NTM

“Who caused this to happen?
Who has controlled history since the beginning?
I, the Lord, am the one. I was here at the beginning,
and I will be here when all things are finished.” Is 41:4 (NCV)

So many times in all our settling back here in the States for our year long home assignment we’ve been tempted to worry or not rest in the sovereignty of our Lord. It’s ironic isn’t it? We can travel across the globe, live in a remote setting, and bring the gospel to a people group all in the strength of the Lord. But we get back here to the land of plenty and it’s so easy to forget the Lord. Is our natural environment, or the lack of nothing, that promotes this lack of faith? I’m not exactly sure and it really doesn’t matter. The bottom line is do I believe God is in control of my life and the history of the world or don’t I? And whether I’m struggling through life in the tribe trying to squeeze out language that doesn’t come natural or concerned about the economy the issue is the same. Will I walk by faith in the knowledge that God is in control and allow His peace to reign in my heart or not?

We have seen God do amazing things since we’ve been back. Our kids are all finally settled in the routine of school. For the most part they love it and are enjoying western style church. Their biggest disappointment is that we can’t go to Wal-Mart everyday! J We’ve been busy with meetings and speaking engagements. As much fun and encouragement we have been receiving from being back “home.” Our thought continually dwell on the Dinangat. So when I got an update from the Schlegel’s who just returned to Dinangat I just had to share it with you all…

After we had written in our last update about the opposition the church here in Dinangat had from a different religious group, probably many of you are wondering how the church is doing now. Did we just say that God is faithful? Oh yes, he truly is! He continues building his church here in Dinangat. This Sunday almost all the adults and many children were there for the Sunday worship and teaching time. The lesson Jeremiah happened to teach this Sunday was on Romans 3,21-24, where it says in vs. 24, “Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.” That was God’s perfect plan that those verses happened to be the lesson for this Sunday, because this is the very thing that other group tries to convince our friends about, that we can be righteous before God through our good deeds, and if we fail that we would go to hell.

There is so much more we could tell you about. We know that this is not over yet. The challenges and oppositions will keep coming. And in that, the believers still have a lot to learn, especially in the area of standing strong on the truth during those trying times. But it is very, very encouraging to see in many of the believers the desire to grow in that area. So we’re praising God for that.

At the end of the meeting on Sunday my translation helper Felix (pictured) got up and encouraged the others, saying “We need to keep reading and learning God’s Word. Because otherwise when the challenges come as just recently happened we’ll just be sitting there nodding our heads to things that are not true.” After he was done saying that Esingke, who is THE respected leader in the village got up and very emphatically said, “We are just like grass which the wind can blow in any direction he pleases. We have to become firm in the truth so that when the storm comes we can stand firm on the truth!”

God is at work! Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer. Please continue to be with us before the throne of God for the growth of His church here in Dinangat. Please also be praying for us as a team, for wisdom for all our decisions as we teach and disciple His church, that God may give us clear direction.

Serving him with you,

                Ralf, Elli with Naomi, Rebekka & Mirjam

Isn’t that great news? It is so encouraging seeing these new believers getting more and more convinced that they need to stay in God’s word, believe it and act on it. Funny, I just realized, are we any different than they? We too must stay saturated in the word of God.

 Thank you so very much for your faithful prayers for these believers. Pray that the outreach will happen in January 2010 to the neighboring village of the same language group.

We appreciate you all!

Gary and Esther Smith

Dear Supporting Friends and Family,

Just a quick note to let you know that God abundantly provided for us. We are now the owners of a very nice minivan! The story is long and to most boring, but amazing how God provided. After it was all said in done we see His master plan at work. As I drove the van home today I sang to Him in thanksgiving. I know this sounds silly, but if you knew the whole story behind getting a vehicle you’d understand a bit more. But I’ll save you the details. I just wanted to let you all know that God provided and we hit the road tomorrow. That’s right, we got the van today and start the big journey tomorrow!

I’d like to say a huge thanks to my Mom who let us use her vehicle for the last two weeks. We even used it to drive down to Pensacola for a family reunion and our first mission report at Grace Community Church. What sweet times they were. So good reconnecting with our family, and with our spiritual family. You have refreshed our souls! Thank you.

So yes, please pray for us as we will be on the road for all of July visiting supporters and speaking. We so look forward to it! We love you all!

For His sake,

Gary

Dear supporting friends and family,

Just a quick note to let you know that the Lord saw us through and we made it to Atlanta on the 12^th. We then got moved into the house on Monday afternoon. We just wanted to thank you all so much for praying for our safe journey. We had a wonderful time with our coworkers the Schlegels in Germany!

We have many things to do before we hit the road on Monday for our travels around visiting some of you. Not the least of which is a van! Can’t really hit the road without a car now can we? Please pray for this. We seem to be having trouble locating one that suits our needs. Thank you.

