NTM - New Tribes Mission | Planting Tribal Churches

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A man walks into church with his machete and walks up to the front and begins talking about this (imaginary) good garden plot and then lays down a ‘sodo’ (pronounced: sun-duh). The sodo is how shared garden plots are typically divided up among different clans. Another man then walks in also carrying his machete and walks up to the front and also begins talking about the good garden plot, then sees the divider blocking him from part of the garden. He lifts his machete and angrily starts yelling at the man on the other side of the divider. As the hostility shoots back and forth over the divider the wide-eyed congregation watches on. Then another man comes and removes the divider so that both can share the same garden, and encourages them to shake hands. That little drama was how the Simbari Bible teachers chose to begin the service on Sunday morning to illustrate the truths of Ephesians 2:12-18. Afterwards as the Bible teacher taught through that portion of Scripture the Simbaris had a better idea of the kind of hostility that existed between the Jews and Gentiles before becoming one in Christ. As Gentiles the Simbaris were also without hope and far away from God but now through the blood of Christ they have been brought near to God. These are the kinds of truths that the two Simbari churches have been hearing as they study through the book of Ephesians verse by verse on Sunday mornings.

Another drama followed the next Sunday to further illustrate how the Gentiles were far from God and not allowed inside the Temple of God. Now they themselves are temples of God as described in Ephesians 2:19-20. We looked back at how God used to dwell inside the Holy of Holies but when Christ died the veil was torn from top to bottom and His dwelling place is now in the hearts of His people. From a tabernacle model that a team from GBC had just brought over the teacher used the ark of the covenant with the mercy seat to show God’s way of dwelling among man before Christ. But now in Christ, “You are being built into a place where God lives through His Spirit” (Eph. 2:22)

A special thanks to the team from Grace Baptist Church who recently came to be an encouragement and help to the Simbari church (and to us). They faced difficult circumstances with their eyes fixed on Christ and were indeed a blessing. If you’d like to read more about their trip here is the link: http://www.gracebaptist.org/papuanewguinea2011

We just finished reading a book that we’d like to recommend: What’s Going On Downriver? by Rob Greenslade. It’s about the Gospel reaching the Bisorio tribe where David visited in 1986 when he was first challenged to become a missionary. Shari also became interested in Papua New Guinea when she heard the Bisorio story.

After many years of heavy use our deep-cycle batteries were no longer holding a charge. Since we rely on these to run our home and the computers that we use for translation there was an urgent need to get them replaced. The Lord provided for this need through two special financial gifts that were just in time to get the new batteries and include them on the last scheduled mission shipment for quite some time. The batteries have arrived in country and were flown in on our mission aircraft. We thank the Lord for His faithfulness and those who partner with us financially so we can live in this isolated place as ambassadors for Christ.

June was our 20th anniversary of coming to PNG. We have seen things change over the years and a recent change that we are enjoying is internet access out here in the bush. After being separated from family for so long and with such limited communication available it’s been a blessing to keep in better touch with our families and especially with Esther and Simon via Skype. While that is a welcome change what has really excited us as we look back over our years in PNG is the change that has taken place among the Simbari people. God is building His church (Eph. 2:20-21) and we’ve had the privilege of seeing lives changed as Simbari believers follow Christ and obey His Word. We thank God for graciously allowing us to serve Him here in PNG these last twenty years.

Simbari believers reviewing Romans Bible lesson

Many of you are aware and have prayed for the Simbari believers as they have received persecution over the years from another religious group that teaches salvation by works apart from Christ. Rather than engage in arguments about what they believe the Simbari believers wanted to show their faith by serving and loving their enemies. So during the last year or so they have marked work days to help unbelievers in the community with garden work and building houses. Recently this idea was reinforced while studying through the book of Romans with verses like Rom. 6:13 and Rom. 12:1. Up to this point they haven’t really seen much fruit from this loving service but in the last few weeks God has opened a door for ministry of the Word.

