NTM

Check out NTM’s quarterly magazine to read an article about the baptism that took place among the Siawi. 

This testimony is from Sitei.  The information in parenthesis is our explanation of her story.

For myself, I’m just telling this to lift up Jesus’ name. God has helped me and I am truly one of his people.

A cassowary wanted to run me through. (Cassowaries have large spurs on their legs.) It chased us and stood against us. (This is contrary to what normally happens. Cassowaries usually run away.) I felt I was about to die.

It was like this. We were looking for bird eggs on Sunday afternoon.  (There were two Siawi looking for eggs together.)  I was looking for eggs when I saw it. I saw it coming and realized, “It’s going to kill me!  Help me, it’s coming, we can’t stay here.”

I was sorry for my body, and I threw away all thoughts of gathering bird eggs and ran. We ran and ran a long way. We ran along the road that the Sepik people made when they worked on the canoe.

I prayed to God that I would stand with my skin strong. (She prayed that she would be brave.) “God, help me! The cassowary is going to run me through like that.”

It came and chased us around. It stood up strong. “Come, we can’t stand here. That cassowary is gigantic.”

I said, “Jesus help me!” What was I to do – I had a big sorry for my body. (She means that she was trying to save her own skin.)  I was not interested in getting poked full of holes.

I ran and jumped through the jungle (not following the trail), without standing up (stopping to catch a breath). It was late afternoon.

We prayed in Jesus name. “Help us! God, you yourself created it and it has fight.” We prayed like that.

Well, that’s all, it’s not a long story.

There are so many things beginning to happen here that do not include me, and I am thrilled to only report them.

Courts

The village had its first court under its new leadership. Just days after Sabien was elected, there was a court to settle a rape case. Everybody commented that there was no fighting, and the case was settled quickly with the assailant having to pay K100 to the victim.

• Please continue to pray for our village and its new leadership. Even though the village is small, everything still comes around and goes around.

Aid Post

Praise the Lord that the village health volunteers (VHVs) are doing a great job.  

The men and women who are overseeing the aid post are beginning to see relationships develop with the district’s main health center. This is an answer to many years of praying. In response to the VHVs sending in their monthly tally sheets recording all the patients they have seen, the health center responded by inviting them to come and get a box of medical supplies from them.

If they would begin receiving their supplies through the proper local government channels, the village would no longer be dependant upon the Mission to help provide those medical supplies.

• Pray that the VHVs would go get the box and continue having a good relationship with the district health center.

Mid Wives 

One of our local ladies, who attended the VHV training, was sent out to the local hospital to be trained as a mid wife or village birthing assistant (VBA). Two ladies began the training for this, but only one was able to make the trip to the hospital to complete the training.

Now that her training is complete, Kofele has helped with at least 10 births over the last couple of months. She has also started to train Abo to assist her. One week, they helped to deliver a baby each day for 4 or 5 days in a row.

They are doing an incredible job. One of the mothers even had trouble during childbirth. In the past, a couple of women have died from similar complications when the missionaries were not in the village. Kofele knew what to do, and I know that she has already saved lives just by doing what she has been taught. The babies are now being cleaned up and wrapped up rather than being left to lie in the dirt after birth. They are cutting the cords properly and cleanly and we have not had one case of infection since they have been working.

Words cannot express the joy in seeing healthy (fat) babies born in the village, and again we are not involved just reporting. Praise the Lord! 

Travel

Another recent change is that the Siawi people are traveling like never before. Several of the men now own outboard motors and have recently made new dugout canoes. With this new found freedom comes a new responsibility for some of the believers. There is much confusion and false teaching in our area and many temptations to be found as they travel up and down the river.

• Pray that these young believers will take their faith with them and be strong in the truth as they travel.

Dear Friends,

The world has been spinning around awfully fast these days and we have not had lots of time to sit and catch up on things. We do appreciate all of your prayers and we hope this update will help you to better pray for us.

School Break Busyness

It has been a joy to have Levi and Jacob home from school for a bit of a break. I suppose that is part of the reason things are spinning so fast.We sent them off this morning on the “School Bus” Cessna 206 airplane and they flew off to another term at boarding school.

