NTM

Mt. Wilhelm Chapter 2 (aka “The Second Death”)
I don’t know why I put myself through the pain and agony of long hikes. Either I get a sadistic enjoyment from it or else I’m trying to deny or slow down my aging process. This second trip to Mt. Wilhelm was harder than ever. We packed up the cars and left early Thursday morning. I had gotten a stomach bug a few days before and most of the symptoms subsided in time for the hike but one symptom remained… sulphur burps. After about a 6 hour drive over rough roads, we began our hike in the rain. The higher we got, the more I burped. I was imagining a whole weekend of rain and sulphur burps. Thankfully, one of my traveling companions had just the right medication which I began taking and the burps gradually subsided.

Weather-wise the trip was a washout…literally. It rained most of the time. The hike up the mountain during the night was easier for me this time but the trail was very wet. We made it to the top in about 6½ hours. It wasn’t as cold this time but the clouds were thick and we were unable to have a clear view which was disappointing. I can only describe the hike down the mountain as miserable. We stumbled down through the rain and mud and all I could think about was hot showers, dry feet, and warm beds. I said, “never again” but I guess if I was crazy enough to go a second time, I just might be crazy enough to go a third time…not for awhile, though.

One good thing about the trip was my traveling companions. There were the Oggs, myself, my friend, Natalie, another missionary family, and a missionary father with his two boys. We had a good time getting to know each other better and everyone remained in good spirits. Some of us fished, some read and slept, and others played games. The children who were with us were troopers and the smallest ones seemed to have a great time. I think they hardly noticed the rain!

Good To Go
Thank you for praying for the check on the Simbari translation of Romans 1-8. There are always areas for improvement but with a few minor changes, we can now use this portion of scripture for teaching and get it into the hands of the Simbari believers. I can’t wait for the people to hear the great doctrinal truths from the book of Romans! Keep praying for us as we work on Romans 9-16 and for my co-worker, David Ogg, as he translates the Bible lessons for teaching the book of Romans.

In Christ,
Lori

Believing in Miracles
I believe in miracles but I must say that I have been more ready to believe in spiritual miracles than in physical ones. When I talk about spiritual miracles, I’m talking about the miracle of someone seeing their own sinfulness and humbling themselves before God, the miracle of changed lives and relationships restored. But I have been, shall I say, more suspicious of physical miracles. After all, we live in a fallen world where death and sickness exist because of sin’s curse. However, I do believe that God has the power to heal and even to raise people to life if He chooses.

I heard of a miracle that took place recently right here in Simbari land. There was a Simbari woman with a little baby who had fallen gravely ill. She carried her baby to a religious group who falsely believe that they can gain God’s approval by following the law. She said to them, “Please, can you pray for my baby?” They said, “No, we can’t pray for her but those who believe in Jesus are staying in your village tonight. Take your baby to them and they will pray for you.” Perhaps they were afraid that if they prayed and nothing happened, it would make them look bad. Or perhaps they were just acting on the stories they had heard about other people near death whom the believers had prayed for and God had chosen to heal. Regardless of the reason, they directed this woman to the believers and so she brought her baby to them and asked them to pray for her baby. By then, the baby seemed dead. The people say that she was dead. She wouldn’t eat, didn’t seem to be breathing, and was foaming at the mouth so the people believed her to be dead. The believers said to the woman, “Yes, we can pray for your baby but we don’t have any power in ourselves. Only God has the power to heal and life and death are in His hands.” Then they prayed to God for healing and He honored their prayer. The baby began breathing normally again and began to nurse. No one was more excited at this display of God’s power than the believers themselves. Their faith was strengthened as was mine when I was told the story. God sure does know how best to bring glory to Himself.

