The blessings of a good team

God has blessed our center with a time of relative peace. The number of significant security incidents that my staff and I have had to deal with has decreased and I have had the time to focus on furthering relationships and developing longer term projects. Part of the way God has blessed me is with a great team of people. Prior to leaving for furlough, I was able to hire two assistants and obtain a new manager from our contract security firm. My two assistants, one of which is a Pastor, are local men who help me to navigate the culture. Our contract Security Manager is a Gurkha who has greatly improved the operations of our contract guards. I am quite blessed to have these men on my staff and, more importantly, to count them as friends. 

Scott and his security staff, along with their contract security manager, are serving the community by providing a reasonably safe environment for Bible translators, support staff and their families in Ukarumpa. 

Photo credit: Stephanie Tobiana 

God is working in and through PNG

We recently met a Papua New Guinean man who had returned from Southeast Asia. There, he worked with college students translating Bible stories into their local languages, to minister to the Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims with whom they live. Another PNG family supported by our local church is serving Syrian refugees in Greece. The third man works with Faith Comes by Hearing, and is helping produce and distribute audio copies of the Bible in his “tok ples”, or local language, so that those who are illiterate can still hear the Word of God. And 1,900 Urat people just received the New Testament in their language last week. Praise God, He is certainly working in and through the PNG people! 

Above: Urat dedication, photo credit Susan Frey 

Prayer Points

• Papua New Guinea: Pray for God’s continued guidance and provision in PNG government.

• Bible translation: The Urat New Testament dedication was a success! Pray for the Urat people to be transformed by God’s Word. See more at: https://t.co/7nHKJRu6al

• Our roles in PNG: Praise for our continued health and for strength in our ministries here; pray for wisdom as we serve.

• 2016-2017 school year: We are half way through our first term at Ukarumpa International School and are off to a busy but good start. Please pray for the students (and the teachers and pastors who will lead them) as they prepare for Encounter, a spiritual retreat from September 16-20 held in Goroka.