NTM

I do apologize for the sudden drop off in regards to our updates! The week after we finished up the chronological teaching, our language consultant flew in and gave Jeremiah and I our fourth and, praise God, FINAL language evaluation!

This is a HUGE praise! We have been checked out and cleared for take- off! We must confess that there were many, many, many J days when we thought we’d never make it. But GOD. He alone is enabling us to do this task, faithfully fitting us and molding us for the work He has called us to.

We thank Him for YOU also, who have stood with us over the years, praying and supporting in so many ways. We are privileged to be your hands and feet in this foreign land, and to be a part of your team.

A few days after our evaluation, we flew out to our missions’ regional center and our place of reprieve. We’ve been out of the tribe for two weeks. But this was not before our team held the first believers meeting here in Dinangat!

The village leaders have all simultaneously agreed to have our meetings our Sundays. I cannot express the joy of gathering together, now as brothers and sisters in Christ, and the new freedom we are enjoying as we interact and share our faith!

The Dinangat believers are eager to learn, eager to hear more and grow. But it’s a slow process. Our believers meetings right now look very different from what you might consider a “church” meeting. We do not open with prayer. There are no hymns. No offerings.

That may sound just downright wrong to many of you, but consider where they are coming from. In times past, without any background or proper teaching, our friends were told that singing, giving and praying were part of what needed to be done to gain heaven. These were not acts of worship. They were done routinely and out of obligation as a way to become righteous.

If we were to allow these institutions right away into the meetings, without further teaching, it is more than likely that the “heart” of worship will go right out the window and our friends would slip right back into the old way “performing” these acts. But the Scripture is chalk full of examples and instruction concerning these things, and so we intend to teach the Biblical basis first, and then with knowledge and truth, we can begin partaking of these beautiful institutes together!

While we were in Madang, our coworkers have been continuing on in here. Our believers’ meetings are primarily focusing on teaching eternal security by reinforcing the truths of Calvary and the many stories they have learned.

Gary visited a few of the village leaders and came in the middle of a discussion they were having. Here’s what he said: “As soon as I sat down with the men they started telling me what they were talking about.

Here is what they were saying, “Everything that we believed before was false. We went to church and tried to live a good life so that God would accept us. We trusted in our own efforts to get us to God. But now we understand clearly that all of that was false. Now we understand that it is only because of Jesus completely washing away our sins on the cross that we can go to God. It is about believing in Him not about our efforts.

"And you know what else, we understand now that the religious overseers of our area are believing the old lies. They know the stories of the bible, but they are trusting in their efforts to earn God’s acceptance. But we want to leave all that and come to God on the road He made and that road is believing in Jesus.”

This is only a synopsis of what these men were saying. They were like a pinball going back and forth praising God for what He has done for them. I’ve heard beautiful music from a fine tuned orchestra, but what I just witnessed far surpassed that.

In a culture where many people are ashamed to really explicate personal feelings, it is truly a wonderful thing to hear them giving testimony and praise to God for what He is doing in their lives! It is the proof of the Holy Spirit taking up residence, and we are rejoicing with each one who has been bold enough to proclaim their trust in the Savior!

Please keep praying. There are some who have not given a clear testimony yet. We are praying that God continues to draw them to himself, and give them the strength to humble themselves before Him and acknowledge their need for a Savior.

Also please pray for wisdom for our team, to know how to disciple these precious men and women who have placed their faith in Him!

Please also be praying for Jeremiah as he enters this new role in the translation process. Pray for wisdom for him as well, and that the Spirit would lead him to the best way to translate and communicate Scripture in this language! Faithful is He who called us, who will also do it!

Rejoicing in Answered Prayer! Jeremiah, April, Jordan, Judah and Alayna

“WORTHY are YOU to take the book and to break its seals; for YOU were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from EVERY TRIBE and TONGUE and PEOPLE and Nation!”
Revelation 5:9 (emphasis added)

Everyone was there. One man hiked the three hour trail from their coffee garden to make sure he didn’t miss the final talk. He hiked back again that afternoon, after the teaching, to set the beans out to dry, then hiked back again in the middle of the night for the teaching the next morning.

Gary groaned in agony as Ralf drove the long, merciless nails in between his fingers. With every blow of the hammer, you could see the faces cringe, others just hung their heads and would barely look up. Jeremiah strained to balance the Cross between he and Ralf, and they hefted it into position in the pre-dug hole. And there he hung. Face dripping with mock blood, he cried out in another language, “Father, forgive them!”

