2 Months of Action!

The day before we returned to our house in Pal (we were out for a couple of weeks in February), we heard that wind had torn off a section of roof… sure enough. We were able to jerry-rig a temporary covering in place. Over the next three weeks we watched the extreme winds take their toll on the houses of our friends as well. Our Bible Teaching house actually had the entire roof lifted up and set down inside it. We currently have ropes holding another section of our own roof on. Suffice it to say we were up at night a lot praying that things would hold together.

 

In the Storm

Have you ever wondered at the whirlwind of life around you? When things seem to have you right in the cross-hairs, where do you turn? We’ve had some real opportunities to put our faith into practice these last weeks. What a great way to experience God’s faithfulness with new believers! (Don’t get me wrong, we’re definitely kinda tired and haven’t written you all for a while…)

All right, hold tight to your hats we’ll just put a few of our storms here –

·         At the end a lovely break in February, we got word that Elizabeth’s sister was in need of some care. We considered it carefully and, since the need was urgent, Elizabeth, Tim, and Elias were shortly on the plane to the States while Noah and Nate prepared for 3 weeks of bachelor life in the bush.

·         The day after Elizabeth left, we got word that our house roof was peeling back and the interior was exposed. There was no time to gather materials, the flight was full and there was no way to quickly change it.

·         That was only the start of it. We had a ten day stretch where the winds were incredible. Our whole house was shaking in the gusts night and day. I (Nate) had to get up on the roof several times to tie different sections of the roof down after it had separated from the rafters.

·         At the same time our team had a translation consultant in to check the books of Mark and Exodus.

·         During the translation checking, lightning struck our partner’s house. It knocked 3 ladies to the ground, left others with ringing ears, melted holes in bags and an umbrella, and literally blew chunks of wood out of the posts and joists of the porch. (Not to mention doing damage to the solar panels on the roof.)*

·         3 days later, an older fellow died. We think he was the first believer to die in Pal.

·         Our main means of communication, a local cell phone tower, went dark. For 2 weeks we had maybe 5 minutes or 45 minutes to communicate with the outside world. Not necessarily a big deal unless you are expecting flights and there are gale-force winds…

·         Currently there is a movement among the new believers that there is something that we can to do make things appear for us. For instance, in a Bible Study, one guy stood up and asked. “When I pray for food, should I look for it to appear in my house or in my garden?”  Basically what is going on is we are dealing with some ideas that have come from outside our area and our young believers are hearing those things and wondering if/ how they are true. (Our friends grew up being taught that the spirits control material goods, so these ideas are not too hard for them to fall into.)

 

Well, there are other things we could tell you, but we’ll keep this a bit brief. We so appreciate you all standing with us in prayer and practical ways. Please continue to pray as we spend our last two months before home assignment finishing projects and pouring into our friends.

 

Glad to know the Rock,

Nate for the family

 

* Here is an actual photo of an umbrella that was on the porch – it was not hit directly – just the current of the passing electricity heated it enough to melt the plastic.