Well, that’s all for now. We are loving seeing family again and look forward very much to seeing all of you soon!

For His Sake,

Gary (for all us Smith’s)

Dear Family and Friends,

It is with a happy and overwhelmed heart that we tell you that God has abundantly provided for us to send our kids to Killian Hill Christian School next year!!! We wrote to you all about this a little while ago, asking for prayer. God’s timing was so good as we continued to pray and trust Him each time we worried about schools for next year. We knew God was able to meet our kids’ needs in the public school, but it was a big step of faith to keep trusting Him with that. Every time we weighed the two options, the Christian school seemed better suited to our kids’ needs in so many ways.

We are in awe of God’s faithfulness and provision! Now Charis will not be going alone to a huge public middle school, but all four kids can be at the same place. Caleb can get the specific extra help he needs through the Discovery program for learning disabilities that he will go to a few times a week. The rest of the time he’ll be in the regular 4th grade classroom. I (Esther) plan to get Discovery certified next year and we pray that when we return to PNG, I will be able to pick up where he leaves off in the program to help him learn to cope in school and life. This is such a huge relief to me for him to be able to get the help he really needs. Nathan will be able to go into 1st grade, and Zachary will be able to go to a half day Kindergarten. I had so many misgivings about putting him in a full day Kindergarten program in the public school. Not having little ones at home for the first time in 12 years, I look forward to being free to volunteer and help out in each of the kids classrooms as much as possible next year.

We thank each of you for your prayers and support. Your faithful giving through the years, our careful saving of it, and God recently surprising us with a large sum is together making this possible.  Praise God with us at His tremendous blessings!

Next week is our last week of home school here for this school year! We are all getting really excited about leaving the tribe at the end of the month and traveling through Europe back to the United States for the first time in 4 years! We can’t wait to reconnect with each of you.

Praising God,

Esther (for us)

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.

Is 55:8

This verse somehow brings me comfort right now. Last night Tiyenare delivered her baby. However it was born dead. They buried the baby this morning. Tiyenare is doing okay, but not talking much. This is a praise that God spared her life as it’s not uncommon for women to die in childbirth.

They tried flying her out but were unable to find a way to make it happen. They contacted some government office via radio that said they would fly in a plane to come and get her, but day after day the plane never came.

Please pray for the believers here. Pray for them that they won’t be confused.  Also pray for us in guiding them through this as we too are sad about this. Thank you.

Gary

Dear Supporters,

I’m writing to ask for prayer.

Recently the believers here have been challenged to get rid of all their old ways. They did not realize that mixing their former beliefs with their new found faith was not healthy. But the Lord used the story of Athens in Acts 17 to challenge them in this respect.  

So today is a big day for them because a woman is in labor. What they used to do was all kinds of incantations or magic to assure safe delivery. However for the first time ever they are laying all that aside and walking by faith alone that God will help them. Therefore I’m writing all of you to ask you to pray for this woman. Her name is Tiyenare.

She was in the first literacy class and is incredibly shy. This is her first baby and there are midwives here that have gone through a training course so they will be able to assist. They’ve obviously delivered lots of babies here, but this will be the first one without dependence on animistic practices! It’s awesome seeing their simple unwavering faith. Pray that they will see God’s work in this and glorify His name!

Thank you!

Gary

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life.

Ps 23:6 (NLT)

Felix (the man in the picture on the left) said the following today after our Tuesday morning believers meeting, “Listening to how God cares for us this morning really stirred my heart and I just had to stand up and say something about it. When a man of prominent position comes here to our village, like the governor or prime minister does he come to our children and pick them up and say, ‘O what a nice child you are!’ Is that what he would do? No way! These leader men don’t even pay attention to our children, and these are really important people. However the one who is above them all, the one who is almighty comes to me and picks me up and assures me of his love. When I think of this I am amazed.”

As I listened to Felix saying this to everyone this morning tears welled up in my eyes. They are getting it! What so many of us struggle with they are getting. The fact that the God of the universe loves us unconditionally as His children because of what Christ did on our behalf is what they are standing on. Secure in His love. Resting in the knowledge that His goodness and unfailing love will pursue them. Where else would we rather exist?

So yes, overall things are going really well in here. God is raising up teachers already. In the picture is two of them. These two men, Felix and Basa have already started teaching with us. Others lead the singing and others lead us in prayer. It’s so encouraging to see them respond to God like this. This is why we came, to see them brought into God’s kingdom, to walk in loving relationship with Him, and to serve Him and see Him work in and through them. Of course it hasn’t come without it’s struggles and hardships. Frankly, there have been times of wanting to throw in the proverbial towel. However, to God be the glory we did not. God sustained us and it has been worth it all!

