Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Christmas Wishes From Mibu

We're just a few days away from celebrating Christmas here in Mibu and very much looking forward to it. We wanted to wish all of you a wonderful holiday, filled with remembrance of the birth of the one that God sent to do all that was needed for us to have peace with himself, the Ultimate Gift Giver.

As we celebrate this year, we do so with great thankfulness that people like you have been and continue to be such a large part of delivering his wonderful good news to the Mibu people. You've all helped deliver the message about the only gift that really matters.

You've helped make a difference here in Mibu, where in the past, they spent this season trying to do things that would eventually culminate in a community wide 'purging' of all the wrongs done over the last year; an attempt to make themselves right. Now, this season is spent in peace, knowing that all that ever needed to be done for their sins has already been done. They trust in that and can focus on celebrating that gift as a community.

Merry Christmas!

Geoff and Shannon Husa
and Skyler... and Madelyn... and Abigail

Friday, December 3, 2010

Working through Romans 6

Recently here in the Mibu ministry we've been trying to get things rolling again with the translation. It's been a task that is picking up steam a little slower than we had anticipated.

Prior to our return home for furlough, I had worked through chapters 6 and 7 of Romans, and had done a fair bit of study in chapter 8. I had considered 6 and 7 pretty much done; just a few more small checks left to do before being ready.

Upon our return here in Mibu, I set about performing those checks on 6 and 7, only to find out that there are a couple larger areas that just don't seem to be communicating what Paul intended there. I'm not convinced that it's a faithful rendition of the original.

So it's back to the drawing board with those sections. Back almost to the beginning. There's a lot of work left and it's a bit frustrating. But I'm also very thankful that this problem has been brought into the light and is going to get fixed.

The biggest problem is in 6.2-5 where it's talking about how the believer has been 'baptized' into Christ and is thus identified with his death and resurrection; new life. All this is given as an argument for why it just doesn't make sense for us to continue living in sin.

Right now as it stands the argumentation that Paul uses just doesn't come across. It's just a bunch of confusing data about death and former slavery to sin and freedom from sin, but the underlying connections just aren't there. So I'm setting about the difficult task of asking why the connections aren't there and then doing what is necessary to fix them.

I believe that part of the problem has to do with the foreignness of talking about ourselves as if we're dead to something else. But also complicating matters may be insufficient terminology about our 'old self' and 'body of sin' and being 'united with him'. It's a lot of abstract concepts all coming together here to create in the reader's mind an understanding of the new reality that is given through God's grace. It's so important to get this right. So it's worth the time to hit it as many times as is needed to get it right; to make it truly mean what God intends to say through Paul here. Only then will this passage have the power that God's words are said to have. Only then will we see these words actually take the authoritative place in their hearts that changes people's lives and bends their desires and their hearts more toward their creator. And in this case, helps them see the power that is given them over sin!

Please be in prayer with us as we seek his wisdom and understanding with this hard biblical text and others like it.

Geoff, for the Husa clan

Monday, November 15, 2010

follow up to faithful women

Saturday's ladies' meeting was in Mibu and I was shocked upon my arrival to see 15 ladies as well as a few younger girls in attendance. That was 11 more than last week and 5 from last week weren't even there today! If you remember a prayer request of my friend Mangaveng last week was that her husband's 2nd wife would have the desire to attend these meetings. Well, as I walked into the house where they were meeting she was sitting on the front porch!! Praise God! I'm not sure how much she was able to get from the meeting since she was outside but just being there was a big step in the right direction. Thank you to those of you who may have prayed for her.

As much as I love being able to attend these ladies meetings and be with these faithful women I would love it so much more if I could understand more of what they are saying and be able to encourage them. I have seen much of my language ability returning slowly but please pray that I would be able to find time to progress even further in that area.