And then, in answer to your prayers and the desire of His Son, Jesus Christ, the Father reached down to this small, remote village in PNG. As one by one, individual hearts cried out to the Father in confession of their sin, and thanks giving for the price that HE paid in their place, the God of the Universe did indeed forgive them for their sin!

There was no dancing or singing. No lifting up of the hands in spontaneous outbursts or worship. In fact, after the scene at Calvary, you could have heard a pin drop for a full five minutes. But as we work our way through the village to talk with people one on one, what we are hearing is God’s name being praised! We are seeing hearts bursting with joy! Many have told us that they know they have been in darkness for so long, but now they know the truth. There is nothing they can do to resolve their sin problem, but Jesus has paid the debt. He did it all. Read these snapshots of the testimonies we are hearing, and rejoice with us that HE is building His church! HE has redeemed his people!

Peso: Before I was in Satan’s family, but now we know that Jesus died for our sins. I know I can’t do anything to be put in Gods family, only by belief in what Jesus did, only He can save us.

Maangit: Jesus took my place and died for my sin.

Mesari: What Jesus did is true, He died for my sin. He shed his blood for me.

Takido "Before you all came to us we were living in sin and were going to die and go to hell. But now we understand that God sent Jesus to die for our sin so that we can be saved. That’s what I know is true. God is true."

Kombu: “I believed in God and Jesus, but I didn’t understand how to wash my sin away, but now I see that Jesus washed it away by dying on the cross for my sin. I am not able to do it, but because of what He did I can go to God when I die. I’m just so happy about this."

Juretnuwo: He said over and over again that he knows that because of his sin he deserves death, but Jesus died for his sin so now he is in God’s family.

Itiringke: "I understand that I should go to hell because of my sin, but Jesus took my place so that I can go to God."

Raukepe: Jesus died for my sin, He saved me, later I will go to God.

Felix: Today I don’t worry anymore, I know that it’s because of what Jesus did for me that I’ll go to God.

Bau: My head is just breaking open as I think about what Jesus did for me. Thank you God!

Epox: I’m in God’s bilum because of what Jesus did for me on the cross.

These are a few quotes that we’ve heard, and of course I’ve not included all the testimonies that the people have given. Nor have we spoken to everyone in the village yet. What we are witnessing is also hugely emotional. (Being saved from your sin for eternity is an emotional thing!) God Himself only knows the sincerity of their hearts, who is professing faith in Truth, and whose hearts are secretly unbelieving. We know that there are years of teaching ahead of us, for these new babes in Christ will need nourishing food, and lots of it! But for now, we want to say a huge THANK YOU for standing with us in this spiritual battle for the souls of the Dinangat people! REJOICE! God in His faithfulness is winning the battle, He has added many Dinangat names to His church, and one day you will meet them in Glory!

REJOICING in HIS FAITHFULNESS,
Jeremiah, April, Jordan, Judah and Alayna

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever! Amen!
Ephesians 2:20, 21 (exclamation points added )

I’ve been itching to sit down and write this update! God is answering all of your prayers. He is showing glimpses of Who He really is, and our finite minds are about to explode!

Personally, it has been a very long time since I’ve seen a heart really changed and turned towards the Lord. What a precious thing it is, and a joy and a privilege to witness, and I wish you could all be here and watch as the God of the universe is gathering up His sheep from the Dinangat fold. Your prayers, support, love and encouragement have afforded us the passage of a front row seat, and we are forever grateful.

Yesterday, at the end of the teaching, we portrayed Jesus being brought before Pilate, condemned to die and beaten. The people here have seen this drama before, as I have mentioned they have been taught much by the other religious group in the past. But now they have the context of their own sin and the desperate state of their souls. They know of Jesus, that He is God, born a man. They have seen His power and His compassion through the stories of the Gospels, and have come to love Him. Now, as they watched Him being falsely accused and mercilessly beaten, the lights came on for many of our friends. Tears were streaming, heads were hanging, tongues were clicking (the cultural sign of shock or amazement.) They know and believe from the Scripture that the penalty for sin is death, and now they are understanding that the Kidaak Amna’s work would be to stand in their place, and pay the price for them.

Totne lives way on top of the mountain and is ordinarily not in the village very much. In the past, he has been suspicious of our motives for being here. But he has hiked down from his house every single day, and not missed a single lesson. Yesterday, Gary witnessed this hard heart break and told us what he said: “All my life I’ve turned my back on God. I’ve never come to any of the religious meetings that the people have. But as I watched those men beating Jesus I realized that I was one of those men. What Jesus did for me I can’t even put into words and I don’t want to turn my back on him anymore.” And then he wiped the tears from his eyes and started to laugh joyously.

