January 2023

Fruit from your prayers for the Maliyali people of PNG! It’s been less than 2 months since the Foundational teaching from God’s Word brought the Good News of Jesus to the Maliyali people in Papua New Guinea. Missionary Rachel Mueller recently shared this testimony of how God is at work in this remote area.

Jemen lived in a village an 8-hour hike away from where the missionaries lived. He had been sick and came to the
missionaries some months ago for medical help. He seemingly got better so he returned to his home. There his health declined and he recently died. When news reached the missionaries they were much saddened as they assumed he had died without trusting in Christ. Then this testimony emerged! Rachel wrote regarding another of their Maliyali friends – Rambo:

‘Rambo (in the picture above) came to talk to (missionary) Nathan (Mueller). Rambo just happened to be in Jemen’s village last week. Rambo knew that Jemen was dying and that he did not know Jesus, so he decided to talk to him… This is what Rambo told him:

‘Friend, I am going to tell you the truth…please listen! Everything you have heard in the past has been lies. Every road you have tried to follow to do well and to be right with God have ALL been lies. You thought that following laws and doing good things would help you, but that’s not true. Those are lies that will lead you to the place of fire. The TRUTH is, there is no work that you can do to make God happy. What you must do is become like a baby—when a baby is hungry, they simply look to their mom for help. In that same way, all you need to do is look to Jesus! Jesus took your place on the cross and He died in your place. Jesus died for ALL your sins—past, present, and future. And He gives his clean-ness to anyone who believes in Him. All you need to do is reject all other roads and look to Jesus to save you. You don’t need to do hard work. Jesus did the hard work for you. I am so sorry for you friend because I think you are dying, so I needed to tell you this message.’

Wow…this was encouraging to hear! To know that Rambo felt led by the Holy Spirit to share the gospel with his friend (Jemen) …this gospel message which is brand new even to Rambo! And that he stated it so clearly! It is mind blowing and awesome. Of course, we don’t know if Jemen understood—but we can hope and pray. Rambo did tell Nathan that Jemen was listening and nodding throughout. We are just thankful to see Rambo (and others) understanding and retelling the Gospel message so well!”

Church planting doesn’t end when the Gospel is presented! The missionaries are now presenting lessons that build on the Old and New Testament foundation already taught. Many more truths will be expounded from Acts and the  Epistles to see these new Maliyali believers grounded in their faith.

Let’s continue to pray for the Missionaries Nathan & Rachel Mueller and Chad & Martha Earl, and for the young tribal Christians as they grow in their love and understanding of our Savior, Jesus.

The back page:  It’s  2023 already! Heading out early this morning on my way to resolve the 1st crisis of the year, the fog was so thick it was a perfect picture of how we’ll be dealing with what’s to come. We may not see the way clearly but we follow our God who goes before us, comes alongside, and brings up the rear guard as well! Yep! This already promises to be a year full of opportunities to trust Him each step of the way!

The “ghost” of decisions past: For those of you who have been praying regarding whether or not I should stay nights with my elderly friend “M” – Thank You so much for your prayers, and for the input some of you shared! It was tough to decline, but God gave many clear indications that I should say “no.” Someone with skills other than I have is definitely needed to take on the responsibility. “M” and her daughter took my decision graciously. I’ll continue to spend time with “M” a couple of days during the week, helping her with errands, chores about her house, etc. This fits in so well with our church’s ministry to the “Home Alone!”

The spirit of Christmas “present” brought to light some decisions pending and thus requests for prayer –

•  like the aforementioned 1st crisis of the year. My 6+-year-old refurbished computer is seemingly dying. Thankfully as of this morning, an external keyboard has me up and running again for now, so I have NO EXCUSE for not answering your e-mails, letters, etc. I do have savings to finance a new computer – BUT – what do I need? And how / where do I find it???? Our mission computer department has always done this for me in the past, hence my ignorance to shop for one myself. Do I drive 80 miles to the nearest big name office supply store and hope for honest input and ready availability there??? Or purchase one online??? I will, in the near future, be contacting our mission’s experts to ask for their guidance. They do not normally continue to help retirees with computer needs though. Can I ask you to please pray specifically that they will take pity on this inexperienced, technologically challenged oldster and bail me out once again???
• Also pending are some home plumbing needs. Of course the problem came to light while family was here for Christmas. It was SOOOOOOO GOOD that my 19 year old lithe & agile, construction worker (Eagle Scout!) nephew was here at the time! How I thank the Lord for Tom who, in spite of freezing temps, saw this as an interesting & enticing challenge! He ventured into the crawl space w-a-y under the house to locate and dig out the offending clog (from an old toothpaste cap!) that had blocked the pipe thus leading to it rusting through. He proceeded to dig well beyond to expose all the pipes needing to be replaced ASAP. Tom even donned his coveralls yet again when the plumber came to eyeball the issue to see what supplies would be needed. Lord willing the experts will be here this week to get things up and draining again!

The “ghost” of Christmas yet to come and the biggest need for prayer, though, regards my sister, Faith. As many of you already know, she NEEDS to be free from her underwater house out in California and probably move, with 3 other members of her family, to live here with me. This is such a complicated scenario that I’ll spare you the details. Would you just please, PLEASE pray with us that God will open the road for her to be able to make this transition this summer? It will take many miracles for this to come about. Our Loving and Caring Heavenly Father is able! Thank you for standing together with us to this end!

Again my grateful thanks to each of you who continue to be a part of my life and the ministry God has given me back here in the USA. May God bless each of you bountifully with all His spiritual blessings in Jesus!
Because Christ came and is coming again (perhaps today!) we therefore have ………HOPE !!!

Hope Sharp – retired PNG
Business address: Ethnos360, 312 W 1st St., Sanford, FL 32771 USA