In addition to the women I mentioned last week these are some more women who were in attendance today:
Tasem (ta-same), Jongetape (jo-ngay-tah-pay), Noonoye (noo-no-yay), Jepit (jay-peet), Tooma (this is the woman Mangaveng prayed for), Ti (tee), Ketoola (kay-too-la), Keteng's wife (I can't remember her name), Nenang (nay-nang), Maiya (my-yah), and Eson (ay-sone). One thing you can pray for is that when there are meetings in Mibu most of the women from Beng don't show and vice versa. Pray that they would see the importance of meeting every week and be willing to make the 20 minute hike back and forth.

One thing that has come up since we got back here is that a man from another village (not a Mibu village) is wanting to marry one of the young girls from Mibu. He is an unbeliever and already has one wife so the Mibu people have said no, he may not marry her. This really upset him and he went on a rampage chopping houses belonging to some of the people who are family of this girl and even killed a small pig and ate some of it and let the rest go to waste (a pretty big deal in these parts). He is threatening harm to many of the people involved and they are terrified of him to the point that some of the families are living with other families and they don't walk around alone, or if they do they carry bush knives or bows and arrows for protection. In the past they would have wanted to get revenge for the damage being done by beating this man or even killing him, but as believers they have said they aren't seeking that in this case but just want this man to go back to his village. I was walking up the trail today with my friend, Eson, whose family is the main recipient of the vandalism and she related some really encouraging things to me. She mentioned that this man went to their home with an axe and was threatening her husband. Her husband was terrified and started praying for protection. He then stood up and asked this man why he is making so much trouble. The man dropped his axe and just said "go get the girl and bring her to me" and then left. Eson's husband told her later that he wasn't afraid of dying because that would be a good thing but God had spared him anyway. It is so encouraging to see the Mibu people looking to God to solve their problems instead of trying to do it in their own strength or by resorting to their old ways. Supposedly the man who is causing all the trouble has a brother who is a teacher in town and we are currently trying to get a hold of him so he can work something out to get this brother back in his village and stop harassing the Mibu people. Please pray that this situation would resolve peacefully and soon.

Thank you for your faithfulness to pray for us and the Mibu people,
Shannon

Monday, November 8, 2010

Faithful women of Mibu

One of the things I've been looking forward to upon our return to Mibu was sitting in on some of the ladies meetings. Several months ago our co-worker, Brooke Tartaglia, starting meeting with the ladies on Saturday mornings to share a short lesson and pray together. I had been hearing about the growth of the women and their desire to meet together and pray and was anxious to see it for myself.

This last Saturday they were meeting in the village of Beng and as eager as I was to go I was tempted to skip this one because the hike to Beng is much more difficult than the hike to Mibu and my knees and pelvis had been giving me trouble. But my wonderful husband knew how much I needed a break and strongly encouraged me to go down. He offered to watch the kids and even made me my own walking stick to aid in the hike. I was really thankful that I was able to get out and the hour plus hike gave me some much needed quiet time with the Lord that has been lacking lately.

Once there I could see that the women were happy that I had gone and I was excited to be there and see firsthand what a Mibu women's prayer meeting looked like. 12 women plus myself ended up gathering in the small schoolhouse in Beng. My dear friend Wunjo led the time together. She shared 10 prayer requests from the previous week and they each took turns praying for those items - anything from sicknesses to outreaches. It was so neat to see their concern for others in the community and the need to see God's word continue to go out to further villages. The prayer request that stood out to me the most was from my friend and work helper, Mangaveng. Her husband has another wife and she is not interested in attending the Saturday meetings. Mangaveng was praying that she would have a change of heart and start going. I kept thinking how if my husband took on another wife I would have a lot of animosity toward her and be tempted to not think of her or pray for her. I was very encouraged to see that she cares for this other young woman and for her spiritual growth!!

