Show of hands, How many of you love roller coasters? Ah, many hands went up, but still some did not. Since some people do not appreciate roller coasters we have refrained from sending out an update for a while. I’m referring mainly to our desire to get to the other village for evangelistic teaching. It’s been a roller coaster to say the least. We’ve taken you along that ride and decided to wait to communicate with you all again until we knew something a little more definite. I, for one, love roller coasters and have laughed and cried all along this trip. But for now let’s disembark and take a deep breath.

After much prayer, hiking, and consulting we will do a literacy outreach first. This will give us time to establish a presence in that village and “give them a picture of Christ.” The other village has agreed to build a literacy school and a house for the teachers. All of them still aren’t completely on board with hearing the Bible yet, so we will use literacy as sort of a John the Baptist to prepare the way. Please pray for this to succeed. We don’t have dates yet, but will let you know as things progress.

The two believing villages continue to grow and discipleship opportunities abound. It is so good that we are still here. Some believers still struggle with security of salvation or slip back into old thinking. While others continue to grow and flourish. For example, two married couples (one pictured below) recently desired to make changes in order to glorify God in their marriages. Sometimes the challenges make it tough to be here, but we wouldn’t trade anything for being a part of these believers’ lives as they grow. It’s the greatest joy there is!

Family Stuff: Recently our family got to take a break in town at our mission center. There we have the privilege of seeing a mission doctor and getting everyone’s teeth cleaned by the mission dentist. There is a school there on center and each one of our kids got to go for four days. They enjoyed it very much and loved interacting with other friends. But probably the highlight for Esther and I was the report we received on Caleb. As most of you know he struggles with a learning disability. This has even almost brought us to having to leave the tribe in order to meet his specific challenging needs. However, the Lord has provided a way. There is a trained specialist on the mission center who has given his life to serve missionaries and their children to help them receive the education they need. He could be in the States making much more money and living much more comfortably. But he has chosen to live here and serve the church by helping missionaries. Anyway, he tested Caleb several years ago and revealed Caleb’s challenges to us. We made adjustments but the progress has been slow and painful, especially for Esther.

On home assignment in ’09-’10 school year the Lord provided a way for us to enroll him in a special program called “Discovery,” and the specialist there also tremendously helped us with our specific needs of living in a tribe. Equipped with curriculum designed for these needs, we returned here in 2010, believing that God would improve things with him and enable us to remain in the tribe to serve the Dinangat Church. For the past year and a half we have seen improvement but were reluctant to claim anything as we can’t properly test him. While we were on center we asked this man, Mitch Hoskins to retest Caleb and see how things are going.

Well, the report was great! Mitch, the specialist said that Caleb made great improvements, much beyond what he normally sees! This was a huge affirmation to Esther’s perseverance and patience and Caleb’s hard work. It’s been a tough row to hoe, but it has been amazing seeing God provide all that we need along the way, enabling us to remain here in the tribe.

Likewise God uses each of you to the same end! Thank you for your faithfulness and support all these years. It’s a privilege serving with you.

Gary for all us Smiths in Dinangat

Dear Supporting Friends and Family,

We trust that your Thanksgiving was indeed that, full of giving thanks in spite of the long hours of driving or standing over the hot stove, cleaning your house, and then struggling with indigestion (smile). We do have much to be thankful for do we not? However, if we let them, circumstances can overshadow our thankfulness and we focus on the “pieces” of our circumstances, thus losing our peace. This is exactly what happened to me over the weekend. Much to our surprise, the village leaders in village M said they do not want us to come and teach the Creation to Christ story.

Many of you prayed (in the midst of your busyness this weekend – thank you!) for our meeting in village M. Because of the enormity of the truth, we as a church hiked up to M to show our support and hear the report first hand. We had thought that the leaders had had a change of heart and were actually wanting to hear the teaching. However, they gave us a big fat “No.” They said we have caused too much division and they are content to remain as they are. They said that nobody wants to hear. Honestly, they sound exactly like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day.

