New Year, recapitulated resolution
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Linda Krieg
Jan 18, 2019, 12:37:36 PM1/18/19
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In the same boat with your hopes and plans for 2018-still working on the same things in 2019? Actually, I'm not into resolution making, but the things that I knew the Lord wanted me to be investing my time in during 2018 are still there, needing attention in 2019.
Primary focus? Working through editing and refining the Siawi Revelation Bible lessons, as the church pastor/teachers asked me to do. If you think my progress through the same process in the Romans Bible lessons proceeded at a snail's pace, you should see my progress in the Revelation ones. While publicly I list all the doctor appointments as an excuse, the Lord knows that frittering away my time is the bigger reason for delay and dalliance.
I'm realizing now how the Lord must have chuckled to himself when I grandly declared, as we were translating this book, that "While the subject matter may be difficult to explain, that's not our problem. We just need to be faithful to translate the meaning clearly into the Siawi language." Ha! That crow has come home to roost!
Not only is it now my problem to go through the previous missionary-prepared lessons, trying to simplify and clarify the grammar and such so that the Siawi Bible teachers can get a good grasp on them, but there isn't a mother tongue speaker at my beck and call to help with that task. AND my brain seems to rest in a sieve with bits leaking through the little holes with each additional day added to my three score and ten plus years.
Which brings me to a great non-biblical quote from a novel that resonated with me as I read it. In "Mrs. Thistlethwaite and a Shadow of Doubt," J.B. Hawker wrote: "Once we hit that Biblical three score and ten, we go into sudden-death overtime and we never know when the clock will run out." (Psalm 90:10) No, I'm not being morbid-just realizing that, with each passing year, my time to complete the task set before me by the Siawi Bible teachers grows shorter. The Lord has given me certain gifts and abilities with a time limit-an expiration date set my him (Matthew 6:27). The time, the gifts and abilities, including any brain drain caused by aging, are from him and they are enough-making all my excuses null and void.
A tidbit of good news is that I received a letter from my right-hand man, Nokee, recently-one that he had written 6 months ago. Since it had been over a year since I'd heard from him (or any Siawi), the email from Greg (based in Wewak) that included the scanned letter was so very welcome. Nokee had originally written it back in June, but had only been able to get it out to someone in the outside world later. He had added a postscript in November of last year, telling me that he and his wife, Kati have a new little girl, born last January about this time.
I'd hoped for news of how the Romans Bible lessons were working out for them, since they'd been printed and sent in to the upper Sepik back several months ago and should have been in Nokee and the other Bible teacher's hands by the time he wrote. No news on that, but Nokee did say that that church family is still meeting, though it is mostly the women with only a few men still attending. "You are saying the same old things. We've already heard it all" is their excuse for not attending. Have you ever heard that one before? Yep, man's deceitful heart is the same the world over. We're all made from the same clay and face the same lies from Satan.
The letter also included a request for a Bible concordance for English, Melanesian Pidgin, and Greek. That has been a consistent desire of several in the village. While I fear that part of the desire is based on the prestige of owning such a book, Nokee and the others really do know how to use a concordance and would do so. Please be praying with me for wisdom as to whether I should try to find a way to get one or more purchased and sent in to them. Right now, I'm considering finding someone to buy 2 concordances and asking that they be placed in the church library (a metal drum, to thwart rats, cockroaches, and termites-all of whom consider books a necessary part of their diet). I don't know if the battery powered lights that we left with them are still working-or the old 12 volt batteries that are required to power them; but if they are, then a lighted area would help if someone wanted to study at night. (More likely, they'd need to be used during the daylight hours.)
And-before all the letters pour in, decrying my hesitation-please understand: It is really easy for people from a culture where you can actually demand anyone with more than you to hand over whatever thing of theirs that you desire to become dependent on others rather than on God. You may have heard the term, rice Christians. Those are people who have declared that they are Christians because they want the benefits that they can get as part of the fold. (Actually, I've seen that operating here in the USA, too-as I've seen individuals who seem more interested in what they can get for free, if they declare themselves a Christian-again, human nature is the same, the world over. We are all descendants of Adam.)