Do you remember our new brother in Christ, Bau? A couple of days ago, he stood up and exhorted all the people to keep coming to the teaching. He said, “Now is the time to be rescued from the hand of Satan, do not miss it!”

We know that there are hard times coming, and that we won’t be floating on this cloud forever. But oh, it is sweet to see faith starting to bud! We haven’t actually taught on the death, burial, and resurrection yet, nor have we done the work of tying it all together for them. But this was a harvest ripe for the picking, and I believe that there are many out there that have already put all the pieces together and have placed their faith in the saving blood of Christ. God is doing the work, and we are sitting, watching every wonderful move He makes. After Wednesday, and throughout the next weeks, we will sit down with as many as we can, and Lord willing we will hear many clear testimonies of precious souls understanding the Gospel message and trusting Christ as their Savior. Please keep praying!

Final Lessons of the Chronological Teaching:
Monday- Death and Burial of Jesus
Tuesday- Resurrection of Jesus
Wednesday- Tie in Lesson, Old and New Testament

Rejoicing in His Goodness,
Jeremiah, April, Jordan, Judah and Alayna Markley

“Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days- You would not believe even if you were told!”
Habakkuk 1:5

This week was ground breaking in a lot of ways. After weeks of teaching on man’s sin problem, that no matter how hard we try, we cannot clean ourselves up good enough to be worthy of God and that only by Jesus can we come to Him, it looks like many are really starting to understand what that means on a personal level. Last Tuesday one of the head religious men from the region came and held a 4 hour service after we had finished teaching that morning. He taught about what it takes to be a Christian, and for that many hours, this very nice and well meaning man fed our village a main course of do’s and don’ts that will make you acceptable to God. We wondered how they would respond.

We didn’t have to wonder very long. After a powerful message on Wednesday teaching that Jesus is the ONLY way, my language helper turned to me and said, “So many people have been teaching us what is not true. Now we have seen what the Bible says. We know that we are sinners, and nothing we can do can save us. We’ve been taught that if we go to church, give offerings, give to the poor, pray and read the Bible, then one day we will go and be with God. But this is not true. It is good to do those things, but they cannot save us. Only the Kidaak Amna can save us!” Then Basa got up and spoke, so beautifully encouraging the people in their own language in a way that we as foreigners cannot do. But he basically exhorted them all that they need to stop believing in themselves and praising themselves for what they do, but to believe only in Jesus!

Another thing worth mentioning is that this was the first week that a woman ever was brave enough to speak up and ask a question! Not a small thing in this culture, and we praise the Lord that more and more the woman are starting to come forward (more one on one, but sometimes even in the group they are answering the review questions!) This is ANOTHER direct answer to prayer!

Friday was a big day. First there was the lesson on humility. We taught on Jesus rebuking the disciples and telling them to let the children come to Him, and that we can learn from their example of faith. We actually did a drama so they could see “Jesus” being loving to all the kids, black and white. In this culture kids are often not treated well or thought much of, so it was a great lesson on how Jesus feels about their children. We also taught on the young rich man who came and asked Jesus what he needed to do to enter the kingdom. The man was proud, and though he thought he was following all the commandments, Jesus showed him that in his heart, he was not, and therefore he, too, was a sinner. Again, God through His Word is showing the people that He does not look at outside appearances, but HE knows our hearts! Will we, like the rich man, reject His teaching and turn away, or will we agree with Him and let Him be our Savior?

Immediately after the lesson, the literacy teachers held a graduation service for 30 new graduates! Now there are 30 more people who can read and write in their own language! It was a beautiful service. 6 students got up and read Scripture portions. All the students were presented with a gift of the first three chapters of Genesis, to encourage them to keep reading. The students presented gifts to the teachers (and even to us missionaries!) of bilums (string bags) and garden food. It is truly wonderful to see how much they value the gift of being able to read in their own language!

From our co-workers’ newsletter: God is really doing a work in Itiringke’s heart. After the ceremony he got up and shared something with tears in his eyes. He told everyone that God has displayed His power in his life because he can not only read, but now is a teacher in literacy. He said that he was not able to read before. He only went to first grade when he was a child, but now God has given him the strength and the ability to finish the course and to be a teacher. He kept saying that God is true. And then he encouraged people who are older to not give up. That they too can learn how to read. It reminded me of that old hymn, “You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.” Well, Itringke was telling everyone that he knows God is true because of what He’s done in his own life.

