January 2025

Our 2024 holiday drama had to be different. Instead of the anticipated annual plumbing problems, my niece Eva ended up having an appendectomy on
Christmas day……. Thankfully she recovered well and our family had a wonderful 2 days together with the SEMO (South East Missouri), Indiana and Kansas Sharp clans.

January then bustled in in all its glory with the refrigerator trying to rush on to spring with 55° temperatures. The freezer isn’t much better. That was no big loss though since it’s unequivocally still winter outside. With night time temps running about 10° we have had plenty of fridge and “freezer” space on our porch! The parts needed to fix the fridge are on back order so when repairs can be made remains indefinite. ………. And of course, there’s that “But wait! There’s more!” factor…..

The floor furnace has decided it’s had enough of winter too as it has extinguished itself multiple times daily of late. My dear brother was coming to crawl under the house and relight it for us, but with ever-increasing frequency in pilot blowouts, I finally insisted I slither in after him and learn the relighting procedure from that perspective. My niece Naomi now takes my place above, using a long wire to lower a lit match down onto the pilot, while I twist the knobs down under. Since this furnace is an authentic antique relic, we’ve prayed for a repair service willing to brave the crawl space and look at it. Lord willing it will be fixed and up and running again soon!

Meanwhile back in the tropics …..

“Way down upon the Sepik River, far far away …..” dear friend and fellow missionary Lisa Kaeppeler continues to have so very much to trust the Lord for! Lisa is one of the very few Bible Translation consultants for the field of Papua New Guinea. She is, on occasion, even called upon by missionaries in other countries to come help with their translation needs too. Lisa and the Czizdel family (Jason and Laken + their 4 super kiddos Thatcher, Copeland, Eisley, and Eowyn) work in the Uriay tribal village of Wabuku where Lisa’s prime ministry is doing their mother tongue scripture translation. She also helps her co-workers with literacy, teaching, discipleship, etc., etc., etc. – all else that is needed to see the church established in such an isolated locale.

Lisa just returned to Papua New Guinea in September 2024 after surviving successful treatment for a cancerous brain tumor! Not long after getting back to the field, her computer, phone, credit cards, IDs, sandals and other miscellaneous vital necessities were stollen. The police were able to recover a few of the items.

More recently Lisa took the plane and helicopter flights necessary to get to her village home in Wabuku. There she had to cope with her non-functioning solar system. With no other means of electrical power, solar panels and batteries are necessary for lighting, running the water pump, computer, etc. Fervent prayers went up on her behalf and seemingly after a lot of labor and perspiration on her part, God revived the solar set up! Next, the connection on her water tank failed ….

Then there’s the life & death side of village living …. Lisa’s co-worker Jason Czizdel shared the following: (Jason’s text *& conversation in black print, Wabuku men’s comments in red, mine in green print. )

Friday morning, around 1a.m., someone was under my house yelling my name. I woke up and stumbled around the room trying to boot up the correct language with which to respond.

… ‘Jason! Wobre is dead. Just now he died.’ … I went next door and sat with his family for an hour in the night. There was talk of plans to send messengers to inform distant family. There was discussion about where to bury him. And there was weeping, lots of horrible weeping, from houses all over the village. …..

“Wobre was an older man and a well-respected leader. …. He was a friend and a kind man. He left behind two wives and a plethora of adult children. To me, his death was not a surprise. He had been sick for a long time. We even medevac’d him out to town a few months back but the doctors there couldn’t identify the sickness either. But in the Wabuku mind, every death has a spiritual cause. Every death is murder. Therefore the discussion quickly turned to whose bad behavior was responsible for his death. …..

“We buried Wobre this morning about 30 yards from my house. He was my neighbor. Then the whole village met and his son, our current village leader, pleaded with the village not to seek revenge for his father’s death. Through tears he volunteered that it was likely his father’s own bad behavior that killed him. So there was no need to do the seance and divine from his father’s dead spirit why he was killed. ….”
Jason then elaborated on the discussion he had with 5 Christian men who are potential church leaders. He shared Bible stories to help them understand – the man born blind that Jesus healed, the first chapter of Job …. He then said.

“’Here’s the point guys,’ I told them, ‘We don’t get to know why each specific sickness and death happens. But it doesn’t have to be the result of bad behavior. The blind man wasn’t blind because of sin, and Job’s troubles didn’t happen because of sin.’

“’Last story,’ I told them. “There have been many people groups that believed they had to keep a rain spirit happy to make rain fall on their gardens. Some even did terrible things to try and make the rain spirit happy.’

“Staenli interrupted, ‘Like the prophets of … what was that fake god’s name?’ ‘Baal.’ ‘Yeah! They cut themselves to try to make a fake god send fire!’

“’Yes.’ I continued, ‘And every time it didn’t rain in these people groups, they would get suspicious of one another and try to figure out who was responsible. Now what do you think? It didn’t rain here in Wabuku today. Whose fault is it?’

“They smirked and said, ‘No. Sometimes it rains. Sometimes it doesn’t.’

“’Right. And we think it’s foolish that they would try to find a person responsible for the rain not falling. Since Adam’s sin, sickness and death are a part of this world. Sickness and death are like the rain. Sometimes it just rains. And sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes people get sick and die, and sometimes they don’t. We don’t get to know why each time. And like Job’s friends, we shouldn’t assume it is because of sin. …

“’Setan loves when those people worry when the rain doesn’t come. It keeps them trapped in fear and under his lie. And then they’ll do terrible things because they’re held by that lie. It’s the same here. Wabuku has multiple ancestor practices that call on Setan’s power to determine why someone died. And you already know that calling on Setan’s power is disloyalty to Yawe. Setan has trapped your ancestors in this lie, and they’ve passed the lie down to you. But Yawe’s talk tells us the truth.’

“Kiwar volunteered, ‘This new thinking will be difficult for people to swallow. It might get stuck in their throats.’ “’Yes. It will take time.’

It’s a lifetime investment to plant a church and see it grow to maturity. Missionaries around the globe are patiently persevering knowing it will be a long haul both in difficult living situations and growing relationships in their local settings. It puts me in my place before the Lord as I confess I can get impatient as I live these brief waiting periods for repairmen to come fix the appliances that allow me to live in the lap of luxury.

My thanks to YOU for caring and hanging in there with me these many years! Your part in my Christian life, growth and various ministries is appreciated more than words can sat. You have long been a tremendous source of both encouragement and challenge to me in my ongoing walk with the Lord. May God bless your life bountifully in return as you have blessed mine. May He lavish His spiritual blessings in Jesus on you and continue His good work in and through you to His honor and glory!

Because Christ came and is coming again, we have ……………HOPE !!!!

Hope Sharp – Retired NTMPNG