Dear Family and Friends,
Thank you all so much for your prayers for the ministry here in PNG this month, as well as for the faithful support, whether monetarily or through encouraging letters. It is such an encouragement to know that God is faithful to give us His strength to get through each day.
We are nearing the end of the school term now, with graduation only a week and a half away. The excitement around campus is a lot of fun, but there is much to be done between now and then. GBBC holds a yearly pastor’s conference the week of graduation, with the actual graduation being the grand finale, so to speak. Many pastors and their wives come from around the country to fellowship together and be encouraged in the Word. Dan will be busy with that as well as trying to finish up his classes this next week.
Things at Hosanna Baptist are going well this month. They have worked on the doctrines of salvation and the Holy Spirit and have done a great job. Dan and Pastor Abol have been teaching on baptism the last couple of weeks, and there have been challenges. Many of the Christians who faithfully attend the church have never been baptized, and they are reluctant to take this vital next step in their Christian walk because of struggles in Christian living, fear, or other factors. Please pray for these believers who need to step out in faith and be baptized. It feels as if we are at a turning point in the ministry. Only about 25% of those attending the church are baptized members, and for this church to grow and experience God’s blessing, this needs to change.
One of our single, female students was walking to school one morning last week and was attacked by four men and raped. This is a terrible tragedy that this dear, sweet girl has endured and will continue to endure. Dan was able to take her to the hospital afterwards and get her started on various medications. Amy will start counseling her this week. Please pray for this young lady as she trudges through this trial. If any of you have done rape counseling before, we would love some insight.
We are headed to the home area our married graduates from a few years ago, Moses and Rose, this weekend for Amy to speak at a women’s conference. We appreciate your prayers for Amy as she speaks to the women. Moses and Rose have a little girl, Joanne, who was a good friend of Ty when they were at the college. Their newborn son also went to Heaven earlier this year, so please pray that we can minister to them as well.
Dan’s parents, are coming for a visit in just two short weeks! We are so excited for their visit, as it will be so nice to see family again, especially over Thanksgiving.
Thanks again for all that you do for us. We couldn’t do this without you, nor would we want to.
Love, Dan, Amy, Tyler, Kate & Claire
P.S. Kate got a kitten this month. His name is Max, and he is a ball full of energy! She loves having him around. Claire is turning into quite the girly girl and loves to wear hair barrettes (bows, as she calls them), carry purses and try on new shoes.
Additional Prayer Requests: Please pray for…
1. The organization of Hosana Baptist Church.
2. The great need for additional missionaries with ABWE in PNG (Kerowagi in particular).
3. Overcoming cultural barriers in sharing the Gospel with the lost here.
4. Daily strength for life without Tyler.
5. Our individual relationships with Jesus Christ.
6. Good health for all of us (PNG has a lot of new bugs, so it is STILL rough in that respect).
7. Amy and Rachel Prigge as they learn to diagnose and treat illnesses.
8. Graduation and Pastors’ Conference next week.
9. Discernment of God’s will for graduates.
10. 2010 GBBC budget and staff contracts.
11. Students and teachers to finish the year well.
12. Various administrative duties at the college.