Would you please continue to pray for these women. That their time together would be fruitful, that they would see God's faithfulness in answering prayers, that they would be an encouragement and testimony to their husbands and the other women in the community and that they would grow in their love for the Lord. If you would like to prayer for them by name the ladies that met last Saturday were Wunjo, Mangaveng (mang-uh-veng), Nema (nay-ma), Gipain (ghee-pine), Daiyel (die-el), Mangge (mang-gay), Laoo, Biop (bee-ope), Wep, Nimoke (nee-mo-kay), Nansi, and Joonumeng (jew-nuh, mang). Also, I just found out today that Nimoke's husband is against her attending these meetings as well as the literacy class she has been going to. He thinks it will give her bad thinking (if I understood her correctly) and has forbidden her to go. She is going to take two weeks off in hopes that during that time he will change his mind. Please pray that he will have a change of heart and allow her to continue attending both of these meetings. Wunjo also told me that when they meet in Mibu (every other week) the women from Beng don't usually go so that would be another prayer request.

Some additional prayer requests for our family would be:

1) We are fairly certain that Geoff broke a rib when he slipped on the trail yesterday. Please pray for quick healing for him.

2) We have only had 2 or 3 full nights of sleep (until 5 or 6am) without Maddie and Abby waking up 2-4 times each night since we got here. We are exhausted and would love to be able to sleep through the night again. Last night was a record... over 10 times awakened by one thing or the other.

3) Pray that I would be able to find some time to keep learning the language here. We have stopped nap time for the girls to help with the night time waking and I am homeschooling now so my schedule is very full with hardly any time to do anything other than take care of the kids.

Thank you for your prayers!!

The Husas

Saturday, October 30, 2010

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The attached file was originally sent with another message.

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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Update on Shannon's health

Thank you all for your prayers. We're so thankful that God answered the way he did. Shannon's pain began to subside last night about 6.30 and she was able to sleep through the night. Her pain and her fever are gone this morning. She's just a little bit achy still, but a HUGE improvement over yesterday. She said it was the worst pain she's ever experienced! Still not sure exactly what it was, but we're still thinking kidney stones accompanied by an infection. We're so glad to see her up and smiling this morning.

Haven't heard for sure from the doctor, but we're guessing that there will not be a medevac today. Seems safe to give it another day since we already have the helicopter scheduled for tomorrow to take my brother and sister (Lauren and Neal) out to town.

Thank you all for your prayers. We'll let you know if anything changes.

Geoff

Monday, October 25, 2010

urgent prayer request

Please be praying for Shannon's health. She's got a lot of symptoms that seem like she might be passing a kidney stone, but other symptoms (ie. fever) that are concerning the doctor enough that he's talking a medevac in the morning. He's had us change antibiotics and wants us to update him via email in the morning. Unless there's significant improvement he'll be ordering a medevac in the morning.

To compound the difficulty of the situation our radio is not working for talking to other people. We don't have internet or phones out here in the bush. A working radio is a very key component in handling big-deal stuff like this so we're having to handle all this over email on our HF radio. We're extremely thankful that even though we have this limitation on our communication we were still able to get a hold of the doctor quickly.

Meanwhile, Shannon is in a great deal of pain. We would appreciate your prayers tonight as we try to get through till the morning. We'll keep you posted as we have opportunity.

Thanks!

Geoff

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Husa update

Sorry for the lack of communication so far but we have been having a lot of trouble getting our e-mail to work.

Well, we arrived in Mibu on Tuesday morning just as planned. There were only 2 Mibu people up to greet us because no one knew what day we would be returning. After hearing the helicopter several more came up to greet us though. It was so great to see some of our dear Mibu friends again.

