Lightbulbs
“I believe Jesus died for my sins, but lets say I commit a sin right now, and then I walk down to the road, I get hit by a car, and I die. Would I go to heaven or hell?,“ I asked Josephine at the conclusion of our Bible study, along with many other questions to gauge her understanding of the truths we had learned in God’s Word. “You would go to hell", “ Josephine quickly responded.” My heart sunk. “You would go to hell,” she said, “because you didn’t confess your sin to God before you died.”
“After all these months of studying scripture, how is she still missing it?” I thought to myself.” She has heard the truth over and over, there is nothing we can do to be made right before God, only by God’s grace has he made the way for us to be made right in his eyes.
“So is it belief or is it confessing our sins that gets us to heaven? Is is Jesus or is it us?” I asked questions to help her see the contradiction in her belief. We went through some illustrations of how Jesus paid ALL our sin debt, so there is nothing more for us to pay. If we have a debt in court from a crime we committed and we go to the judge and we tell them we are so sorry for what we did, would the judge say you don’t have to pay the fee anymore?” “No,” Josephine said, “it’s good to say sorry, but you would still owe the money.” “Now lets say that a man comes and pays the debt you owe. What will the judge say when you come to pay your debt? “The judge would say your debt is paid,” Josephine responded. “So how much more debt is there for you to pay?” “None, she responded.” “And what would your response be to the guy who paid your debt for you?” I asked. “I would be so thankful, I would hug him, I would want to help him in whatever ways I could, “Josephine responded. “Exactly,” I told her. “Jesus paid all our debt, there is NONE left for us to pay. Our good works, or us serving Jesus is our response to what he has done for us. It doesn’t pay our sin debt.”
The lightbulbs were turning on, I could see in her face. “Your talk picture/illustration, is clear. Now I get it.” She responded. “It’s just belief that gets you to heaven, and your good works come later.”
At this point, little Wylo, her son, came and was clinging to his mom. I said, “Wylo is your son forever! There is nothing he can do, no amount of wrong things he can do that could make him not your son anymore. That is how it is with God. When we believe in Jesus, we are his children, and no matter what we do, we will always be his kids.”
She started to understand these truths and they are reflected in her testimony video. However, please PRAY that God, through His Holy Spirit, would affirm these truths more and more in her heart, mind, and soul.
Comprehensive Survey
THIS MORNING, Luke, our co-worker Nathan, Ralf, a missionary to a neighboring people group Dinangat, along with two Dinangat believers all flew into the people group we are looking at moving into. They will spend a week there, hiking to many of the villages to spend time with as many people as they can. They will be explaining what we would be coming to do: learn their language and culture, teach them how to read and write in their language, and translate and teach them the word of God. They will also be gauging their interest in receiving us and God’s Word in their own language. Please pray that God would be softening the people’s hearts to receive us and the gospel, for safety and strength as they travel and hike through the mountains, and for clear direction if this is the people group God would have us live among and minister to.
Central Area Conference
We recently got to be apart our first annual Central Area Conference. This is for all missionaries with our organization who serve in the central region of Papua New Guinea. A team came from one of the missionaries churches to put on a vacation Bible school for the kids, lead worship, and give us some encouraging messages on the importance of working from rest, instead of working to earn rest. Rest is a gift from God and when we choose to rest, we are acknowledging that we have limits and He does not, and remembering to continually depend on Him as our source. When we rest, we are also choosing to spend time focusing on Him, which makes our service all the more glorifying to God when we are delighting in Him and in awe of Him.
Ladies Retreat
Jess got to go on a ladies retreat with other missionaries and reflect on and process with the Lord our first year and a half in PNG. It was a good reminder of the importance of processing everything with the Lord and how he encourages, comforts, teaches, and strengthens our faith when we take the time to do that. It was also nice to fellowship with and get to know other missionary women.
Giving Opportunity
Prayer and Praise
Praise the Lord for Josephine’s salvation! We can rejoice alongside the angels in heaven over a new sister in Christ.
Please pray that the Holy Spirit would be affirming the truths of the gospel in Josephine’s heart, mind, and soul.
Please pray for Josephine’s husband, Jonah who is sick with tuberculosis.
Praise the Lord for Jess’ time at a ladies retreat this past week. She had a great time of processing our first year and half on the mission field alongside other ladies.
Praise the Lord for helping us work out many logistical nightmares of getting our housebuilding materials into the tribe. The Lord has granted us favor with a company right on the airstrip at the airport in a town called Lae that we could use as a staging location for shuttling materials into the tribe. They said since we are doing God’s work, they will help us out for FREE.
Please pray for the guys on the comprehensive survey this week. For safety, clear communication, and for a clear answer from the Lord if this is the people group he would have us live among and minister to.
Pray for our co-workers the Weavers who are back in the US for home assignment. We are eagerly awaiting their return and are praying that their family is refreshed during this time.
Please pray for Peter as he grows in his faith. Pray for Peter’s wife Julie as well and for their marriage.
Pray for the continued strengthening of our walks with the Lord as well as our marriage.