This unbelieving group was gearing up for a district conference and so the “men and women of Jesus” from Simbari were discussing how they could show Christ’s love in a tangible way to these people in spite of the fact that they had been persecuted by some of these same people. They decided to give a gift of food since that is always a need when there are a lot of mouths to feed. They collected 17 bags of food and went to give the food in the middle of the week. They wanted to give it quietly but some from the other group didn’t let them and wanted to hear what these “men and women of Jesus” had to say. So they went in and were immediately surrounded by hundreds of people, some who started to break down in tears when they saw the gift. One of our Bible teachers, Raymond, shared on behalf of the “men and women of Jesus” and used verses like John 14:6, among others, to point them to Christ as the only way of salvation. By the end, others from the group were also in tears including some that had been involved in the persecution. Some of the leaders from this other group said they had never seen this kind of behavior before and considered it history-making and intended to go back to town and tell their superiors about all that had happened. They wanted to lift up the believers but the praise was refused and the believers said that what they were seeing was not them but Christ in them. And such behavior is not unusual for people who follow Christ and have His Spirit living in them.

The believers also opened their homes to many from the other group who needed lodging and used the occasion to give testimony about Christ as they sat around in the houses each morning and evening. Some from the other group were enjoying what the believers were sharing so much that they weren’t very eager to go to their groups meetings. The believers offered, “God’s Word is right here in our home and we can keep teaching you here if you like.”

By the end of the week the “men and women of Jesus” were rejoicing in all that God had done and are grateful that a door has been opened for ministry with the people from this other group.

“praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ” Col.4:3

Speaking of the Word, the expected final translation check this week on the last part of Romans and the book of Ephesians had to be postponed due to circumstances out of our control. We trust that God has a plan in allowing this and in His time we will be able to get these books checked. In the meantime we just keep moving ahead with Bible translation and teaching. This month in both of the Simbari churches we’ll begin studying the book of Ephesians. We continue to work on the books of 1 Corinthinans, 1 Timothy, Titus, 1 & 2 Thessalonians and Revelation.

“Father, when I see the things you’ve made I understand more about you. When I hear the thunder I say of You, “You are strong.”

These words are from a song translated into the Simbari language to the tune of “How Great Thou Art“ which the believers love to sing when they come together to worship the Lord. How we wish you could attend one of their worship times and hear the encouraging things they have been sharing about how God and His wonderful truths have been sustaining and guiding them. We wanted to give you a glimpse of how He is doing that by sharing some of the testimonies we heard just this past Sunday in church.

Jolambiya – An old, emaciated woman shared in a choked voice with tears streaming down her face how she had almost died this week from a serious illness but God had spared her life and she wanted to give Him the glory. By God’s grace she had managed to get herself out of bed and walk to church to meet with her brothers and sisters for a time of worship.

Rison – He thanked the Lord for healing him from a sickness he has had for a couple of weeks which has left him feeling very weak. As he was lying in his house during a thunderstorm listening to the continuous sound of thunder he thought about God revealing His presence and power to the Israelites through the lightning and thunder on Mount Sinai. He sensed God speaking to his heart and reassuring him of His presence and His power to heal him.

Barry – This teenage boy praised God for the opportunity He had given him this past week to share the gospel with a group of young men his age at another village. He told us that the young men were very eager to hear what he had to say and this week he will be hiking over there again to share some more with them.

Raymond and Ellen – This young couple and their family have been quite sick this past week and were still getting their strength back by the time Sunday rolled around. In spite of that the two of them made the difficult hike over to the sister church in another village about an hour away so that Raymond could teach the Bible lesson from Romans to the small group of believers there.

Translation Progress We praise the Lord that Ephesians is mostly finished and will be getting the final check done in March along with the last half of Romans so that we can print them for the believers. On Sundays they are going back over some of the key lessons in Romans before they begin to hear Ephesians for the first time. Please pray that we would continue to make good progress in the translation of the other epistles and New Testament books. As one of the believers stated recently, “God’s Word is our food” and it’s delicious “like the oil and salt we use to flavor our vegetables.”

Thank you so much for your prayers for our family and the Simbari church. God is continuing to do great things in the lives of the people here.

In His love, David, Shari, Rachel, and Jason

http://www.ntm.org/david-ogg/

A couple of months ago the Simbari believers decided on their own to rebuild the old church in our village which had been built about 15 years ago(a long time for a house made of bush materials). Over the summer they gathered new materials from the jungle and for the last month have been working together whenever possible. This new building will be about the same size, just a few feet higher off the ground, making room underneath for people to sit in the shade after church. They are now weaving the cane walls together and should have it all finished in the next few weeks. We praise the Lord for the way they have been a light to the community as they work together cheerfully, doing their work for the Lord. Many in the community were surprised that they were all doing the work voluntarily, without any monetary compensation. Such behavior is not a common practice in this country. This gave them the chance to tell others that they were doing it because of their love for the Lord. It also was a good opportunity to put into practice what they heard recently from Romans 12 about offering themselves as living sacrifices. Both Simbari churches are really soaking up the truths they are learning in Romans. Many of the newer believers have been attending literacy classes so they can read God’s Word for themselves and the classes are almost done now. We are in the last stages of preparing Ephesians Lessons for teaching to the believers as soon as we finish in Romans.