So we left very discouraged and unhappy. And after 8 hours of intense hiking we returned to our home village with little to feel thankful about. I reported everything to my family and our hearts broke for the souls in village M. I slept very well, but at 4:30 am woke up and replayed everything in my head. The next morning I was not encouraged and honestly felt unmotivated to do any work. But through the email of fellow missionaries (Doug and Bev Croot) going through their own intense struggles, God reminded me of the power of prayer. Here is the quote from their email,

“Someone once asked me if I pray because it makes sense, and I said no I don’t pray because it makes sense, I pray because my life doesn’t make sense without prayer. I pray to raise myself up and to keep going, when I can’t even seem to get going.  In the middle of life’s struggles there inevitably comes a time in each of our  lives when we collapse on the trail, or in the office, or even stuck in traffic and I have found prayer is a path where there is none. Tears falling long enough can scar rocks – but tears falling on our cheeks can also help us to bloom and the wind in our faces, just maybe God blowing us kisses. Your life is a gift, prayer is a thank you note. So put your faith and not your fears in charge, and may you never forget that God is never more with you than when you feel alone.  Peace and blessings. NOAH “(Noah benShea is the fellow who wrote the piece)

As I read that it was as though God was saying those words to me. It was exactly how I was feeling. It made no sense that the door to village M would close. I couldn’t raise myself up. I so wanted to collapse on that trail! And God reminded me – PRAY! Come to me and I will give you rest. So I did, I dropped to my knees and cried out to Him… when I got up I literally felt the burden lift. He filled my heart with Himself and I understood, God is enough! He is my confidence and source of strength, not results in ministry.

Then, hold on to your hats, at our Monday meeting with the bible teachers we were told some things that we missed while up in M. That a big group of people are filling out a paper asking us to come and teach without the blessing of the village leaders! They want to hear this teaching! And that the village leaders said they will allow it to happen, just not in the village. We have to do it in someone’s personal area or on the outskirts of the village. In fact this was the village leader’s second point in the big meeting Sunday, but I was so focused on the first point of “No” that I missed this second point. So God is making that path! Just not how we thought it would look.

So thank you for your prayer. Praying will make sense of all this so that we don’t focus on all the pieces of the circumstances in our lives and will enable us to “keep the peace” of God in our hearts. Thanks for your patience in reading all this. We appreciate each one of you.

Your friends, GECCNZ Smith

“This message is like salt!”

Imagine if you can, eating food without any seasoning at all. (I know some of you poor souls for health reasons live without salt, but perhaps you can still catch the significance of the following.) Not only does your food never get any seasoning, but it’s the same food all the time every day. So when someone comes to the meal with a little salt it’s like honey. Literally, they call it “sweet!” Used to be so hard for me to understand when they’d eat some salt and call it sweet. But it just means, “Man, that really tastes good!” Which helps explain why after Sunday’s message on Ephesians 1 Nonjong got up and said, “Man, this message is like salt!” We take salt for granted, but to them it is really precious. Sometimes I think we take the truths of Ephesians one for granted as well, may it become more precious to us that God has already blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ!

Please be praying for our brothers and sisters in the outreach village. They have been going through some typical trials of life, but the Satan has them doubting their faith as a result. Therefore some of them are mixing in some of their old roots of animism with the truth that they are learning. The bible teachers and some village leaders from our village, hearing that the new church is struggling, got together and discussed how they could help them. They prayed together and decided to send one of the leaders with the two bible teachers that will go up to the other village this Sunday. It’s a genuine encouragement to see them functioning this way, shepherding and discipling the infant church.

Continuing praying for the other still unreached village that I’ve mentioned before. Last update I shared that the door is beginning to crack open, and it remains. We continue to get reports that people want this salty message, but some of the key people are keeping that door from swinging wide open and are antagonistic against our coming. Please pray for these men.

We as a family are excited about flying out to town soon for a short break and to attend some leadership meetings. (It’s been over 3 months since our last flight out.) Our kids will get to attend the mission school for a week (not too sure they are as excited as we are about that!). But just getting out for a change of scenery and to see new faces will be fun.

Read the above verse again and thank God for this salt! We thank you all for the salt you provide in our lives every day through your prayers, finances, and notes of encouragement.