We got right to work putting food supplies away which took a couple of hours and then we started to unpack our clothes, both from our suitcases and things that we had in storage. We felt like we really made good progress until the evening came and we discovered that there was a huge ant nest in a trunk of clothes and that Geoff's chocolate protein powder that he brought from the states had exploded all over EVERYTHING in our suitcase! It took a while to clean those messes up and a huge pile of laundry started to pile up. In addition to all the bedding left by visitors and all the clothes that smell of mold and mildew. We have hardly had any sun since arriving so we have been very limited as to how much laundry we can do. Also, some rope that we use to hang clothes under the house in rainy weather is missing so we are limited as to how much we can hang up and have had clothes hanging from the railing on our porch and loft. Wednesday felt like we didn't get a whole lot accomplished. Probably because we were all so tired from the day before. We did get a little bit done though, but with the house such a wreck and so much more work to do the stress was mounting. Thursday Lauren and I finally got started painting the girls new room and were able to get it completely finished. Yesterday was Maddie's 3rd birthday so a lot of time was spent preparing for that as well as trying to work on different projects around the house. We did manage to have a fun celebration though amidst the chaos. After the girls' naps we had cake and opened presents in their new room and then we ate pizza and watched a movie. The girls were so thrilled that they got to eat cake on the floor and pizza in the living room. It's the little things:) Yesterday was also a very rough day for me as I discovered I have a very serious bladder infection. Luckily we are armed with the necessary medicines and I was able to start treatment since I was having bad pains in my kidney and stomach. This morning I was feeling feverish and achy and still having some pain but I am feeling much better now so hopefully I will still be able to hike down to Mibu tomorrow. Upon arriving we discovered that our radio is not working so we have not been able to communicate with anyone out in town which is pretty frustrating. We can hear them, but they can't hear us... for some reason when we talk it's not transmitting. We are just praying that nothing serious comes up before we can get it fixed. We have arranged to get a loaner radio in here on Wednesday and send ours out to be fixed.

Although, there has been much chaos and it seems like every day is one step forward and two steps back things are starting to look up. The main house looks a bit better every day, the girls' new room is finished and ready to move into now and Geoff and Neal have made a lot of progress on the new storage closet in the new addition. We are really hoping to get a lot more done before they leave in 4 days though. We must have told Geoff's brother and sister about 100 times how glad we are that they were able to come back with us and help us out.

The kids have adjusted fairly well. They love being back here and running around outside, especially in the rain. Maddie is very afraid of the people though and both Maddie and Abby have been waking up several times a night. I'm sure it is just jet lag and the complete darkness here so hopefully they will fully adjust soon. They are also very deprived of mommy and daddy attention since we have been so busy so I'm sure that plays into it as well. It will be so nice to get our house in order and start a normal routine.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers for our family. We appreciate it very much as we adjust to being back in Mibu and the changes and sacrifices that come with that.

Love,
Shannon for the Husas

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Safely in Mibu

Just a quick note to let you all know that we're safely in Mibu. Got lots going on trying to get situated (including some email probs) so we'll just keep this short.

Geoff for all of us

Monday, October 18, 2010

Arrived safely in PNG

Well it's Monday morning (the 18th) and we just got in this morning... a day later than we had originally planned. All flights went really smooth. Connections went well. Kids were better behaved than they've ever been on flights and slept about 1/2 of our 14 hour flight to Brisbane! It was a great trip, until we got to Port Moresby.

It was in Port Moresby that we boarded what was to be our final commercial flight, which would take us to the town where New Tribes Mission guesthouse is. This flight was just one hour after our arrival from Brisbane and so after clearing immigration and customs, we had to RUN with kids in tow and all our carry on luggage from the international terminal to the domestic terminal. We ran as best as a family laden with goodies can run, and because of the heat and humidity typical of the tropics we boarded the plane heaving and sweating. Whew! The disappointment came when after closing the doors and starting the plane, the pilot announced that they were having a problem with a cabin pressurization problem. Long story short; our flight was cancelled, they put us up in a hotel with meals, and we stayed the night. This morning we came back to the airport about 5am to re-check all our 13 heavy bags only to find that a mistake had been made and none of the passengers from the cancelled flight had been re-entered into the system. But finally, after switching lines 3 times (still hauling all our luggage to each one) we got checked in and were off to await the boarding call for our flight. Fun adventures, right? All is well now though and we're in Goroka where we're scheduled to fly in on the helicopter to Mibu tomorrow. Can't wait.