We praise the Lord for helping us continue to make good progress on Bible translation. To date, David has been able to finish the preliminary drafts for 1 Corinthians, 1 Timothy, Titus, and 1 Thessalonians. He is now ready to work on 2 Thessalonians and then Revelation. Of course this is only the first stage of the process but of the many stages it is the most time-consuming for David so it is a big step ahead to get these preliminary drafts completed. After the believers finish rebuilding the church he will resume working with his translation helper on the next stage of the translation process on those books that have already been drafted.

Please Pray:

1. For continued good progress in Bible translation.
2. Continued spiritual growth in the lives of the believers.
3. Wisdom for Shari as she has had an increase in medical work lately and it’s often been hard to diagnose and treat those who are sick.
4. For Esther and Simon in college, Rachel at the mission school here in PNG, Jason at home with us in the village. For God’s comfort as we are separated from each other.
5. For our power situation in the tribe because our solar battery bank is 7 years old now and is no longer holding a charge very well. The only way to replace these kind of batteries is to have new ones shipped over via container from the states.
6. For the upcoming staffing needs at Rachel’s school here in PNG. Currently, we have critical needs for teachers in high school math, science, and band, as well as two of our elementary grades. Our complete needs list is available on our website: http://www.mmol.org/NCA

We really appreciate your prayers for our family and our ministry.

David, Shari, and family

Ps. Don’t forget to take a look at our new posted photos by clicking on the “Photos” link on the menu above or by clicking on the following link:  http://blogs.ntm.org/david-ogg/photos/

Summer Happenings – We praise the Lord for providing for us to be able to spend six weeks in the U.S. this summer and have some quality time with family and friends. We were also able to get some medical work done, help Simon with some of his adjustments to life back in California, and share with individuals and groups about the great things God is doing in the lives of the Simbari believers. We do regret that our time was so short and we weren’t able to see more of you this time.

Ogg Kids – Simon has recently started classes at a small Christian College in our hometown and seems to be doing well. He is living on campus this first year, but is only about ten minutes away from David’s family and Esther, so is able to get together with them fairly often. We’d appreciate your prayers for him as he continues to adjust to all the recent changes in his life Esther also returned to classes at a community college not too far from Simon and is doing well. Rachel is in tenth grade now and is living with the same wonderful family she was with at the mission school last year. She has been very active with softball, choir, orchestra, as well as her classes and seems very happy. We are so happy to have her home for her two-week Fall break and were able to celebrate her 16th birthday with her when she got home. Jason is doing well with his home school in fourth grade and is really enjoying life here at our village. After school most days he plays for several hours with his Simbari friends and they never seem to run out of ideas of what to play. He and his buddies have a special call they use when trying to assemble each other for play, and sometimes we have to go outside and tell them that he is still doing school and can’t play yet.

Refined By Fire – A few weeks ago Clayborn’s house which he had recently finished constructing burned to the ground along with three other relatives’ houses nearby. (The cooking fire in a nearby house ignited the house and spread to the other houses) Clayborn and his wife were so distraught and discouraged that they started talking about running off to town to stay until their sorrow diminished That is the cultural way to deal with trials, but the other believers reached out to his family, trying to encourage them to keep their eyes on the Lord and not run from their problems. Clayborn has been helping to teach the Bible lessons and literacy classes at the new church in his village, so it would not have been a good example for him to just quit and leave his responsibilities. When David met with the teachers (including Clayborn) for his weekly discipleship time with them, he went over the Roman’s lesson with them to get them ready for teaching it the following Sunday at the two village churches. The lesson was taken from chapter eight and talks about how our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. It also talks about how God’s Spirit who lives in us prays to the Father for us when we don’t even know what to say. David used Clayborn’s recent trial as an example and talked about how when that happened to him, he no doubt was so distraught he hardly knew what to pray about, but God’s Spirit, who knows his heart, prayed for him. By the end of the meeting, Clayborn and the other teachers were so pumped up and encouraged by the truths they had heard that they left with big, ear-to-ear smiles on their faces. Clayborn said he was going to choose to not dwell on his loss but on God’s promises. God’s Word is so faithful to encourage and offer us the comfort we need and it is so thrilling to see the believers claiming the truths as their own and applying them to their own lives.

