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

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