 |
BURNS NEWSLETTER November 2005
Greetings friends,
How
then shall they call on Him in whom they have not
believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? And
how shall they hear without a preacher? And
how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is
written, how
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and
bring glad
tidings of good things! (Romans 10:14)
“How fast the
year has gone”. How often have we said
that? Well I’m not sure if it seems more
that way
the older one gets but the expression sure does seem familiar for us
this
year. At the end of it all though the
bottom line is that there is a job to do and Paul sums it perfectly
when he
said, “And
how shall they hear without a
preacher?” Contrary to
what many think, the old “mission field” is anything but out of date. In fact with each new generation in those
all to familiar traditional fields much of the church planting needs to
be
revisited. Old Christian teaching that
was supposed to make a difference has only been absorbed into original
animistic beliefs. We often find that
original foundational teaching has either worn away by the persistence
of the
enemy or that it was not a firm foundation.
Perhaps it is time for the church to renew its effort to
“go” and
make disciples... again.
Furlough: Time home has been
full either spending precious hours with our family or catching up with
medical
and equipment needs. We have been
involved in relatively few meetings to share of our ministry and work
in the
Islands but we have been thankful for the few times we have had the
opportunity.
NTM has given us their
blessing to return to Hoskins and continue working in the Islands
Resource
Centre work. Our passage is booked and
we are scheduled to fly to Cairns on December 28th and then
to PNG
on January 5th. We want to
take this opportunity to say thanks to all those who have been there
for us
this year, for your encouragement and support and particularly your
understanding while we undertook this time of renewal.
We thank God for you all.
Provisions: God
is the one who provides all our needs and
nothing is too hard for Him, but several things have happened this year
where
God has provided some special blessings. When
we first arrived home He gave us all our
accommodation and
transport and it has been so good not to worry where we might live or
how we might
get around.
God provided for our
loving family to be present
and made it possible for Johnathan and Candy to spend 6 months in
the
West
during which time He gave us our first grandson, Malachi on March 18th. Then He gave us our
first granddaughter,
Keziah on September 20th.
For the
Resource Centre in
Hoskins God provided us with finance to purchase the long awaited
guillotine
and saddle-stapling machines to ship up to PNG. These machines will make the operation of
producing literature so
much quicker and raise the standard. Praise
God!
Amanda is still working as
the WA youth rep for SIM and Michael has near completed his third year
at
Trinity Theological Seminary. They have
just finished running a Saturday seminar called ‘Seize the Day’ on
mission,
translation, culture and travelling and living in a foreign land. This was a blessing for all that attended.
Tribal Church planting: It has been exciting to follow the outreach happening in the Islands region this year. New Creation to Christ lessons has been taught in the Mengen, Ata and Solong tribes and they are in their thirteenth week with two weeks to go to the “head” of the talk. This is the end of the lessons when the crucifixion and resurrection is taught and is the climax of the teaching. Please pray for these people that they will see their need and place their trust in the finished work of Christ to commit their lives to Him. Myu also is in its twelfth week in the village of Aslingpun.
Our friends the Ebersole family on Tsoi Island are heading home for home assignment after a long time of hard work and much prayer in bringing God’s Word to the Lavongai people. These new believers will be without their missionary families for one year. Please pray they will continue to trust God, be faithful, keep fellowshipping together and continue studying God’s Word to stand strong in Christ.
To
all who came before the Lord on our behalf, for healing and
revitalisation that
we might continue as God’s servants in His service in the Islands
Region for
His glory, thank you so much. Again,
would you please take time to pray for the other folks we have
mentioned here
for God’s kingdom and glory?
Because of Christ,
Trevor & Estelle
 |