Husa's Mibu Ministry Update

 

We're long overdue for a ministry update. This one will primarily focus on the latest with our family and ministry going forward. There are several reasons we've not written as much about ministry as we used to. Not living and working on the field makes it challenging to come up with interesting material. Additionally, ministry has been slow-moving for me. While there's plenty to do, we've increasingly needed to supplement our income with other work, making it difficult to fully engage in ministry tasks. We've been trying to build a business to fill the gap left by reduced support. However, while our business efforts have borne fruit, it's been slower than anticipated. We're now at a pivotal point where we must either lean back into fundraising to continue ministry or, gulp, step away from ministry altogether.

 

We've done a lot of soul-searching and prayer over the past year and had discussions with our co-workers and several of our supporters. We feel the Lord is still making it clear that the need in Mibu remains great and that continuing in ministry is the best way forward. There's still much translating that needs to be done, as well as lessons to develop and teach. While my body may be screaming at me to stop being in front of a computer, I am still compelled and find great joy in serving the church in Mibu through translation, lessons, and consulting with church leaders. The work there needs to be finished. It's a long-term task. If we hypothesize my being out of the picture, the idea of having someone else go through all the years and effort of living with the community, learning the language and culture, and getting up to speed to take over seems unlikely. Sure, God is capable of anything, but it's clear to us that God has uniquely prepared us to serve effectively in Mibu. As unworthy as we are of the task, it is indeed us that He put there! We feel that calling still, and we plan to do whatever is needed to be good stewards of the work He has given us.

 

For many years, generous supporters have freed us up to do this ministry full-time among our now brothers and sisters in Mibu. God has poured out His abundance of mercy and grace through those many gifts and prayers, and into all our efforts in Mibu! We're seeing the fruit of that in the strength of the church there. Recently, though, I've noticed how distracting it has become to work outside of ministry as much as I have been. Ministry has continued, but my mind is jumbled with so many other things, and the effort I do give isn't moving the needle forward as it should. I'd like to pare those efforts back and, instead of aggressively growing our business, just maintain what we've built for now so that more of my limited capacity can be devoted to ministry again.

 

Many people have been asking, so this is primarily to inform you of where our hearts are at. We're going to start back into "fundraising mode" in hopes that I can get moving again with translation and lessons. Right now, our average monthly support is at 57% of what is recommended. Even in this low-support era, we have seen how our gracious God has provided! The odd gift here and there, a recent burst of income from the business, finding the occasional piece of furniture to flip, or stumbling across a great deal on something we need but otherwise couldn't afford—God is good, and we have so much to be thankful for! It has become clear, though, that strategically, we should strive to get our regular monthly support back up so that I can prioritize my efforts on ministry.

 

So first and foremost, I'd like to ask you to be in prayer for this process as we try to increase our fundraising efforts and communication again. If you are looking for a place to designate resources to a church planting effort that is getting more and more of God's word translated into a language that has never had it, Mibu Ministry is still a great option! If that's you, please use the 'donate' button at the top of this email or if you're reading on the blog look for the 'Donate Here' link on the right hand side.

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas from the Husas!

Merry Christmas and happy new year to all our friends, family and supporters! Can you believe we’re approaching the end of 2023 already! What a year it’s been! We are so grateful for your gifts of support to help us keep moving forward in our service to Mibu!

While ministry stuff has been a bit slow this year with my three surgeries and limited ability to work on the computer, that doesn’t mean the year has been boring! Shannon has been supplementing our income, working outside of the house part-time for a company that manages and files construction liens across the US. She is also busy taking care of the house and carting the kids around town. The kids’ schools and activities have kept us hopping! Skyler is a senior at Valley Christian High School. She’s been working every day after school for 2-3 hrs as an after school caregiver at Gethsemene Christian preschool. She recently had to quit to focus on school a bit more, but hopes to start working again after graduation. She’s raising funds to hopefully be able to go on a short term ministry trip to serve a group of aboriginal children in the outback of Australia over spring break. Madelyn is a sophomore at the same school and is shaping up to be our next driver (Lord help us with this insurance… and for safety on the road!). Abigail is in 8th grade, and is looking forward to going to Valley Christian High School next year too! She has been involved in gymnastics for the last 2 years but has recently decided she to take a break, which is probably for the best since she wants to play basketball and be in the band in high school. She enjoys being in the recorder ensemble at her current school and also loves playing piano. She has been preparing for an educational trip to Greece this Spring with her middle school. She’s worked very hard baking and selling her super popular cupcakes to raise the nearly $4,000 for this trip! Just a few hundred dollars left! Be sure to order yours if you’re local and would like some for a family gathering or party! You won’t regret it! Ethan is doing great in 5th grade this year! He also takes piano lessons from grandma and loves art. He and Abby are always playing, and singing, and doing art together! They’re both so goofy and creative together! We’re trying to figure out how to get him into some much needed braces soon. If anyone knows of any braces options that don’t cost $6,000 let us know! Who’d have thunk that some wire, glue and skill would cost that much! As for me, I’ve been able to maintain some level of ministry responsibility (as long as it doesn’t involve lots of typing on the computer… haha) as well as continuing to slowly grow our real estate investment business. All while doing physical therapy, and icing for what seems like forever. The elbow surgeries are very slow on the healing and recovery side.