My brother and sister, Neal and Lauren, both came with us to help with the kids and luggage and to help with some other projects in Mibu. It was so great to have them on our flights and helping with the kids. We're so excited to have them here with us! We'll have to have them write an update or two during their stay! Always good to get the perspectives of others!

Now, many of you have asked how in the world we would take 3 young kids, all our carry-ons and 13 pieces of luggage across from the domestic to the international terminal in LAX. Here's the picture that answers that question!

Thanks for all your prayers through our travels!

Geoff and Shannon and 3 jet-lagged girly girls

Thursday, October 7, 2010

9 days and counting

Organizing... Prioritizing... Packing... Last minute errands...

That's the mode we're in full time right now; actually more than full time. We're getting ready for our scheduled departure date on October 15th (less than ten days away!) when we're planning on returning to our home and our ministry in Mibu. We can't believe that a whole year has gone by already. But I can tell you that we needed it. Most prominent in our mind as far as things accomplished this year is that we were able to connect on a deeper level with our church family here in AZ as well as make many new personal connections. We enjoyed the chance to strengthen the excitement level and sense of partnership in the Mibu Ministry. It's so so good to go back to the field feeling the blessing and support of others who are excited to see God continue his work in Mibu! That was our number one goal for our time home this year.

We've also been prayerfully at work to try to get our regular monthly support levels up to 100% of what is recommended for our family to serve most efficiently in Mibu. We've definitely seen some growth in our support base, but we're still about $1500 a month short of 100%. All that to say that we're still looking for financial partners in the Mibu Ministry. If you feel like you might like to support this ministry by helping with the financial side of things your help would be greatly appreciated. Just go to https://www.ntm.org/give/1089 and you can donate right online. Or for other methods, please check out the details at http://mibu-ministry.blogspot.com/p/give.html

We are feeling rested, energized and so very ready to be back in Mibu. We can't wait to get re-integrated into our friendships and life there, get a routine back for our family (this year has been awesome, but far from having family routine in the mix :) and continue to be a part of nurturing the growth and maturing of the church in Mibu.

Thank you all for being a part of our lives. You're such a blessing to us!

Geoff and Shannon Husa
...and the girls

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Come hear about the Mibu ministry this Sunday

Just wanted to let you all know that this coming Sunday (the 19th) we've planned a time to get together with you and your family to share the wonderful things that God is doing in the Mibu ministry in Papua New Guinea.

Whether you're familiar with the ministry or can't quite recall exactly what it is that we do in Mibu, this presentation is for you. Come get a taste of what a tribal church planting effort looks like! We'll cover a short history of the ministry in Mibu, some about what it is that we do there to serve the Mibu people, and also some exciting things that are happening there with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. You'll also hear several ways that you can be a part of this ministry!

Please join us to show your support and learn more. We'll be meeting in room C-1 after the second service at Bethany Community Church. Plan to be there from 12:30 to 1:00. There will be activities planned for kids and snacks provided for everyone to tide those hungry bellies over till lunch!

Again, the place is Bethany Community Church in room C-1. The time is this Sunday (the 19th) 12:30-1:00pm. It's a family event. There will be snacks!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Geoff and Shannon Husa

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Departure of short term team

Just a reminder that the short term team to Mibu is scheduled to depart today (Friday afternoon). We'll be traveling to MIbu, Papua New Guinea where we're planning on building a small addition to our house.

Back when Shannon and I first built our house, we'd been trying to have children for seven years. With no children yet, and hopes of having them still prevailing, we decided we'd probably be pushing our luck to build to accommodate two children. God has blessed us beyond our plans (as he usually does) as we've just had our third child, and so we're feeling the need to expand our little 928 square foot house. We'll be adding an extra bedroom, a half bath (an essential with four females in the house!) and a little storage closet.

I'm really looking forward to having this chance to see my friends from Mibu. Gary, Greg and Steve are all looking forward to serving in this way and getting a chance to work alongside some individual believers in the Mibu church on this project.

