Two Tires!

Yesterday, my family I and headed out for literacy class and mid-week service. It ended up being a pretty eventful trip, but none the less normal for PNG. We had to leave a little early as this was the first day of the literacy course for the Christians at Bible Baptist. Many of those who have trusted Christ can not read or write. This is one reason why spiritual growth is some what impeded. They need to be able to read the Bible for themselves. (This is the second time we are going through a literacy course.) However, we would never make it to church for the class or services. As we left, the weather was not good. It had been raining for almost one full day, and I knew the rivers would be high. During rains like this the rivers can become impassable. Two of the rivers have no bridge at all and I have to drive right through the river. I was not to the river yet, and was asking the Lord if we should just turn around and go back. About that time, a tire went flat. I pulled over and as I got out I noticed it was not one tire that was flat, but two tires! Both my back tires took nails. (Many of the youth put old nails in the road as a form of entertainment. I really need to introduce a baseball and glove to the young people!) Now I had a problem, I only have one spare tire and I am 10 kilometers from home and it is pouring rain. As Daniel and I were assessing the situation (by the way this day was Daniel's sixteenth birthday) the villagers began to come over. I was in a village called Namarodu. They all knew I was the missionary and wanted to help if they could. One of the ladies there was a lady whom I had witnessed to a few years ago. I met her and her husband in the haus sik. They were their with there baby who had malaria. I prayed with them and gave the gospel. Daniel and I decided to change the "worst tire." The Lord allowed for one tire to have a little air remaining. I had a gauge with me, and there was not enough air in it to move the gauge, but the rim was not on the ground. Since the rim was not on the ground, that was the better tire.We changed the one tire, and headed back. Daniel and I were soaked and muddy. I prayed the Lord will allow us to make it back. We took it easy, and the bad tire held all the way home. I was amazed. I did no damage to the tire or rim either. The Lord allowed us to return without having to walk back in the rain. The rain still has not stopped and that was 24 hours ago. I was able to get the two tires repaired at one of our “tire shops.” Getting a tire repaired here is an adventure in itself, as there is no real equipment to do it, but they fix tires everyday.

The Lord is good and we rejoice in his care and protection over us. I think the Lord was making sure I did not try and cross any of the rivers!!

Tsunami

We had a Tsunami hit us this past Tuesday night. It was a series of three waves that hit back to back. By my estimations each wave was around 35 miles long, with a possible fourth wave about half that size. I live in a place called Namatanai. My house is less than a quarter of a mile from the ocean, but we are on top of a hill. The village next us had several houses destroyed. These are bush houses so it does not take much. The village where I started the church was hit hard, and had three houses taken into the ocean. The church sits close to the ocean as well and the ocean did come into the church but only a few feet. Had the ocean went another 30 feet inside it would have carried our pews away. The picture, to the left, shows how close our church is to the ocean. The picture was taken three years ago when I had several men from my home church come and help build a church house. Our church house was not damaged but our church ground was changed. Parts of the ground are no longer there! The ocean swept it away! Where I used to baptize, it is now nothing but sand. It was chest deep water!

There has only been one death reported from the three waves. A small child was taken out to sea. There were other children who needed to be rescued though. Some lost their live stock, pigs. The tsunami was very small compared to the major one that hit our neighbor Indonesia two years ago, but it was still destructive. It was a reminder to the people on the island how fast life can end. I preached in a village Friday night called Wilo, where I started a mission work. There were two who made professions of faith. This village was not hit by the Tsunami, but they were only a few miles away from where the tsunami had hit.

Praise the Lord for his protection. When you live on a small island that is only a mile or two wide in most parts, you often think about tsunamis. For the Christian, though, we know that God is in control, and that nothing happens to us without his permission. Romans 8:28.

Update On "Truck Trouble."

Back On January 8th, I blogged about "Truck Trouble." My truck is still out, awaiting a new head! However, several of my supporting churches sent funds to help me purchase another vehicle. Without the Lord using them, I would not have been able to get another vehicle. I wanted to say thank you to them and to those who prayed that the Lord would help us. The picture is of the 1993 Land Cruiser we were able to purchase. Here is a list of the churches that sent funds to help us.





Independent Baptist Church of Anchorage AK (My home/sending church)
Bible Baptist Church - Fairbanks, AK
Pilgrims Baptist Church - Wasilla, AK
Homer Independent Baptist Church - Homer, AK
Valley Baptist Tabernacle - Wasillia AK
Landmark Baptist Church - Lineville, Alabama
South Side Baptist Church - Tampa, Florida
Harvest Baptist Church - Hagerstown, MD
Faith Baptist - Misawa, Japan
Immanuel Baptist Church - Kenai, AK
Grace Bible Baptist - Leesburg, Florida

Now that the Lord has blessed us with another vehicle, the ministry is back to full throttle. During the time we had no vehicle, I was only able to preach on Sunday's. (On Sundays, I would hire a vehicle from a trade store owner.) All other ministries had stopped. (Discipleship, Bible Institute, mid week, village visitation, etc...) During that time we were praying the Lord would supply us the funds for another vehicle, and, after talking with my Pastor, I sent out a prayer letter about our situation to our supporting churches. The Lord met our need in an amazing way! My family and I were amazed at the funds the Lord provided. I knew we needed around $18,000 to find a decent used 4x4. Vehicles here are very expensive. We were praying for $18,000 and a little over $18,000 came in!

With this new vehicle, my family we will have seats now as as well! That was not the case with my truck.