We are just around the corner from telling them the answer to the question we’ve been hearing so much these last couple of weeks; “What will the Kidaak Amna do to save us from our sin?” We have just 5 more lessons until we begin the Gospel presentation of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. Please continue to stand with us! God is faithful, He is doing as He said He would, and we are at the edge of our seats to see what He will do in these next 2 weeks!

This week’s lessons:
Monday – It is foolish to trust in riches.
Tuesday – Jesus healed blind Bartimaeus and rode into Jerusalem.
Wednesday – Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Passover.
Thursday – Jesus was arrested by His enemies (part 1).
Friday – Jesus was arrested by His enemies (part 2).

In His Grip,
Jeremiah, April, Jordan, Judah and Alayna

PS- Although it’s not until Wednesday, we celebrated Jordan’s 8 birthday with a party with our co-workers yesterday. We decided to have a “play day” with our kids to unwind from a busy week. So the day included getting ‘dressed up’ by the kids, then acting out a skit, being farm animals on our hands and knees, and making up silly stories. But the ‘icing’ on the cake was an unplanned “chicken raid” as we watched our co-workers chasing chickens out of a tree. These pests have taken up residence right outside their bedroom window in a tree, and like to start cock-a-doodle-doing at crazy hours!

This week, we have been doing some teaching on the Pharisees, how they were so religious and righteous on the outside, but that God looks on the heart. We used a bright, shiny pot to demonstrate. A few weeks earlier, the Smith’s filled it with compost and just let it sit. On Tuesday, we showed it to the people, who’s eyes lit up and there were ooh’s and ahh’s all over the place. (a new pot here is a HUGELY valued possession.) A few people said, “Hey, give it to me and we will eat!” We asked them if they think the pot looks like a good pot. And of course everyone agreed. Well, then we opened the pot up and out shot this foul stench. We used this to show them how man looks at the outward appearance but the God looks on the inside and what he sees is our sin. Well, the visual hit its mark. There was talking all around, and people could readily identify with what it meant to make yourself look good on the outside (giving to others, going to their religious meetings, etc.) but have a totally rotten heart. Several were asking, “How can I make my heart clean?” And we asked them if it is possible to clean ourselves up good enough for God. They all understood that there was nothing they could do, and that only God could clean their hearts. Then we reminded them of the hope we have in Christ, and that they would soon hear about what HE did to wash our sin away!

Bau is an older man who regularly has been helping Gary with the Bible lessons. After it is written, Gary sits with him and goes over it to make sure it is communicating exactly what is intended. With this position, Bau has been able to get ahead of the group and hear all the future lessons of this phase of the teaching. And God’s Word is NOT returning void! He is INDEED building His church! Bau’s heart has been broken, and he is overwhelmed at what Jesus has done for him as the Lamb of God! He has expressed clear testimony of gratefulness for what Christ did to save him from his sin, and the angels are rejoicing with us over this precious lost lamb who has been found! Gary’s other helper (and the only other one with access to the sneak peaks of the lessons!) Ronny, has also accepted the Truth. He told Gary, “When I heard God’s laws, I knew that I had broken them and I knew that I was in Satan’s hand, and I was afraid. But now I see what Jesus did, how he completely paid for my sin and I am not afraid anymore.” To God be the Glory!

Well, it’s obvious that we are getting close to the climax of this spiritual battle! To borrow my co-workers’ phrase, the enemy has ‘upped the ante’. In all of our years here thus far, there has been a primary school here for which the government flies in teachers from the city. There has never been a great relationship between the teachers and the village, as their expectations for each other have never quite been met, and many children couldn’t attend anyway since the fees were too high. The teachers live here during the semester, leave for school breaks and holidays, then return for the remainder of the year. This year, however, after Christmas break, no teachers showed up. In many ways, we were thankful! This meant that all the school kids could be involved in the teaching, the teachers would not be requiring the villagers to work for them, and basically, the people here were free from that distraction, for the first time since we’ve been here! Well, here we are, 3 weeks away from the death, burial and resurrection story, and guess who comes flying in last week? Right, a couple teachers! Their houses need repairs and the area needs cleaning. The people need to build a new school house. The list goes on. And then also the circuit members are supposed to come next week (since they never showed up last week) so everyone is also busy with that, cleaning up the church area, planning a program, etc. But we know we serve a God who is greater than he that is in the world! Even with all the coming distractions, we know the people are ready, the soil has been tilled, and we are looking forward to watching HIM reap the harvest and Build His Church!

