Macayo's Fundraiser - Sept 8

Mark your calendars! On Sunday, September 8th, Macayo's is hosting an all afternoon fundraising event (lunch and dinner). If you print the attached flyer and present it with your bill, 20% of your food bill (minus drinks) will be donated by Macayo's to help cover ministry costs for us as we live and serve full-time here in Mibu, Papua New Guinea.

Please note that if you want to participate YOU NEED TO PRINT OUT THE ATTACHED FLYER and give it to your waiter or waitress.

Also note that this is only good at the Macayo's at 1920 S. Dobson.

If you have other friends and/or family who you think might enjoy having a restaurant meal with a purpose, feel free to invite them too! The more the merrier! Be sure to print out duplicates of this flyer to give them.

Hope you can make it!

The Passing of Something Good

For years now, the Fry's gift card program has provided a huge blessing to the Mibu Ministry. It has been generating around $150 a month to help with the expenses of living and serving here in Mibu. We really appreciate that so many have wanted to help us through this program.

Unfortunately, the workings of the Fry's gift card program have changed in such a way that it is no longer possible to benefit the Mibu Ministry. Please know that as of this month, using your Fry's cards no longer benefits the Mibu Ministry.

Thank you so much to all who have been so desirous and faithful to help support us in this way! We rest assured that despite a continually changing financial situation God does indeed take care of ALL our needs each and every day, month, and year.

As a side note, you'll have to forgive our future updates for a while. You may have noticed in the right column of our updates that we keep a reminder there about the use of your Fry's cards. We are unable to remove that reminder until we are out in town with access to the internet, hopefully toward the end of September. Please don't be confused by the fact that it's still there!

Blessings from Mibu!

The Mibu Service Crew

We want you to meet this most wonderful Service Crew...

These ladies, for the last several months have been serving others in the church, specifically those who give their time and efforts to teaching and other jobs that take a lot of their time. We've noticed over the years that those who give much of their time to the church often cannot give as much time as they need to their homes and gardens and livestock.

These sweet ladies have decided to spend every Thursday rotating through different teachers' and church workers' gardens, helping to weed, plant, clear bush and other tasks pertaining to general upkeep! In a mostly subsistence economy this is a huge blessing to others in the church. Thanking God for those taking initiative based on a growing sense of what it means to be part of Christ's body in Mibu.

Their names from left to right are as follows; Biop, Noonoye with son Roman, Gosen with Wunjo's daughter and Skyler's friend Nines, Wunjo with Noonoye's son Josai, Nancy with daughter Jemima, Eni, and then her mother Eson.

Update on "Spirit Connection"

Today, the church meeting in Mibu (before, during, and after) was abuzz with the sad goings on in the neighboring village where we recently reported there was some strange cult activity. The small delegation who went to try to dissuade those smitten by the anti-gospel weirdness going over there had returned a day early, having actually been run off with their lives being threatened!

Before the church meeting started, quite a few people gathered and listened as Sesi told the sad story, saying they were barely given a chance to speak. They were expected, and when they arrived, Gero, the village big man, tore into them. Gero is a very vocal person who loves to speak (and to be listened to). He went on for quite a while, sharing many scary details of his organized cult that utilizes young children to prophecy in their sleep, and how God has made him 'king' and determiner of who goes to heaven or hell. He went on expressing his anger toward anyone who gets in his way. He even managed a public attempt at calling down fire from heaven to burn up the Mibu delegation right there on the spot. No joke! People watched... then waited... then waited some more... but nothing happened. Then in anger, he and a number of his followers started threatening to hurt and kill those who had come wanting to help.

The men from Mibu left, thanking God that they hadn't been hurt. They were thankful too that they'd been able to at least encourage the three families who were not supporting the strange activities. In addition to that there was one family who had been participating in the cult who were convinced that they should not continue. Those who had been run off that day, stayed in this family's house for the night before coming back to Mibu the next day. While there the host family shared how their young daughter was one of the ones who was being used, along with the other kids, to do this weird stuff. After talking with the folks from Mibu and realizing they should not be supporting this activity they went quickly to retrieve their daughter from the hut in which these young children were being housed.

