Simbaris are hungry for God's Word

One of the old customs among the Simbari is that they would stay up all night chanting their gratitude to the spirits as they anticipated an upcoming feast which included meat. You see, their diet consists mostly of vegetables and tuber foods, so eating meat is a rare treat for them and one they greatly look forward to. Now that they have tasted the “meat” of God’s Word and the lasting flavor it leaves in their hearts, they cannot seem to get enough of it. So recently their midweek Bible study and worship meetings have been continuing all night long until sunrise. There are blankets spread around the floor of the church for their kids to be able to sleep while the parents meet. The believers have been sharing how God is doing amazing things in their hearts and they just don’t want to be apart from each other. Their insatiable hunger for God’s Word has astounded us and has been such an example to our own hearts. During a recent all-night meeting they wrote a song in the Simbari language about the differences between Adam and Christ that they have been learning. We’ve translated it for you below.

Simbaris singing praises with all their hearts

Oh Adam, Oh Adam, he brought death - Even now we indeed habitually die - Oh Adam, Oh Adam, he brought death

Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus, he brought life - If you believe in Him, you will live - Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus, he brought life

Wherever I wander, protect me - Lest I fall into Satan’s temptations - Oh Jesus, Oh Jesus, give me strength

Progress and Growth

Both churches gathering for a service together

As of last week, David and his translation helper were able to complete the first draft of Ephesians and David has preliminary drafted through chapter 11 of I Corinthians. He has also been meeting with the teachers on Monday mornings for discipleship during which time they go over the Romans lesson for the week which the teachers then teach at the two churches on Sundays.  The believers at both churches are really excited about what they are learning. And in the midweek services they are going over what they heard from Romans on Sunday to make sure they are understanding it well before moving on. We also have about 20 people from our village and 11 from the other village signed up to go through new literacy classes starting this summer. The Simbari teachers also saw the need to teach foundational truths to the many new people who have recently come to know the Lord. Most of them have not yet heard our foundational “Creation to Christ” course so this week they are having a week long teaching workshop to quickly teach through that curriculum. All the believers will be gathering from both villages for this (last time they all met together there was 125 adults and children). Please pray for the Simbari teachers to walk with God and trust Him for the strength to do His work. Also pray for the rest of the believers to grow in grace. We know of 3 people who have placed their trust in Christ over the last couple weeks so please pray for God’s protection over these new ones in the faith. It’s an exciting time to be amongst the Simbari making it hard to leave, even just for the summer.

See you soon!

It’s hard to believe that Simon will be graduating from High School in less than two weeks! We are all back together again as a family out at the school center and will be here till Simon’s graduation on June 2nd. We will be arriving in LA a few days after that to spend the summer helping him get settled and visiting family and friends, and getting some medical work done. Please pray that we can find a reliable vehicle for us to use over the summer and to leave with Simon to use. We’ll only be there a short time then leaving right away again in July in time for Rachel to start school again here in PNG. Pray also as we will be squeezing a lot into a very short time!

In His Grace,

David, Shari, and family

They started leveling ground about a year ago and have been working on it off-and-on as they can spare the time away from their garden work and as the weather permits.

They finished it last week so Tuesday was a special service to officially open it for meetings.

The day before many of the believers from our village went down to support their brothers and sisters in the Lord at the other village and help them with last minute preparations for the service.

That night they started singing worship songs and couldn’t stop. Some visitors were present so they shared the Gospel with them between songs and one of the visitors trusted in Christ. They continued on like that until 3:00 am.

Many around the community took notice of the fervency of praise songs ringing though the valley into the wee hours of the morning. They said they had never heard anything like it.

On Tuesday morning we took off on the hike at about 8 AM and hiked up and down the steep mountainsides for over 2 hours to reach the other village.

As we came over the ridge across from the meeting house we could hear the wonderful sound of worship ringing out again over the valley.

We quickly hurried up the rest of the trail to join them.

After waiting for some more people to arrive we all sat down for the ceremony.Several men including David were invited to share a few words with the crowd. This included a clear presentation of the Gospel and an explanation that the meeting house was to be “a place where the truths of God’s Word can be brought out into the open.”

After some special music everyone went over and stood at the front of the church while the believers continued singing and clapping their hands with great joy as they prepared to officially “cut the ribbon” and enter the building.

