Leise Life

Lately Josh has bought some mp3 players to lend to some men so they can listen to God’s Word, as part of discipleship. Josh puts chapters of the Bible being read aloud, preaching, and teaching on the device. Some of them need to hear something several times before they understand it, so this is a great way to allow them to hear it repeatedly.

Some of the men were afraid to push the buttons on the mp3 player, but once they got the hang of it they really enjoyed it. One of the guys said, “This thing makes me crazy!” His point was that the word of God is sharp and powerful. He was being convicted of things in his life by listening to 2 Peter 1.

Lately, a teenaged girl named Naomi has been coming back to church. She was even there for the Bible study on Thursday. I’m not sure of her motive but I hope she is sincerely seeking God.

I asked if she was interested in discussing the Bible with me sometime. She said she was but we didn’t get a chance to set a date until this morning. She almost left without talking about it, but I reminded her and she nervously asked her friend (future sister-n-law) if she would come, too. We agreed to meet on Wednesday. Then, she pointed to her other friend and said, “Can she come, too?”

There is certainly no guarantee that these three girls will show up at my house on Wednesday but I hope and pray they do. Please pray that I’ll have wisdom in answering their questions if they are brave enough to ask any. (They’ll probably just sit and giggle and I’ll have to pry any words out of them.) If nothing else hopefully I can at least become their friend.

It’s hard to believe that we will be taking a furlough in just four months! We’re looking forward to that special time to reunite with family and friends. Although we are working at it piece by piece we still have a lot to do to prepare for spending several months in America.

If you would like us to come to your church and present what God has done over the past few years here in Papua, please contact us soon! We’re looking forward to seeing everyone next year.

I have been encouraged by the participation in the Papuan Prayer Pact. Individuals, Sunday School classes, and even entire churches have gotten involved. Some people have even chosen more than one person to pray for. This is what it is going to take to make a difference here in Papua! Thank you!

Some reminders:

• If you have registered but are still not activated, be sure and look in your junk e-mail folder for the confirmation e-mail.
• If you have chosen someone to pray for please send us an e-mail letting us know who you chose. We ask this for two reasons: 1) In order for you to receive updates on your person, and 2) So we can post the number of people praying for each person. (You can see the number in the comment section of each profile.)

Thank you so much for your participation!

What about you? What is keeping you from joining the Papuan Prayer Pact? The process only takes a few minutes but the results could change an entire life!

The other day Josh and I were talking about how we would really like to reach other people groups here. While Josh was visiting some of our church members he found some people in our neighborhood who had just a built a large house. While they were talking they invited Josh to a wedding that would take place in a few days at that house.

I was excited because now we had a chance to take the first steps toward being their friends. They told us to come about seven or eight o’clock at night, so we went about seven thirty. (The wedding began at 6:30pm.) We could hear the music from our house. Needless to say, the music was extremely loud, as is the custom here.

We walked down the street holding our umbrella since it was sprinkling. When we arrived there were about sixty or seventy people sitting in chairs beneath tarps. To the left was a stage and some girls were dancing to the music. Thankfully, Josh didn’t see them and they soon left the stage. They were dressed unusually immodest for this people group. Normally these people are very particular about having their thighs covered and many cover their heads, arms, and even their feet. (I am not speaking of the Papuans.)

Some friendly ladies dressed in lacey, sequined clothing showed us to the food and we enjoyed some delicious Indonesian cooking. It reminded us so much of living on the island of Java. We sat down and a man was calling out names, perhaps giving gifts away.

The bride and groom sat on the front porch of the house which was extravagantly decorated. We, along with other guests, shook their hands and greeted the rest of the party surrounding the couple.

A few minutes later, about five transvestites pranced in. I thought I was going to lose my food. For some reason the Indonesians love to see men dressed up as women. There was giggling as they walked in. I thought they were just there to greet the bride and groom, but evidently they were there for an act.

We didn’t want to be rude but we took that as our cue to leave. As one of them got on stage the crowd cheered and clapped with excitement. The music was turned up louder. We turned around and shook the men’s hands that were sitting behind us, thanked them, and left.

As soon as we stepped out from under the tent I felt very oppressed. I cannot explain the feeling that came over me, but I cried out “God, help!” I wanted to quote Scripture but not one verse came to my mind, and we are learning new verses every week!

Suddenly, I started crying. Josh wasn’t sure what was going on. I wasn’t sure either and didn’t remember those few moments until the next morning. Spiritual oppression is real and we are not immune to it. Thankfully, though, we have the Word of God and the blood of Jesus as our weapons against it.

I later found out that it is possible that the family of the bride or groom visited a witchdoctor to “bless” the wedding ceremony. They usually have little plates with offerings of food and flowers at the wedding.

Do pray that God would open the door so we can reach these people.

Last Sunday we celebrated our church’s first anniversary. I was going to make the cake myself but by the time we added up the expenses it was nearly the same cost wise. Also, there has been a serious lack of eggs lately-as in, none of the stores have any! The cakes would have required 12 eggs.

Josh preached while I taught the little children in Sunday School and we had a good time. After the service we cut the cake and watched a slide show of the past year. Everyone enjoyed seeing photos of themselves. Thirty-two people came and three of them were first time adult visitors.

One of the men is the father of four of our Sunday School boys. They are pretty well behaved in Sunday School and church. I knew they must have good parents. Their mother is expecting her fifth child and they are hoping for a girl. I hope that she will become faithful after the baby is born. They live just around the corner from the church. The parents both have a testimony of salvation.

Yesterday, Josh preached/taught on salvation at a seminar. He preached for an hour and a half and then he answered questions for just under an hour! Later that day he taught at the Bible study in Abepura. He came home exhausted.

About 50 young adults attended the seminar. When Josh approached the pulpit he said, “Out of everything we are learning at this seminar, salvation is the most important,” and everyone clapped. Josh was able to record himself preaching so he can use it on mp3 players to give to those he is discipling. (I uploaded one photo of the seminar here.)

Thank you for praying!

Check out the photos from the children’s picnic !

Please note the change in date of when Josh will be preaching at the seminar: July 22, 2008 .

This morning I was awakened by the death wail. After I figured out that it wasn’t some drunken man, I realized that one of our neighbors must have passed away. I wondered who it was.

Josh and I made the customary visit to our neighbor’s house. The body (a lady) was laid on a small wooden bed in the front room of the little green house. Her body was wrapped in various patterns of material and her hair was covered with a white lacey cloth. Her face looked young, smooth, and pretty.

Josh remembered visiting her while she was in the hospital but he said she looked older then. He had prayed with the family at that time and probably presented the gospel. She has been sick for a long time. Her children come to our house to get water a few times a week. Hopefully, this tragedy will soften the family members’ hearts to talk about God.

July 8th we had a picnic planned for children from several different places. However, the children, who came up with the idea, decided at the last minute that they didn’t have the transportation money to go. There were some other obstacles, also, so we thought we would cancel it, especially if no one showed up.

Josh, Saut, Olesa, and I were waiting at the church when the little group from around the corner came walking up! Nine little children came, so we took them, two or three at a time, on the motorcycle up to a beautiful mountain. It is a historical site where Douglas MacArthur made his base in World War II.

The children had a delightful time. The view was gorgeous and the weather was perfect, too. I taught a Bible lesson, we sang songs, ate the food that we each brought, and hiked for a while. The children found some berries that they called the "ink fruit". Their mouths were black and they spit the remains on the ground. I asked if they knew what it was and if it was poisonous. Olesa said, "Oh, they’ll know if it’s poisonous if they get a stomachache…"