So today in the church meeting back in Mibu, Sesi shared their story. The church talked a lot about what to do for their friends over there who are full on into this thing. They talked about how the teachers who had been going from Mibu to teach over there need to continue, even if just for the four families. They need to continue to be encouraged and to grow in God's word. They'll have to find another place to meet, of course. Then it was unanimous that prayer is the only thing we can really do for those wandering in the dark right now. God is the only one strong enough to do anything about what's going on over there.

We were encouraged to see how the attitude was desperate instead of offended and that the instinct was to realize their need for God's help and power in all this. Would you join them in continuing to pray for the folks in this nearby outreach area? Pray for those who are holding fast to the faith, that they'd be able to stand strong and that God would use them as a beacon of truth over there. And pray that the truth would set them free from this deception, and that they'd remember that trusting in what Jesus did for them on the cross really is the ONLY way.

"Spirit Connection" or Bad Reception?

The Mibu believers need your prayers.

There has been a lot of talk over the last month or so about some confusion in the church. We usually don't get all the information at once. It comes in waves, a little here, a little there, each time getting a fuller picture of what's going on. We have been hearing more and more about the beginnings of a cult here that refer to themselves as "Spirit Connection". The information has been building and we've been trying to do due diligence in preparing the local church leaders to be able to rightly handle God's word, and keep watch over the believing community, keeping people's eyes on Jesus. Here in Mibu, the leaders seem to have been able to get a handle on it for the most part. However, what's going down in one of our neighboring outreach villages is what's really concerning us. It seems to be on the brink of turning into a full-blown cult! Out of the believing community there, only three are reported to be standing against this movement. They've sent word for leaders and teachers from the church here to come help dissuade the many confused and to show that their activities and beliefs are strayed from what God's word teaches.

The cult identifies itself as being led by God's Spirit, hence the reference to themselves as "Spirit Connection." They consist primarily of young children and a few young adults with the full backing of the more influential folks in the village. A group of 10 young children are reputed to have died one night (all at the same time in the same house) and risen the next morning to tell of all that they saw in their death. They say they saw the road to heaven. They are foretelling the year of Jesus' return. They also claim to have seen many other dead people (in other words, their dead ancestors). They're proclaiming that those who oppose them (namely the believers in Mibu) will be turned to pillars of salt and dust. And the list of absurdities just goes on! Movements like this are not uncommon in our area, but what is really concerning is that what the young folks are reported to have seen and said directly attacks those in the church who strive to follow God's word. They have been effective at undermining the influence of the leaders in the church as well as plant much doubt as to whether or not Jesus is the ONLY way. They've gained so much rapid support from the local area residents that they've said they're going to begin organized outreaches to other areas here soon. They're presenting their own words as God's word, even writing some of it down and reading it as authoritative in the church meetings! Ughh! There's so much more that would curl your toes that we don't have space to mention. But suffice it to say your prayers are needed. Much of this has brewed for several weeks, just recently exploding into something big.

We need you to be in prayer for the church leaders as they prepare (and as we try to help prepare and encourage them) for going over to face this thing head on and make it clear that the church does not identify with this at all and to warn people against being distracted with fruitless talk which does not promote faith, a pure heart, a clear conscience and the love that God's true revealed word teaches. On the contrary, what they teach only produces confusion, arguments, and all kinds of other endless speculation. It's right out of 1 Timothy 1.3-5. Some of the leaders and teachers are planning on going over there this Thursday (Wednesday U.S. time) and staying through the weekend to try to deal with the situation.

Pray for strength of those over there who do feel the conviction but may struggle with the very strong social obligations that may keep them from acting on their convictions. The church there is young and immature, still very easily duped into chasing after things that take them away from Jesus.

Pray that the love that Jesus has shown for them would be all that holds their fascination. There are so many fruitless pursuits they can waste their time on. The love of Jesus is where it's at. Keeping their eyes on what Jesus did for them on that cross because he loves us will provide a lifetime of growth and maturing in their faith.