We are so thankful for your partnership with us, and the flow of emails we have received from many of you has gone a huge way to encourage us! Thank you for your vigilant prayers! Keep praying!

This weeks lessons:
Monday- Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God
Tuesday- Jesus is the Only Doorway to Eternal Life
Wednesday- Jesus raised Lazarus from the Dead
Thursday- Jesus taught that we need to be humble and admit our guilt
Friday- It is foolish to trust in riches

For His Glory!
Jeremiah, April, Jordan, Judah and Alayna

Taangit inikut, "Got te ko aapje aamna ta bwaal gaamaan sinik nekut, wata taangpaang ini kin Munani kuwe kaan we taangipmang siyaan aatgut. Wata nite i Munani, wa ta neng piyaang iminangking, wa te ko ma kumnye. Te itmang itnangking," wing inikut. ~ John 3:16

While most evangelistic efforts may begin the ministry with the message of John 3:16, we are only now, on the 53rd day of teaching, finally able to share in full candor the fullness of this verse! (Actually, not even the fullness of it yet, but I’ll get to that in a minute.) The Dinangats heard this week for the first time the message of John chapter 3 in their language, and you can’t imagine the joy we feel in being able to finally talk openly about our Savior with our friends! They had to be prepared, they had to have a foundation. Years of language and culture study was necessary, and much preparatory teaching had to be done. All of that is in place now, and we are full to overflowing! They have learned now that Jesus taught that they must be born again. To help illustrate, we hung up two bilums. (string bags the people of PNG use for EVERYTHING from sweet potatoes to sweet babies) So when we said that a person is born into the world we placed a little black doll in the first bilum, representing Satan’s kingdom. That we are all born into this kingdom is understood. What is – or was – unclear to them was how to get over to God’s bilum. So we showed the doll trying to get out by itself, but it couldn’t. Then we showed the doll trying to push its way over to God’s bilum by doing good works, but it couldn’t do that either. Then we read the portions in John 3 that describe how the Holy Spirit is the one who moves the doll over to God’s bilum when a person believes. The illustration seemed to really speak to them, and all the talk this week was about desiring to be in God’s bilum. They truly are close to the kingdom!

It was a wonderful day as even several ladies crowded around us to talk about these things! Ote has been one of the most talkative women so far. She said, “ I know I am in Satan’s bilum.” We talked for a while about how Jesus was called the Lamb of God. In the Old testament, God demanded a spotless sacrifice, and she herself made the comparison, saying that Jesus alone was spotless and righteous. I asked her how she could become righteous, acceptable to God. She then said, “I am a sinner. God alone can save me. Going to church, praying, giving offerings, none of that can save me. Only God can.” Later she said, “Only God can take us from Satan’s bilum and put us into God’s. And I know He will do that.” What beautiful faith! The best is still yet to come (and believe me, as missionaries, it is very hard to wait without running ahead of ourselves) In this culture, where they have so much baggage of wrong thinking, we need to allow time for their old thinking to be replaced and grounded by Biblical truth. It is imperative that we take it one step at a time, letting these truths sink in, so that when the time comes for them to make the choice, they will be truly ready.

On Thursday evening, I went with the boys up to visit Peso (third picture from the left), one of my language helpers. Peso is normally one of the shyest guys in town. But this evening, he was just bubbling with conversation (as much as he would ever ‘bubble’. ) He told me that the “circuit men” would be coming this weekend. Now, officially, the Dinangat’s belong to one denomination that has been present here for more than 40 years. They are accountable to the regional representatives who ‘circulates’ all the villages on their list once or twice a year. They will give the annual communion, baptize the babies, take the fees, and try to settle any known disputes so that disunion does not put a hex on their work. Now, if the people do not pay their “fees”, then they are not allowed to take communion. This used to put great fear into the Dinangat’s because they were taught that taking communion would help secure them a place in heaven. What misguided fear and bondage they have lived in! But Peso confidently told me, “Now we’re not worried if we don’t have money for the fees. We know that communion doesn’t save us. Only God can.” Praise God! He is freeing His people from Satan’s grip one slimy finger at a time!

Thank you so much for standing with us! Your prayers are a HUGE part of this battle for their souls! They are giving us strength and keeping the people coming when every one of them (or us!) might have grown too weary to continue on.

