You know the feeling: life stuffed to the brim with a multitude of duties crammed in and spilling outvthrough the gaps. It’s a daily prayer need that I not let anything fall thru the cracks! Without the Lord I would certainly succumb to the mental fatigue — but amid the fullness of life He gives us He is ALWAYS all sufficient. His blessings abound! God graciously allows me to be your representative to His people here in PNG and for that He allots to each day ALL things needful for the charges He commits to our care. And then, as I let Him, He does more! He faithfully uses each assignment He gives as an opportunity to further His work of conforming me to be more and more like Christ. Though a colossal undertaking – He never gives up. Thank you, Lord!
And some more “Thank you, Lord!” topics — in answer to your prayers:
- Rosie is doing well as she learns to juggle taking care of baby Philip and her work here on our mission center. Their hopes of building a house are in flux due to others in their settlement not wanting them to build there. Rex and Rosie know God has a perfect plan for them and goes before them to guide them into His very best.
- The Maliyali team has allocated! The Nathan Mueller and David Rimestad families moved into this new work mid-June. They are now beginning the monumental task of learning the tribal language and culture so that they can eventually effectively communicate the gospel to lost and struggling souls among the Maliyali people.
- Dean & Loretta Mundy were able to finish 16 chapters of Luke during their month long stay.
- Christina Hutteman FINALLY has an appointment regarding her US Citizenship! It is scheduled for 25th July! Please pray for that to go well and that she can maybe even be sworn in and become a US Citizen the same day! Huttemans are confident that they can be back in PNG within just a few weeks of her citizenship being finalized! They are greatly needed here to take on the liaison work to the tribal churches!
- Fellow missionaries Deb Rodges & Gail Chen both battling cancer are currently doing well enough to travel. Deb & her husband Dave have returned to PNG for a few weeks to take care of their things here. Gail and family hope to be back in the country for a few weeks sometime this fall.
Regarding last month’s crisis need for small denomination bills: The finance office staff at our NTM1 center in the Highlands of PNG worked thru our missionaries down in the capital city of the country to obtain the money in the smaller denomination of bills that we so desperately need! Yeah!!!!! Thank you for praying!
On the calendar:
Finance office and printing department duties continue on the “same old, same old” – “never know what a day will bring” — momentous but never monotonous merry-go-round! And yep! Some days we even end up changing horses midstream!
Wednesday Ladies Bible study: continuing our study of 1 Peter – moving on from our being “kept by the power of God” to another inexhaustible subject — how God uses trials and tribulation in our lives.
Hospital visitation: Jason Stuart has handled this ministry of late but when he is away I am next in line to fill in. There will be several weeks this month and next when that will again be on my agenda. Starting in September when Jason & children begin their necessary annual 5 month stint in Australia, hospital visitation may become my ministry again, though since I don’t have a PNG driver’s license a chauffeur is required. Sometimes it’s easier for the driver to just do the visitation on their own rather than try to align 2 schedules to find time to go.
Good thing God has this all planned!
Literacy: I will be meeting with members of the Amdu team here in Wewak for a day or so this month to give them some guidance toward finalizing their trial literacy primers. As soon as the final drafts of all their primers and readers are ready I will be critiquing the materials before approving them for printing. And yah! I do hope to get to do the printing for them, too! And — another new team working with the Kadje people should be ready to begin their primer construction in August or September. October or later in the year will hopefully mean a trip to the Amdu village location as a team anticipates starting their initial literacy class.
Also on the horizon:
We happily anticipate the return of the Brandon Buser family hopefully this week and Thomas Depner family later this month! And as noted above – Lord willing – we hope to see the whites of the John Hutteman family’s eyes sometime in the foreseeable future too!
Another former Sepik Missionary Gordon Wohlgemut is returning and will be doing 3 days of teaching with pastors in our area on “Understanding the Kingdom of God”
AND last but not least – HAPPY DAYS for me – a friend from our missionary training days – Gillian Baxter from England – (former NTM teacher to MKs in East Brazil) is coming to spend 3 weeks with me in Aug – Sept! It’s taken years to see God work out the details that both she and I can finagle plans for this visit. Thankfully having aged and matured since we were last attempting to “paint the town red” our hours together will likely be more an exercise for our mouths and memories than anything too super strenuous. It should prove to be a most salubrious time!
Now for the loop tape / broken record, ever recurring “Thank you!” finale.
Though I can think of no new creative ways to say it, this comes from the heart: YOU are certainly greatly appreciated! So is your part in God’s work here. Thank you for taking the time to read this update. Thank you for caring. Thank you for praying. And thank you for your investment of your life to help spread the Good News of Jesus around the globe.
Co-laboring to bring back Christ as King!
Hope Sharp
“Give Thanks with a grateful heart,
Give thanks to the Holy One,
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ His Son
… now let the weak say ‘I am strong.’ Let the poor say, ‘I am rich.’
because of what the Lord has done, for us. Give thanks!…”
Don Moen
Our mission name in the USA has changed to Ethnos 360 but here in Papua New Guinea we remain known as New Tribes Mission.
Here in PNG, since there are 800+ language groups in this country the word “Tribes” still communicates with an acceptable connotation here and there are no plans at this time to change the name NTM-PNG!