Your “seasoned” missionaries,

The following was just sent to us from our coworkers Jeremiah and April Markley in the tribe. Rejoice with us and listen carefully for the angels!!!!

 “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is by his great mercy that we have been born again,
 because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.  Now we live with great expectation,”  1 Pt. 1:3 

It is with overwhelming gratitude and joy that I write to you tonight to report that there are new names written down in glory!  God in His grace and mercy has reached down and snatched several precious souls from the throws of Hell, and claimed them for His own for all eternity!  Praise the Lord with us, for He has answered your prayers and for the sake of His Son, enlarged His Bride this week!

Several of this small group have confessed Christ as their Risen Savior.  What a joy to behold the faces of new born believer as they exclaim the elation of being Freed from their sin!

Ewoneng is a widow who is a strong voice in the village.  At the presentation of the Gospel, she was beside herself with joy, clapping and laughing and rejoicing.   She could not contain herself as she  said these words, “ My sin was like the cloth that wrapped Lazarus in his tomb.  It was all around me; it consumed me.   As you have 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.” 

After the last lesson, David came and said he wanted to talk in the house with us later.  About an hour later he came and wanted to share that he was believing in Jesus as his Savior.  He started to cry as he talked about how he had broken God’s law, he said that he knew he was a sinner but Jesus died for him.  He couldn’t contain himself he was so overwhelmed with emotion.  He said he knew about Jesus dying on the cross, but he never understood that it was in payment for his sin.    He said, “The law was lying to me, telling me that I could go to God if I followed the law.  But Jesus is telling me now that I will go to him when I die because of what He did.”  Then he thanked us for coming.  Still in tears, he said, “You guys came every week, and I know how hard the road was for you to come here over the mountains.  Thank you so much for coming.”  There wasn’t a dry eye in the room!

Mok, David’s wife, was also full of emotion as she proclaimed that Jesus is her “Kidaak Aamna”  (the man who saves)!

There were several testimonies like this.  When the teachers were explaining about the veil being torn, showing that the door to God was open, Bun began laughing out loud, grinning from ear to ear with excitement.  Later that night he also gave a clear testimony, praising the Lord for taking away the penalty for his sin by paying his debt in full.

We are also praising the Lord for the work He has done in the Bible teachers over the weeks.  As they threw their hearts and souls into the presentation of the Gospel and the drama they portrayed of the Crucifixion, the meaningfulness of what they were doing was abundantly evident on their faces, in their voices, and in their personal testimonies.  Isn’t it amazing how talking about salvation and what the Lord has done causes us individually to fall deeper in love with our Savior?  It was so sweet to see their passion and discernment, even as they recognized that there are a few who by their conversations, it was clear that they still are not grasping the Message for themselves.  Please continue praying for Jacob.  His attitude is different, and we can see the Lord chipping away at his heart.  He is more attentive and asking more questions, but not quite ready to humble himself by realizing that there is absolutely nothing he can do to save himself.  Unfortunately, there are a few like him, still unsure what to think about it all.

But the work is just beginning!  We know the Lord will continue working on their hearts and drawing them to Himself.  There is much to be done, and so much that these baby brothers and sisters have to learn!  They decided that they want to continue the teaching on Sundays, thereby totally replacing the teaching they were receiving from their traditional religious leaders.  As we continue to work on writing Bible lessons and prepare for our home assignment, the Bible teachers and Ralf will take turns hiking up there once a week on Saturdays, staying the night and teaching on Sundays.  We are excited to watch how the Lord is going to lead and grow this new group of believers!

 Rejoice with us!  We are filled with thanksgiving when we think of each of you who have had a part in bringing the Good News to these dear ones!  You have prayed for them, many of them by name, and you have prayed for our families, for safety, strength and endurance, you have encouraged us with your notes and gifts of love.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!  We can’t wait to share with you in person the stories and pictures of what the Lord has been doing in Dinangat!  It’s a good day to be a missionary!

