Is That A “Pot Hole” Or A Canyon?……
( This story took place on the morning of Febraury 11, 2006.)


As I woke up this morning, the rain was still falling. We are in the midst of a late rainy season. I left the house about 7:00am. From all the rain, our road is getting worse and worse. I came upon some, “potholes”, that were deeper than my truck and four times the length of it, with no way around them. For a second, I though I was in northern Arizona looking at the Grand Canyon. :) (FYI, our road is a dirt road, no pavement.) I was concerned; I would not be able to make it to the village of Kudukudu because of the rain. There are two rivers to cross that do not have bridges, and with all the rain lately, they have been difficult to cross. (Two weeks ago, I was coming back from the village of Wilo, and when I came to one river, I asked the man with me if he thought it was okay to cross. The river was very swollen from the rain. He said, “Yes”, so I drove in. We both quickly looked at each other, as the river came over my hood!!!!!!!!! I thought we were going to be swept away, or have the truck die from water going into the air cleaner. The deep part only lasted for a few feet and then the river was then just above my bumper. We made it across and I expected my engine to start miss-firing. It never did! Praise the Lord!). The rivers on this day were fine, so I was able to make it into the village.

Upon arrival, I spent the first hour working some discipleship with Len. Len was the very first man saved in the work. I will be posting later an amazing story of how the Lord led in the start of the work in Kudukudu. Len played a key role in that. After discipleship, it was time for visits in the village.

On this day, I have one visit that I have been praying about for some time. I am going to see a man named, Joel. Joel’s wife, (Rose,) was saved a few weeks back. She had been coming to services off an on for over a year, and just a few weeks ago she trusted Jesus Christ as her Savior! However, Joel would not come to services during this time. I knew Rose was married, but I had no idea who her husband was, until the day she was saved. The day Rose accepted Christ, her husband was in church that day. I did not know yet that this “visitor” was Rose’s husband. (Here in PNG the families do not sit together. All the men sit one side, and all the ladies sit on the other side.) I did notice that while preaching, Joel was listening intently.

Rose told me the Sunday she was saved, (the first Sunday Joel came to church), that they came to church as a last effort to save their marriage. She said, that Sunday morning she decided to leave him, and go back to her home village. I am so glad they came to church!!! AMEN!!! The devil not only lost his attempt to destroy a marriage, he lost one soul as well that Sunday morning. However he still had Joel. I parked my truck a few feet in the bush and begin the walk to Joel’s and Roses home (bush hut). Due to the rain the ground is very muddy and slippery. It is not a long walk at all. I would say about 200 yards from the road.

I had previously told Joel I wanted to come by and see him at this time. I had prayed plenty, in the two weeks leading up to this, that he would be there. Many times when I have set a time to visit someone, they head off into the bush. Joel was there. He greeted me as I was walking up a small muddy hill to his home. Rose then came behind with the children. We sat down and I made some “small talk”, and then went into the gospel. (By the way, the homes here are for sleeping. You do not go inside them for visits. The socializing is done outside.) Joel was listening intently. A light rain was falling, and one large pig began making a disturbance. A quick prayer took care of that. Then one of the children began crying. Again, after a quick silent prayer, the child calmed down. The battle was clearly on for the soul of this man. As I was talking with Joel, he realized that if he died right then he would go to Hell. He had now seen the wages of his sin in the Bible. I then took him to Jesus Christ. I showed what it meant when Jesus died on the cross and rose again. How Christ took all of his sin and freely offers His righteousness to him, if he would repent and believe on Jesus Christ. After talking for some time, I asked if he would like to put his faith in Christ. He was silent and this worried me. I expected a quick, “yes”. I began praying for him. It was silent. I was saying nothing, just praying. I wanted the next words to come from him. I wanted his decision to be only from him. He then looked at me, and said “Yes”. AMEN! As he prayed to trust Christ, his voice crackled from emotion. He did not cry, but he did wipe his eyes as they teared up. Now the devil had lost another! After he prayed, all three of us rejoiced, Joel, Rose and I. Oh the joy of seeing one birthed into the family of God! I then spent some more time with them giving them marital advice. The devil will begin working hard now at destroying their marriage. Pray for Rose and Joel, brand new Christians, as they began their new life in Christ.

Missionary/Pastor
Terry McGovern