Translation Progress – We are very encouraged with the progress being made in Bible translation and just this week David finished the first draft of 1 Corinthians and began work on 1 Timothy. Ephesians Bible lessons are in progress as well. On Sundays the believers have continued going through the book of Romans and learning many great foundational truths that are found in that book. Next Sunday they will be hearing the lesson from chapter 12 about offering our bodies as living sacrifices. They also continue to meet for Wednesday evening fellowship and for daily literacy classes.

We had a wonderful but quick time in the U.S. this summer and are thankful to the Lord for the special times we had with family and friends as well as taking care of some medical needs which we aren’t able to do over here in Papua New Guinea. Of course we wish we could have seen more of our friends and supporters but there just wasn’t enough time during this short visit. We’re thankful for the opportunities we did have to share with groups and individuals about the exciting things God has been doing in the lives of the Simbari believers here. One of the stories we shared was about a man by the name of Bo’wal who has been coming to church for many years but has not shown much fruit in his life until this past year. He is a very shy man and would not speak up very often in church during testimony time. Even though he has been hearing the teaching for years it’s only been in the last year that he has started to speak up about his faith. The week before we left to go to Simon’s graduation and then on to California, we heard this amazing account of the evidence of God working in and through Bo’wal’s life. One of the other believers shared with us that a thief from another tribe had stolen food from Bo’wal’s family garden and his wife was putting pressure on him to bring charges against the thief and try to get some compensation money from him. Bo’wal told her that he didn’t feel it would be pleasing to the Lord and refused to press charges. This caused her to lose her temper and hit her husband very hard across the arm with a big stick. Culturally, the husband would never let his wife get away with such insubordination and disrespect, but would need to hit her back to keep her in line. To the amazement of his family, Bo’wal did not do this, but instead just sat there quietly. He told us later that he was just thinking about how Christ took the beating for him when he died on the cross, and he knew it would be wrong to hit back at his wife. Well it wasn’t long and the whole village was buzzing with talk about Bo’wal not hitting back at his wife. God used this event in the life of his adult son and his son’s wife who put their trust in Christ as their Savior just a few days later! Bo’wal’s son was so overcome by what Christ had done for him that the villagers were talking about how he was going around weeping and confessing his sins to those he had wronged, and on Sunday during church he was not content to sit with the congregation and sing during worship time but went up to join those leading the worship and fervently sang his praise to the Lord with all his heart. What a joy it was to witness one of many evidences of God’s Spirit working in the lives of the Simbari believers and continuing to build His church! We feel so privileged to be His servants here, continuing to translate His Word and the wonderful truths that change lives. Now that we are back home in the tribe, David is finishing the preliminary translation draft of 1 Corinthians, Shari is teaching 4th grade to Jason, Rachel is in tenth grade at the mission school, Simon is just starting college and Esther will be getting back to college next month. Thanks so much for your continued prayers for our ministry. It is a real encouragement! In His love, David, Shari, and family

teaching at the community school

Outreach at Community School

Teaching from Creation to Christ in the Simbari language has been underway for months now at a community school where the students in the upper grades have heard key Old Testament stories as well as many of the Messianic prophesies that were all fulfilled by Christ. For these people who have been confused about the message of the Bible, even to the point of thinking that they themselves are Jews, this was a huge thing to see the Old Testament pointing to the coming Messiah over and over.  It was also sobering for them to hear that God’s Law did not just refer to outward actions but also the thoughts of the heart. This left them with no argument as they realized they fell short of God’s standard of holiness. The teaching then moved on to the New Testament and the perfect life of Christ, the spotless lamb of God.  This week they are hearing of the finished work of Jesus paying for the sins of mankind through His death followed by His burial and then His overcoming the power of death in His resurrection. The fact that God raised Him from the dead  was evidence that his sacrifice on our behalf was accepted and also that Jesus was indeed who He claimed to be.  In the days ahead these young people will be struggling with the decision of whether to receive this gift of God or reject it. Many of those who receive God’s gift of salvation in Jesus will be rejected by friends and relatives who are trusting in their own works and attempts to follow the Mosaic Law. It’s a hard thing to be faced with the choice of faith or family so please pray for them during this crucial time.