As a family we can’t help being a little excited about getting ready to go to the States for our home assignment. While leaving here will be hard we are very much looking forward to reconnecting with family and friends back home. We are still seeking the Lord’s will in schooling for our children. Currently it looks like they will attend public school, but if the Lord has other plans we are open to that. We’ve heard lots of good reports from other missionaries about public school. So we will see.

If you think about it please pray for us concerning:

1.   Before we leave I’d like to complete an evangelism training course for the believers here, and get everything ready to go for an outreach to the main village.

2.   That the believers here will continue to deepen their relationship with the Lord.

3.   There are a few people who seem to have turned their backs on the Lord. Pray that they will come back!

4.   For our planning and preparation to go on home assignment (aka furlough). So much needs to be done.

5.   That God would provide a vehicle for us during home assignment.    

Pursued by His Love,

Gary, Esther, Charis, Caleb, Nathan, and Zachary Smith

PS – Zachary (4 yrs old) just told us “I wish I was a village kid, then I could go on hikes whenever I wanted. But I’d have to eat that yucky beetlenut.”   HA!

Dear Friends and Family,

As the time draws nearer for us to go back to the States for a year of home assignment (furlough), we are both excited and a little overwhelmed with all the planning and financial needs and decisions to be made for this next year. Most of all, we can’t wait to finally reunite with you, our family and friends, after four long years of being separated! Even though, we can see so clearly now the amazing blessings in the lives of the Dinangat people that have made every sacrifice so worth it. Thank you for praying and sacrificing with and for us through the years to make it possible for us to live and serve here. God is at work in the lives of these new believers and it is amazing to see!

Anyway, we wanted to give you an update on the beginning of our plans and to ask for your prayers for wisdom and God’s provision in the months ahead.

We are already in awe of a couple huge provisions from the Lord. One is the purchase of our plane tickets. We’ve been saving as much as possible for four years and the money was there already to purchase the tickets. Second is God’s provision of a home in the Stone Mountain (Georgia) area, furnished, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, rent free for the whole year!!! It is a missionary home belonging to a church in the area that Nancy contacted through First Baptist of Atlanta. We look forward to living close to Gary’s family in Atlanta for this furlough. Isn’t it exciting to see God’s provision in this already?!

Please continue to pray with us for a vehicle (or 2?), a job for Gary (to minister in a church), and wisdom/provision in choosing a school for our kids.

Our school needs on furlough are unique to home schoolers in the States. Since we home school in the middle of nowhere every 4 out of 5 years, our kids really need the classroom interaction and exposure to their own culture that they don’t get over here.  So we really see the need for our kids to be in a classroom setting this year.

Also, as we’ve shared in the past, our son Caleb has a significant learning disability.  At this point, I am not qualified to give Caleb (who will be in 4th grade) the specific NILD instruction that he needs. During furlough, I plan to go to a 2-week course to get certified in the Discovery program so that I can work with Caleb in that capacity when we return to the field. He really needs some specific training this next year.

There is a Christian school very close to the home where we’ll be living that sounds perfect: all the kids would be in one school, it has the exact NILD program that Caleb needs, Kindergarten is only half day (which we prefer) and it is a Christian school; but it costs over $26,000 for all four of our kids!!! (and that’s with the fourth kid free!)  Anyway, our other option is the public school (elementary for the boys and middle for Charis), and it sounds like a good, conservative school with some Christian teachers (from the church giving us the house) teaching at the school. It does offer a limited special needs program for Caleb; and I appreciate that the public school will at least be helping Caleb get through the year, whether or not they work specifically with his learning disability. That is better than a private school without an NILD program. I also like that the public school isn’t quite running at the break neck speed academically that many private schools try to aim for. Caleb should actually feel more average in a public school as opposed to always at “the end of the pack” in a private school. And of course, public school is free! We hesitate to have Charis by herself in a very big public middle school. Nathan and Zachary should fit in easily in first grade and Kindergarten next year. Overall, we would love to send our 4 kids to the Christian school I mentioned above, but not having the finances to do so, we don’t want to demand this from God for our kids, knowing that God can make the public school option good for them as well.

We continue to pray and are at peace that God can make either option work out for His best for our kids…either provide the money for the Christian school or good teachers for our kids in the public school. We look forward to seeing how God answers prayer.

We do know a few dates already…we will leave the tribe at the end of May, and travel through Goroka, Port Moresby, and Singapore, arriving in Germany at the beginning of June to visit with our co-workers, the Schlegels for a few days. From there we will be going through Paris and London for a few days and arriving in the States mid-June. We are excited about doing a little sight seeing in Europe since we will be traveling through there anyway.

We look forward to contacting each one of you and setting up dates to visit sometime during the next year. We appreciate your prayers for wisdom in planning.

Serving together,

Esther (for us)