Gracia Visits The Connection Center

She shared with the entire Home Office staff including many visitors about what God is doing in her life since those events. Some of the terrorists who took her and Martin are in prison. It was encouraging to know that God has worked in such a way that Gracia has had the opportunity to minster indirectly to some of these men. Her life has influenced chaplains at the prison to reach out to these terrorists. Prior to Gracia’s acts of concern for them, the chaplains kept their distance from the terrorists and held them in disdain. Some of them have come to know Christ while in prison. Now some of them are a part of the family of God. Amazing stuff. I guess that’s because we serve an amazing God!

     Nine days of meeting new friends, discussing what NTM is about, culture jolts, how to avoid the pitfalls of making poor choices while moving through cultural adjustment, how living in a foreign country may affect families, and how to handle conflicts. These are just some of the topics we covered through lectures, demonstrations, Q&A sessions, role plays, a game and of course our final dinner, a traditional style Papua New Guinean meal. We eat on the floor off of banana leaves and dress up. Our friends Susan and Brian just home from PNG helped and of course my coworker Tom worked in a tribe for many years and speaks Melanesian Pidgeon English well. Tom and Sue and Brian spoke only in Pidgin to help simulate what it may be like stepping off the airplane in the Land of the Unexpected where many of our attendees are headed.

     PFO is always the highlight of the year for us and is a lot of work, but we always try to have some fun too. In the end we are encouraged as the attendees arrive wondering what we can possibly do for nine days and leave wondering how they could have possibly done without the tools they’ve gained during PFO.

     You are an important part of our team through your prayers and support. Thanks for helping us prepare these new team members who will all have a significant role in expanding the reach of the gospel to least reached tribal peoples.

     Be sure to click on the photos tab above to view our photo gallary of PFO 2011.

John W. Slater - 9/9/1916 - 9/9/2010

My (Dave’s) step-father, John W. Slater passed away this week the same day he arrived. He died at his home in Missouri most likely of a heart attack. Our family will be remembering his life at the Davis-Wagner Funeral Home in Woodbury, NJ on Thursday September 16.

The picture above is how I remember John, a faithful companion to my mother. A frugal and hard-working man, a good provider for his family. Most importantly he knew Jesus as his savior. He also loved his grandchildren; their presence would always make him smile.

John with Emma and Andrew

     Prior to leaving I was telling Jill that something always seems to come up just prior to one of these trips. It’s like Satan’s team is resisting and trying to sabotage the Lord’s work. This time we had a flat tire on the way home from picking up a rental car. That was no big deal. Then it happened  – Julia had the worst attack of eczema we have ever seen. It covered her entire trunk area and both legs and arms and was spreading up the side of her neck on to her face and around one eye. Jill was able to set up an emergency appointment with our dermatologist. She took one look at her and said, “She cannot live like this!” We were thinking, “Yes, that’s why we are here!” She gave us scripts for 5 prescriptions which we filled; we prayed with Julia and left for the trip trusting that the Lord would use the medicine to bring healing. The next few days saw much improvement. Thank the Lord she is much better, her skin is now the clearest it has been in a long time. One thing the Lord is teaching  me in these situations is to trust Him and keep moving forward. 1 Peter 5 reminds me to be alert and resist when it comes these types of situations.

          Please pray for us as we move on to the next big event – preparing for Pre-Field Orientation in June. Pray we will be mindful of what Jesus wants to accomplish during this time and be sensitive to the needs of the attendees as we serve them. 15 new missionaries are coming who will serve in Brazil, Guinea – West Africa,  Mexico, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines. Our desire is for each of them to have a fruitful ministry as they join the church planting team overseas. 

     Thanks for praying about my fatigue. My energy is returning. I was really discouraged for a while but am doing much better. Â
     Dave

    

It’s exciting around here this week. Only 24 days to go until a tribal group in the Sepik Region of Papua New Guinea will begin hearing Old Testament stories leading up to the Life of Christ and the gospel. The light of truth about Jesus is ready to shine in a dark, isolated part of the world.
     I am a part of a team that prays for the work in Africa each week. Unlike the people in Papua New Guinea, villagers in Guinea, West Africa do not often assemble for meetings for teaching. So missionaries have written Bible lessons in their language and have had a new tribal believer record them. They distributed free solar powered MP3 players to the people in a village containing the first 11 lessons from Genesis. People are listening to them and had a lively discussion about what they are hearing when the missionary came to town to check on them.Â
     Back in Papua New Guinea a new church has been born in the Highlands. Tribal believers did much of the teaching and play acting. One widow upon hearing the gospel at the end of the weeks of teaching was clapping, rejoicing and laughing. She said, “My sin was like the cloth that wrapped Lazarus in his tomb. It was all around me, it consumed me. As you taught God’s word from the beginning I began to understand more and more. Now I know that Jesus took the wrappings of my sin with him to the cross and completely paid for all of it!”
     You who encourage us with your prayers, financial gifts and friendship are an important part of the team expanding the reach of the gospel to unreached peoples. This year we are helping to send more workers to both of these countries as well as others. Each person is a part of the church planting team as are you.
     Will you pray with us about these things? Please pray for me as I continue to experience a good bit of fatigue, probably from the radiation treatment I had 10 months ago. We are preparing for a trip in May to a missions conference. Please pray we will make good connections with people looking to serve in missions.