We were gifted some money for me to be able to travel to PNG and into Mibu which I did for a few weeks back in October. It was a huge encouragement to see the church rooted so strongly in their faith as they have been navigating the pain of all the havoc that was wreaked by the terrorist gang over the last 2+ years. The church remains strong, though physically a bit tattered. I was able to get some wonderful time of fellowship with my brothers and sisters there, and get some practical ministry stuff done as well. We were also recently given some money for a new translation laptop for my translation helper in Mibu, which I’ve now purchased and am configuring appropriately. I’d like to be able to travel back to get Sesi set up and trained on the new operating system sometime in the Spring. We’ve already been given $1500 toward the total $4000 needed and are still looking for the Lord’s provision to be able to travel.

As far as the surgeries and other medical stuff is concerned… thanks to all who have prayed and given us grace to step back and focus more on repair and healing. Taking care of all this stuff this year was made possible by God’s very gracious provision through our church. Their deacons’ fund covered our out of pocket medical expenses! I’m shaping up to get back into more of my full-time ministry tasks mid to late January, assuming physical therapy goes well to help me recover from my last surgery on my left elbow! I'm looking forward to getting going again on some lesson development and translation for Mibu! Shannon also has some arthritis in her hip which she wasn’t able to resolve completely with physical therapy. We had hoped to get that fixed as it’s so limiting for her (she can’t even go with walks with me around the block 😢) but she does have some new exercises to help strengthen and lessen the pain.  

I get asked a lot about our real estate endeavors. I don’t talk about it as much as I should on social media (important for business credibility) because “Real Estate Investing” comes with certain assumptions that are not necessarily true. I had to hold back a chuckle when someone recently indicated their assumption that we must have and make a lot of money to be able to buy real estate. Our cash flow from real estate, while slowly growing, is fairly paltry right now. We’ve learned how to invest in real estate with little to no money out of pocket by collaborating with funding partners/investors. It’s a slow difficult business to grow. But will certainly be worth it in the long run! This year we were able to add 3 more properties to our portfolio! We’re trusting the Lord with our plans and hope to have the business be able to cash flow most of our ministry and life expenses in the next 5 years or so. We’re thanking the Lord for the investors he’s put in our lives that we’re able to collaborate with to see this dream become more of a reality. We continue to trust the Lord for our daily, monthly and yearly needs. He has always been faithful.

We appreciate all of you very much! We hope you have a blessed Christmas, and are encouraged and strengthened as you celebrate and reflect on the profound importance of the birth of Jesus!

This is coming out late, I know. I’ve been picking at it over the last week since getting back from Mibu! And then my email system for posting to the blog isn't working all of a sudden.

 

I’m thanking the Lord for his mercy which got me the rest of the way home after my first international flight out of PNG was delayed causing me to miss all the rest of my itinerary, and having to overnight in Sydney, and rebook all the rest of my flights. After my knucklehead travel agent accomplished nothing for 30 hours, I finally just went back to the airport hoping and praying I could get on the next flight. The agent at Fiji Airways service desk was extremely gracious and helped me even though technically she didn’t have to, and the rest is history. So glad to be back with my family now after 2.5 weeks away.

You’re probably used to me posting more on social media, but I’ve had to be very careful of that because we assume the terrorist group sees those posts and we don’t want to give them information. It does make it more challenging to update though. Certainly not real time like we’re used to anymore. I have lots of pictures and video clips and feel like I can’t post them.