This Weeks Lessons:
Monday – Jesus foretold His death, burial, and resurrection.
Tuesday – The Jewish leaders plotted to kill Jesus because He healed a man on the Sabbath.
Wednesday – Jesus told the parable of the sower.
Thursday – Jesus fed 5000 men.
Friday – The way of the Pharisees is not God’s way.

Because HE is WORTHY!!
Jeremiah, April, Jordan, Judah, and Alayna

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Lk. 1:21

It is Christmas in Dinangat! This week the people of Dinangat have heard the story of Christ’s birth as they’ve never heard it before. They understood for the first time that Christ came for THEM! His PURPOSE was to save them! How could He do this? Because HE is GOD! They knew that Jesus was a man who had great power, but they have never heard Him referred to as the ‘Kidaak Amna’, THE MAN WHO SAVES! How awesome it was to be able to proclaim to these precious ones that our God is FAITHFUL, He keeps His promises! This week we went over several prophecies from the Old Testament that were fulfilled in everything surrounding the birth of Jesus, and God’s Word once again found it’s mark!

In the teaching, we shared that the Kidaak Amna was born in a small town in fulfillment of prophecy and later some men from another country to worship the baby. We asked if this was logical and the people quickly responded, “Of course it was right, Jesus is the Kidaak Amna.” And so Gary played devil’s advocate and reminded them of God’s command not to worship anyone but Him, so these wise men must be mistaken. However, they were not shaken, “Yes, but Jesus IS God so it was right for them to bow their knees to him!” Praise God!

While it has been amazing to watch God working and stirring their hearts, we know there is a long way to go. The people are steeped in self righteousness and have been taught that if they do right, they can please God. It seems like through the teaching of the OT stories, they can identify with the sin problem and relate to the children of Israel who just continually could NOT stop sinning. They have personalized this truth, and we are so thankful! We are a bit suspicious now that many of them believe that Jesus’ work was to show them HOW they can obey the 10 Commandments, how they can clean themselves up to measure up to His standard. Epanang said this week that he was “blown away” by this teaching. Well, he has no idea! The best is yet to come! I can’t wait until the truth is revealed that Christ completely satisfied their sin debt, He removed that burden, placing it on His own shoulders, and bought their freedom! THEN, he wil really be “Blown Away”!!

Please keep praying as the Dinangat’s listen to this week’s lessons:

Monday Jesus resisted Satan’s temptations
Tuesday Jesus began His ministry
Wednesday Jesus taught that people must be born again
Thursday Jesus had power to heal sickness and to forgive sins
Friday Jesus foretold His death, burial and resurrection

On a personal note, thank you so much for praying for our health and strength! After 2 weeks of being sick, Jordan developed other symptoms that led to a final diagnosis of, according to our mission doctor “exudative pharyngitis.” I am so thankful for email and the ability to write to someone who knows! It’s so stressful trying to be our own doctor and so often I just feel totally clueless! So, are you wondering what “exudative pharyngitis” is?  Good thing for medical books! I looked it up, and found that Jordan has strep throat! And after a few days of antibiotics and pain killers, it looks like he’s FINALLY turned the corner and is on the mend!

For His Glory!
~Jeremiah, April, Jordan, Judah and Alayna

Last Monday we did a skit portraying the time when the Israelites were complaining to Moses and Aaron. They were wallowing in sin as they quickly forgot the miracles of God to save them from Egyptian bondage, and even longed to be back where life was “easy”. God sent the snakes, with the promise that if they would only look to the snake image He’d provided, He would rescue them from certain death. In this skit, we used the opportunity to teach against salvation by works or self righteousness. In the skit, one of our Israelites said as he was writhing in agony from being bitten, “I am a righteous man! I do what Gods says! If I just pray to God, He will save me!” But he did not TRUST God and look to the image. And then he died. Most of the people were shocked to see the “good guys” die. They are understanding that there is NO way we can fix our own sin problem, there is nothing we can do. God’s way is the only way. They are convinced now that only God can save them. Every day they come to the teaching wondering and hoping to hear about the “Kidaak Amna,” they can’t wait to hear about His work and what He will do to save them from their sin! We marvel at the work God is doing in the hearts of so many people here!