Changeable Weather
As I write, I am sitting in my house waiting for the rain to stop. Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day but today, on the very day that the plane is supposed to come, it has decided to be foggy and rainy. That means it is a day of watching the weather for any sign of improvement, standing by the radio to report weather to the pilot, and prowling around the house, invading cupboards to find something to eat because everything has been finished up in preparation for departure. It also involves finishing little projects like an e-mail to my friends. I’d ask you to pray for a change in the weather but by the time you receive this, I will already have arrived in town.  The only concern I have about not getting out of the tribe as scheduled is that tomorrow (Saturday, the 6th) is the start of our translation check of Romans 1-8. It is scheduled over 3 days so if we don’t make it out today, there is still a chance that we could finish it in 2 days. However, if we don’t make it to this check, then it might be quite awhile before we are able to reschedule. I’d ask you to pray for that, too, but…

The next few months will very busy ones. First, we have our translation check. Then, Oggs and I and some other friends will take a weekend to climb Mt. Wilhelm, the highest mountain in PNG. I seem to have forgotten the agony of my previous climb and am now ready to attempt it again with a new group of friends. Then we head to the coast for some rest and relaxation by the sea. Oh, and I mustn’t forget what I learned in my diving classes 6 months ago so I’ll go on some dives, too. About 3 weeks after we return to the tribe, a work team will be arriving from Oggs church. We look forward to showing them around and the encouragement that we will be to each other.

Prayer Requests
Pray that the parents of the baby who was healed will have their hearts softened toward God and come to hear the Bible teaching.
Pray for our final translation check of Romans 1-8 this Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. (David Ogg and the translation helpers did make it out to town in time for the translation check. Shari Ogg, the kids, and I had to stay in the tribe an extra night.)
Pray for safety during summer travels.

Thanks for praying,
Lori

“God never made a promise that was too good to be true.” – Dwight L. Moody

Baptism With A Difference
In spite of a week of rainy, cold weather, the morning of April 26th dawned bright and sunny and warm. It was the day that had been marked for the baptism of a second group of Simbari believers. Since this baptism had already been delayed for many weeks because of cold weather and illness, the warm, sunny day was a blessing from God. Simbari river waters are very cold so the sun would help warm the ones who were being baptized. Sixteen people decided that they wanted to outwardly show what had already taken place in their hearts…that they had put their trust in Jesus Christ to save them from the punishment of their sins. Among those baptized was Jason Ogg, my co-workers’ 8 year old son.

It was difficult to hear the testimonies of those who were being baptized over the rushing noise of the river. That is, it was difficult for me since I am not a native speaker and can’t pick it up when I miss hearing parts of words or sentences but it didn’t seem so difficult for the Simbaris who were standing close by. As before, there were a lot of unbelievers who stopped to watch what was happening. They commented afterwards about how different this baptism was to any they had previously seen. When another religious group in our area does baptisms, people are herded through as quickly as possible and just told to say ‘yes’ to 27 of their fundamental beliefs. The goal is to get as many people joined to the group as possible. But when they saw the Simbari believers being baptized, they were amazed to see them giving a short testimony in their own words about what they believe and not having words put into their mouths. I believe that the difference they saw was the result of people who were not being joined to any particular group, but who had already been joined to Christ Himself!

We spent the rest of that afternoon hanging out with the believers, playing volleyball, and sitting around and visiting in the new round house that we had built on our property recently for just such a purpose. We talked mostly about the different ways that God is working here and how lives are being changed. These times of casual visiting are when we learn the most about what God is doing in their lives and about former customs and beliefs that they have given up in exchange for following the one true God.

The Little Things
I wish I could tell you all of the little stories that I hear almost daily about God working in people’s hearts here. Sometimes they tell me about how unbelievers have seen the unity that we have in Christ and want that for themselves. Other times they tell me about one of our believers who is very sick but has said that he is hanging on to his belief in Jesus and refuses to have witchdoctors come and do magic on him to try and dispel the sickness from his body. Recently they told me about one of our believers who formerly was a very angry man, a real hothead who often lost his temper at the slightest provocation. A few weeks ago some men came to his house with axes and bush knives. They wanted to fight about this man’s daughter and who she was going to marry but in spite of their angry threats, he did not yield to anger. Instead he sat inside his house and ignored them. The gossip quickly circulated in the village that even under such provocation, this man did not get angry. Even the believers remarked that this was certainly a changed man!