I get asked a lot how our brothers and sisters in Mibu are doing, and I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on my impressions after being in there. One thing that was very clear to me was that the church isn’t struggling in their faith, and I wasn’t there to try to fix anything (other than computer hardware that wasn’t cooperating… haha). But the church is strong in their faith as evidenced in how they talk about all the difficulties of the last couple years, and by the things they continue to prioritize in their lives. They prioritize looking to the Lord in all of it. They prioritize continuing to share the gospel, which they’ve done, with people who haven’t heard. They’ve even prioritized somehow getting the gospel message to these terrorists. The church in Mibu has served others in need even when being in need themselves. And listening to them talk about the struggles, there is still a hope and a joy there which only comes from the gospel. So I was super encouraged to be in there and interact with them and see the fruit of their faith!

It is interesting to hear how the gang has splintered into 3 or 4 groups who are now sometimes fighting and even killing each other! The terrorists haven’t been very active in their attacks on the communities and their threats against Mibu. So that’s good, for right now. But the reality that the church is having to grapple with is that while the terrorists seem to be in a lull right now, they never have been dealt with. All their evil ways of thinking and their motivations are still there. So whenever they feel like it they probably will start attacking again. The Mibu church and the community is trying to do what they can to be more ready for it, but that’s difficult to do out in the remote jungle.

 

The highlight of my trip was actually having plenty of time to just sit and listen to my friends as they talked about life the last couple years. Most of it revolved around the terrorist group and the extreme challenges they brought on the community. We talked about many other things too of course, but I just appreciated being able to sit and talk life together and catch up on things. People were fascinated to see my hearing aid implant and hear about how that works. They also enjoyed hearing about how our family is doing.

I was able to get done everything that I wanted to with some translation work, and re-training on some of the tools we use to work together virtually. I did notice the equipment is a bit ‘rusty’ and needing replacement so I’m making plans that way as well. I’m thankful for a recent gift specifically for replacing the computer that Sesi and others use to work with me. The current computer, an old Dell is on it’s last leg and I’d like to try a macbook this time to see if we get more trouble free usage from it over the long term. It was comical seeing how we were having to jerry-rig his computer to try to get a workable system going again.

 

I’m hoping that I can return to Mibu again in 6 months or so, so I can take the new computer and get it set up and working with our system and with the software needed. And being a different kind of computer, with different operating system, Sesi will need some more training on that as well.

 

One thing that I’ve come to realize is that I likely will need sponsors for future trips. Finances aren’t what they used to be and it’s just not been possible to save what is needed for travel to Mibu. We’re so thankful for the generous gift that allowed me to make this last trip. I need to raise about $4,000-$4,400 specifically for the next one. And I’m hoping one of these days I can go back with the whole family to give the kids especially a bit more closure after leaving the place and country they grew up in. I can discern the need there as I talk with the family about my time back there myself.

 

 

 

Made it to Mibu!

Thanks to everyone who has been praying! My flight itinerary had me arriving in Goroka after 41 hrs of travel. However, due to a cancellation, and an overnight in Brisbane, and then another in Port Moresby I didn’t actually make it there till after 75 hrs! While that sounds exhausting, having two nights to sleep in a proper bed breaks things up nicely, and I was able to arrive at my final destination fairly well rested.

 

I spent the first day primarily focused on purchasing supplies needed to go into Mibu; food, toiletries, and whatever else I could think of that I might need. It’s always hard to tell when you’ve been away so long just what is needed. So in many ways you just go in prepared to deal with the realization that you didn’t bring many needed things. Now that I’m actually in Mibu I can say that’s a good number of things that I missed. Haha.

 

But whatever… I’m glad to finally be in Mibu! I arrived on Thurs morning and was greeted by a huge crowd on the airstrip! Wow! So happy to see my friends and brothers and sisters here after so long being away! The rest of the day was going back and forth between trying to get systems up and running (as much as I can in a reasonable amount of time) and just hanging out with my friends here, and hearing about all they have to fill me in on!

Then this morning we started work on some comprehension checking on translation. Spent 10 hrs pushing through that and still weren’t able to finish before the guys’ minds just pooped out. So we’re going to try to finish the last chapter tomorrow morning when I hike down to Beng for the Saturday morning church team meeting. Hoping to grab some time either before the meeting or right after to wrap up that task.

 

Then Sunday I’m planning to hike down to Mibu for the Sunday morning service, and then likely spend the afternoon hanging out with friends, eating food together before heading back up to Tibu where our house is.

 

Speaking of our house, that’s always interesting. I find every time I come in now gets harder as I experience a weird, kind of sad, heavy nostalgic feeling the first day back. Just seeing the house empty, my mind is filled with many many memories of our family here, raising our kids, hanging out together, telling stories, and all the laughs, hurts, excitement, and everything we had here. As happy as those memories are, it’s sad as each visit marks further and further we are away from that.

