s Word because we are just like those people of Noah’s day that drowned in the flood."

• Please be praying for the outreach to the Patpatar people as they hear the truth of God’s Word for the first time in their own language.

• Pray also for us as we care for the Kunzer girls when return to the dorm next week for their second term of the school year. They will be returning along with 4 other students to continue on with school after a two week break with their perspective families.

• Pray for our family as we continue to minister together in the dorm on the mission center. It is a challenging and demanding ministry, but a joy to be involved in the young lives that God has brought our way.

• Please continue to pray for the Ivanga ministry. Dave and our church planting consultant will be making a trip into the village at then end of October to help us plan effectively for the future of the ministry among the Ivanga. Pray for wisdom and God’s leading during this time.

Thanks for faithfully partnering with us in prayer. It is a continual encouragement.

Dave, Shirley and Family

The string, made from a thin vine was hanging there on the shelf in the teachers study room. I noticed it when I walked in, but thought someone must have tied something up and left it dangling there. I had returned to our village for a short time to meet with the church leaders and Bible teachers and to get a few items from our house that we needed in our dorm ministry.

I didn’t look forward to explaining that we wouldn’t be returning to the village right away like we had planned. Things were going well in translation, curriculum development and discipleship. Shirley was starting up translation work in Genesis and we have all been excited about her joining in this part of the work. So I sat in the office with a heavy heart as I waited for the men to arrive.

As we met together there in the study/office under our house they explained to me some things that have been going on and how they have been encouraged through studying and teaching Galatians. Recently, some of them had been at an opening celebration for a new church building in a neighboring village and while they were there they met up with many people from other villages in the surrounding area. After Asele shared from Galatians chapter 3 some of the men asked a number of questions about God’s word. Later they told Asele that they wanted to hear more of this good talk in their own village. Wow! These were people from areas never before open to hearing God’s Word! God is at work.

While we were finishing up our meeting I asked how the medical side of things were going. Before Shirley and I left the village there was a whooping cough epidemic going on and we have been concerned for the children. They said that things were much better and that there were only a few who were sick with malaria. Just then one of the guys got up and retrieved the small string vine from the shelf and he began to explain about Sopol’s daughter. He said that one day she was swimming in the river with her friends and had some sort of seizure and went under. Her friends yelled for help and several guys responded by diving after her. It took them a little while to find her under the water, but they pulled her out and did all they knew to do to help her. She was unconscious for a while and they were sure she would die, but then God brought her back to consciousness. I asked how she was doing now and they pointed out the window where she was out playing with the rest of the kids. They hung the string as a reminder to tell me what God had done by showing how deep the water was where they found her. Holding it up it was well over their heads and I later measured at just over 9 feet. Praise the Lord for saving little Vini’s life.

My heart had been heavy before the meeting began, but I was reminded again that the Ivanga work is God’s work and he is not limited to Shirley and my being there in the village. He is continuing to show Himself strong in our absence and growing the church body in ways that are perfect to meet their current needs. He is so completely unlimited and His timing is so absolutely perfect!

“God’s talk is truth. Another man’s talk cannot replace God’s talk. We need to hear it and know it well and understand its meaning. We can’t avoid it.” We heard this on Sunday as one of the teachers challenged the body at the end of his message from Galatians. It is very encouraging to see the Ivanga church declaring the importance of God’s Word and to see them learning to live by it. Continue to pray for them as they study through the book of Galatians.

Moving back to a bush house after being away for over a year can be challenging. With Shirley’s muddy mop water and me replacing several rotten post under the house, our first week back we were literally “digging out”. The house is once again back to semi-level and our feet aren’t turning black inside the house anymore. Aahh! Home Sweet Home!
Thank you for being a blessing and an encouragement to us as you sustain us in prayer.

Yours in His Service,

Dave, Shirley, Anna, Tristan and Caitlin

“Krais me ma pe antoinong ye, ye vala de ma togou ngong.”  (It is Christ in me and Him alone that gives me life.  Just a portion of Galatians 2:20 in Ivanga.)  What an encouraging time we had the last couple weeks.  Four men from the village were here with us at our mission’s support center.  The two Bible teachers and two trainees just left this week to return home with the newly printed Galatians Bible lessons.  We were all encouraged through our in-depth study of Galatians.  The reminder of our position in Christ seemed to really hit home with them as they are continually faced with pressure to try to do something to make God satisfied with them.  Pray for these guys as they take back the lessons and teach the rest of the Church back home.  Praise the Lord for the understanding these men have and for their commitment to leave their families and garden work to come out and work on Bible lessons. 

Thank you for continuing to pray for us and the Ivanga church.

Dave and Shirley

8 hours of rain during a 10 hour hike! It was amazing to me how dark it can get under the rainforest canopy when it is raining. Praise the Lord for such a safe hike through the rainy and slippery jungle. We did have to cut a tree down for a temporary bridge across one swelling river. I was feeling quite good about myself walking across the narrow tree trunk. I didn’t even fall, until I got to the muddy bank on the other side. Because we left on Wednesday morning and didn’t need to be at the airstrip until 11 A.M. on Thursday it gave me a night to relax some at a village along the way. A short stick bed never felt so nice!

It was very encouraging to visit back in the village and see everyone again. I kept seeing answered prayers all around. There were a couple near deaths from accidents while we were away. Both the man and boy are doing just fine now. Our older neighbor was still with us and even walked over to meet me when I arrived in the village. The Lord kept them from any major sickness during our year of furlough. The teachers have taught through 1 Corinthians and are now doing a review before we begin lessons in Galatians. Literacy class was completed with five more people who can read and write Ivanga. Young men are still being trained to teach God’s Word and they recently taught from Creation to Christ to their families and young children.

Our house was fine considering that an earthquake had opened all three exterior doors and a huge tree fell missing the corner of our roof by about 15 feet. Our neighbors really looked out after things well. They nailed our doors shut and cleared out most of the tree.

Praise the Lord for the many ways He continues to show us that He alone is faithful and that we can entrust everything to Him. I hope that you are encouraged by all the recent answers to prayer. Thank you for praying for us and the Ivanga church.

Pressing on with you,
Dave