Update and Continued Prayer

 

As I (Phyllis) sit to write this evening, I am rejoicing and yet heavy hearted all at the same time.  To God be the glory, our family is finished with quarantine, and we are free to go and come from our house now…we are thankful for that!!! 

However, there is also heaviness around us and in us as we see and know people who are living in turmoil amid all the election upheaval here in Papua New Guinea.  There are no easy answers.  Homes are being burned, lives are being uprooted, and belongings are being ransacked and stolen as the fighting continues.  Please pray for wisdom for us as we desire to help and show a different way!  Our God is ABLE, and this is a part of why we are here….people won’t always hear our words, BUT they can see our lives and the inner peace we can maintain while in the midst of conflict around us.  Please pray for opportunities to share JESUS….HE is the Difference Maker!!!

A woman within the body of believers in our area died unexpectedly of a brain aneurism this past week.   Today, Brian and I, along with our church family went to the home of this woman’s now widower and offered some food and a fellowship of tears while the grief is still afresh.  Grief looks different here in PNG.  It is much more openly demonstrative, which means people are free to wail and cry as they sit with the family and share the loss.  Please pray for this pastor and his family as they say good-bye to a beloved wife, mother and oh, so much more!  Please pray that people remember the hope they have in Jesus and lives are saved as a result of this woman’s faithful testimony.  Please pray for the husband and his children as they grieve.

There are times that reality seems bleak at best…BUT in times of great trial or even small trial, it is a benefit and a game changer if we can cling to the redemptive power of Christ!!!  Jesus died.  He was brutally beaten and mocked mercilessly.  He was tried as a criminal when His motive was to save….talk about being misunderstood!  I find strength and encouragement to face my menial trials today when I keep in mind that there is NO thing in this life that is beYOND the power of redemption!!!

Have you experienced the redemptive power of Our Savior, Jesus Christ?  Let me encourage and remind you today that He stands ready and waiting to bring YOU into His sheepfold if you “confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…” (Rom. 10:9).