Important Notice!  We do not support or agree with the the banner ad above or the Tripod advertisements that automatically appear without our consent on our website!

March 28, 2000


Back Home Up Next

Dear Friends and Family,

The first time I knew something was wrong was when some kids came running around the corner of the house and stopped just outside our office. Breathing heavily, half laughing and half talking excitedly they poked their heads around the corner looking towards the road leading up to our house. Through snatches of conversation I could hear them say, "Here he comes, here comes the drunk guy!"

Sure enough, within the minute the burly voice of a drunk could be heard shouting its demands throughout the neighborhood punctuated by the loud crashing of rocks being thrown against metal gates, fences, walls, and on top of people's roofs. Then abruptly the voice stopped and seconds later the sound of running feet outside my window. I looked out the window, the kids long gone, just in time to see my land lord rushing past between our two neighbor's houses up towards Tim's (Whatley's) house. The drunk was close on his heels but stopped between the two houses long enough to cut down some of the clotheslines with the sickle he was carrying. He definitely knew how to use it. I was just hoping our landlord could maintain his lead.

My brother-in-law quickly earned the reputation for being the bravest man in the community. He actually went out and talked with the drunk. According to legend, which I imagine will continue to grow throughout the years, Tim actually shook hands with the man, thus wowing the rest of us peering out between the curtains.

Eventually we called a friend of ours who works with the police. He arrived a few minutes later and not long after that things began to calm down a bit. When we felt it was safe we went outside to get a better look at what was happening. When the drunk saw us, he became so enraged that he tore a Singkong plant stalk off (1 inch dia.) and made to come for us. When he did so, I will never forget what he shouted at us. He shouted, "Quit looking a me in this condition!"

It almost struck me as odd -- almost a paradox. How could a drunk who has all but lost leave of his senses, feel self conscious? The two don't go together. Then again, how would we feel, as children of God, if every thought, motive, and intent of our heart was exposed for analysis by the public. We would probably echo this man's pleas.-- "Don't stare at me in this condition!"

This is the beauty of the work of Christ in our lives. It starts on the inside -- justification -- being clothed in Christ's righteousness then works out to all areas of our thoughts and actions. It's the real thing -- not a whitewashed graves filled with dead men's bones like the Pharisees had to offer.

Part of what we have been doing over this last year has been surveying different parts of Irian. Often we are in villages where evangelistic work has been done, perhaps even church buildings already erected. At times it is quite difficult to look past the facade and know what work still needs to be done. The end of this month holds a series of meetings for us that will play a significant role in where we will be ministering in the years ahead. We value and covet your prayers as we put together some strategies for where NTM would like to work according to the data we have been able to gather so far.

In the meantime the Lord has been giving us some wonderful opportunities to be involved in His work here in Irian. About a week ago I had the chance to go on a quick overnight survey with a couple of SIL linguists to the village of Ormu. The village was first evangelized with the gospel in 1909. My job was to record the missiology of the village while they took care of getting language samples and analyzing it.

This village is located in a cove surrounded by steep rock walls. I felt like we were pulling into Gilligan's Island as we approached. Unfortunately the waves were too big preventing us from pulling right up on the beach. Instead, they sent out a small dugout to bring us in to the shore. I took one look at the dugout, one look at the waves, and decided that it would be better for everyone if I just swam ashore. I needed cooling off anyway.

There were a couple of guys with us who were visiting from Alaska. They decided to swim ashore as well as soon as we could convince them that they wouldn't die in 30 sec. from hypothermia. Right after the first one had been deposited on the shore by a fairly good size wave, He stood up and started to brush himself off, not paying attention to the next wave that was building behind him. I tried to shout a warning, but it was too late. The wave totally engulfed him and he disappeared in a wall of surf. Believe it or not when the water receded, he was still standing.

His fame quickly spread into the village before us. He, being a bachelor, quickly won the hearts of all the village maidens. The head man in the village said, "My daughter saw you walk on water. Anyone who can do that needs to marry my daughter." Out of the thoughtfulness of our hearts, we tried to arrange things for him, but our visitor would hear nothing of it.

Carolyn has had some neat ministry opportunities as well. She continues to be involved with a local kids club working with several other missionary ladies. They have a great attendance of kids and some real good chances to have a part in their lives. This week she taught on the fruit of the Spirit. I got a chuckle out of the props she was putting together. She was using a small banana tree with local tropical fruits, most of which I had never heard of before I got here. I guess in the States the Banana tree could be exchanged for an apple tree. The peach for the mango. The strawberry for the blimbing. The cherry for the rambutan. -- You have to use what will speak to their hearts. Thank you so much for praying for her in this ministry.

On a final note, and I know this is getting rather long (you may want to print this and read it in segments), recently I had the neat opportunity to spend some time with a Muslim friend. In the course of our conversation he mentioned that he liked to watch porno movies every once in a while. I mentioned that in my "religion" that would be considered a sin, then asked how it is perceived by his religion. He said, "Oh yes, we consider it a sin too. However, it is just a small sin and very easy to repent of when we are done."

What a revealing statement! Be praying that he will come to see himself as a sinner - regardless of whether the sin is big or small - and that he will realize his hopelessly lost condition apart from Jesus Christ.

A lot is happening. We sure do appreciate your prayers especially during these upcoming meetings. We will keep you posted as things develop. Please let us know the latest happenings in your lives so we can be praying with you as we grow together in Christ.

Your Bro.,

Stephen for Carolyn and the girls.