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