Dear friends and family

We really had a multinational Christmas this year. We had one family and a single girl from America, a couple from Canada, a family from Mexico and single girl from Germany. Then, of course, we were from Australia. But at least we all spoke English and had a great time together.

After Christmas Wendy and I decided to go up to Koropa on the next Monday to avoid trouble on the road from New Year’s day revelers. We just stayed one night and got back New Year’s Eve. When we got up there Wendy’s namesake (Dolis, the woman who gave Wendy her name when we first went to Koropa) came to see her for a while. But she didn’t come in the afternoon to help with the lesson checking as she had said she would (in this culture she would not say that she didn’t want to come, she would simply not turn up). Then she didn’t come to the teaching that night either. But she came in the morning before we left, it seems she was upset because we were only staying the one night there. Wendy was so glad she came and took her into the house to pray with her before we left. It was a special time together but was too short, too. We hope we can have the 2 nights with them up there in a months’ time, it does give Wendy more time with the ladies.

We had the lesson in Sevis’ house on Monday night. I taught Romans 8:18-25 where Paul talks about the suffering of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that will follow. We started by reading Genesis 3:17-19 where God tells Adam that He will ruin the earth because he chose to disobey Him. That is why we have difficulties in this life. Then I asked them about some of the difficulties they have and straight away Ableso said, “The pigs break in and ruin our gardens.” This is not something that worries too many of us but it is something that is very real to them.

We had some trouble saying in the language, “not worthy to compare.” We had to say, “The glory that will follow is really big and the suffering we have is ‘famenamo niibe’ (nothing). Even the word ‘glory’ has very different meanings. Was he talking about light or honour, or both? It is difficult even for us to have a clear idea of what it will be like in Heaven. We didn’t sleep very well that night with people wandering around all hours of the night and dogs barking so we have been wiped out since then ☹.

With love from

David and Wendy