| July
2004
June saw many firsts on our island of Limonak.
Part of a youth group came
from Colorado with Friends in Action (FIA) to help Phil build a 12x12
workshop next to our house. Finally all of his tools will have their
own
resting place for the first time since the termites ate his old shop
2 years
ago. Some ladies from the Colorado Church also came and helped to cook
and
to keep everyone going, and they did other work on our house. It was
a fast
and furious week, but they got the shop done and even managed to have
a
little fun on the side. Who would ever come to the tropics and not go
snorkeling?! We were SO glad to have the opportunity to share with the
Colorado Church through their young people, what God has done in the
last 5
years on Limonak Island with the Tigak people.
The Colorado ladies especially were impressed with how similar we all
are as
brothers and sisters in Christ despite our skin color or place of residence.
We have the same God, the same salvation, and we enjoy the same blessings
of
that salvation regardless of where our home is, or what that home happens
to
be made of. On the other hand, the believers here on the island were
really
tickled to get to meet the young people and realize that we were all
having
a part in challenging the Colorado young people in their walk with God
and
challenging them towards foreign missions. Paska just beamed the night
he
and Willem came up to meet them all. He just wouldn't quit grinning.
He was
so happy that they had all come and were interested in this work of
God that
means so much to him; and that they were living out Romans 12:1.
We met Monday night instead of Tuesday morning the week the team was
here so
that the team could meet with the Limonak believers. About half the
island
showed up for the teaching (about 50 people). More may have come to
see all
the white skins than to hear the teaching, but they heard the teaching
that
night anyway.
Needless to say, it took Phil and me a whole week to recover from that
week
with the 16 Coloradans and one Aussie, but it was so worth it. Phil
continues to review teaching through Genesis and the Law while he is
preparing the Romans lessons. This week we review the Abrahamic covenant.
It seems to me that some Romans themes keep sneaking into the Old Testament
passages that he is teaching! We hope to be ready to teach Romans lessons
by mid-August. Thanks for praying for us and the Tigak.
Phil and Char Shively
Jeremiah, Jon, and Joseph
June 2004
A couple of weeks ago we loaded up our boat early
Friday morning and headed
to the open air market in Kavieng. We finished shopping by 7:30 am and
then
took off for Tsoi. It was a good market day, so our boat lockers were
full
of bananas, papaya, pineapple, greens, cucumbers, oranges, green onion,
lettuce, bell peppers. We headed west 20 miles and left the Tigak language
islands and entered the Lovangai language group of islands. Ten miles
farther on, we shored at the little island of Tsoi, no bigger than our
own
island of Limonak. We had come to spend a weekend with the New Tribes
missionaries who work there, Sarah Pauli and the Ebersoles, Wade and
Deanne
and their children Robby and Aubri. Everyone looks forward to these
times
of fellowship, encouragement and fun together.
But some other folks got some fellowship that weekend too. At Wade's
invitation we brought Paska, our language helper, with us to talk with
Arminio, Wade's language helper. Wade has been preparing those initial
foundational lessons about the character of God, teaching from creation
through the life of Christ, that we have already taught. Wade goes over
his
lessons with Arminio, just like Phil does with Paska and Willem. Arminio
understood, early on, his need for salvation in Christ alone. But he
is the
only one at Tsoi that has been through all of this foundational teaching
on
the character of God. (The Tsoi team has had many interruptions since
they
finished language study, but they plan to begin teaching this year.)
As
time went on, Wade realized Arminio really needed some encouragement.
Enter Paska.
Paska and Arminio knew each other in the past when they both had a
connection with a religious group in town. We had hoped that by the
end of
the weekend they would get around to talking about spiritual things
and kind
of hash some things out. We are not exaggerating when we say that Arminio
came back to Wade 2 hours after we shored. He was so thrilled as he
told
Wade that what Wade had been teaching him was really true. He said,
that
the "churches" around here, the village leaders from before,
they all add
their own thinking to the Bible. They are always looking for peace in
some
new way, some new teaching, and they just struggle and struggle. But
God's
Word is true, and it is the only way, and it does not change.
Paska had told Arminio that when he was writing the lessons with Phil
he
came to the place where he had rest, and after that he just wanted to
go up
to see God, and now they have more people that have that rest.
Arminio said he knew that everything Paska said was true. It was the
same
truth he had found in these lessons he was working on with Wade. He
was so
thankful Paska had come and he was very encouraged.
Wade was really wishing he had a tape recorder running to catch all
that
Arminio said, but he was able to jot down these few notes to remember
the
gist of Arminio's discussion. We're praying too that Arminio will soon
have
others up at Tsoi, who have that rest, with whom he can fellowship.
Thank you for praying for
the believers in New Ireland Province,
Phil and Char Shively
Jeremiah, Jon, and Joseph
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