We should say this more often.

Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth.
Sing praises to the Lord. Sing to the one who rides across the ancient heavens,
his mighty voice thundering from the sky. Tell everyone about God’s power.
His majesty shines down on Israel;
his strength is mighty in the heavens. God is awesome in his sanctuary.
The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.
Praise be to God!

Our village big man is a good friend – and a bit of a goofball too.

Milestones; times for thanks.

Just over three weeks ago, we were able to report the good news to you all that we have reached a transition point in the work in Pal. Language study will continue on, but will become a secondary focus. The work of preparing materials and the Pal people for literacy will occupy our time for the next months. We cannot express to you how excited we are to begin these next steps in the work.

As we look forward, we have also been taking a few days to look back at what all the Lord has done to get us to this point.  

·         He has given us a desire for knowing Him and making Him known

·         He has given us a fellowship of friends and churches that has shepherded us, encouraged us, and sent us out – faithfully giving to meet the costs of the work. (THANK YOU!)

·         He has given us favor in the communities in which we live.

·         He has given us protection in extreme situations.

·         He has given us speed in the work in spite of many unforeseen circumstances.

·         He has given us great co-workers.

·         He has raised up a community of believers who are continuing to pray for us and the Pal people.

Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for He is Good, for His steadfast love endures forever.

Nate sits with some friends talking about how to restore relationships after an offense has been committed.

News

I guess no update would be complete without some semblance of news, so, here are a few things that are going on for us these days.

·         Probably the most exciting news that we have had lately is that the Lockwood family is set to return to PNG next week. This is after months of battling health issues (including cancer). The health issues are now non-issues!  We are certainly looking forward to their return.

·         Noah and Tim are gallivanting around with grandparents in the USA for a few more weeks. From what we hear, they are going to be spoiled rotten upon their return. (Its been tough to be so far apart, but we really believe that those family ties will hold them in good stead for later)

·         We have met with our literacy experts and are working on some things that will give speed to our intense ‘literacy week’ planned for late January.

·         We are gathered with our fellow regional missionaries this week and will be sharing a few days of mutual encouragement and fellowship at our yearly conference.

·         Monday, Nate will pick up three Pal men and will travel with them via bus to a translation workshop. (Our whole team will attend  - October 1-14) This is a BIG deal for our Pal friends – it would be the equivalent of taking someone to Paris all expenses paid. None of the Pal people have ever been to Goroka before.

·         Once that workshop is finished it will be a rush of house-building, another training course for discourse analysis, and the return of our two older kids…phew!

Thanks so much for your care for us. 

Nate

PS: We took Elias out to an uninhabited island here in Madang yesterday. We found lots of interesting shells and coral. Elizabeth, excited over a particularly nice find, called us over. Elias took one look and said “Mom, that is beautiful, it looks just like a bruise!” (We are working with him on asthetics...and compliments)

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