School and Discipleship

Just a window in to Sunday evening for us. It was a nice time with  a few friends were heading back to their village from the upper gardens.

 

Face Time

One of the most critical things that we do is to spend time with our friends. It is only as we are there face to face with the things that they deal with on a daily basis that we can both understand them and earn the right to speak God’s Word meaningfully into their lives.  Here are a few for instances that may help you pray for our new Pal believers and for us as we encourage them in growth.

·         We had an extremely heavy rain (yes – even for a tropical rain forest) the other night, and then at 6:35 am there was an earthquake. That combination prompted at least 8 major landslides – visible from our house. In Pal, landslides almost always mean loss of food. 8 (or more) landslides in a single event is catastrophe – think stock market crash. One old man lost ¾ of his carefully cultivated garden. Another younger man lost all but 2 of the yams that he had planted for his son (for when he moves out on his own). We have been encouraging the believers to trust in God and help each other. The thing is that catastrophic events are difficult even for mature believers to handle. Please pray for our friends that they would be bonded together in this hard time.

·         The other day, Elizabeth was spending some time checking the temperature ‘of everyone in the village’ (it is pneumonia season), when she overheard one young believer say to another. “I was sick, but I am trusting in God and so I got better without using medicine. Elizabeth had to bring you medicine for you to get better.” Think about that one for a minute. Formulate a response for both young ladies… now please pray for wisdom for us.

·         Our village leader, Liuk, stood up the other day and asked in a public way what our long term plans are to keep things moving ahead here in Pal. He named 8 different efforts in the wider area that were begun with great vigor, but dwindled almost immediately when the instigators left. What are we doing today that will help to stabilize the Pal church for the long term? Please pray for us for wisdom to rightly spend our days here.

 

Our friends are very excited to hear again the stories that we have taught through. They are excited by a faithful and true God. Please thank the Lord for with us.

 

Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.

Nate for us.