Having the whole family together for a few weeks was exciting as we tried to cram in extra family time into our already crazy schedule. That has meant late nights with the big boys and early mornings with Josiah. Josiah has said many times over the last 2 ½ weeks “I prayed for my brothers to come home and now they are back!” We were afraid he would have a difficult time saying good bye and watching them fly away, but in answer to our prayers he said good bye and ran off to the house without even a tear and waved goodbye to them as they roared down the airstrip past the house on take off.

• Please be praying for him especially in the coming days as the reality of Levi and Jacob not being home sinks in.

Danielle has also enjoyed having a full house again, but all of the late nights and early mornings have taken its toll on her as well. Even before the boys came home for break she was struggling with fatigue and pain.

• Please continue to pray for her health.

In July when we took the boys to school, she had a doctor’s appointment with our mission doctor. At that time he confirmed what we had been suspecting. He diagnosed Danielle with Chronic Fatigue/Fibromylaigia. For some time now this has been having an effect on our ministry as Tom has had to take time from the ministry to help the family. It is quite stressful for him at times to juggle the demands of ministry and the needs of the family.

Village Changes

This past summer PNG had its national elections and new leadership was appointed for the next 5 years. This included local leadership.

For the past 10 years our village “Council,” who functions more like a town mayor, was Yenep. However, neither he nor any other man from our village went to the district office to register and put their names on the ballot for “council.”

Because of this, we no longer have a government representative from our village and for a month or so it almost looked as if we would have no leadership at all. This of course left us a little concerned. As time went on, it became apparent that our village would fall under the leadership of the Council from a village in the neighboring Amto language group.

• Please be praying for our new Council “Henry” as he has 3 villages under his leadership.

He has traveled to each village and had them mark committees to oversee various aspects of village life. Among the Siawi people we now have 5 committees.

• Please pray for Sabien as he will be the new “ward” committee who will make sure all the “heavies” are straightened.

The people felt that since he was the biggest trouble maker, they would make him the man who has to straighten everything hoping it will restrain him. He will also be required to travel to the district office to meet with the police on a regular basis. The village thought that regular contact with the police would take some of the fire out of him.

• Please pray for Kwaelom as he has been marked as the committee to represent the local church.
• Please pray for Konasi as he has been marked as the committee to represent the aid post.
• Please pray for Ekebei as he has been marked as the committee of transportation. He will look after the up keep of the airstrip and local “roads” (trails) and the river.
• Please pray for Imen as he is the new Magistrate who will hear all the courts.

RomansTeaching

One of our greatest joys over the past few months has been watching the fruit of grace and righteousness ripen in the lives of the believers. It gave me great joy to teach Romans 8.14-15. As we talked and discussed what it meant to be adopted as a son in the Roman culture, smiles began to appear on their faces as we talked about them being given the position as an adult in the family of God.

But the discussion that Romans 8.16 created was a bit of a surprise to me. There still remains much confusion on not only the Holy Spirit but also man’s spirit.

1. When did we receive our spirit?
2. Is the spirit we have as a believer different than the spirit we had as an unbeliever?
3. Can our spirit leave our body?
4. Does it go to heaven to talk with the Holy Spirit?

Many of these questions have false doctrine fueling it. Each one took us time to answer as we tried to address the roots of those questions. Many of them took us back to Genesis as we looked at God’s creation of man.

• Please continue to pray as we teach through the rest of Romans 8.

Teaching Teachers

We have now had two meetings with a group of men who have a desire to become teachers of the word. Currently there are 14 men attending this group. We know that the demands of being a teacher will weed our numbers down over the coming weeks as distractions come into their lives.Our desire is to have about 8 men that Jason and I can disciple as teachers.

• Please be praying that we will see faithful men emerge from this group.

We have started studying the lessons in Genesis with the goal of these men beginning a class for those who would like to hear the Chronological lessons taught again here among the Siawi people.

Your Co-workers in Christ,

Tom and Danielle Brendle

For years the Amto people have asked for missionaries. In the last few years, some have come and heard the chronological teaching here in the Siawi language and have been saved. Recently those believers asked if the missionaries could come visit and teach in their village.

A small group of Siawi believers and I hiked about six hours, through the swamp and over a mountain, to reach the Amto people.

Our hope was that some of the Siawi believers who are fluent in the Amto language would be able to go to that village and teach through the chronological Bible lessons.

Cool reception

The response was much cooler than we had been led to believe. I was disappointed for the Amto people who had made the effort to come and hear the teaching in our village. For now, they will not be able to share the chronological teaching at home as they had hoped.

