Simon & Annika Flanagan Expanding the reach of the gospel with you Hi Friends,
It’s with great joy that we can tell you that the first Mengen Baptism has taken place this past Sunday. We found a beautiful spot at the river and 17 of our 40 new believers were baptized! This was a big step for them to stand in defiance in the midst of a hostile culture. Many have had death threats and have been told that the local shaman will be trying to work magic to make their children sick and die. Normally in this culture when the shaman speaks the people do whatever he says as they are so fearful of the spirits and his power. One lady Kariang who Annika learns language with said publically as part of her testimony that she will rather follow her Savior than listen to the threats that men can make. She lives at the village above ours, her family are the only believers and fierce stiff persecution. Our first Mengen believer to be baptized was Edward, prior to being saved he and his friend Bruce were two of the biggest thieves and rascals in the village. Edward came out of the water clapping his hands and had the biggest smile on his face I have ever seen at a baptism. Bruce and Edward our now two of our most zealous believers blazing a trail for the rest and are being disciple for leadership in these days. After the baptismal service our believers seem bolder than ever about proclaiming their faith. People come down from the villages on the ridge and asked who got baptized our believers stand up and say “I did” and give their testimony. More and now lining up to be baptized and we hope to have another service this month. Thanks for being a part of the work here amongst the Mengen people! Pray for them,
Simon, Annika, Nya and Noah
Annika is being so good and patient as she doesn’t have cupboards or completed work tops for her kitchen and she is very inventive when finding places to store pots and pans etc. We have hot water in our shower and kitchen sink which we didn’t think we would have right away but God is good and helped us to get that completed and yes Mom, we have an indoor toilet! We are having trouble with driving rain flooding our house from time to time and have to make a plan to get that closed in with shutters or extend our roofs overhang. We have been having lots of earthquakes, around 20 or so in the last month we have been here, and we have duly noted that our house being up on 8ft posts needs some bracing to stop the sway that knocks things off our shelves. On a similar note the volcano has quieted down and is no longer spitting out tons of smoke and has been moved from a stage two alert back to normal. However the last time it erupted it did so when we were having these type of earthquakes. We will keep you posted; apparently it’s very pretty to see but it can also interrupt our supply lines as the plane can’t fly. Just some news on the church… in these weeks we are going through Acts and have been presenting God’s commands for the believers to be baptized. We have arranged a baptismal service for the end of August. Please pray that the believers would take their stand and be prepared to make a public declaration of their faith in Christ. Those who will be baptized will be persecuted and marginalized by the community. Many who worship the ancestors and follow the cults/old ways are saying that baptism will make their children sick and they will die so there is a lot of fear because of that. Please pray that God will help us to know how to disciple them through this.
