My soul burns with passion to see these believers grow into the body of Christ in ways that would glorify God on this mountain and in the valley below. Pete and I do not know the Bena language and Pigin is so limited in many ways. Knowing this, we take much comfort working hand in hand with the Holy Spirit who has no language limits even in this very difficult Bena talk place until our Bena missionary who knows the language returns. Keep praying, God can and will do mighty things for those who put their trust in Him who said, “Go ye, and I will be with you.”

Janie fed us rice and tin fish and we all left satisfied and excited about what God will do in the future. Over the years I have had many tribal men ask me to get them a missionary, one even wanted to buy a missionary from us. I realize one can not buy a missionary and the only ones that last are those that are sent from the hands of the Lord of the harvest into His harvest. What can God do with seven men? Jesus took twelve and turned the world up side down. His power has no limits known unto man, what He has done for others He will do for us that ask in Jesus’ name. PLEASE PRAY, what a tool in the hands of the Saints.

Walking her to the small plane, we laid her frail body behind the seat for the ride to the hospital. Could I ever forget those yellow eyes and the emotion of the moment that pulled deep with in my heart and made me feel so helpless?

We all wondered if things would go well with her and that question was answered a few weeks later when the plane carried her body back to be buried among the family she loved. This time it was not the warmness of a body I felt as we carried her but the cold lifeless black plastic bag of death.

These were the times that make me so pleased for all the hard work George and Bob had put into learning the language and planting a small church among these once wild people. Her husband would miss his wife and the children would miss their mother but this dear little lady would miss hell, she had believed the good news that had saved her soul.

May our God give each one of you the passion and heart to get the language that opens the door to preach the wonderful message of life to those God sends you to? How can they believe if they have not heard? How can they hear without a preacher? How can they preach if they are not sent? How can they hear if the preacher is not speaking their language?

Paul wraps it up so well, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things.” I am praying you will be that person with beautiful feet.

At times, as I lay in bed late at night I feel like I am watching a movie as God brings memories from the past. A 12 year old boy I held in my arms plays before my mind often. Janie and I were living in a small village in the early days, just getting started in the work we dreamed about for years. The vision I have today seems so real, I can almost smell the drying skin burnt from the hot fever and feel the lifeless bones as his spirit leaves him for the unknown.

‘Leave him alone,” his family would say as he lay dying “he is already dead.” This is a bit different from what I heard at home before coming to the lonely jungle. “Leave them alone,” you would hear folk say. “They are happy the way they are.” Dying and dead, yes but not happy the way they are. If we could only see we would help more; pray that the Lord of the harvest would open our eyes to see God high and lifted up as Isaiah saw Him and let more of us say,” Here I am Lord, send me.”

I saw the man from well down river late that afternoon as the sun was laying down to rest among the mountains that stood tall along the beautiful river. We had heard of this tribe living near by; it had been said they still made beds for some of their dead and let them rot in the open air. “No nose” as he would be later called by me was waving an old white shirt, shouting above the roar of the outboard engine.

Knowing a stop this late in my trip would put me running the river in the dark caused tension, but my curiosity won out. I needed to know what was on his mind. “We need a missionary to come live with us”, he said before I could shut down the engine. “Look at us we are walking about in the jungle just like wild pigs.”

Telling him that we did not have a missionary to send to his tribe began a dialog that would last for several years. Finding missionaries that would be willing to live among this primitive group of people would take time, but I encouraged him that we would try. That was in the 1980s and little did I know what it would cost to reach this tribe with the gospel message.

It was late 1988 when I hiked over the mountain range from a near by river with my young son Bill where we started a building project for the three new families that would begin the work among this tribe. The excitement I felt then still reminds with me after all these years; this will be one that is finished.

Today 2009, after seven missionaries living and working in this tribe we have one family left to finish the work. Happy to say, “No Nose” believed the gospel as well as many more in the tribe. Thanks to all that have labored among this tribe; thanks to each of you as well that has prayed for the people of this tribe. We are almost there but the young church will need much more prayer to mature in the faith in the coming years.