This week teaching started to a small group of believers from the village where we previously had done some evangelistic teaching. Some of these believers have been coming to our village every week for fellowship and to hear the Bible teaching but it is a long way to come and there are those who are not motivated to make the trek. They are excited now to have Bible teaching in their own village. The 4 Bible teachers will be taking turns going to the other village to teach on Sundays. This week when they met, there was a group who wanted to come but they were afraid of what the other religious group would think. Instead they came and sat outside close enough to listen from a distance.

There is another village further away who are eagerly waiting to hear the Bible teaching. God has given us a wide open door there through a small group of people who we think may be believers but have not had much Bible teaching and haven’t yet heard God’s Word in their own language. The Bible teachers are discussing when would be a good time to go there and start teaching them the evangelistic phase of the chronological Bible lessons.

Any one of these things may seem small, but the fact that God is at work in Simbari is something BIG!

Prayer Requests
Praise the Lord for the 16 people who were baptized and for how this has been a testimony to the community.
Pray for wisdom as the Bible teachers decide about the logistics of reaching out to this new village.
Pray for our translation of the book of Romans. We finished chapters 1-8 and are now working on chapters 9-16.

Your co-worker in Christ,
Lori

“Step by step is the law of growth. God does not expect the acorn to be a mighty oak before it has become a sapling”. – George E. Carpenter

The Simbari Church
The Simbari believers are doing well in spite of some sadness. Two of the Simbari believers died recently. Both of them came as a surprise to me because I didn’t know that they were very sick. One was an older woman and the other was a woman probably in her 40’s with one young daughter. I am sad for their grieving families, many of whom are not believers, but I rejoice when I think of the growing contingent of Simbari believers up in heaven. There are people that I am eager to see when I go to heaven. I think of Mom and Grandma Morley and other friends and family but the Simbari believers will also be at the top of my list. What will it be like to meet them up there with language and culture barriers broken down and all of us one in Christ? I can only imagine!

Please continue to pray for the Simbari believers as they face opposition. They are currently making arrangements for the second Simbari baptism. One woman went home and told her unbelieving husband that she wanted to be baptized and his response was to beat her up and send all of her belongings to another village. He said when she decides not to be baptized, she can have her belongings back. When Oggs’ house was robbed last month, another church group here immediately took advantage of the situation to talk bad about us and the believers. The discrimination and slander that the believers have to face sometimes can be tough so pray that they would react in a godly manner and continue to grow in their faith.

Robbery Update
Speaking of the robbery, a solution has been found that I hope will deter further crime here in the tribe. When the wheels of justice were slow to turn (or not turning at all?), David Ogg met again with the village leaders and they came to another decision. The 2 boys were fined 100 kina each (about $30) and they have been told that they each have to cut and bring 100 poles from the jungle to rebuild our broken fence. That is a huge amount of work! This decision does not apply to the other boy who ran away to town and is in fact on the run from the law. Pray that the police will be able to find and punish him. It’s hard to know what to do in these situations so pray for wisdom and safety for our team.

It’s a Girl!
I just recently returned from our yearly conference and it was a good time of fellowship with other missionaries. I’m especially glad to be out of the tribe at this time because I was able to talk with my brother and sister-in-law and hear the announcement of the birth of my first niece, Olivia Ann. Now I get to buy all those sweet, girly things that I’ve always been tempted by. Olivia is 6 lbs, 15 oz, 19 inches long, and has lots of black hair. My brother says, “She’s really cute, more so than most babies I’ve seen.” Spoken like a proud papa!

Prayer Requests
Praise the Lord for a time of refreshment and connecting with fellow missionaries at our yearly conference.
Pray for wisdom and safety as we live and work in PNG.
Pray for our translation of the book of Romans. I have one more comprehension check to do on chapters 1-8 then we’ll be continuing on with the rest of the book.