At first, the reasoning of the village leaders had a ring of truth to it. They said they desired to have somebody come who has been fully taught from Genesis through Revelation and who was doing what God’s Word says, not just listening to it.

However, as they continued to talk, their reasons for not wanting the Siawi bilingual believers to come there to teach became clear. It all boiled down to the fact that they want a western missionary and all the physical benefits that come with it.

• Please pray that the Amto believers would stand strong in Christ.
• Please pray that the other Amto people will see their need of a Savior. Many among them are seeking power and wealth and are bound up in a system of works.

Meeting with a brother in Christ

After this disappointing meeting with the Amto, I hiked a day farther away to visit the Siman Bible School. This school was started by a Papua New Guinea man named Manya Yeko just a few years ago with the purpose of strengthening the local churches in the area.

Most of those local churches belong to an evangelical Church that functions in the trade language of Melanesian Pidgin. All of the teaching at the Bible school is also done in Pidgin, so there are only a few Siawi and Amto people who can fully understand.

I was very pleased to find a brother in Christ whose desire is to see men taught that salvation is through Christ alone based firmly upon the solid foundation of God’s Word.

I did not expect to come away from this hike encouraged after the cool response I had received from the Amto people. However, knowing that we have a brother in Christ who is also working to build up the church in the area was very encouraging.

I also believe our visit will help to confront some divisions that were beginning to occur within the church in that area based on where individuals received teaching. As we work together to keep God’s Word as the final authority, hopefully, the believers will begin to stand on God’s Word alone and not the words of man.

Physically the trip went well.

I had plenty of energy for all of the hiking, and I was fed well. In Anu, the first village I visited, there was an abundance of coconuts, so we ate very well, enjoying shredded coconut rolled in sago pancakes and greens boiled in coconut milk There was even a bit of wild pork. It was some of the most tasty bush tucker (food) I have had in a long time. I didn’t carry much food so am thankful for generous folks along the way. Thanks for praying that I would be fed.

The return hike was very long and uneventful as we crossed rivers and mountains and swamps.

As a result of all the hiking, I had a severe case of tendonitis in my right leg which at this time is improving; however, I must have pulled or torn a tendon on the hike and I must be careful how I walk on it.

It seems like it has only been a few days since we dropped Levi and Jacob off at school. The transition has not been easy, but we are learning to make adjustments.

It certainly is quieter in the Brendle house these days, although Luke and Josiah are doing their best to make up for the difference. Josiah enjoys walking around the house and singing all the songs he knows.

We have also managed to divide up the big boys’ chores among Danielle, Luke and I.

• Continue to pray for us as we adjust to the boys being away at Boarding School.

We have a scheduled radio time with the boys twice a week so that we can hear their voices and check in with them in a more personal way.

• Praise the Lord for e-mail and radio contact.

Many of our friends / fellow missionaries from the Sepik Region have had business at the mission center in the Highlands Region, and they have checked in on the boys. All the reports we get tell us the boys are doing well and adjusting fine to their new environment. 

• Praise the Lord that good friends have been able to see the boys and report back to us on how they are doing.

Levi and Jacob are already coming up on the half way point in their first marking period, and they will soon be taking tests. They took tests during their homeschool, but they have never taken so many at one time.

• Please pray for them as they face these tests.

Sitei said,

“Now as I read God’s talk, it is good. I read Genesis, Luke and Mark, and I remember all the talk that I had forgotten. It is so good to have God’s talk in my language. If I had to read from the language of others, I would not understand. I would not be able to remember all the talk I have forgotten. But I can read God’s Word and remember, ‘Oh, yes, I forgot that.’ Even my daughter says, ‘Mom, go get your Bible. I want to look at the pictures, and you can tell me the stories of Adam and Eve and Noah.’ It is so good to have God’s talk in my own language in order that I won’t forget.”

Many of the Siawi people are being challenged to live their faith in such a way that others will see a difference in their lives.

As we taught Romans 1:8, the people learned that the faith of the Romans was "out in the open."  The whole world was talking about about it.

We asked, "The belief of the Romans was spreading through the world.  What about in other villages and towns in our province? What do people say about the faith of you all living in the bush?"

You could have heard a pin drop in the meeting house.

Many said, “It’s true - people cannot see inside my heart and know whether I believe or not, but they can see what I do and say.”

