NTM

Our second week of Bible teaching is now completed. We again had a full crowd, with approximately 150 people in attendance, including children.  We are thankful that the Lord enabled us to build a big enough building for everyone to fit under the shelter!   And there is still room for more.   Pray that the Lord will continue to bring the Agutaynens to hear His Word.

In reminiscing with a friend this week, Stephen was reminded of what the Agutaynens thought about us when we first moved in amongst them.  Stephen’s friend said that people thought we were just coming to search for lost gold.  Then he said, “Now we know that you came to bring us a different kind of gold, from above.”  How thankful we are that God’s Word is going forth!  It is a precious treasure, and will bring many precious souls to Himself!

This week our lesson on Monday night will be about Noah & the Flood.  Wednesday night will be about the Tower of Babel & Abraham.  We greatly appreciate your continued prayers.

We were concerned about the weather. It was Saturday, and our first Bible teaching was scheduled for Monday night. There was a typhoon in the area, and it rained with little pause all day Saturday and Sunday.

Monday morning dawned clear and sunny, but by the afternoon the rain had returned. Would we have to cancel our first meeting? If we didn’t cancel, would anyone come?

We had scheduled the meeting for 6:30 pm, hoping to be able to actually start by 7:00 pm. At 4:00 pm, the rain increased to a downpour. But suddenly, all our doubts and uncertainties were washed away. After all, Who made the rain? Thankfully, the Lord reminded us of His control over our circumstances.

That night, in spite of a slight drizzle and muddy trails and roads, about 70 adults came to the first Bible teaching among the Agutaynens. Two nights later, after a couple days of sunshine, over 100 adults came to hear the second Bible teaching.  We encouraged the Agutaynens to bring their familes.  So, along with the adults, we had dozens of children and teenagers each night.

Please continue to pray as God’s Word goes forth among the Agutaynens. He is able to bring all men to Himself, and it will all be for His glory.

Please continue to pray for Stephen and Manfred as they continue to make final preparations to the lessons, even hours before the meeting.  We continue to thank God for the part He is allowing us to have in reaching the Agutaynens.  In this picture, Stephen is assisting Manfred by reading a portion of Scripture.

As we were visiting throughout our village, inviting everyone to the Bible teaching, we received many encouraging responses. The most encouraging came from our friend, Tay Ver.

Stephen and Manfred spent quite a while visiting at his house. Tay Ver has a background of Scripture knowledge through his involvement in the local “church”. He pointed out several examples of God’s interaction with the nation of Israel. Then he said that now is the Agutaynen’s turn. “God is with the Agutaynens now, giving us the chance to learn about Him in our own language!”

Please continue to pray with us!

During our last trip to our guesthouse, we had the privilege of spending some time with Gail Hendrickson. She, along with her SIL/Wycliffe co-workers (Steve and Janice Quakenbush, and Missy Melvin), have worked among the Agutaynen people for almost 25 years, and have completed the translation of the New Testament into Agutaynen. Currently, all the members of this team are in the States. However, Gail was here for a month to work with her Agutaynen translation helper, Inday, with the goal of bringing an Agutaynen dictionary closer to completion. This team from SIL has been such a tremendous help and encouragement to us throughout our time working among the Agutaynens. Not only have they completed the New Testament, but they have also translated a rough draft of all of the Old Testament portions that we need for the Chronological Bible Teaching! And their work continues. Please be praying with them, as they are each facing health concerns, either personally, or with aging parents. How grateful we are for each member of the team the Lord has put together, all around the world, including you!

We are so excited to announce that the teaching among the Agutaynens will begin on June 8th! Please be praying with us in the days, weeks, and months to come. Manfred and Stephen have nearly completed all of the Phase One Bible Lessons, Creation to Christ! This week, June 1-6, all of us will be visiting every single house in our village (about 150 homes), inviting everyone to come to the teaching. After much discussion, both as a team and with many Agutaynens, our team has decided that Monday and Wednesday evenings are the times when the most people will be able to come to the teaching. By teaching two days a week, the Agutaynens will finally hear the Truth of the sufficient work of Jesus through His death, burial and resurrection, in September. The Agutaynens continue to express excitement and a desire to attend the meetings. This is such an encouragement and blessing to us!

