Wednesday, November 5, 2008

God is Smiling

I know in light of the election you may be wondering what this title is all about...we have a lot going on here in the United States, but my title is referring to the Spiritual happenings half way around the world in the mountain community of Kaveng, New Guinea. "God is Smiling" was the title of the e-mail that my step mother sent out giving us the update about how the "teachings" are going.

They began on Sunday and had a total of 70 adults and 20 children/teens present for the teaching (which is a miracle in itself!) The people were all quiet and attentive. (Another answered prayer as these people do not normally have "meetings" of large groups.) The missionaries began by individually sharing why it is that each of them was willing to leave their homes and families to come live within the Madak people. They have traded in comfort, amenities, and their own families because they are passionate about these people coming to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Chris Bittner then began teaching from the Bible beginning with creation. The people listened, seemed open to the Word, and have been asking questions and returning for subsequent "teachings." In total, there will be 70 Bible lessons culminating with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus sometime in March. The tribal leaders are still being supportive and attending. The missionaries can feel the prayer covering. It is a God thing...

My Step mom, Beth, said something specific that I wanted to share:

"As you prayed you became part of this team. This is a total team effort: the missionaries, the language helpers and YOU."

They need our continued prayer support. If any of you would like to send messages or Scriptures to them to encourage them along the way, please either leave them under the "comments" section of this post or e-mail me at ateachableheart@gmail.com.

"Sing to the Lord, all the earth; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; He also is to be feared above all gods" ( 1 Chron. 16:23-25).

Thank you for praying.

3 comments:

Queenie Jeannie said...

Unceasing prayer coverage!!! This is such a great & mighty situation. Expect miracles!!

Anonymous said...

WONDERFUL!!! Oh that is SO encouraging! It will NOT fall on deaf ears and closed hearts...His word will NOT return to Him void...in Jesus name!

LOVE the new look! Love the color! I've changed mine a couple of times, I just can't get what I want and Wordpress is VERY limited.

I'll keep checking back for updates too!

Mikki Black said...

What a great blog! I'm so glad you mentioned it on Fb.

Your story here reminds me of one from the trip where Jim and I met. I hope you don't mind if I share it with you.

Just before leaving the US, I had a dream: all of us teenagers were lined up in a courtyard, and armed soldiers were standing across from us. The sergeant was walking up and down the line yelling and questioning, but no one would answer him. I finally got brave, stepped forward, and answered questions about why we were in his country and what we were up to. He was satisfied and allowed us to remain in the country. My friends later asked me when I learned to speak Russian. None of them spoke up because they couldn't understand him.

It was a strange dream, but I took it as a prompting to add the local government/military cooperation to my prayer list.

After arriving in Belarus and checking into our hotel, we were asked to meet for prayer while several of our leaders checked in with the city officials. We found out later that they were on the edge of deporting us and having the military collect us from the hotel and escort us from the country.


So, yes: pray! We'll all pray together, and reach out for God's protection from whatever forces need to be faced.