 

I wasn’t sure if I was going to have any gas for cooking, hot water, etc. So I came prepared with a mini kerosene cooker so I could at least heat up food. However I was thankful to find a half full bottle of gas that I could hook up under our house for those basics! Our fridge also no longer works, so I have to switch ice packs in and out of our freezer every day to keep food cool. I was planning on using our generator as needed (and I need it now because weather has been cloudy since I got here. Need to top up my solar system) but someone snagged the plug for inputting the generator to the system. I could fix it easy enough except the police stole my map gas torch so I have no way to solder a new plug/cord onto the cable. Oh well. Our washing machine also no longer works. Bummer because I don’t plan on buying another one at this point. So I will either be using our co-worker’s little machine at their house or just hand wash my clothes. The problem is that everything is soooo moldy smelling so I really have to wash a fair bit when I first get here as I’m concerned about all that mold.

 

Things to be praying about…

• Continued inactivity by the gang which is still around, but have just been quiet the last few months.
• For my knee which just underwent surgery about 8 weeks ago. It’s about to undergo some abuse. It’s healed, but still not 100%
• For my short time here in Mibu (just 6 days) that it would be super fruitful, and that I could get everything I’d planned finished.
• For my family back home as Shannon is holding down the fort on her own.

 

 

Heading to Mibu

I'm really excited to have the chance to go back to Mibu in Papua New Guinea in just a week and a half here! Actually I've been looking for the opportunity for at least 6 months. I have three surgeries I'm needing to have done before the end of the year and so finding the time between each, where I'm done with rehabilitation has been a challenge. But the Lord orchestrated things so that I was able to put something together even fairly last minute here with pretty decent ticket prices! I'm scheduled to leave on Aug 18^th and return Sept 4^th.

 

I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to connecting with my friends in Mibu! While there, along with just generally being a mutual encouragement to each other, I have a few tasks I'm hoping to accomplish. With everything that's happened over the last couple years with the gang, there's been a slow down, and even halt on some of the ministry work that needs to continue to move forward. I'm hoping to re-up some of the training with those I work together with, so that they're comfortable using the tools we need to use to work together from opposite sides of the world. I'm also hoping to wrap up a bit of comprehension checking that's been hanging in limbo a bit too long. And then finally I'd like to help get the literacy store back up and running again. The gang stole everything and all those years of work came to a screeching halt. The literacy store was very successful at raising capital to help fund literacy efforts in Mibu and other local villages.

 

It was fun today to share the news with some of my buddies in Mibu and talk for a while!

 

I'm so thankful for the generous financial gift that allowed me to make this trip! Even when finances are a challenge as they have been this last year or so, we still see God providing. We couldn't continue ministry to Mibu without your support and your prayers, and we want to thank everyone who has contributed, prayed, or otherwise shown their support over the years, and those who continue to support us now! Thank you!

 

Just a little side note here for our friends in AZ: We'll be at the ministry fair at Arizona Community Church in Tempe this weekend for anyone who might want to come catch up face to face and ask us any questions about the ongoing ministry in Mibu. It'll be this Saturday, Aug 12 in the evening for the 5:30 service, and Sunday during all the morning services. Come by and take the opportunity to chat with us and grab a prayer card!

Quick Addendum to Recent Update

Despite the really cool news I reported in our last update about the gang saying they are done and actually wanting to hear the gospel, there's a bit more complication I thought would be good to add and ask for your prayers…

 

There's also a third party in all this mix, some leader types out on the coast who have been pushing for 'peace' negotiations with the gang for quite some time. This particular brand of peace talks lets the gang off the hook for everything they've done, and even places blame on the Mibu church, and their involvement in communicating with the police, for how intense things got with the gang and how long it dragged out. They want the Mibu people to apologize for calling the police in to help when the gang was ransacking and killing and all the rest.

 

There is a 'peace' meeting on Aug 5^th that we'd ask you to be in prayer for. There's an incredible amount of injustice being pushed by leaders in that meeting. Please pray for the Mibu church as they will have a contingent there, along with the police, to represent their side. Please pray that while they strive to maintain peace they can do so without having to cave to pressure to allow the gang to save face as is so typical in PNG culture.

 

This is an additional dynamic that will have a role in how things play out and I thought it was important to let you all know so you can be praying with us!

 

Thank you!

 

 

 

Latest With Ministry and Family!

