Photo of the Week: Preaching the Gospel at Christmas

This past Sunday was a very special Christmas Sunday for us. I had preached in Biwat settlement on a Wednesday night last week, but this was the first time I led a whole Sunday service in Tok Pisin. On this picture, we're actually all singing, but you get the idea.

Note: This is our first of (hopefully) a weekly email. We're only putting the first few on our blog so that you'll get a little taste of what the weekly email might look like. If you haven't received this in your email, you can always add your name to the list here and look forward to next week's photo.

Introducing photo of the week

We are hoping to get a new feature off the ground. We'd like to send out an email once a week with a picture that relates to some aspect of what we're doing in PNG. It might be something related to church life, something about everyday life in Lae, or our latest family picture. We'll publish the first few on our blog too, but after that, it will be e-mail only.

To sign up for our weekly photo, just click here. We do ask that you identify who you are and what your connection is to us (especially if we might not know you personally), so that these emails don't go to just anyone.

Getting settled in Lae

The last few weeks we have finally begun to get settled in Lae.

After POC, we first spent two weeks at the SIL Centre in Ukarumpa (in the highlands of PNG). We really enjoyed the cooler weather, the fresh strawberries, some time to ourselves, and a Reformed Ministries conference where we really began to feel like we’re part of the team. A lot of decisions were made, and there was a good sense of unity among everyone there.

Working hard at the conference.

When we arrived in Lae, we could immediately begin unpacking our boxes that had arrived from Canada – along with a few months’ worth of mail. The house is looking more and more like home.

We have also begun to get involved in church life, getting to know some of the people in the congregation. Francine has gone to women’s Bible study and Tim has joined in some of the church leaders’ meetings.

This past week, the youth have been working on a new brick wall at the back of the church. It’s been a good opportunity for Tim to keep learning more Tok Pisin as he runs around picking up supplies and giving rides to the workers.

Working hard on the new wall at the church building.

This afternoon we went with a group of people from our church to visit the local hospital in Lae. We went there to share God’s word, pray, talk, and hand out some food and toiletries.

This past week we experienced our second 7.0+ earthquake in PNG (we had one while visiting last summer as well). Thankfully, the only effects we noticed afterward were a few bottles that were knocked over in our kitchen.

We continue to watch the political situation in PNG. At the moment we have two men claiming to be prime minister, as well as two governor generals and so on. It looks like things may be coming to some resolution now, but we can’t be certain. It’s our prayer that God will provide a peaceful outcome; we ask that you also continue to pray for stability in PNG.