As for myself, moving into the new year brings much of the same as the past one. After having many many years of being of little benefit to the medical establishment's financial gain, that has changed. Hmm, actually, from 1965-1982, our two asthmatic children enabled us to provide support to a number of doctors and such. But from 1983-2012, my contributions were very sporadic, as the Lord gave me a naturally healthy constitution. That was a tremendous blessing, as I lived buried deeply in the PNG jungle, far from medical help.
The further I move past that three score and ten year average allotment given in Psalm 90, the financial benefit to doctors has gone up. Thankfully, the Lord hasn't asked me to endure constant pain or debilitating illness, though. Just various aggravations, like loss of visual acuity, hearing degradation, joints creaking a bit, etc.-all the various normal processes of the body's aging.
The surgery on my jaw was a success-thankfully without breakage of the bone. Now I'm waiting impatiently for the surgeon's okay to get fitted with new dentures so that I can again chew. Until then, my diet consists of liquids, purees and slurries. (While vegetables, noodles, and General Tso's chicken stir-fried together is delightful as a main meal, processed into a slurry-not so much.) While I bemoan not being able to enjoy all the raw fruits and vegetables that were my main diet, and battle the pounds that are creeping back on because of their loss, my whining is shown to be shameful, as I see so many others with so much greater burdens to bear.
Thank you for standing so faithfully with the Siawi people and me-through your prayers, finances, and encouragement. What a blessing you are! May the Lord bless and encourage your heart, as you serve him in your own neighborhood, as well as throughout the world, as you stand with me and other missionaries.
Love and appreciate you,
Linda
Linda_Krieg(at)ntm.org
232 Brazil Court, Sanford, FL 32771
Ethnos360 Hdqts: 312 W 1st St, Sanford, FL 32771
www.ethnos360.org<http://www.ntm.org/>
[https://ethnos360.org/logo/ethnos360-email-signature-2017-04-30.png]
Primary focus? Working through editing and refining the Siawi Revelation Bible lessons, as the church pastor/teachers asked me to do. If you think my progress through the same process in the Romans Bible lessons proceeded at a snail's pace, you should see my progress in the Revelation ones. While publicly I list all the doctor appointments as an excuse, the Lord knows that frittering away my time is the bigger reason for delay and dalliance.
I'm realizing now how the Lord must have chuckled to himself when I grandly declared, as we were translating this book, that "While the subject matter may be difficult to explain, that's not our problem. We just need to be faithful to translate the meaning clearly into the Siawi language." Ha! That crow has come home to roost!
Not only is it now my problem to go through the previous missionary-prepared lessons, trying to simplify and clarify the grammar and such so that the Siawi Bible teachers can get a good grasp on them, but there isn't a mother tongue speaker at my beck and call to help with that task. AND my brain seems to rest in a sieve with bits leaking through the little holes with each additional day added to my three score and ten plus years.
Which brings me to a great non-biblical quote from a novel that resonated with me as I read it. In "Mrs. Thistlethwaite and a Shadow of Doubt," J.B. Hawker wrote: "Once we hit that Biblical three score and ten, we go into sudden-death overtime and we never know when the clock will run out." (Psalm 90:10) No, I'm not being morbid-just realizing that, with each passing year, my time to complete the task set before me by the Siawi Bible teachers grows shorter. The Lord has given me certain gifts and abilities with a time limit-an expiration date set my him (Matthew 6:27). The time, the gifts and abilities, including any brain drain caused by aging, are from him and they are enough-making all my excuses null and void.
