Letters from Siawi land!
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Linda Krieg
Mar 21, 2019, 6:40:10 PM3/21/19
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What a joy, when a letter from my right hand man from Siawi-Nokee was able to get a letter out to me, hiking it over the mountains to another village where a mission plane landed. His letter, along with one of the younger Siawi fellows, made its way out to Wewak and into the hands of a missionary friend. That friend then took the time to photo copy the letters and email them to me.
In many ways, the 3 months it took to get to me was similar to the time it used to take us to get our letters from Siawi into the hands of someone back in the USA. Back then, it was the infrequent planes into Siawi plus the long boat ride across the Pacific Ocean that delayed the letters. These days, it is the long journey over the mountains, then the wait for a plane, so that it can finally getting into the hands of someone out in Wewak who can take the time to do the photocopying. Because there are no missionaries living in Iteri (the airstrip through which it exited the jungle), it probably sat there for quite some time.
This letter from Nokee, a church leader, is important because in it he shares some concerns about understanding the Holy Spirit and His work in our lives and also about prayer. There are always so many rumors that float around the jungle, as Satan tries to add little tidbits of falsehood to the truths of God's Word. His tactics haven't changed down through the years. He added to what God had told Eve, when he tricked her into sin and he still uses those subtle lies today to pull God's children into sin and doubting.
From what he said in the letter, someone has told them that there is more information out there about the Holy Spirit and His power than what the missionaries had told them. If that is true, then the church leaders are begging Ron or Tom or Jason (their former missionary teachers) to come back and teach them these further truths.
How thankful I was to be able to tell them that there is a book that has every bit of the information available to man about God's Spirit-and they have it-IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE! Not only that, but I reminded them that Jason Swanson HAD taught them on the the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to His children, taught as he went through Romans and later through 1 Corinthians. No one, not anywhere in the world, has more information on the Holy Spirit and prayer than they do.
Having said that, I recognized that there are helps out there, enabling a person to more easily search through the Scripture, looking for references on these subjects. That brought to mind Nokee's request a few months ago for a concordance. I decided it was time to try to find one for him in Melanesian Pidgin, a language in which he is fairly fluent.
To do that, I needed help from someone on the ground in Wewak, where there is a Christian bookstore. My plea went out to missionaries there, and Ruth Butler, serving with Friends-in-Action mission which has always been a wonderful support to the Siawi ministry, was quick to express willingness to go on the hunt.
While it seemed like a dead end when she checked at the bookstore and was told that the book was last printed in 1985 and has been unavailable in their store for some time, God had it covered. The sales ladies at the store thought maybe one of their other stores might have it, so Ruth called the man over those. "I have the last 3 copies of it on the shelves in my office. If you'd like one of them for the Siawi man, you can have it." When Ruth asked about the price, he replied it was "a gift from Above." Yep, seems that God agrees that Nokee needs a concordance to help him search out Scriptures to study on those subjects.
It was so encouraging to get Ruth's last email with a picture of the concordance and the letters I'd written to Nokee and the other Siawi man printed and in their envelopes.
Now you do have to realize that it may well be another 3 months....or longer...before Nokee has the package containing the concordance and letters. First, there has to be a flight out into their area, near enough for him to hike through the jungle to go get it. Oh-and word has to be gotten to him, that they are there (wherever "there" ends up being), but that can be done on the borrowed short-wave radio (remember those many prayers for them to have a way to communicate with the outside world?).
Please do continue to be in prayer for the believers in Siawi and the church leadership, as they learn to search the Scriptures for their answers, rather than listening to rumors or feeling that only the expat missionaries have the answers.
Thank you so very much for standing with the Siawi people and with me, through your faithful support-whether it be by prayer or finances. God is taking care of His children-there and here. We serve a loving and faithful Father.
Safe in His hands,
Linda
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]
In many ways, the 3 months it took to get to me was similar to the time it used to take us to get our letters from Siawi into the hands of someone back in the USA. Back then, it was the infrequent planes into Siawi plus the long boat ride across the Pacific Ocean that delayed the letters. These days, it is the long journey over the mountains, then the wait for a plane, so that it can finally getting into the hands of someone out in Wewak who can take the time to do the photocopying. Because there are no missionaries living in Iteri (the airstrip through which it exited the jungle), it probably sat there for quite some time.
This letter from Nokee, a church leader, is important because in it he shares some concerns about understanding the Holy Spirit and His work in our lives and also about prayer. There are always so many rumors that float around the jungle, as Satan tries to add little tidbits of falsehood to the truths of God's Word. His tactics haven't changed down through the years. He added to what God had told Eve, when he tricked her into sin and he still uses those subtle lies today to pull God's children into sin and doubting.
From what he said in the letter, someone has told them that there is more information out there about the Holy Spirit and His power than what the missionaries had told them. If that is true, then the church leaders are begging Ron or Tom or Jason (their former missionary teachers) to come back and teach them these further truths.
How thankful I was to be able to tell them that there is a book that has every bit of the information available to man about God's Spirit-and they have it-IN THEIR OWN LANGUAGE! Not only that, but I reminded them that Jason Swanson HAD taught them on the the gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to His children, taught as he went through Romans and later through 1 Corinthians. No one, not anywhere in the world, has more information on the Holy Spirit and prayer than they do.
Having said that, I recognized that there are helps out there, enabling a person to more easily search through the Scripture, looking for references on these subjects. That brought to mind Nokee's request a few months ago for a concordance. I decided it was time to try to find one for him in Melanesian Pidgin, a language in which he is fairly fluent.
To do that, I needed help from someone on the ground in Wewak, where there is a Christian bookstore. My plea went out to missionaries there, and Ruth Butler, serving with Friends-in-Action mission which has always been a wonderful support to the Siawi ministry, was quick to express willingness to go on the hunt.
While it seemed like a dead end when she checked at the bookstore and was told that the book was last printed in 1985 and has been unavailable in their store for some time, God had it covered. The sales ladies at the store thought maybe one of their other stores might have it, so Ruth called the man over those. "I have the last 3 copies of it on the shelves in my office. If you'd like one of them for the Siawi man, you can have it." When Ruth asked about the price, he replied it was "a gift from Above." Yep, seems that God agrees that Nokee needs a concordance to help him search out Scriptures to study on those subjects.
It was so encouraging to get Ruth's last email with a picture of the concordance and the letters I'd written to Nokee and the other Siawi man printed and in their envelopes.
Now you do have to realize that it may well be another 3 months....or longer...before Nokee has the package containing the concordance and letters. First, there has to be a flight out into their area, near enough for him to hike through the jungle to go get it. Oh-and word has to be gotten to him, that they are there (wherever "there" ends up being), but that can be done on the borrowed short-wave radio (remember those many prayers for them to have a way to communicate with the outside world?).
Please do continue to be in prayer for the believers in Siawi and the church leadership, as they learn to search the Scriptures for their answers, rather than listening to rumors or feeling that only the expat missionaries have the answers.
Thank you so very much for standing with the Siawi people and with me, through your faithful support-whether it be by prayer or finances. God is taking care of His children-there and here. We serve a loving and faithful Father.
Safe in His hands,
Linda
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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