There are so many things that you can be praying with us about! Please continue to pray for Nadine’s health. She simply does not have all the strength and energy that she would like. Please continue to pray for open hearts among the Agutaynens, that every single one the Lord has will come to the teaching. Please be praying that the teaching will be clear and accurate. And, of course, please be praying that the Agutaynens will accept Jesus as their own personal Savior.

Rebekah (fourth grade) and Abigail (first grade) worked hard all school year. They, along with their teacher, are excited that their summer vacation is finally here. Using some of their Christmas money, as well as a gift from their grandparents, we will be taking a surprise end-of-school trip. Their grandparents will also be taking a well-deserved break from their guesthouse ministry, and will join us there. There are many beaches here on Palawan, so we will all enjoy soaking up some sun and fun together to celebrate another good year of school.

Looking ahead for when the Bible teaching will begin among the Agutaynens, we have decided as a team not to schedule any week-long breaks during the teaching. So, this will be our last “long” break for a while. However, we are accessible by road, so we do have the freedom to take a shorter, overnight trip, if we really need rest. So that will be the form that our breaks will take over the course of the next year. Please be praying for all of us on the team, that the Lord will give us the strength and energy for the busier schedule that Bible teaching will require. It will be worth it all when we have Agutaynen brothers and sisters in the Lord!

Stephen and Manfred continue to be hard at work in revising our Agutaynen Bible Lessons for the beginning of Phase One Chronological teaching in June. All of the Old Testament lessons have been completed, and work on the New Testament lessons is now beginning. Their language helper, Joseph, has been very faithful and helpful in revising the lessons. Of course, we desire the lessons to be clear and accurate to all who will hear. Also on our hearts right now is that the Word of God will penetrate Joseph’s heart, not just his head, while he is working with the men.

In the meantime, the building of a meeting structure is well underway. After much prayer and talking as a team, we decided on a building size that would accommodate about 150 people. We didn’t want it to be too small, yet at the same time, as it is taking shape, it seems quite large! We pray that the Lord will bring those to the teaching that He would have there, and He would fill it with those whose hearts He has prepared.

Often we will see a little boy wearing his sister’s shirt that no longer fits her. Sometimes adults wear clothes that are missing zippers or have many tears in them. We contribute this to their poorness. However, an Agutaynen friend recently gave us a little more insight.

Our daughter Abigail had thrown away an article of clothing that was not useable anymore, at least to us. However, our friend asked if she could have it for her daughter. She added that an Agutaynen would never (did we say never?), burn any piece of clothing, no matter how bad it might be. Do you know what happens to our garbage? It gets burned. She said they would rather hang old clothes on a rope and let it rot before they ever would burn it. It is said, “If you burn your clothes, you will not get more clothes, maybe.” Did notice the “maybe”? All of the Agutaynens’ beliefs are “maybe” or “might”. For example, if you take a bath on Friday, you might get sick. Our hearts still long for the day that the Agutaynens will cling to the Bible and stand on solid ground, that their faith will be grounded on truth and not a “maybe”.

After a meeting with our leadership recently, we were given the following good news. Please rejoice with us as you read what our leadership said.

Stephen’s progress in the language has improved to the point that leadership is in agreement that he can be involved in the teaching of God’s Word to the Agutaynen people. Though his language ability still needs to improve to ensure the clear and accurate communication of God’s Word, he has reached a point that assisting their partners in teaching would be a boost to his learning and grasp of deeper language and cultural features.

It is difficult to explain what a relief this is to us! While we have been excited that the teaching will finally begin soon, we felt a bit sad to not have more of a part in it. We are so thankful that the Lord is giving Stephen the privilege of having a part of proclaiming His Word to the Agutaynens we have come to care so deeply about. Stephen and Manfred are working daily on finalizing the Bible lessons, and Stephen is continuing to work on improving his language ability. We, as a team, are now planning to begin the Chronological Bible Teaching in early June. Please continue to pray with us!

We are excited to welcome home our partners, who have been away for nearly two years. Manfred and Nadine Zimmermann, with their much-bigger-than-before children, David and Aileen, were able to return to our village! We are thankful for the surgeries and treatment Nadine was able to receive for breast cancer, and are very thankful that she is doing well enough for them to return! We have much to look forward to as our two families are reunited, and we can press forward toward teaching the Agutaynens the Gospel!