We would appreciate your prayers as we go along. The trip dates are July 30th through August 13th. We'll keep you posted with updates and photos throughout our travels!

Enjoy!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Website facelift

Hello everyone. Just wanted to let you know that we gave a major facelift to our Mibu Ministry website. We made it look nicer (at least we think so) and we've added a lot more information about the Mibu Ministry. More photos, more information, more fun. Take some time to check it out. Just click on the following link.

http://mibu-ministry.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Geoff

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Husa update

It's hard to believe we have been on home assignment for eight months already.  Time sure flies when you are having fun!  Since we've been back we have been pretty busy, both with fun things and ministry related things.

Back in October we celebrated Maddie's 2nd birthday. Is she really 2 already? When we arrived she wasn't talking very much and still wasn't walking, but she soon started doing both... and doing them well! Turning two brought her out of the baby stage and on to the toddler stage.  She loves playing with her sister, her babies and reading books and she really LOVES to sing.  She often entertains us with a one of her favorite songs - Jesus loves me, jingle bells, row row row your boat or twinkle twinkle little star, and dances along to any music or beat that she hears.

In November Skyler turned 4!  Our big girl also started preschool soon after we arrived.  She absolutely loves going to school and playing with her friends.  She can now write her name, recognize all the letters and can count to 30.  She got a bike with training wheels for her birthday and loves to practice riding it.  Some of her favorite things are playing with her friends and cousins, playing with her dolls and trying to master the monkey bars.  Just recently daddy started teaching her how to swim and she is doing very well with that. Not too long ago she decided she wanted to go ahead and get her ears pierced; a process which only got halfway through before she changed her mind :) She's waiting until she's older to get the other one done. 

In addition to all the fun we've been having we have also been speaking in different churches and Sunday school classes about all the wonderful things God has been doing in our lives and in the Mibu church since the last time we were home. We've also been focusing our efforts recently on expanding our monthly support base up to recommended levels. BTW, if you're looking for a great ministry to give to, we'd love to share with you some of the wonderful things that God is doing in Mibu. Maybe the Mibu ministry is the right fit for your gifts! Let us know if you might be interested.

Geoff has also been very busy trying to put together a short term mission team to fly out to Mibu later this summer to build an addition onto our house. He's also been putting together lesson material for a Bible reading class he is teaching and trying to fit in all of his meetings and appointments.

Shannon tries to keep up with three little kids and with all the housework that needs to be done as well as doing homework for the two Bible study classes she is involved in.

The biggest thing occupying most of our time right now is adjusting to and enjoying our newest addition to the family - Abigail Marie Husa born on May 11th.  So far she is an easy baby and sleeps well at night too.  Both of her big sisters love to play with her and hold her.  We feel very blessed to have 3 beautiful and healthy girls.

Prayer requests:

Pray that all of the kids passports and visas are processed in a timely manner so that we can return to Papua New Guinea the first week of October.

We are still in need of around $1800/month to meet our recommended monthly support before we head back to Mibu.

We also are estimating that we will need about $8,000 to purchase our return tickets to Papua New Guinea.


Thank you to all of you for your ongoing love, prayers, and support.  We appreciate every one of you!

Love,
Geoff, Shannon, Skyler, Madelyn and Abigail


Thursday, May 13, 2010

Welcome Abigail Marie Husa

A special welcome to the new addition to the Husa family, Abigail Marie. She was born 5/11 at 11.51am, weighed in at a paltry 7lbs 13oz and is 21 inches in length.

The delivery, via c-section, went very smoothly... the best delivery we've experienced yet!

We'll likely be here at Banner Desert till Friday morning. Visitors are welcome. We're in 219c. Shannon's cell# is (602)618-9370.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Mibu ministry partnership development

Here we are, at about the half-way mark of our year long home assignment before returning back to Mibu! Wow, our time home with you all is going by fast! We're working on a short update about our time home so far. Hopefully that will be going out in the next few days.

But here's what this email is about...