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven You are there, If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.” Ps. 139:7,8

They also heard this week about many of the prophets God used to proclaim His words to the Israelites. We are humbled to see the way the people here are internalizing every story and seeing God’s message for them in it. And then they are getting up and publicly testifying to what God is teaching them! After the story about Jonah, Basa got up and said this: “Years ago the government gave me the job of being the police man for our area, but like Jonah I ran away to a far away village. While I was there I fell into a river and it carried me a long way down and I almost drowned, but now I see that my story is like Jonah’s. God was showing me His power. And now we all have heard these stories from the Bible, and we see everyday what He alone created. He has shown us His power! Therefore, we should not praise anything or anyone else! We should only give our praise to God because He is all powerful and sovereign!” Can you believe it? Every one is nodding and saying things like, “It’s true!” “That’s right!” How it must thrill the Father’s heart to hear these folks already Believing His Word and PRAISING HIS NAME!

Common among the Dinangat are these little carvings called “yuppups” that some believe hold certain powers. They are no different than the idol worshipping we have been talking about in the days of Moses. Although possessing and meddling with these carvings has become looked down on, many still do. Asa’s father, who lives over the mountain in another village, was one of them. After the teaching one week, Asa went over to pay his father a visit, and began talking about the things he has been learning. With his limited (but passionate!) knowledge, he explained to his father that God is the Creator of everything, He owns everything, and He alone is worthy of our worship. He told him that God does not want us worshipping anything else. He even convinced his father to throw the carvings into the fire. When he came back and told us this story, I asked him, “So, is that sin paid for? Is he right with God now that he’s thrown the idols away?” He thought for a moment and said, “No, the payment for sin is death.”

This week Felix got up and said, “Do you all see what the Israelites did when they worshipped idols? They even sacrificed their children to false gods. You all know that we all do something similar. When we believe that the false god ‘makwa damaan’ gives us the game when we hunt, we are believing a false god; and we are giving our children over to him. Rather we should leave this thinking so that we do not give our children over to false thinking. Instead we should only put our thinking towards the one true God.”

It was an awesome week. We can see on their faces great anticipation when we talk about the coming Savior! Friday we listed over 20 prophesies about the coming Redeemer, and there is excitement in the air! Next week we start into the New Testament, and they will begin to see the work of the Savior! Please continue praying over this weeks’ lessons:

Monday – God punished Israel and Judah, but He brought back some of His people back.
Tuesday – God foretold the births of John and Jesus (first NT lesson!)
Wednesday – God fulfilled His promise in the birth of John.
Thursday – God’s angel explained to Joseph how Jesus would be born.
Friday – God fulfilled His promise by sending Jesus, the Deliverer!

Other prayer requests:
-Thus far we have experienced pretty good health. But here in the middle of this 14 week teaching spree, we find ourselves a bit weary. While many of our kids on the team came down with a bug last week, Jordan hasn’t seemed to be able to kick it and it looks like he has lapsed into malaria. We began treating him for it a few days ago, and he seems to be recovering, but still has a very high fever at night. Also, Jeremiah has had a really bad kink in his neck for a week that is quite painful. Last we checked, there was no chiropractor in the village, so we are really thankful for painkillers that have helped him stay on the job! Please pray that these things would leave us in peace quickly, and for continued health and encouragement on the team!

Thanks so much for standing with us!
~Jeremiah, April, Jordan, Judah and Alayna

Dear Praying Friends,
Over the course of the last 8 weeks, we have heard from so many of you back home. The emails we have been receiving have been so encouraging! What a blessing it has been to be assured of your prayers and support on such a constant basis! I can’t tell you much that helps in enabling and strengthening us for the work here. So on behalf of our family and our team, thank you so much!
Many of you will remember us asking for prayer concerning the women of our village. After centuries of believing that women were far inferior to “righteous” men has resulted in a very reserved, self conscious, and insecure bunch of sweet ladies. Well, the literacy class has just started meeting on Wednesdays to review the Bible lesson summary sheets as reading practice. Just this week, we started inviting the ladies to come read separately from the men in a smaller, less intimidating group meeting. We were encouraged to see so many ladies come out to the meeting, even many who have not been through the literacy class yet but wanted to be a part and give it a try. Our hope and prayer is that this will turn into an avenue for them to talk openly about what they are hearing in the teaching. Please join us in praying for their boldness, and that as God stirs their hearts with His Words, they will feel free to discuss and ask questions as we meet in this new forum.
This week the people have been hearing of God’s high standard for His people. From the second half of the 10 Commandments, to His very strict instructions on the building of the Tabernacle, they have seen that God in His righteousness demands perfection; such a perfect and Holy God can accept nothing less than what He has deemed right. The punishment for sin is severe and complete. The punishment is death. In the previous weeks, when it seemed like the people were stirring over the reality of these truths, we asked them, “Why does God have the right to demand this of His people?” Our hearts were blessed to hear them rightly answer, “God made us! He is our Creator , and therefore He is Above and over all. He is righteous, this is His way.” While it is hard for us to watch them slump under the weight of their sin, as many of them have been, it is absolutely imperative that they fully understand their need for a Savior before we rush in and proclaim Jesus’ finished work as their substitutionary Lamb! So please, this weekend, as we all remember and rejoice in the Victory of the Resurrection, please remember the Dinangat people. Most of them do not yet understand the necessity of the work of the Promised Redeemer. For them, as personal sin is just becoming a reality, right now they are just getting a glimpse of the grave, and in their minds, it still has their names on it.