Along this church planting road, there are many crossroads, where the basis of what you believe concerning certain Biblical doctrine will determine the grid through which you filter all the rest of the teaching.  For example, if after hearing the teaching on the Garden of Eden, you didn’t believe that everything truly was perfect before sin, and you believed that death existed before sin did, then death (physical and eternal) as punishment for sin does not seem like a punishment for sin as much as merely a part of life.  It would be impossible to understand the gravity of sin in contrast to a righteous and Holy God, and therefore even cancel out a true need for a Saviour. 

This week we came to another crossroad: The teaching of the Law.  The Crossroad: Would they understand that by breaking one single law, one single time, they are guilty of sin and therefore deserving of death?  To demonstrate, on Wednesday the teachers did a skit showing how the purpose of the Law was not so everyone could obey it and be righteous, but rather, it is like a mirror, showing us our sinfulness and revealing our need for a Savior.  We cannot ‘wash ourselves’ with this mirror, but we can see how sinful we are in contrast to God’s standard of righteousness.  According to Ralf’s report, the Lord was really at work convicting hearts and the people were really responding to the truth of what they were hearing.  Baumo’s comment was, “We are just like the Egyptians!  This talk is killing me!”   Bun is a very interested young man, maybe in his late teens.  On Monday, the teachers taught about the Passover.  In regards to this, Bun said, “The Israelites were able to escape the penalty by putting blood on their door posts.  What do WE do to escape the penalty of sin?”  Praise the Lord with us for the understanding that provokes this type of question!  These foundational lessons are necessary so that when the time to teach about Christ comes, the significance of His perfect sacrifice will not be lost, and by God’s grace,  at that time, they will be able to place their trust fully in Him who died for them, with no misgivings about trying to “be” good enough, and no confusion about what God thinks about sin.

Your prayers are being answered!  Galap has returned to the teaching, and David’s Mom (I’m sorry, I don’t know her name!) has begun coming.  Ok, it’s not his dad that’s coming, but one step at a time, right?  Thank you so much for standing with us!  We appreciate so much your encouraging notes, we love to hear from you!  Do not cease your prayers for the villagers! Some are still openly involved in their ancestral practices, and yet still coming to the teaching regularly.  Our heart and prayer is that God would enlighten their blinded eyes with the Power of His Word.  Pray that they ALL would be saved!  And pray that those who are walking the fence do not set their sights on those who are sincere in their desire to understand the Truth and try to pull them away!

Please continue to pray for the teachers as well.  The last couple of weeks have been challenging, and they haven’t had as much support from the village as we would like to see.  On the other hand, it has been a great couple of weeks here in the home village as we are walking with them through the book of Romans.  It’s such a joy to see them begin to internalize what it means to be “In Christ” and no longer a slave to sin.  Please continue to pray for them as they seek to live out these truths in their day to day lives, and pray for their missionaries, for wisdom and strength to be able to disciple these precious souls to that end!

Thanks for reading this ( I know I can get long winded!)

In Christ Alone!

Jeremiah, April, Jordan, Judah and Alayna

This week we’ll teach:

Monday:

- God gave the Ten Commandments (Part 2).

- God told the Israelites to build the Tabernacle (Part 1).

Tuesday:

- God told the Israelites to build the Tabernacle (Part 2).

- The Israelites worship a golden calf.

Wednesday:

- The Israelites did not believe that God would give them the land He promised to give them.

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Keep reading to see how they are fulfilling the purpose of the church by exalting His Name, equipping the saints, and evangelizing the lost!

The words sometimes associated with church are unfortunately words like hypocrisy, self-righteous, egotistical, or imposing. I read a book a while ago that summarized the purpose of the church with several words all beginning with the letter “E.”  As we have had the privilege of serving in Papua New Guinea we have seen God make this a reality as He has changed lives. He is building His church all over the world. Yes, there are skeptics but the truth remains: His church, His kingdom, advances, and it’s purposes are clearly evident in Dinangat. They are exalting the Lord, equipping the saints and evangelizing the lost.