In Christ,
Lori

“Ministry is a personal response to the gospel. The gospel is a well that never runs dry in its impact on our lives.” Mitch Hoskins at Highlands Conference 2009

Christmas Under the Sea
In my last update I wrote that I was going to the coast for a vacation. I spent one week at our mission center having doctor and dentist appointments, visiting with friends, and “chatting” on the internet with friends and family. Then Oggs, myself, my German friend, Natalie, and another family flew to a coastal town where Natalie, Rachel Ogg, another boy and myself took the diving course. I’ve snorkeled off and on for years and I felt ready to go to the next level. My co-workers are divers and I’ve often enjoyed hearing their descriptions of the things that they see when diving. The diving course went well in spite of some interruptions and setbacks. The course took 5 days instead of the intended 3 and it included 5 dives. The first 3 were not what I would consider enjoyable since I was busy getting familiar with my diving gear and learning how to maintain neutral buoyancy in the water but for the last 2 dives I was feeling more comfortable and greatly enjoyed the things that I saw around me.

After returning to the tribe on the 18th, I was busy preparing for Christmas. David and Shari Ogg’s anniversary was on the 21st and the kids and I decided to have another restaurant at my house like we have done on many previous years. We were wracking our brains for a theme when we decided to carry over our vacation into Christmas and so we came up with “Christmas by the Sea”. We decorated my little Christmas tree with shells and made napkin rings and a centerpiece out of shells. We served pan fried fish with dill sauce, deviled eggs (“They’re called deviled eggs?!!!!” asked Jason incredulously. “Yes, devil with an -ed on the end”, I said however I was unable to explain why they were so named.), and a wilted spinach salad (“Wilted spinach salad?!! Yuck!”, said Jason.). Some of our menu was concocted from a lack of other available vegetables but I enjoyed the chance to be creative. We served caramel apple crepes for dessert and a fun time was had by all.

After Oggs’ anniversary, only a few days remained before Christmas. Our Christmas guests, Bill and Lynette Cottam, arrived on the 23rd and then the festivities really began…pizza on Christmas Eve at my house, ham and potatoes on Christmas day at Oggs’ house, plenty of snacks and desserts, not to mention the New Year’s Eve celebration.

Simbari Celebrations
The Simbari people also enjoy celebrating the new year with games. This year the games were held at our village and so Simbaris came from near and far to compete in basketball, soccer, volleyball, archery, foot races, machete cutting races, etc. The Sunday after Christmas the Simbari believers decided to depart from our regular service and do something different. They performed a Christmas drama. They came up with the entire thing themselves. It started with the angel appearing to Mary to tell her that she would bear a son, the angel’s appearance to Joseph, the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph’s flight to Egypt, Jesus’ ministry, arrest, death, and resurrection. To me it demonstrated that in their minds the birth of Jesus is not separate from his life. In celebrating his birth, we are really celebrating his life, aren’t we?

They concluded their drama with some beautiful music. While a quartet hummed “At the Cross” in 4 part harmony (I didn’t know they could sing like that!), a man came forward with a burden on his back bemoaning his hard life and the weight of his sins. As he stood there in grief and helplessness, “Jesus” came, laid his hand on his shoulder, and said, “I have come to take away your sin. I will take this burden for you” and he took it off the man’s shoulders. To my surprise, both of the men in this drama were brought to tears and could hardly speak at the thought of the burden that has been lifted from their own shoulders. I pray that any unbelievers in the audience understood the message and as a result trusted in Christ as the payment for their sins.

May you be blessed this year with the thought of your sins having been forgiven.
Happy New Year!

Lori

“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1: 29b

“The More Miserable, the More Memorable”
That’s what one of the missionaries here said to me when I told him of my planned trip to climb Mt. Wilhelm. I told him that I hoped it wouldn’t rain and that it wouldn’t be too terribly miserable but… well, maybe I better just tell you about my trip and then you can decide for yourselves.