What does it cost to reach a tribe with the gospel? We need people, prayer, and finances.
Most of all we need the Holy Spirit working in the hearts of these primitive men and women. Please pray for the Lord of the harvest to send more labors to the fields that will have a heart to stick it out until the job is done, Matt. 9:37.

It was September the 8th 1983, I will never forget because it was our 16th wedding adversary. Janie, the four boys, and I had just flown out of the tribe the day before and were looking forward to a few days to relax with the boys before they flew back to school.

Bob Kennel’s voice came on the mission radio with these words. “Cowboy, I have some sad news, your house has burned to the ground and all is lost.” I must admit if you had hit me with a ball bat it would have had the same affect, my breathe was gone. The Devil meant it for harm, but God had some wonderful truths to teach me, He meant it for good.

Now like most I had danced around Romans 8:28, but not to the point where it had any affect on my life at that time even though I had been a missionary on the field several years. I do not want to make light of the hard time I had, but sometimes it takes the bad times for me to see the good that our God has already in place.

As the small mission plane circled the airstrip taking me back to see the damage I made up my mind there would be no tears from my eyes this day, I had it all in control. As I opened the plane door and stepped out it all broke loose, too much work had gone into that house and what little we had was smoking in the ashes gone forever. Like some of you that are facing the loss of many things I was over come with grief, how could this happen to me a missionary miles from my home?

God used you, His people, to rebuild my house and replenish what was needed. He used Bob Kennel and George Walker to plant a thriving church in Bisorio and He used Romans 8:28 to build a faith in me to keep me looking to Him 25 years later. My friends we need not fear the hard times, but we must fear the good times that can draw us away from God. May God bless each of you and keep you strong in the coming days.

As I sit around a warm fire and contemplate on our second Christmas in PNG emotions run wild as I unpack my memories of the best Christmas of all. I think we as a family; Janie, the four boys and I can say this was the best Christmas of all even though we had nothing. We learned Christmas is much more than gifts and plenty of fine food.

Due to financial problems moving into a jungle post in the upper Sepik Valley we knew this would be a Christmas without much, but lots of love for the family and the Lord Jesus Christ. Our mission folk in town had let us know there would be no planes coming our way until after the first of the year, and besides that we had no money to rent the plane.

Janie gathered the boys around and I let them know we would not be getting anything from town even though our supporters and family had sent boxes of gifts from the States for them to enjoy at Christmas. As we talked the boys made plans to make a few things to wrap up and put around the little makeshift tree. Our boys learned early that they along with Mom and Dad were missionaries as well. They learned to trust and do their part.

We learned it is the act of giving not the gift that blesses the one that receives. I can shut my eyes and still see the stick with the six nails that our oldest son Jack Jr. made for his mother with pride and called it a towel rack. The other little ones came up with gifts for each other as well. My gift was the four boys that God allowed me to call sons and a wife that held us all together with love.

Our old single side band radio with the worn out battery was not much and we did not use it unless we had to. After finding out there would be no plane for awhile we shut it down. God had a plan to show us as a family how He cared for us even in things like boxes of goodies at Christmas time.

To my surprise the day before Christmas a plane appeared over our small airstrip, circled and landed at the upper end of the field. Knowing it was not our plane we did not even go check it out. Then, after the plane departed, I saw tribal men coming with thirteen small boxes, a turkey and a note from our supply man saying, “Merry Christmas, Some how God worked it out for a plane to come and they asked if you had anything that needed to come that way. The turkey is a gift from my wife and me”. Now, tell me God is not good all the time.

Thanks to God and to you our supporters. We have learned that with God all things are possible and we love you all, those He uses in our life. We wish all of you a Merry Christmas and that you will remember the Lord Jesus us as we celebrate His birth this Christmas season. With Love, Jack and Janie

As leaders we must not be afraid to put the blame on our front door if in deed that is where the trouble lays. I think we need to get our house in order up front and then we will have liberty to instruct those in our charge. We can educate and lay out instructions for our members but they will be no better than the examples they see in us their leaders here and aboard.

