Thank you so much for your love, prayers and gifts! We are deeply grateful for your part in reaching the Hewa people with the love of Jesus. Thank you!

The Discipleship-toward-leadership class is finished. Fato, Faimpat, Yanis, Ken, Kifeson & Waina have done a terrific job responding to the Elder training process and have been faithful to re-teach the concepts in their houses each night. The seven deacon trainees have also done well, and in addition to that, there were seven others who “audited” the class in order to assist the elder and deacon trainees. We covered a variety of discipleship topics such as steps of spiritual growth, articulating faith in Christ, surrendering to His plan (Rom 12:1-2), living in step with Jesus (John 15), loving like Jesus loved, investing in others, handling sin in the church, giving up bitterness, serving with pure motives, and living for rewards in heaven rather than here on earth. Now all the trainees have entered a time of prayer and waiting as we seek the Lord together before appointing the church’s first Elders and Deacons next month.

One of the exciting side benefits of the discipleship class is that when we were working with the leadership trainees to help them learn how to present their testimonies of faith in Jesus, they re-taught the same principles in their homes each night and in the process there were people who realized they were trusting in their attempts to be good rather than placing their confidence in Jesus paying for their sin debt. The leadership trainees were able to lead several of their house-hold members to new faith in Christ!

Another highlight of the last couple months was when our missionary doctor from town brought a team here to help with our villages medical challenges. We had heard whooping cough was sweeping through our mountains and polio had been confirmed in our province. While the team was here more than 350 people from our village and other nearby villages came for treatment. We are very thankful for the broader team of missionaries who use their various gifts and training to assist us in sharing the love of Jesus with the Hewa tribal people.

One of the privileges of serving here with people who have a desire to grow in the Lord is to watch as they release their previous fears to embrace Christ as not only their Savior, but also as their source of life and strength. Please feel free to read this story about my recent visit to a location (pictured below) that was previously avoided because of dread brought by ancestral beliefs.

Thank you for your love and prayers and gifts! We deeply appreciate you!

Jonathan, Susan & Mikenna