Sepla came to our door two days ago asking for an egg. Her baby boy was very sick and she needed the leaders to pray over an egg so they could confess any wrong they had done, eat it, and Alfons could be released from the sickness. Zach explained to her that this practice is not from God, and therefore has no power. He got Eki and the two of them went to Sepla's house to pray to God that her baby might get well. Sepla is a good example of the syncretistic thinking prevalent here. She attends church faithfully, but she holds on to many animistic beliefs. A very imbedded core belief is that sickness can be caused by the bad thoughts of a wronged person, or in some cases: a sorcerer who is actually intent on evil. Sadly, Alfons died yesterday afternoon. The leaders asked Zach to speak at their vigil in the evening and he shared two things. First, he read from Psalm 139 and explained that Alfons lived exactly the number of days that God had decided. God is in control of life and death. Second, he shared the story of David and Bathsheba's baby dying in 2 Samuel 12. There, the Lord is in control of everything. He is the one who passes over David's sin and gives the child a sickness. God is the one to whom David prays while the baby is alive and worships when he dies. Zach pointed out at the end that David says that someday he will go to him, but his baby boy will not return to him. From this text, Zach explained that Alfons' spirit isn't wandering around on the earth! David believes the child is in heaven where someday David will be. Zach said he believes Alfons is in heaven, not because he was good, but because God is merciful. What we also need to consider, Zach explained, is if WE will someday be with God. He shared the gospel with them and encouraged them to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus for forgiveness. Some of those attending last night, like Sepla's husband Bui, never attend Zach's teaching and therefore didn't know this good news. Please pray for Sepla and her husband Bui.

This girl is three today! We celebrated with cake and presents and phone calls. Sadly, she had a tummy bug, so she spent much of the day heading back to bed to rest, but true to character, she was a happy girl nonetheless.

As you may have read in our email update, we were able to host Scott Maxwell and Uriah earlier this month!

This is Oliver and I am writing my first blog. Today Jude and I went on a hike with my dad's language helper, Giye, and his sons. We hiked from our house to Giye's pig house. A pig house is a second hut they build to look after their pigs.

When our boys learned to read, we encouraged them with the words of our pastor: "Now you can hear from God yourself!" Learning to read means we can read God's Word, the Bible. What's why we need a strong literacy program here in the village! Oliver began reading the Bible right after his sixth birthday: February 2020, with a Bible given to him by his Aunt Sandy. In these 4 and a half years, he has plodded well, and on the 18th of October, 2024 he read the last chapter of Revelation! This is cause for celebration in our family. He had picked out a new Bible in the US and we gifted that to him and ate cake. The next morning, he began his second reading through the Bible. How different his understanding of Genesis must be at ten years old versus six!

Our mission organization, FinisTerre, recently sent a new family to do ministry in Madang. The Ruscios only arrived in PNG in July, so they are just starting to learn PNG culture and the trade language. As part of their orientation, they came up to stay in the bush for a week. We SO enjoyed getting to know them. Frank and Jacklyn have three boys and a girl, so it was a fun week for our kids, too! Eki gave them a proper welcome:

Much has happened in the last two months. Zach, Bryan Twombly, and Brett Stuart flew to the village in May for Zach's LAST build trip. They finished plumbing, painted the whole house, finished cabinets, and moved all our personal bins and furniture inside.

Happy birthday to Jude! Jude is the man. Quite literally. Our first born officially no longer qualifies for children’s fares on airlines or anywhere else such discounts are offered. He is certainly growing—now a towering 1,486mm (that’s 4 feet 10.5 inches for those not in the metric world). Jude does everything at full speed. He reacts quick to situations (too quick at times). And his reactions are big, be it big joy or big disappointment. He reads at blinding speeds and seems to finish a book a day. His consumption of food has started to rival his dad’s. He loves spice and lots of it — he’ll add buffalo or sriracha sauce to just about anything. He loves salt, butter, tacos, dessert, and dreaming about American fast food. Jude is a lover of people and adventure. He is quick to make friends with anyone his age, and usually leads the charge in whatever shenanigans they set their mind to. He notices when people are happy or hurting and intuitively knows how to sympathize. He has embraced life next the ocean with all the exploring, fishing, and snorkeling it has to offer. Jude is also growing in wisdom. He reads the Bible every morning and thinks deeply about eternal things. It has been so exciting to see the Lord growing Jude in his faith and repentance — especially as Jude faces the challenges of living overseas with a greater understanding of the costs. We love this buddy!

Thank you for praying for trip 9. The team from Countryside in TX were able to do so much! It was not only productive, but spiritually encouraging to have those guys visit and help.