Productivity...and love
It’s been several weeks since you’ve heard from us. As usual, not hearing from us means that things have been, well, busier than usual! In the last two weeks, we have:
· had 3 helicopter days, bringing in building materials to construct a long-awaited team office/literacy building AND a team of 4 men (citizens of New Zealand, America, Papua New Guinea and Germany!) to help us build.
· watched the team office/literacy building rise to near-completion! We are thanking God for His faithful provision of funds and willing servants to build this structure and we pray it helps strengthen and encourage the Pal church for many years.
· worked alongside Pal men as they made the split-bamboo siding for the outside of the office.
· made many meals for both work team visitors and Pal friends who served the Lord with their hands.
· continued teaching about the Lord’s Supper with Pal believers on Sundays and Wednesdays.
· helped oversee the start of this fall’s literacy class, #11! (32 more students will learn to read and write for the first time!) Our new literacy building provides a place for past graduates to meet weekly to continue to raise their literacy level through reading and writing and studying God’s Word together, while the current students are using the literacy school building you’ve seen in many past pictures.
· started 4 new courses of antibiotics (Noah: tooth abscess, Nate: infected finger, Elizabeth and Tim: strep throat.) And provided medical care for a number of Pal folks with various significant illnesses. Thank you to the mission medical staff who have helped us again and again.
· installed 1 new automatic washing machine to replace our leaky, often malfunctioning twin-tub (Thank you to those of you who gave to that end!)
· Had our internet data go completely down. We don’t know why and we don’t know when it will be repaired! We are missing being able to send and receive emails.
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” 1 Corinthians 13:1
“As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love.” John 15:9
In the midst of all this busy-ness, I (Elizabeth) came down with a stomach/flu bug and then strep throat on top of it. I’ve had fever and chills off and on for 5 days now and have pretty much reached the end of my productivity. My co-worker teased me about being a type-A personality when I told her that I had used the time to catch up on lots of emails. Guilty as charged! But in the midst of it, I’ve had extra time to read, to pray and to ponder again on the FAITHFUL LOVE that sustains Nate and I daily in the midst of life here in the tribe. Are we connected to the Source of that love? Are we talking to Him through the day as we make decisions about what to do and when to do it? If not…we’re just clanging cymbals.
And THAT is something to be avoided at all costs. Pray for us, that our eyes will be fixed, not on tasks or even on the discipleship needs of those around us, but on the loving heart of the Father who draws us all to Himself. May we draw others to Him as well.
Please pray too for our co-workers. Sandra has an upcoming language check at the end of September, and she also started homeschooling her oldest in 1st grade! The Hostetters are still dealing with significant health issues and are heading back to the US in October for additional testing and appointments. We are loving having them back for a bit and praying for complete healing for Maggie.
We thank God for each one of you faithful pray-ers and supporters who are allowing us to be a part of His work here in Pal.
Joyfully,
Elizabeth and Nate
Noah, Tim and Elias
PS. We’ve not done any kid updates for a while! Keep reading if you have time…
Noah: turns 15 this fall and is shooting up in height daily. He is enjoying his freshman year of high school through a correspondence course, and is also making great progress with piano. Our co-worker Axel is giving him lessons on chording and we love to listen to Noah’s practice. Sports are a part of his life almost every day – basketball is a particular favorite right now.
Tim: will be 13 in a couple of months and is working on staying organized in 7th grade. He loved helping our tech guy, Josh Simmons, with putting solar power into the team office. Like all of our boys, he loves to read. One of his current favorites is a huge book called ‘Cool Tools’, a listing of outstanding tools for every conceivable task.
Elias: turned 11 last month and is usually in motion. He loves being done with school early and loves having the Hostetter kids back in the tribe for these months. He has continued to work on his Tok Pisin skills with Pal kids too and is working on cracking Mom and Dad’s ‘code’ language (Pal J)
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