Sponges, Brought to Tears

Here is an update from Adam & Julie Martin who minister with the Akolet people of Papua New Guinea;

Do you know those tiny capsules they market as bath toys for kids?  You stick them in water, and what previously looked small you realize is a giant sponge and its size grows exponentially seemingly in an instant?  Well, that’s what it feels like we have on our hands here with many of our Akolet brothers and sisters in Christ.

Allow me to share about 2 such sponges: Lonsi and Samam.  They have helped me translate God’s Word for 2 years now, and only got saved themselves in March 2010 (which aside from getting saved myself, marrying Adam, and having Lela, ranked as one of the the best days of my life.)

However, today ranks pretty high too!  I had the privilege of translating portions of Romans 8 with them.  (We’ve completed through verse 30.)  Seeing them and my two other helpers, Reu and Amos, soak up this information, was too much for me!  As I read them these precious truths (do yourself a favor and go read them right now, you’ll see what I mean), the joy on their faces moved me to tears – and I wasn’t the only one.  Samam, wiping away tears herself, said she wanted to stop and pray right then and thank God for His amazing love.

Yesterday Lonsi came and talked with Adam about different things, and he ended up in tears just sharing about how much it means to them that God has saved them, that Christ’s death was the ultimate payment, and that the Holy Spirit is at work in them now, changing them. 

The changes he mentioned are obvious to anyone who knows them at all.  They still have a long ways to go, but from two people who used to bicker and complain with each other constantly, beat their kids, and were near the top of our “high maintenance” list of friendships here, to Lonsi being in tears and telling Adam how he feels like he and Adam are true brothers because of Christ and how thankful he is that God saved them, and Samam today being moved to tears hearing about God’s great love…wow.  Once they were moody and grumpy, protecting themselves and “their rights”.  Now they are happy, giddy at times even, and are among the first to share what they have when any sort of need arises.

Sponges – changed hearts, changed lives, growing rapidly.  I could point to many other of the Akolet sponges whose lives are a testament to God’s power and grace.    

Take time to carefully read through Romans 8 as Lonsi and Samam did. As translation helpers, they needed to read or hear each verse slowly, making sure that they understand what is actually being said. It seems that we may have read these truths so many times that we really don’t recognize what is being said. Read Romans 8 as if you were a translation helper.  

Moi Believers Eternal Perspective

One of the things that we want to be able to do with this blog is to bring you updates from some of the NTM missionaries that are working in the remote locations of the world. The following is an update from Rich & Karen Brown who minister with the Moi people. Here is a testimony of how God is working in the lives of Daokabatu & Upiyawogui;

About a month ago a whooping cough epidemic started coming through our area.  We had no idea what it was and assumed it was a bad cold.  In the meantime our next door neighbor's 7 month old son, Maiki, got it and was quickly getting worse.  As Karen was looking through some medical books the Lord brought her to the page on whooping cough.  The onset and symptoms fit what we were seeing to a tee.  The scary part is that whooping cough is very dangerous for infants under one year.  Thankfully we had antibiotics on hand.  We immediately gathered everybody and explained what it was.  Then we, along with the guys trained in medical, passed out the medicine.  Unfortunately it was too late for baby Maiki pictured with his sister below.  He died a day later. 

We grieved with his mother, while her husband was away.  Here is an excerpt about this from Rich's journal..."This morning Karen, Alyssa, and I went to comfort and cry with Daokabatu.  It’s sad her husband couldn’t be here to mourn too, as he is in Dao on a trip.  Daokabatu is showing such confident faith in God’s plan in this tragic loss.  It’s now her second son to die.  This morning as we were crying with her, she, in the midst of her tears, told us that it was God who determined his (Maiki's) appointed time to die and she can only praise Him.  It was clear that she had already determined in her mind to accept what was given to her.  She has indeed humbly accepted it.  It was so touching to hear her praise God in the midst of her deepest sorrow."