Our coworkers recently wrote us saying how wonderful Christmas was in the tribe because of the freedom of worship that swept through the village. They said that hours went by as one by one villagers stood up to express praise to the Father for His goodness and thankfulness for sending the deliverer. As our coworker Elli Schlegel wrote to us, “it is so neat how purely they can focus on the real Christmas because they didn’t grow up with all the traditions we grew up with… we need so much more to feel Christmassy, they only need the truth about Christ and that’s their Christmas!” They exalted His name in that place!

The believers are being taught the book of Romans, learning key spiritual truths about their immovable position in Christ and the struggle they have in the flesh. Our coworkers   have also been holding classes teaching those interested (and some key men) principles of evangelism. So they are being equipped.

And finally, they are evangelizing the lost. On Jan 17^th Sunday evening our time here in the States, they will begin the same teaching that we did in our village beginning with God and His awesome character, continuing on to creation and following all 73 lessons through the ascension of Christ. This teaching will be done in the neighboring village and will be primarily done by the missionaries aided by the key men from our village. The entire church from our village will be involved somehow: from praying, to tending gardens of people who travel, to actually going. Some will teach, others will help with dramas; some will sit in houses explaining points to the listeners. It is going to be an awesome time… one that I’m sad to miss actually but we can still be involved. In fact we need to be involved. We need your prayers! This is going to be a very trying time for the missionaries. They will stay in that village for three days and then hike back to our home village. This hike is extremely difficult taking 3 hours one way. So please pray for them. And most importantly pray for the souls of that village to be transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light!

Many years ago most of you reading this had some part in sending us out to do church planting in a tribal context. Today many of you continue to support us financially and/or prayerfully.  I trust you are as encouraged as we are witnessing God fulfilling His promise as He builds his church in this small tribe. His name is being exalted! His saints are being equipped! And His servants are evangelizing the lost! It’s not just about making converts. It’s about changing lives to become the God glorifying people they were created to be!

To His glory,

Gary & Esther Smith

So many times in all our settling back here in the States for our year long home assignment we’ve been tempted to worry or not rest in the sovereignty of our Lord. It’s ironic isn’t it? We can travel across the globe, live in a remote setting, and bring the gospel to a people group all in the strength of the Lord. But we get back here to the land of plenty and it’s so easy to forget the Lord. Is our natural environment, or the lack of nothing, that promotes this lack of faith? I’m not exactly sure and it really doesn’t matter. The bottom line is do I believe God is in control of my life and the history of the world or don’t I? And whether I’m struggling through life in the tribe trying to squeeze out language that doesn’t come natural or concerned about the economy the issue is the same. Will I walk by faith in the knowledge that God is in control and allow His peace to reign in my heart or not?

We have seen God do amazing things since we’ve been back. Our kids are all finally settled in the routine of school. For the most part they love it and are enjoying western style church. Their biggest disappointment is that we can’t go to Wal-Mart everyday! J We’ve been busy with meetings and speaking engagements. As much fun and encouragement we have been receiving from being back “home.” Our thought continually dwell on the Dinangat. So when I got an update from the Schlegel’s who just returned to Dinangat I just had to share it with you all…

After we had written in our last update about the opposition the church here in Dinangat had from a different religious group, probably many of you are wondering how the church is doing now. Did we just say that God is faithful? Oh yes, he truly is! He continues building his church here in Dinangat. This Sunday almost all the adults and many children were there for the Sunday worship and teaching time. The lesson Jeremiah happened to teach this Sunday was on Romans 3,21-24, where it says in vs. 24, “Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.” That was God’s perfect plan that those verses happened to be the lesson for this Sunday, because this is the very thing that other group tries to convince our friends about, that we can be righteous before God through our good deeds, and if we fail that we would go to hell.

There is so much more we could tell you about. We know that this is not over yet. The challenges and oppositions will keep coming. And in that, the believers still have a lot to learn, especially in the area of standing strong on the truth during those trying times. But it is very, very encouraging to see in many of the believers the desire to grow in that area. So we’re praising God for that.

At the end of the meeting on Sunday my translation helper Felix (pictured) got up and encouraged the others, saying “We need to keep reading and learning God’s Word. Because otherwise when the challenges come as just recently happened we’ll just be sitting there nodding our heads to things that are not true.” After he was done saying that Esingke, who is THE respected leader in the village got up and very emphatically said, “We are just like grass which the wind can blow in any direction he pleases. We have to become firm in the truth so that when the storm comes we can stand firm on the truth!”