This week’s lessons for your prayers:
Monday – The Lord gave the Israelites water from the rock. He healed those who looked at the bronze alter.
Tuesday – God took the Israelites into Canaan. God chose their leaders and their king.
Wednesday – God chose David to be king. God chose Solomon to build the temple.
Thursday – God chose Jonah and other men to be his messengers.
Friday – God told the prophets to write many things about the coming Deliverer.

For his Glory,
Jeremiah, April, Jordan, Judah and Alayna

All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. Exodus 19:8

This week we began to teach about the 10 commandments. Gods laws which he gave to the Israelites. The Dinangat people were much like the Israelites when they said, “We will do whatever God says.” However as we began teaching through the laws. They began to see how impossible that is. Felix, Ralf’s translation helper, stood in front of the entire group and passionately confessed that he has broken these laws. He said that he thought he was a good man but now sees that he has broken God’s law and he feels really small. And that God’s word is putting him in court. He then told everyone how that in Gods eyes if you break just one, then you are guilty of all of them. After the meeting another older man, Bau, came to me and with fear said, “We are all sinners, we have all broken God’s laws. We are like the people in Sodom and Gomorrah, God is going to judge us and I’m scared to death.”

Galatians 3:24 says, “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Friday Gary gave an illustration of how the law is like a mirror showing us our sin. Gary stood up to teach with his face all dirty. Ralf called out and told him his face was dirty, Gary told him, “No, it’s not. I’m fine, I’m a good person.” Then I gave him a mirror (the law) it showed exactly what was there and he couldn’t argue. He was confronted with what had been there all the time, dirt… sin. Gary then tried to wash the dirt off with the mirror, but that was not the purpose of the mirror, its purpose is to show the dirt. In the same way the people saw that the 10 commandments show them that they are sinners and in need of a kidaak amna, a Savior. Even if they try to follow the 10 commandments they will fail and their sin still needs to be dealt with.

God is really working in the hearts of the Dinangat people, this is what Asa, one of my language helpers told me. He said that some people from another village are starting to laugh at the people here in our village. The other village said that the people in our village are learning about a different God than the one they know. David a main spokesman for the other village said, “The missionaries are teaching you about the God of Israel, that was a long time ago now we have a different god, Mik gategate.” Asa looked at David and asked him, “Did Mik gategate create the sun?” To which David’s only response was, “No.” Then Asa went on to ask him if Mik gategate created the moon and all the stars, the mountains, and everything we can see? David couldn’t say anything, and so he left and went back home over the mountain. How awesome to hear Asa’s testimony standing up to opposition and boldly proclaiming that there is only one God, the God of the Bible!

Here are a few other things going on in the hearts of people here:
Jinongke: “What’s going to happen to us? I’m really scared.”
Yupete: “I can’t sleep and I can’t work because I’m always thinking about God’s talk.”
Mesari: “I’m not feeling well because I always wonder what will happen with us. What is the kidaak amna going to do?”
Right now we are laying a foundation of who God is and who they are in relation to Him. But soon we will teach them who the “kidaak amna” is, Jesus Christ. Please keep praying for the Dinangat people!

Next week lessons for your prayers:
Monday – God gave the Ten Commandments (Part 2)
Tuesday – God told the Israelites to build the Tabernacle (Part 1)
Wednesday – God told the Israelites to build the Tabernacle (Part 2)
Thursday – The Israelites worship a golden calf
Friday – The Israelites did not believe that God would give them the land He promised to give them.

This week has been a different week for me. Tuesday, April and the kids flew to Madang town for school testing. It’s been an hard week, but it’s also been good to have more focused time to spend on the teaching, literacy, and being with the people. Please pray for safety as they will fly back into the tribe tomorrow, Monday morning.

Thank you for your prayers!
Jeremiah, April, Jordan, Judah and Alayna