Upiyawogui, pictured here with his other son, showed up the day after his baby boy was buried.  It was so hard to see him grieve.  The next day, with sadness still in his eyes, he shared that during his travels he came across a hamlet that was desperate to hear the Creator's Talk.  He said it broke his heart.  That alone spoke volumes to us.  It showed that he was still measuring what is truly important in the light of eternity. 

 

Please pray for Upiyawogui & Daokabatu and the Moi church.

Ministry Prayer Request

Next month NTM is implementing a new “Grant Process” which I am responsible to oversee. Please pray that it will be implemented as smoothly as possible. The different aspects of the process are requirements by the U.S. Government, but the main idea of it is for NTM to exhibit control over the funds that are sent overseas (to fund those ministries). It requires getting background information about the organizations & its leaders, as well as any individuals that are receiving (or being ‘granted’) this funding. It also requires that NTM verifies that no individual or no one associated with all the other NTM organizations have ties to terrorism. It also requires reporting that the funds were used in the manner that they should have been. On top of that, there are numerous things that are changing in the way that NTM processes the funds, but will affect these other organizations & individuals. Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom & insight about any potential problems and that we will be able to fix potential issues so that this process can be implemented by the end of September.

Since the majority of my time has been spent on the Grant Process the last six months, I am behind with the annual budget process. Normally I have the budget worksheets out to the different departments & locations by the beginning of July. I still need to work through projecting income & expenses for about 45 departments & locations. Please pray that the Lord will give wisdom & time to complete this so that I can concentrate on the Grant Process implementation. 

We are thankful knowing that you will uphold us in prayer!

“I stayed up most of the night reading my new Bible”

 

This is the reason why we do what we do here in Sanford, to be part of the ministry of reaching people in remote locations of the world with the Gospel. In July, the missionaries working with the Dinangat people in Papua New Guinea were able to put all the translated Scriptures together that they have been working on since 2006. The published scriptures included major portions of Genesis & Exodus in the Old Testament with major portions of Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Romans & Ephesians; roughly 1,700 verses altogether.

The Dinangat believers couldn’t stop shaking the missionary’s hands and thanking them for giving them God’s Word in their own language. One believer told them, “When we got those Bibles, I was so happy that I wanted to cry.” Another believer, Jaspa declared the next day, “I’m really tired because I stayed up most of the night reading my new Bible. It was just so sweet I couldn’t stop.”

It is exciting to see the excitement that new believers have for the Word of God. How precious it is to them that they will stay up most of the night reading it. They have been without God’s Word & realize how treasured it is to have and be able to read it.

 “Now that the believers have at least part of God’s Word in their own language,” Ralf Schlegal, one of the missionaries explains, “they can feed on it anytime that they want to and hopefully by doing that, they will live more and more according to truth and will grow in their love for their Savior and in doing so, will glorify God through their lives.”

Please pray for the translation team as they are finishing up the books of Mark and 1st Corinthians, and starting to just begin translating 1st Timothy. Please pray that the believers will continue to be excited about God’s Word & strive to know Him better.

 

A New Beginning

We are starting this blog so that you can stay connected with us & our ministry. But we also want to help others understand the great need there is to reach people in these remote locations of the world that otherwise wouldn’t have a chance to hear about salvation through Christ.  Unless someone goes to these remote locations, learns the language & culture and then translates & teaches from God’s Word; these people won’t have the opportunity to believe or accept the gift of salvation found in Jesus.
 

We also want to share the testimonies of what God is doing in the lives where the Gospel has been taught. To be able to see the excitement of new believers when they understand truth from the Word, or the over whelming joy they have when they have the Word of God in their own ‘heart’ language that they can understand and can read. 

 

Our prayer is also that we will be used as an encouragement to those that the Lord may want to go overseas and be used to reach a language group with the Good News. What a privilege it would be to be used of the Lord to get His Word into the hands of one of the ‘people groups’ that hadn’t yet heard. When we are standing before the Lord in heaven and see “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Rev. 6:9) we will be thankful that the He would use us to tell others the Good News.

 

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:14)