And then pray for the young folks that have fallen into this delusion. They are deceived and puffed up with self-promotion and, for the moment, getting exactly what they're after. Pray that they'd see the carnal nature of what they do and that trusting Jesus (a REAL trust in Jesus - because they use the phrase with very wrong connotations) is the only way.

New Booklets!

In a recent delivery of supplies brought by our helicopter, one of the boxes we opened had the long awaited booklets containing both the book of Romans and that of 1 Timothy, as well as the lessons for 1 Timothy! These aren't just any booklets. They're the end product of much hard work translating the bible and putting lessons together. It's such a thrill to get these booklets in folks' hands. Making God's word available to the Mibu people is one of the major strategic facets of furthering the development of the young church in Mibu.

We're not the only ones doing the work here. There are many of you who have been faithfully supporting this ministry by praying and giving their valuable time and resources for the sake of the Mibu church. Little milestones like this are a great time to say, "Way to go, team!" and also to remind you that there is still much to be done here. We keep plugging away with all that God has given us and are thankful for the strong support we feel from those who have sent us!

A Few Points for Prayer

We've been really encouraged the last few weeks with progress in the translation of Ephesians. Sesi and I are trying to finish up through chapter 5 by the end of the month. So far it's looking like we might make it! Please pray that we'd be able to keep our focus and be able to drive this thing forward. Then just one more chapter to go. Chapter six will take a while since Sesi, who is my main translation helper, is going to be working with some local level elections the following month. He's needing to bring in some income for his family since they've been unable to sell their coffee yet this year. The time he's away might be a good time for me to work out some of the checking process that doesn't require Sesi.

While we're excited to see translation continuing along (as well as many other great things God is doing here), we've been kind of sad to watch some of the decisions, or lack of action, of a few key church leaders (in training) recently which leaves the church in a discouraging place. We are thankful for a few who seem to be able to continue in God's amazing strength to hold things together. We long for the day when there are those qualified and willing to shepherd the church as elders. Growth can sometimes seem to happen rapidly and other times very slowly, or not at all for a while. Times like this highlight the years of work that are left to be done here, and also the fact that the work is more than just one family can do alone.

One area in particular that we would appreciate your continued prayers for is regarding the longevity of the literacy program in Mibu. While it started off with a bang years ago, two things threaten its continuation here. One is whether or not the church is willing to take the initiative, investing their own resources to keep the program going for the next generation. There are actually those who think now that they themselves are literate why should they invest for others to become literate. This is indicative of a much bigger problem than just literacy. The other is that the standard of literacy has been quite low here. Those who are literate are only moderately so. Higher literacy skills will result in leaders better equipped to lead, and also result in more encouragement about the importance of literacy and thus the need for them to continue it. Good plans have been talked about and even agreed upon regarding training to increase literacy skills. But no initiative is being taken by the church as of yet. Again, pointing to a bigger issue and hurdle that must be overcome before this can be called a truly indigenous church plant. The problem seems to primarily revolve around a mindset of 'waiting until someone else does it for us'. Undealt with, it is a church killer. But back to literacy... without it, God's word will fall back into inaccessibility for the Mibus. How can leaders teach others without being able to comfortably read God's word? How can the next generation of people ever hear God speaking to them without the ability to read his word for themselves? It's not a difficult or trick question. The simple answer is that they cannot. We've been working with leaders on this for nearly 8 months now with little to no movement. We would appreciate your prayers regarding how to move forward in this.

One other noteworthy area we'd appreciate your prayers for is that a few of the church leaders, in the name of 'diplomacy', are quietly encouraging that those who openly reject God's truth intermingle with the church. They lurk around the outskirts of the church meetings which are supposed to be about honoring and worshipping God together and fellowship and growing together. But these folks only seem to ever sow discord, anger, and confusion. It's not that these people don't need to hear about God's love too. But they openly reject His offer of grace. They're only there to throw rocks as it were. They've been getting more and more openly antagonistic as well. Please pray that the church leaders would realize together the need to maintain the sanctity of fellowship while still being able to hold out God's grace to those who do not yet see it.

There are indeed lots of exciting things that God has been and continues doing here in Mibu! But these are a couple key areas of concern for which we'd appreciate the ongoing prayer of all of you who care for the Mibu Ministry.