Our Missionaries:
Missions is the heartbeat of any church. Below are the latest updates we have on them - please pray for them!
Updated October, 2006
John & Lynne White: Please pray
that there will be some days set aside for me to teach more in Revelation (almost
into chapter 3 now) before we go out in mid-October. There is a wonderful opportunity
opening up among the Bea people, a few hours walk from here over in a corner
of the North Gimi. Meu says they have started coming in numbers
to the outreach that he, his brother Bazamo and Rekis have been teaching at
for a few years now. It all started when one couple from this Bea Lutheran
village were saved through Meu and his co-workers teaching, and everyone in
their village saw the changes in their lives! The Bea people are building a
Meeting House building in their village and Meu hopes to begin teaching creation
to Christ there in these next few weeks. Meanwhile, a young married man, Ramegi,a
teacher-believer from Raro village is teaching interested unsaved Gimis out
near Sobega where the NTM highlands centre is - where Wes and Penny are living.
Ramegi is teaching Gimis from three different village clans twice a week in
creation to Christ. Pray for confidence and boldness from the Lord,
and that Ramegi will have enough food. Lynne and I ask for strength for our
relationships with the local Negibi people and that we can finish up editing
and correcting the 14 Gimi Revelation Bible lessons (some are huge, like
over 10 computer pages long!) and get them off to print the books. Thanks
for praying!
Brad & Connie Gavitt: We're thankful for the
good weather we had this month. We were able to get the chinking done on
our house and that should make it warmer this winter! We visited the Ellis'
today --SNOW just slightly covered the ground but enough to remind us winter
is just around the corner. Summer people are mostly gone now. One
couple is still here but they'll be leaving mid-October. Ladies' Bible study
is going well. We'll be finishing a study on Philippians in a week or two. Then
we'll be joining the women at Grizzly Lake for a winter study. We're
hoping to start youth group again and still trying to arrange a couple's
Bible study on marriage. Please pray that people will commit to these
Bible studies and growth will take place. Also pray that we'll be able
to find someone to fill in for Brad while we're in Rhode Island in October. Thanks
for your prayer support!
Rosalie Ranquist: A work team of missionary men scrounged up some timber and corrugated roofing iron and built me a 12 X16 foot cabin. And bless them; they were able to install an old ceramic toilet, sink, and shower bucket that another missionary couple donated. Then to top it off they even found some old Masonite siding to line my “cozy” sleeping quarters. The rest of the inside of the cabin is lined with orange plastic for protection from holes in the outside woven bamboo. Thus no peek holes existing to interested strangers passing by…and it keeps the wind and rain from coming in. The men even have a power extension running from the house of Jim and Judy Burdett, the missionary couple I will be working with while I’m here. So I have lights and a power outlet to use for charging my computer battery. It’s getting almost up to Motel 7 quality! I’ve been in the Dom tribe and have just finished our first week of literacy classes. Judy Burdett and I are evaluating each student which consists of all adults which are at different levels, and have diverse abilities, so we will end up having at least 3 separate classes. They are keen to learn so they can read God’s Word. It’s a blessing to witness the joy that they manifest when they discover truth from God’s word that had been translated into their own tribal language. I will also be helping the Burdetts to revise their literacy primer books in order to improve them, and to accommodate the dialect spelling changes needed in this area of the tribe. There is no lack of things to do while I am here.
Wes & Penny Chappell: Our support has gradually
been going lower since we left. We have been able to "stay in the black" so
far. A big expense is coming up in about 2 weeks(Oct. 9) we will be flying
back and forth to Pawaia for bush orientation, then we are going into Gimi
to help John and Lynn with there house. Soon after that we will start doing
surveys into the Gulf Province. All that traveling is going to cost quite a
bit, so financially things are going to get "stretched". On Oct.
9th we will fly into the Pawaian tribe (no roads). This is a group that New
Tribes has worked in for almost 25 years and there is a N.T. translation and
many churches planted. We will be going to stay with Jack & Isa Douglas,
who started the work among the Pawaians. The reason we are going is to learn
what it is like in a bush location and learn what we can about tribal church
planting, from the missionaries and believers there. We will be living
in a "bush house", which means no running water, outside toilet,
and no electricity. We will be staying there for a month. Then we will fly
back out to the "big city"(Sobega/Goroka). You could also be praying
with us about partners. We are meeting with the Arns and Hotz (the two other
families we told you about). We have known these two couples since our time
in Mississippi. After much prayer and discussing many different things with
them we think it would be wise to pursue partnering with them.
Dave & Marilyn Kibbe: Thank
you all so much for your prayers as we traveled. Many of you heard
about the coup d'etat in Bangkok. Many Thai people welcome this change in
government, even if it means being under military rule for a while. Time
will tell how this will affect everyday life, but as foreigners, we expect
to see little, if any change. We were welcomed at the Chiang Rai airport
by our helper, Charlie, and later our clean house, kept in order by his wife
Ma Aye. Along with a warm welcome from our old neighbors, we met our new
neighbor directly across the street. Margaret is an American married
to a Brit., who is currently in the US. Within 30 minutes of our arrival,
I began to feel overwhelmed, asking God how we will ever have time to minister
to these lost "farang", (westerners). Our semi annual
Pastor's training, (Biblical Leadership Training) is scheduled to begin on
Oct. 2nd in Mae Sai, so this will be our focus for the next 3 weeks. Please
pray that we will know His peace and wisdom as we jump into a work already
in progress.
John Krajec: Hello all! I've decided not to
pursue my Canadian Visa Application, and to stay here in Idaho. It was a
tough decision, as I really like being there in Canada, but felt this was
the best thing to do for now. As far as GoodSeed goes, I am currently working
on about 25 different projects! Many are awaiting further instructions (needing
to be reviewed before continuing) and others haven't been started yet. These
include PowerPoint presentations, Video projects, Book reprints, Audio Books,
etc. We have a new logo for GoodSeed, and part of this is putting the new
logo on everything (when it comes time to reprint.) But there are several
new projects going on and on the list. As I write, I have not found a place
to live, but do have a couple leads that I'm waiting on. The Lord knows and
I trust Him for his leading in what to do. Thank you all for your support,
prayers and encouragement!
Oh, by the way, I've started to get the church website running a little
better. There are some audio files to download if you are interested! www.nsbiblechurch.com
Jim & Essie Repke: Pray for the Repke family as
they adjust to living with Jim’s Dad and help take care of him as he
suffers from Alzheimer's. Jim is currently training to work at an insurance
company and has now resigned from New Tribes Mission. They would greatly appreciate
your continued prayers!
That was a day I will never forget. Wes and I were so thankful that we got our bilum back, with everything still inside and perfectly fine. We were so surprised nothing was stolen. That was totally the Lord!!!!! We were also very blessed to see some of the PNG culture that we probably would otherwise have never seen. So thanks for praying for us on a daily basis. We are continually reminded that our God is in control of every detail of our lives!
Love, Penny
P.S. Below are some random pictures Wes helped carry a pig at a marriage feast, and the boys love swimming in the river.
