Short and Sweet…
The Mesi church is short on Bible teachers. Pray with us that teachers who are currently working at the coast will be able to return to the mountains.
Pray for those on the fringes of the church, that they will turn from idols to the Living God.
Praise God with us that Elizabeth is feeling a lot better and that Noah, Tim and Elias are doing great in their schools this fall.
Got more time? Keep reading…
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| Elizabeth shares with a group of ladies who have been praying for the Mesi church for the last 6 years! |
Claasen Family Update
Our time in the USA is a little more than half-way complete. This home assignment has been full of settling our oldest son Noah in college and tackling medical needs, but we’ve also loved getting to see and spend time with many of you! Thank you for praying for Elizabeth following her immune allergy response, she is feeling much better.
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| Woohoo! 7th grade Bible class has been a real joy to teach. |
“Is this a 6-month vacation for your family?”
We get asked this question occasionally. No, thankfully, it’s not. (Ever notice that God gave Adam the work of tending the garden BEFORE the fall? Work is good for us!) Nate’s current role with Ethnos360 involves quite a bit that he continues to cover while stateside. He’s also been challenged by substitute teaching at the Christian school that Tim and Elias are attending this fall, as well as speaking and connecting in various contexts. And he spent the last week helping his folks ‘winterize’ their home and property in preparation for cold weather.
BRRRrrrrr
This is our first autumn in the US in the last 6 years! And the current temps are below the lowest the temperature ever dips in Papua New Guinea. We’re thankful for fall leaves, pumpkins, and stores to be able to purchase COLD WEATHER CLOTHES to wear!
Praying for those on the edges
Kogster and Magu are our nearest neighbors in Mesi-land. He’s tall, for a Mesi guy, and known as an excellent hunter. Magu has given birth to at least 8 children and keeps incredible gardens. She’s quiet and reserved (for a Mesi lady) but has a sweet smile that flashes out and surprises me now and then. Her reputation as a hard worker is unsurpassed. You’d have to look hard to find a Mesi couple that more closely reaches the cultural ideals of excellence.
One day – maybe 4 years ago? - Kogster came to us, groaning in pain. He had broken his arm…while beating his wife. Our sympathy did not extend to much beyond the Advil that we give for every broken bone we encounter there in the distant mountains. Kogster’s unbridled temper and frequent surliness were well-known in the community.
When evangelistic teaching happened in the Mesi-land, Kogster stood on the sidelines and listened. And watched. He didn’t respond to the message of the Gospel, didn’t seem hungry for it at all.
After a year or two had gone by, Kogster had the opportunity to listen again. And this time, he did seem hungry. He didn’t stand with arms crossed, he sat near the teachers. And from what he had to say, he trusted Christ as his Savior. Magu bubbled over with hope, “He was baptized! He is different now!”
The Lord brough this couple to mind last week as I finished reading through Isaiah. The Lord says through Isaiah,
“Your gods are the smooth stones in the valleys. You worship them with liquid offerings and grain offerings. They, not I, are your inheritance. Do you think all this makes Me happy? You have committed adultery on every high mountain.” (Is. 57:6, 7a)
I physically started when I read this verse, remembering the huge smooth stone in Kogster and Magu’s garden. “Our spirit god lives here,” a wide-eyed Kogster had told Nate, many years before we first did evangelistic teaching. “We put out the offerings and he will bring us good things.”
Pray with us for Magu and Kogster. Pray that they will continue to turn away from the evil idols that held them captive for decades. That their children will see and hunger for truth in God’s Word. None of their family are literate, but they share a home with Magu’s believing family who often read the Word aloud. And pray that other families like them will turn away from the fringes of truth to fully live for Christ.
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