Hello everyone! We're enjoying this near perfect weather here in Phoenix lately, with warm afternoons and cool mornings and evenings! We're bracing for the crazy heat just around the corner! We've been busy with kids' school, ministry, Shannon working outside of the home, and still trying to get ahead of some medical stuff we're trying to take care of. The kids are in their final stretch of the year (Ethan 4th grade, Abby 7^th grade, Maddie 9^th grade, Skyler 11^th grade).

 

I am still slowly pushing through development of Revelation lessons and the last bits of the Elder Training lesson corrections. Moombi is helping me, as he can, to go through the elder training lessons to make sure they're communicating clearly before we format for printing.

 

Please be in prayer for the community in Mibu who are now trying to put their lives back together after the devastation caused by the attacks of the gang, and the influx of people who were displaced from their homes. My main translation helper, and others who help me understandably find it difficult to give the time needed to work with me on lessons and translation so that can slow things down a bit. For now I mostly work on things I can do on my own.

 

Speaking of the gang… We have an amazing update! The church leaders in Mibu sent word to the gang recently, highlighting all the devastation that they have caused with stealing, murder, abductions, rapes, destruction and burning of property and gardens, etc. But they rounded up their message to the gang with the notion that with all they took, they neglected to take the very best thing, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ who died to pay completely for their sins and make them right with God and give them hope. We were all shocked to hear that the gang leader responded saying that they were done with the attacks, and that he issued word to the rest of the gang that if anyone else continued to cause trouble he'd kill them himself! What a complete turn around! He went on to say that the gang no longer has a grievance with Mibu and even acknowledged that they, the gang, were the ones who did wrong, not Mibu. Then even more shocking; he said that they want the gospel message to be brought to them! Taking this at face value, we're praising God for this amazing turn of heart. But it's also with some hesitation as we have a bit of skepticism about their intent. Also, our idea of justice is offended as we're looking at the probability that there may be little to no consequences for all the horrible things they've done over the last couple years. But the big picture sense of things has us thankful that there seems to be a change of heart and desire to hear about Jesus. We've all seen the power of the gospel in Mibu and beyond, and so the expectation is that it can have its effect here too!

 

Ministry stuff is slowing down a bit again as I need to prioritize some nagging medical stuff. I tried everything but surgery last year to resolve some issues with debilitating elbow pain that's been getting worse for a number of years. The last thing on the table is surgery. We're so thankful God stepped in and graciously provided the needed funds specifically for us to be able to move forward with these two surgeries and also another one on my knee for a nagging meniscus issue. So three surgeries this year along with a number of other medical things we're trying to get taken care of. Shannon's hip has been bothering her for some time too. It turns out that living and hiking in the jungle, and also lots of hours at a computer comes with physical issues! Pray that we can get these resolved and resume normal living again. Right now both of us struggle to get the exercise we need and that's getting us down a bit. Glad to have the first of my three surgeries scheduled for this Tuesday, the 25^th on my right elbow! If you think of it would you please pray that this would resolve the issue, and for a good recovery.

 

Along with the medical stuff we're trying to schedule through the rest of the year, I'm also looking for the right opportunity in between surgeries, and after some level of rehabilitation, to return to Papua New Guinea so I can have the opportunity to visit and be an encouragement to the church in Mibu (and they to me), and just generally be of service anywhere needed. I had hoped that I'd be able to make it out the middle of this month, but my work visa has not been processed fast enough. The helicopter is also booked solid through the end of the school year anyway, so it would have been a challenge getting back into Mibu. So for now I'm looking like maybe sometime this summer. We're also trying to plan a short two week trip to Michigan this summer as well to visit with Shannon's parents and some friends and church up there, as well as our co-workers, the Walkers.

 

Skyler and Maddie both went on their short term mission trips over Spring break! Skyler to Kenya, and Maddie to Mexico. Both really appreciated the opportunity to go and serve kids in a different cultural setting! Thank you so much for those who so generously contributed to their mission trips!

 

Abby wants to go on an international field trip to Greece with her school next year. We told her we didn't have the nearly $4,000 needed, but if she would commit to working for it we could sign her up. She's been doing odd jobs to get there, but what she's really settled on and has been doing very well with is baking these fantastic cupcakes and selling them! She's managed to cover the monthly payments since January and is funded well into June at this point! She even supplied cupcakes for a wedding recently! Her little business is aptly named "Blissful Bites"! It's exciting to see her take the initiative with this, and her little entrepreneurial spirit kicking in to accomplish her goal!

 

And we're realizing we've not mentioned we have an addition to the family. Meet Rex! He's a rescue dog whose previous owners abandoned him when they vacated a friend's rental property. Rex is a super sweet, well behaved, and energetic addition to the family. We all love having him around!