Pearls of praise from PNG! A large group of tribal church leaders from around the Sepik River region met April 11-19th. Missionary Tim Shontere wrote:
NTM (Ethnos360) has been doing church planting in the East Sepik Province & West Sepik Province for the last 50 years. The rough terrain & river system make it near impossible for all of the church leaders to come together for a leaders conference. It is so difficult & expensive that we have never brought all the Sepik Church Leaders together in one place since we started planting churches 50 years ago. The YembiYembi (language group) church had a dream of bringing all of the leaders together for a workshop/conference to be able to network with each other & sit under teaching together. That dream came true last week. God used Ethnos360 Aviation to bring leaders from the different corners of the Sepik Region so that all the church leaders could come together in one place for the first time. It was a historic event.
The YembiYembi Church Leaders did a TON of work to make the Leader Conference happen. When the 100 extra people showed up in canoes, they had a plan in place. They accommodated and fed the 100 extra people through the conference. True, lots and lots of work, but it was the works God prepared for us in advance to do before He created the world.” (Ephesians 2:10)
Praise Him for making the Leader Conference be a success!
Pray: That all the leaders from the 15 different language groups will walk in humility (1 Peter 5:5) & abide in Him daily. (John 15:3-8)
And another major matter for praise from PNG! Another New Testament translation is FINISHED! The Sorimi New Testament has undergone its final checks with the mission translation consultants Jason Stuart and Lisa Kappeler!
Itinerate Missionaries to the Sorimi people, Poul & Carol Joenson will have the final clean up and formatting to do in the process of getting the New Testament ready for printing. Please do pray for them as they work thru the tedious steps. Pray too for the finances they will need for printing, and then shipping the tomes from England to PNG.
The back page: Round about SEMO (South-Eastern Missiouri) – Your prayers for my sister and her move to Missouri are bearing fruit! Thank you for standing together with us in this endeavor!!! Faith’s last day of work will be the night of 4-5th May! Please be praying for her as she transitions to retirement, that:
- She will take time to rest and re-coop after about 50 years of surviving on only a few hours’ sleep most nights. Also, pray that her body can transition from being awake all night to relaxing enough to sleep. Working nights in a very stressful job has taken a tremendous toll on her in many ways, though spiritually her faith in our all-loving and caring Heavenly Father remains strong.
- That God will bring to mind all the details needing to be tended to regarding transition to retirement, the move, etc.
- Getting on Medicare and finding a Medicare supplement, prepping the house to sell, changing banks to one available locally in southeast Missouri, etc., etc., etc.
- Though the house isn’t ready to go on the market yet, please begin praying NOW for a buyer for her house!
- She needs enough not only to cover the mortgage but also, Lord willing, some for moving expenses and then buying a vehicle (or 2 – one for her daughter too!) once they get to Missouri!
- Timing – Lord willing they should be relocated here in SEMO by the end of July so that 9 year old Julian can settle in before he starts school mid-August.
- Please pray too that God will work out the details that she can visit her son in Oregon and his family before they finally pull out of CA and move to MO.
Thank you again for standing together with us for all these details of their transition!
I thank the Lord that I continue to be hale, healthy and hearty – though my poor vehicle has taken a beating of late.
- First it got dinged in a parking lot with potential future issues with the hood. Thankfully the other folks insurance has issued a check for the repair estimate even though the body shop is booked til late in May. As long as I don’t have to check the innards of the engine before that, all should be well!
- Then the sunroof suddenly shattered! Huh????? I never wanted a sun roof in the first place and have NEVER used it. Does the glass company say a rock from lawn mowing must have hit it. ????? Whatever the cause, that ailment should be fixed tomorrow!
Other than that, life continues as “normal,” though more and more time is invested each week in the sorting, discarding, storing, and other needful aspects of getting things ever closer to being ready for family to join me here. Seems every project I finish, another, or 2 or 3 — or more!, pop up and need attention. Example: Salvaging some “family heirloom” metal cabinets, part of the household since our 1st brother was born 57 years ago, took the better part of 4 days. Well worth the time and effort to salvage though – at least now that it’s done!!!!
Again my sincere and grateful thanks to you for your interest and proofs that you care about the ongoing saga of this current era of my life. Having you on board praying with us for the particulars of this venture is a tremendous blessing and encouragement! Thank you!
Because Christ came and is coming again — perhaps today! — we therefore have ….
HOPE !!!!
Hope Sharp / retired NTMPNG
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