A tidbit of good news is that I received a letter from my right-hand man, Nokee, recently-one that he had written 6 months ago. Since it had been over a year since I'd heard from him (or any Siawi), the email from Greg (based in Wewak) that included the scanned letter was so very welcome. Nokee had originally written it back in June, but had only been able to get it out to someone in the outside world later. He had added a postscript in November of last year, telling me that he and his wife, Kati have a new little girl, born last January about this time.
I'd hoped for news of how the Romans Bible lessons were working out for them, since they'd been printed and sent in to the upper Sepik back several months ago and should have been in Nokee and the other Bible teacher's hands by the time he wrote. No news on that, but Nokee did say that that church family is still meeting, though it is mostly the women with only a few men still attending. "You are saying the same old things. We've already heard it all" is their excuse for not attending. Have you ever heard that one before? Yep, man's deceitful heart is the same the world over. We're all made from the same clay and face the same lies from Satan.
The letter also included a request for a Bible concordance for English, Melanesian Pidgin, and Greek. That has been a consistent desire of several in the village. While I fear that part of the desire is based on the prestige of owning such a book, Nokee and the others really do know how to use a concordance and would do so. Please be praying with me for wisdom as to whether I should try to find a way to get one or more purchased and sent in to them. Right now, I'm considering finding someone to buy 2 concordances and asking that they be placed in the church library (a metal drum, to thwart rats, cockroaches, and termites-all of whom consider books a necessary part of their diet). I don't know if the battery powered lights that we left with them are still working-or the old 12 volt batteries that are required to power them; but if they are, then a lighted area would help if someone wanted to study at night. (More likely, they'd need to be used during the daylight hours.)
And-before all the letters pour in, decrying my hesitation-please understand: It is really easy for people from a culture where you can actually demand anyone with more than you to hand over whatever thing of theirs that you desire to become dependent on others rather than on God. You may have heard the term, rice Christians. Those are people who have declared that they are Christians because they want the benefits that they can get as part of the fold. (Actually, I've seen that operating here in the USA, too-as I've seen individuals who seem more interested in what they can get for free, if they declare themselves a Christian-again, human nature is the same, the world over. We are all descendants of Adam.)
As for myself, moving into the new year brings much of the same as the past one. After having many many years of being of little benefit to the medical establishment's financial gain, that has changed. Hmm, actually, from 1965-1982, our two asthmatic children enabled us to provide support to a number of doctors and such. But from 1983-2012, my contributions were very sporadic, as the Lord gave me a naturally healthy constitution. That was a tremendous blessing, as I lived buried deeply in the PNG jungle, far from medical help.
The further I move past that three score and ten year average allotment given in Psalm 90, the financial benefit to doctors has gone up. Thankfully, the Lord hasn't asked me to endure constant pain or debilitating illness, though. Just various aggravations, like loss of visual acuity, hearing degradation, joints creaking a bit, etc.-all the various normal processes of the body's aging.
The surgery on my jaw was a success-thankfully without breakage of the bone. Now I'm waiting impatiently for the surgeon's okay to get fitted with new dentures so that I can again chew. Until then, my diet consists of liquids, purees and slurries. (While vegetables, noodles, and General Tso's chicken stir-fried together is delightful as a main meal, processed into a slurry-not so much.) While I bemoan not being able to enjoy all the raw fruits and vegetables that were my main diet, and battle the pounds that are creeping back on because of their loss, my whining is shown to be shameful, as I see so many others with so much greater burdens to bear.
Thank you for standing so faithfully with the Siawi people and me-through your prayers, finances, and encouragement. What a blessing you are! May the Lord bless and encourage your heart, as you serve him in your own neighborhood, as well as throughout the world, as you stand with me and other missionaries.
Love and appreciate you,
Linda
Linda_Krieg(at)ntm.org
232 Brazil Court, Sanford, FL 32771
Ethnos360 Hdqts: 312 W 1st St, Sanford, FL 32771
www.ethnos360.org<http://www.ntm.org/>
[https://ethnos360.org/logo/ethnos360-email-signature-2017-04-30.png]
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