Served hot and fresh, life in the bush. (With new improved poetic justice.)

Yeah, we know that ‘planking’ is so last month, but here is Elias doing a fine plank on our local bench.

Wham!

When the Amnesty International workers asked a group of PNG women if they had ever been beaten, the women thought they were joking. ‘Seriously? Like, every day,’ was the response. So it should come as no great surprise to you and I that wife beating is a common occurrence in Pal.  True, it is something we have never actually seen in progress, buts its effects are often evident on the faces of our friends.

So the other night, we were called into the village to look at a broken arm. '”He was just sitting there and his arm broke,” said the daughter. (The miraculous in reverse – can we call it tragaculous?). Turns out that our friend was expressing his disappointment with the supper in a very physical way and, as he struck his wife across the shoulder, his right radius bone snapped.

The significance of this even for us as missionaries here is that we have the ability to provide careful compassionate help in the situation and the promise of truth that can radically change the husband-wife relationship of our friends here. In this case, there is another significant consideration- the man in question is slated to join our second literacy class beginning in three weeks – he broke his right arm – how is he going to hold a pencil and practice writing? Instead, he will probably have to make the hike out to town where they can set the bone properly and put it in a cast.

For you our friends, would you pray that God would bring his will about in who attends this next literacy class. We are going to be counting on our literate folks for help during our evangelistic lessons next year.

Noah playing serious for contrast. Micah, our partner’s son, take the role of funny brother.

Wrecked ‘Em

Elizabeth was doing a little practical caring for some friends the other day – checking the temperature of a very sick baby – and had to explain a bit further to the mother. You see, no Pal mother has ever seen something stuck in a baby’s behind other than maybe a shot of penicillin over at the clinic 3 hours hike away. Lets just say that the mom was certain that medicine had been put into the baby by the thermometer and was very excitedly sharing that information with all of her friends.

Clearly written in her face after the explanation was, “What?!? I knew he was hot. You knew he was hot. What in the world did you have to stick that thing in there for if we both already knew that?!”

Please pray for us as we are working with the Pal people establishing a trust relationship with them and a solid basis for their receiving God’s truth.

Buddies hanging out at the village meeting wherein we shared that we are not going to bring in a bulldozer to put in an airstrip in Pal.

Christmas

In Pal, they have heard some of Christmas. In their minds, Jesus is sent to their lands for the week between Christmas and New Years. They will be performing special programs to welcome him and send him off over the next couple of weeks. We too are excited to celebrate Christmas in the time and place that we are at. We are especially excited as we think ahead to Evangelistic lessons that we hope will happen in 2014.

Lord willing, this will be the last Christmas ever which our Pal friends will celebrate without a true understanding of its significance. We are praying that next year, all of our Pal friends will be brothers and sisters and able to celebrate this special season with us.  Will you pray for that as well?

Open our eyes Lord, we would see Jesus!

Thanks so much for praying with us,

Nate for the Claasens