We started off early Friday morning well prepared. Well, I thought I was well prepared anyway. Plenty of snack food? Check. Extra pair of shoes? Check. 6 pairs of socks? (2 per day) Check. Flashlight? Toilet paper? Check. Our trip was going to involve a 6 hour dive to the bottom of the mountain, a 3-4 hour hike to a camp (elevation about 10,000 ft.?), and then another 4-6 hour trek to the summit. At least, that’s what the internet said. The drive went well although the road for the last 2 hours was very rugged and bumpy but we were all fresh and smiling as we bounced along in the two 4×4 vehicles. We stopped and took pictures along the way and the scenery was gorgeous. Unfortunately, just about the time of our arrival at the mountain, it began to rain and continued to rain for the 3 plus hours to the camp. The camp is a very rough cabin with several rooms with mattresses that you throw on the floor, an eating area with table, benches, and a 2 burner stove top, and an outhouse. At that elevation, it was pretty chilly so I unrolled my sleeping bag and crawled in with all of my clothes on and snuggled close to my two other sleeping companions, Natalie and Katie. I felt pretty good with the combination of my 3 layers of clothes, hat, and their body warmth.

The next morning we woke up at midnight (I guess you can’t really call that morning, can you?) and began our hike around 1:00am. The reason for this is that it is a long trek to the top and the best chance of seeing anything is at dawn. At most other times, the top of the mountain is shrouded in fog. I knew I was in for the hike of my life so I only took the bare necessities…water, snacks, and my camera. I started out excited and feeling adventurous, walking single file in the dark with my 10 companions but very soon one of our group began to have the signs of altitude sickness. This can manifest itself in a variety of ways like a headache, nausea, sleepiness, and shortness of breath. We all felt it in some degree but some had it worse than others. The only way to relieve the symptoms is to return to a lower elevation in order to let your body adjust. We toiled along slowly as a group for awhile but we finally decided that we needed to split the group so the 8 men went on ahead with one guide and we 3 girls stayed behind with the other. We walked very slowly as Natalie needed to stop often to catch her breath and felt very nauseous. We were only an hour or 2 into the hike and I didn’t know how much farther she would be able to go but as I look back, I marvel at what the human body can endure. Natalie was a very determined woman and from strong German stock. She pushed ahead one step at a time and we with her. Sometimes she would want to give up and other times I would but we somehow managed to encourage each other to keep going. “Just over that next ridge.” “Only another hour.” This went on and on for 7 ½ hours! The wind buffeted us as we reached higher elevations but we did not give up. Making it to the top depended not so much on how fit we were, although I was thankful for every bit of exercise that I had been doing recently, but more on how much determination we had. Honestly, I didn’t know that I had it in me to be so determined! Was it really me that made it to the top of that mountain? Yes, we did make it! In fact, all 12 of us made it! The men were an hour or so ahead of us and it was a very difficult hike for them as well. Since we had split up so early in the hike, most of them were quite sure that we girls had turned back. Imagine their surprise when we rounded a corner and met them coming down! We were only a half hour from the summit. We had gone all this way without even being able to see our destination. Because of the mountains blocking our view, we had to climb 7 hours before even being able to see the summit! But we all agreed that if we would have seen how far we had to go, we would have given up. You see, we always thought that we were closer than we were. Just a little farther and we would be there and so we focused on each step and not on the path ahead. That was easy to do when we were in the dark. Our guide was amazing. We really made him work for his pay. He pushed us and pulled us up the mountain and as we stopped to rest at the halfway point (“What?!!! This is only halfway?”), he said, “I will make sure that you girls make it to the top” and he did! There we were. Exhausted and cold but elated at our success. We took photos to document it but could not linger. There wasn’t much to see as we were surrounded by the clouds and the wind was bitterly cold. 