As many of you know, we have the pleasure of being a part of a much larger team than just us who are serving on the field. People like you have graciously given to us over the years so that we can continue to live and serve in Mibu. One of the things we're hoping to do while home is expand the base of people who partner with us financially. We're focusing our efforts on this task over the next month here.

We have prepared some information about our needs as a family and how you can be part of the exciting things that God is doing through the Mibu ministry. But we want to make sure we have your correct mailing address. If you've not already taken the opportunity to partner with us financially and would like us to send you some information about that, could you please reply and make sure we have your current address.

Blessings,

Geoff and Shannon Husa

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Weng's song + cucumbers (From the Tartaglias)

Here's the latest from our co-workers, the Tartaglias in Mibu. Cool stuff!

"Weng invited me over to hear the chapter summaries he's been working on as
he reads thru the Bible this year. We had just settled onto the bamboo floor
in his house when his mother turned and offered me a cucumber. I was kinda
surprised when she handed me a knife to peel it as well. It's been years
since anyone let me peel cucumbers, sweet potatoes, or any edible vegetation
for that matter. I guess it pains them too much to watch me try, yet remove
too much of the edible part along with the peel.

I thanked her and took the cucumber, then sat there listening to Weng
continue to read me his chapter summaries, trying to savor Weng's words and
this new chance I had been given at food preparation. I waited till Weng had
made it into the life of Abraham before I began peeling. The background
family noises quickly faded away, till there was only silence. I looked up
to find every eye in the house on me. Weng's mother quickly stepped over and
took it back, graciously telling me that she would not mind doing it for me.
Oh, well, maybe next time....

The highlight of my visit, though, was even after the wonderful chapter
headings and summaries. It was the song Weng shared with me before I left, a
song he had written himself last week.

"When Jesus comes back
He will judge the world
But according to God's pleasure
He regards us as His very own people
We will not be brought to trial."

Alleluia and Amen!"

Thanks for tuning in!

Geoff and Shannon
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Monday, January 18, 2010

Latest Mibu ministry news

Here’s the latest from our co-workers in Mibu...

“After the church service, when many of the people had
dispersed, Parenoowe grabbed my skirt as I walked by pulling me down on the
rough bench next to her. Her face was drawn and tight, eyes still shining
with tears carefully held in check. She leaned her face very close to mine,
and with great emotion asked if we could talk about her daughter. It has
been less than three weeks since her 9 year old, Joonoomeng, had run down
ahead of her friends to the river, and whose body been found days later
washed up on the shore a few miles down the steep river ravine. Parenoowe 's
searing pain showed in her eyes, her voice, and the tight grip she held on
my hand. Her questions are the same that anyone would wrestle with... "Why
did this happen? Did I do something wrong that God allowed this? Where is
she now? Will I see her again?"
 
               I wish I had something to say to Parenoowe that didn't sound
trite. "My friend, God is not angry with you, He is not punishing you. You
know this, don't you. He loves you and He loves your children. We all die.
We do not know when—today, tomorrow, when we are young or when we are very
old. Only God knows all of this. We cannot know. But we do know that we can
trust God with this. We will have to leave it with Him." I paused, thinking.
"What does Weng tell you?" I whispered, her face still very close to mine.
Parenoowe 's oldest, married son, Weng, has carried the family through this
time. He has been a Bible teacher and helped teach through the Bible to
other villages, and has a very evident love for the Lord and His Word."Yes,
this is what Weng tells me," she quietly answered.

               Even while they were still searching for little Joonoomeng's
body, our family had hiked over to their village to see what we could do,
and be there with them as they waited for news. In the past, we would have been
needed at the forefront, reassuring and reminding everyone of God's love for
His children. Instead, when what we found were other brothers and sisters in
Christ ministering to the family, and to Joonoomeng's mother in particular.
And when Weng's faith was brought to the test, his little sister missing and
feared dead, his faith was steady and shone through brightly.”

Hope this is as encouraging for you as it was for us when we received it!

Geoff and Shannon Husa
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