Bible Translation Progress

Chapters 9-16 of Romans are ready for the final translation check and we are working on the Bible lessons for teaching through that book. David is also working on the  preliminary draft of Ephesians and is currently in chapter 6. The next book will be 1^st Corinthians.   Recently David attended some consultant and leadership meetings and also went into another tribe to assess the culture and language learning progress of some newer missionaries who are now ready to begin preparations for teaching and translating.

Simon’s surgery postponed  and future plans

After Simon broke his leg and had surgery to put in a plate he has healed well but the plate that remains inside bothers him especially when he plays sports. We were looking into taking him to Australia for the plate removal surgery in December but as we started looking into it we realized that trying to get visas and medical work done so close to the holidays when many offices shut down looked like it could end up to be a problem so we decided to wait until summer. We are looking into tickets to return home as a family just for this coming summer right after Simon graduates.  Then after quickly helping Simon get settled in, visiting our friends and family, and getting medical work done we will leave Simon in the USA and return to PNG before the start of school for the kids.  Our next regular one-year home assignment is scheduled for three years later when we take Rachel home after she graduates in 2013.

plate in Simon's leg

Thanks for praying, David and Shari Ogg

Yesterday was another beautiful day and we were so thankful to the Lord because that was the day we had decided to have a going-away feast for Esther.

Our Simbari friends came at about 8:00 AM with big logs for making a fire to heat up the stones. While the men were working on that, us women, including Esther and Rachel were sitting around peeling the tapioc, sweet potatoes, platanos, taro etc. It was so nice just to sit around and visit while we worked and after awhile Esther and Rachel got up and played some games with the kids. Esther also passed out some candy that had been given to her and the kids enjoyed that of course. We had ordered one case of lamb meat to put in the mumu for the people as a way to say thanks for the part they have had in Esther’s life all these years. Meat is such a rare treat for them, so they really enoy it. After the stones were hot enough, the hole in the ground was lined with bananna leaves and hot stones and the food was put in between layers of leaves and more hot stones. Our favorite part of the mumu is the grated tapioc mixed with canned corned beef, chopped green onions, and salt and then wrapped in bananna leaves. The outside edges that are against the hot stones get nice and crispy and taste a bit like hash browns.

While the food was cooking in the hole, the people brought gifts for Esther and one by one came and presented them to her, some with tears. A few of them talked about how these gifts were just small tokens, but that the greatest gift was that God’s Word had come to them. They talked about how Esther had come when she was just two years old and had grown up amongst them like one of their own. They said that they didn’t know if they would see her again in this life but that they knew they would see her in Heaven. As the different ones came up to her and presented her with decorative arrows, woven bags, necklaces, grass skirt, bark cape, etc, she shook their hands or gave them hugs and cried with them. One older believer (Poroko, who recently lost his wife) came up to her and as he tied a beautiful woven headband around her head he told her that he couldn’t speak because he was too choked up. It was all very touching and I was in tears too as we stood around with our brothers and sisters whom we have come to love so much. When Rayond and his wife Ellen came up to Esther they presented her with a folded-up piece of paper with some special words of encouragement inside (written in English) and a beautiful orchid taped to it. They were choked up too as they presented it to her and Ellen said that whenever they pass “Orchid View” on the trail they think of her. (It is a little hill on the trail that overlooks the other villages and once our kids found a ground orchid there so they named it “Orchid View”)

After the little presentation a bunch of people played volleyball and Esther and I sat with some of the ladies and kids playing my guitar and singing together. Finally it was time to open the mumu and take out and distribute the food. Everyone seemed to have such a good time and we were praising the Lord for the beautiful day He gave us so that we could enjoy being outdoors together.

The following day I walked with David, Esther and Rachel down the trail for quite a ways to see off the girls as they were going to spend the night with their Dad at the other village where the outreach is going on. They returned the next day after seeing the Bible teaching and literacy class. I’m so glad that Esther got to have this opportunity to go with her dad and see first-hand what God is doing over there before she leaves PNG.

Shari for the family