Then we began the hike downward. “How long will it take us to come down from a 7 ½ hour hike?” I wondered. I was hoping for 3 hours, 4 at the most. It took us 5 ½. Natalie began to feel better as we descended to lower altitudes and we stopped several times to take photos. The scenery was incredible. We were so tired that it became difficult to place our feet firmly on the ground. We slipped and stumbled our way down and, as girls often do, we got giggly. We laughed at each other’s spills, took bets on who would be the next to fall, and marveled at the capacity of human endurance. So yes, sometimes I was miserable but this hike turned out to be one of the most memorable experiences of my life and I will never forget it.

Return to Ordinary
We spent one more night at the lake and the next morning we hiked several hours down to the vehicles. On the way home we were full of our individual stories of our time up on the mountain and we dreamed about future hikes that we could do together. I thought, “There’s nothing like facing hardship to bring a group together.”
Today I’m a little sore. My calves ache and I’m regaling my friends with the story of our victory. Life seems so ordinary now after my mountain top experience. Tomorrow I will return to the tribe and to the work that God has given me to do there. I’m eager to do that but there’s a part of me that still wishes I was on top of the mountain with my friends.

Prayer Requests 
Praise the Lord for safety on our hike to Mt. Wilhelm and for the wonderful experience that it turned out to be. 
Pray that I would be able to quickly unpack and clean my house in the tribe and get back to work on Bible translation. Up next: the book of Romans!

In Christ,
Lori

Primer Construction in the Sepik
Well, I made it back safely from my trip to a tribe in the lowlands (Sepik region) of Papua New Guinea. I went with my sidekick, Hope, the same person that I did all that traveling with this furlough. The trip involved a one hour flight in a Cessna 206 and then a 2 hour canoe trip in the biggest canoe that I have ever seen! Seriously. It must be the biggest canoe ever! One missionary thought it was about 70 ft. long and considering the fact that the tribal people make the canoes out of one huge tree which they must haul out of the jungle to the river and hollow out… well, it’s just amazing!
It’s a whole ‘nother world down there in the lowlands. First of all, it’s hot and humid. Thankfully, they had fans and during the hottest part of the day, I only felt comfortable in front of one… and the missionaries say that this is the coolest time of the year! I wouldn’t have slept very well if it weren’t for the fan. The tribal people there are different, too. They eat different food (like that thing that is in the picture above…a crayfish? freshwater lobster?) and have different houses and tribal beliefs.
Hope and I went there to help the missionaries construct their literacy primers and the project went very well. We were able to accomplish everything that we went there to do and it is always a privilege to get to know more of my fellow missionaries.

Believe the Impossible
I have one last little adventure planned before I return to the tribe on August 26th. I’m planning a trip to climb Mt. Wilhelm, the highest mountain in PNG (14, 793 ft). Some of our missionaries have taken trips there before. I don’t know if I will make it to the top but I figure if I don’t do it now while I am out of the tribe and tolerably fit, I never will so I’m sure going to give it a try. I’m told that the difficulty of the hike is not so much the terrain as it is the altitude and the cold. One missionary told me that it is all in your determination of mind, just making yourself take one slow step after the next. I’m going to take the following advice from the Queen.

"Alice laughed: "There’s no use trying," she said; "one can’t believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven’t had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

- Alice in Wonderland.

The hike will involve a 5 hour drive to the base of the mountain, a 4 hour hike to a camping site where we will spend 2 nights, and then another 6 hour hike to the top. Even if I don’t make it all the way to the top, the camping site and the nearby lake is beautiful and I plan on taking lots of pictures. I’ve rounded up 10 other people to go with me. Two of them are nurses and 8 of them are men so we have people who can handle emergencies and the 3 of us women should be well protected.

Prayer Requests 
Thanks for praying about the classes I was teaching for the Interface program. The classes went well and I think the students were challenged 
Pray for safety on our hiking trip to Mt. Wilhelm. 
Praise the Lord for my health and especially my strong back. Can you believe that I’m even attempting such a thing as a mountain climb?!!! A few years ago I never would have dreamed of it! I thank the Lord often for the healing of my back.

Thank you for praying.
Lori