Many began thinking of their sinfulness, recognizing that this keeps other people from seeing the outward result of their faith in their changed lives.

Wakou asked, “How did the Romans hear of Christ? Tell us again who taught them and how did Paul find out about it."

This gave us an opportunity to review Acts. We explained how those believers who were persecuted when Steven was stoned fled from Jerusalem, but they shared their faith wherever they went. It was not only Paul doing the work of sharing the work that Christ has done. It was the responsibility of all believers.

Imen asked, “What if we throw off our old ways, and today we have another thinking. What if it is like that, then an unbeliever from another place comes and stays in our house. How do we do that without being tempted to sin? How do we sit with unbelievers?” 

Please be praying for those who are seeking to make this change.

We are still teaching in Chapter 1 and have made it up to verse 15. Today we planned to continue. However, as we began to teach by reviewing, it was clear that more discussion needed to happen on what we had already covered. It is very exciting for us to see the people beginning to think through God’s Word individually.

Many have questions:

The main people who are asking questions at this point are Someliae, Kwaelom, Okwep, Imen, and Malakai. Among the ladies, there is Sitei and Loboae.

These men and women not only ask for themselves, but often ask for others who are too shy or ashamed to ask themselves.

• Please pray that, as the believers think through what they are learning, they would also feel the freedom to ask questions so that they might all grow and learn.

Questions on strengthening one another

One thing that has caught the attention of the believers as we taught through Acts and now in Romans is that the believers in the early church loved and cared for each other. Traditionally the Siawis only care for themselves and their immediate families. Occasionally they will help someone within in their clan line.

As we initially read through Romans Chapter one, Someliae asked, “I want to ask about strengthening others and in return being strengthened. Are we able to follow this road today? How do we do that?”

As we began teaching Romans 1:1-7, Imen asked, “John 3:16 and Romans 1:7 tells us God loves us. It tells us how before God loved us and sent His son to bind us back (with God). Today, how do we do love like that? I am asking because it is easy to like my own clan and the people in my own family. I usually only think of them.”

What a golden opportunity we had to review passages in Acts where the believers strengthened and cared for one another and corrected one another and settled disputes that they had among themselves. The Siawi believers are beginning to see that they should be loving their fellow believers, no matter what clan group they are from.

• Please pray for those who are truly seeking to love one another.

Many questions have roots in false teaching and years of misunderstanding.

Okwep asked a question like this, “The Romans heard God’s Word. They didn’t just hear it; they did what it said, and they received strength, (The word for strength in the Siawi language is also the same word for power). Today we are hearing the talk from the book of Romans. Today will this talk strengthen us (or give us power)? Our thinking is like that. Today are we going to hear that talk or when?”

Many continue to believe that, through the Holy Spirit, they will receive power to do miracles just like the Apostle Paul. We spent the rest of today camped out in Romans 1:11-12 as we very pointedly taught what Paul did mean and what he didn’t mean. We brought up many examples from the recent past here in the village where people have tried to do miracles from raising the dead to making things magically appear. We were very specific to point out that this is not what God’s Word teaches.

As we taught, we even told them that we would save them some trouble. If they were attending the teaching in order to learn how to do miracles from listening to the book of Romans, then they could leave now. We would not be teaching how to get power so that they could get a big name for themselves. We would be teaching them how they could encourage and strengthen one another as we all learn to love one another.

I think that today’s teaching was a blow to those who continue to see Christ as a means to getting power rather than as their Savior. Okwep has struggled for years, though he knows the truth. He desires power and has often sought power rather than his Savior.

• Please continue to pray that he would apply the truth that he is hearing.
• Pray that the misunderstanding rooted in false teaching will continue to be revealed so that we can teach to correct it.

Thank you for praying for the family.

Tom has completely recovered from his bout with malaria. We are now on summer break and enjoying the time as a family.

We will be taking the boys to boarding school in two weeks. We will try to send out a more detailed family update soon.

Tom and Danielle send their e-mails over HF radio. Tom describes the process like this:  "The system breaks up your e-mail into little bits and then tries to reassemble it on the other end. It is like taking a steak and running it through a meat grinder so the person on the other end can have a steak."

Tom sent me a few pictures to upload to their website, but only a few as their radio reception has been bad lately.  He hopes to send more the next time they are on break. 

Ruth Brendle, posting for Tom and Danielle