Just being there in the midst of such a joyful assembly brought joy to our hearts and it was hard to hold back the tears. We wish you all could have been there!

The entrance was beautifully decorated with flowers and plants had the name of “Jesus” spelled out in front of it with flower petals. Everyone then came in and the large room quickly filled with people.

The wall at the front of the room had been decorated with flowers in the shape of a cross which quickly caught our eye. We believers all sang one song after another while the visitors just smiled and enjoyed hearing the worship songs and commented on how great it was to hear God’s talk in their own language. Some leaves were laid down and some food was brought. Back at the cooking pit the believers were concerned because there were too many people for the little bit of food they had cooked.

They prayed that God would help it to be enough for everyone just like when Jesus had fed the crowds. When it came time to distribute the food they rejoiced that there was enough for every man, woman, and child and even a little left over.

After the service David helped the believers hang up the blackboard as well as some string for hanging Bible pictures on. Then we all headed back down the trail towards home. It was a rough hike back and one time when Shari was feeling faint a bucket of water over her head revived her and she was ready to go again. Along the way we overheard the conversation of our brothers and sisters in the Lord as they talked about what God was doing down there and how so many people were now interested in hearing the message. They were glorifying God and acknowledged that it was only because of His Spirit doing a big work that any of these wonderful things could happen. We arrived back at our home village at 6 PM with tired bodies but “spirits that were refreshed.” (In Simbari: “Nemi poowokalago tonyu wonyo to’busuko suranyumo’mwa’jukokwono.”)

God is at work here amongst the Simbari people. Thank you so much for praying. We really do appreciate you!

Only for Him,

David, Shari, and family

Esther’s visit

What an encouraging summer it has been here in PNG! It started when Esther arrived from California in June and we were able to go with a group of missionary friends (18 of us all together) to climb Mt. Wilhelm, the tallest mountain in PNG. Everyone in our family except Jason and Shari made it to the summit and back to base camp in about 13 hours. (Shari and Jason stayed at base camp where there is a beautiful lake).

After a fun but rainy, cold few days, we flew to thecoast and spent a week at the ocean where it was a lot warmer. Esther enjoyed being able to snorkel and dive with us again after being gone a couple of years.

Church Team

Later in July a team of nine from GBC in California came and spent a week with us in the tribe. They were a real blessing and were able to help us with a lot of necessary projects on our airstrip and homes. They really connected with their Simbari brothers and sisters in Christ and were a real encouragement to us all. We all had some very special times visiting and sitting around the fire pit with the Simbari believers for hours singing songs of worship to the Lord. On Sunday some of the Simbari believers put on a special service for us by acting out two dramas. In the first one they acted out key stories from the Bible starting with Adam and Eve and working their way through the Bible, ending with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Then they did a second drama where men women and children came in carrying heavy bags on their backs representing the burden of sin every human being carries before they come to know Christ. Even Jason got to be a part of the drama as they wanted to illustrate how white men as well as dark-skinned people are sinners, in need of a Savior. Everyone carried their burdens to a man who was playing the part of Christ and he placed on each one of them a white shirt representing the righteousness of Christ which He freely gives to those who trust in Him. Then the group of white-clad people went up to the front and joined another group who had been humming in three or four-part harmony. It was a very touching drama and a reminder of the amazing things that God is doing in the hearts of the Simbari people. After the team spent a week in the tribe with us we all came out to the school center where they helped with a building project for a few days. We praise the Lord for this team and the wonderful time we had together!

Start of school and new dorm
This week school started for Simon and Rachel and we can hardly believe we have a 9th grader and a senior this year! Please be praying for them both as they get settled into their new dorm family and a busy year of school. Pray for Jason as well, since it will be hard for him to go back to the tribe and be the only kid at home. We know that God will encourage his heart as He always does, and continue to use him to be a light for Jesus with his Simbari friends.

Simbari progress
Please pray for David, Lori, and Shari as well as our Simbari translation helpers that we would continue to make good progress in finishing up the book of Romans as well as all the Bible lessons that go with it. We are excited as we anticipate being able to teach it to the rest of the Simbari believers soon. Please pray for continued growth in their lives and that they would be shining lights to those around them.

We deeply appreciate your friendship and prayers!

Love in Christ,

David, Shari, and family