Prayers have been heard and God’s answer is in — remember that part about “go, or stay”?
Well, for now God’s saying I’m staying put! That means you can rest assured I will NOT be needing to invest YOUR hard earned $upport dollar$ in buying shoe$, jacket$, blanket$, or any other “cold” weather paraphernalia! Nor will we be $pending $$$ to $hip, re-buy or rent furniture, appliance$, etc! Needless to say, I am much relieved!
What God has down the road, I do not know, but for now everything can continue as status quo.
Another answer to prayer!
Yep! The totes we shipped are HERE! Mind you, I’ve only seen 1 of the 9 but it “magically” appeared on my porch swing thanks to another family sacrificing space on a flight so that I could get this one containing my backup computer. And yes, though 7 months in transport, the computer still works! Thank you, Lord! Its programs are hopelessly outdated and it won’t connect to the internet, but all that is eventually “fixable.” First though, I want to use some of those obsolete programs to do things the new and improved (?) upgrades won’t. ?
Other good news – shipping from the USA to PNG plus customs charges were MOST reasonable. Charges for the last leg may double the total cost but thanks to a couple of large gifts last month, God has already provided for that, too! Special thanks to each of you who donated the items in those totes for my life and ministry these next years, AND to those of you who have financed shipping and all the other costs involved. Mega amounts of gratitude go out too, to each of you who have helped pray them along their route here.
New matters to pray for!
Literacy — Lord willing, before the end of the month, literacy travels will begin! Missionaries in two “new” tribal works in our region are nearly ready to begin working to construct literacy primers and setting up programs for teaching the people in their locales to read and write in their own mother tongue.
Lord willing, I will be able to travel to their villages and we will work from there to rough out the primers. Down the line I’ll also be getting to print the materials – books, flashcards, teachers’ manual, etc. — for their programs, then visit each area again when the classes actually begin. That part is months down the line though!
VITAL prayer needs now:
- For the Pei and Amdu teams as they finalize their phonemics and establish the alphabets they will need for writing their language
- Time and travel dates and arrangements – flights are hard to get these days
- Other literacy consultants to join me in this endeavor. We are supposed to work in pairs (or more) on such projects but at present few of the other consultants are available to travel. Two single ladies – April and Sharon – are interested in coming to help but they live way, w-a-y, W-A-Y over in the islands east of the mainland, further complicating travel options.
We know God already has all these snags figured out but will certainly appreciate your prayers as we await seeing Him pull it all together.
Ladies Bible Study group
One of our ladies, a young gal named Rosie, has not been able to return to town after spending Christmas with her parents in her home village. We would really like to see Rosie able to come back and work here again as well as be a part of the Bible Study group. It’s a complex situation that only God can work out the details. Please be praying for God’s best for Rosie.
Please continue to pray ….
- For laborers for the many tribes yet without the true Gospel of salvation thru Jesus
- For continuing wisdom and discernment of our mission leaders as they seek the mind of the Lord and make decisions regarding the future strategy for God’s work around PNG. There’s still much to be done!
- Teachers are also needed at our school for missionary kids. If interested here are some videos from the school you could check out.
Comments? Questions? Please contact the school at nca@ntmpng.org
- This is the month Pita SAID he would begin teaching Iwam literacy again. Please be praying for him and for helpers, that they will follow thru with this. Pray too for the students to be faithful to attend. The kids in government school could do the entire class in a matter of weeks but for those who have never before learned to read it’s gonna be a long haul as it’s a 4-6 month course.
- Quite a number of Iwam have qualified for 9 th grade! Most will be doing school in another town, but the cream of the crop will be coming here to Wewak. This has already started the requests for my help. Please be praying for wisdom to know how to do that without them looking to me as the “genie with the magic lamp,” constantly at their beck and call to provide their every need.
For a missionary family special to me as their kids adopted me as their American “Gwama.” Toni has been sick for nearly 2 years with some viral thing but has gotten much worse these past weeks. They need to get medical tests done in Australia and are planning to leave February 10th . Toni is Australian but her medical health card expired. It has been complicated for them to renew it since they do not actually live in or have a permanent legal address in Oz. Won’t you please be praying for Jason and Toni as they look to the Lord for all that’s involved in getting medical help for Toni.
Thank you again for your faithfulness to pray and otherwise support the work God has entrusted to us here in PNG. Please know you are tremendously appreciated! You are each one such a blessing! May you see God blessing you bountifully in return, with spiritual blessings that serve to draw you ever closer to our wonderful Savior and Lord!
Co-laboring together with you for the King!
Hope Sharp
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