Writing to the seven churches in the book of Revelation chapter 2:4, while dealing with the attrition rate in those days, Jesus started with the leaders and worked down. I am not saying the problem is with us but it is always a good idea to check our own hearts and make sure we have not fallen away from our “first love’ in our busy days of leadership in the church and on the mission field.

With the attrition rate growing with each passing year I feel we might be in trouble and if it stays on this course we will somewhere come to a time when we will be no more. Missions will die from lack of people being on the field. I like the advice God gave to the church of Sardis, “Wake up! Strengthen what remains.” “Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it and repent.”

Let’s pray that God will do a work in our hearts and even like David open the door of our hearts to God for a check up and then let this feed down to those under our charge in the church and on the mission field. Let us strengthen what remains of this great work of winning souls here and in the regions beyond.

Jack Housley, just a servant of Jesus Christ our Lord.

First, we need an example of a shepherd working in the church and I think the apostle Paul is the man of the hour for us today to follow. In fact he has spoken of us following his example in the Bible. Philippians 3:17 says it so well. “Brothers join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” With that as a guideline let’s look at his matter of shepherding God’s people.

Paul spent a lot of his time in follow up in areas he had proclaimed the gospel. Acts 15:36, after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in every city where we proclaimed the Word of the Lord, and see how they are.” A good shepherd needs to know how the brothers are doing; one needs to be on the move with heart, ears and eyes wide open.

Acts 18:22 tells us that a shepherd needs to be strengthening the disciples as he goes. “When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Antioch. After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.”

Next we need to look at Paul’s ministry style and for that we turn to I Thessalonians 2:11-12. “For you know how like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.” Look at how he worked one on one taking time just as a father takes time with his children.

God was a very good example in how he wanted Israel shepherded as we find in Ezekiel 34:1-6. Here we find God calling the shepherds of that day to task for what they did not do: {1} they feed themselves not the sheep, {2} they did not strengthen the weak or heal the sick, {3} they had not bound the wounds of the injured, {4} and they had not sought the lost, {5} they had not been gentle in leadership, and {6} they had ruled with force and harshness. The sheep where scattered and no one looked for them. The wild beast came down on them. God was not pleased.

A New Testament shepherd must handle God’s people today by feeding them from the Word thinking of others before self. He must strengthen the weak, heal those that are sick spiritually, find those that have been injured maybe by harsh and forceful leadership which has had a scattering affect on the believers and bind the wounds in a way that will bring them back to the fold and to a productive ministry for Christ. We have many that are in need of strength; yes we need God’s type of a shepherd in today’s world.

Serving Him who first served us, Jack and Janie Housley.

‘JUST A MAN’

Did you ever wonder who the man in Acts 16:9 might have been? You know the vision that came to Paul in the middle of the night. The man that said, “Come over and help us.” Me too, but try as I might there is just not much written about him. He is a man in a vision, just a man, with no name.

As our God works out of His plan to reach the world with the gospel He uses men just like you and I. Knowing God could have used angels to get the job done but chose us the body of Christ, gives heart and delight to my mission call today.

To Paul it was not a problem believing the vision was from God, because God had used another man in his life years before. In Acts 9:10 we find God using Ananias, a man from Damascus, a disciple, who was little known in his day. Yet this man was chosen by God to inform the great missionary Paul in what he would suffer as he preached the gospel message. Why did God not just come right out and tell Paul these directions Himself?

Why, God uses His whole body, not just an eye, hand or foot when He moves out with the gospel. Who are you and I to think we must have some great vision from above before we can step out into the ministry we have been called too? God still ‘directs” today but He still uses just plain, simple men to help us with directions just as he did for the apostle Paul, the man that said, “follow me.”

I trust we always will be men and women that have ears to hear what is being spoken today by the Holy Spirit and the body of Christ. Let us be listening for words from faithful, humble disciples, men that are well known as well as just simple men serving God out of the spot light. We need both in our lives to help direct us as we walk with the Lord.

After 30 years walking with the Lord in mission work I must confess knowing the will of the Lord is still very hard at times. I owe much of my perseverance to men and women that have been willing to help direct me in the right direction. Remember God uses faithful men and he can use you to direct others as well. Jack Housley, just a man, PNG.