God is at work! Thank you so much for standing with us in prayer. Please continue to be with us before the throne of God for the growth of His church here in Dinangat. Please also be praying for us as a team, for wisdom for all our decisions as we teach and disciple His church, that God may give us clear direction.

Serving him with you,

                Ralf, Elli with Naomi, Rebekka & Mirjam

Isn’t that great news? It is so encouraging seeing these new believers getting more and more convinced that they need to stay in God’s word, believe it and act on it. Funny, I just realized, are we any different than they? We too must stay saturated in the word of God.

 Thank you so very much for your faithful prayers for these believers. Pray that the outreach will happen in January 2010 to the neighboring village of the same language group.

We appreciate you all!

Gary and Esther Smith

Just a quick note to let you know that God abundantly provided for us. We are now the owners of a very nice minivan! The story is long and to most boring, but amazing how God provided. After it was all said in done we see His master plan at work. As I drove the van home today I sang to Him in thanksgiving. I know this sounds silly, but if you knew the whole story behind getting a vehicle you’d understand a bit more. But I’ll save you the details. I just wanted to let you all know that God provided and we hit the road tomorrow. That’s right, we got the van today and start the big journey tomorrow!

I’d like to say a huge thanks to my Mom who let us use her vehicle for the last two weeks. We even used it to drive down to Pensacola for a family reunion and our first mission report at Grace Community Church. What sweet times they were. So good reconnecting with our family, and with our spiritual family. You have refreshed our souls! Thank you.

So yes, please pray for us as we will be on the road for all of July visiting supporters and speaking. We so look forward to it! We love you all!

For His sake,

Gary

Just a quick note to let you know that the Lord saw us through and we made it to Atlanta on the 12^th. We then got moved into the house on Monday afternoon. We just wanted to thank you all so much for praying for our safe journey. We had a wonderful time with our coworkers the Schlegels in Germany!

We have many things to do before we hit the road on Monday for our travels around visiting some of you. Not the least of which is a van! Can’t really hit the road without a car now can we? Please pray for this. We seem to be having trouble locating one that suits our needs. Thank you.

Well, that’s all for now. We are loving seeing family again and look forward very much to seeing all of you soon!

For His Sake,

Gary (for all us Smith’s)

It is with a happy and overwhelmed heart that we tell you that God has abundantly provided for us to send our kids to Killian Hill Christian School next year!!! We wrote to you all about this a little while ago, asking for prayer. God’s timing was so good as we continued to pray and trust Him each time we worried about schools for next year. We knew God was able to meet our kids’ needs in the public school, but it was a big step of faith to keep trusting Him with that. Every time we weighed the two options, the Christian school seemed better suited to our kids’ needs in so many ways.

We are in awe of God’s faithfulness and provision! Now Charis will not be going alone to a huge public middle school, but all four kids can be at the same place. Caleb can get the specific extra help he needs through the Discovery program for learning disabilities that he will go to a few times a week. The rest of the time he’ll be in the regular 4th grade classroom. I (Esther) plan to get Discovery certified next year and we pray that when we return to PNG, I will be able to pick up where he leaves off in the program to help him learn to cope in school and life. This is such a huge relief to me for him to be able to get the help he really needs. Nathan will be able to go into 1st grade, and Zachary will be able to go to a half day Kindergarten. I had so many misgivings about putting him in a full day Kindergarten program in the public school. Not having little ones at home for the first time in 12 years, I look forward to being free to volunteer and help out in each of the kids classrooms as much as possible next year.

We thank each of you for your prayers and support. Your faithful giving through the years, our careful saving of it, and God recently surprising us with a large sum is together making this possible.  Praise God with us at His tremendous blessings!

Next week is our last week of home school here for this school year! We are all getting really excited about leaving the tribe at the end of the month and traveling through Europe back to the United States for the first time in 4 years! We can’t wait to reconnect with each of you.

Praising God,

Esther (for us)