**This is the email update we received from our friends, the Markleys, who are working in a tribe in Papua New Guinea. They began teaching this week...please keep these missionaries in your prayers as well and the Dinangat people group! Thanks so much!
“Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens, May your glory shine over all the earth.”
Ps. 108:5
Dear Praying Friends,
It rained all last night. Somewhere around 3:30 a.m. I woke up to the worrisome drip dripping sound on our metal roof, and begged the Lord again for good weather for our meetings which would be held outside. Even now as I type, it is pouring out and a hot cup of coffee sounds really good. But guess what? The teaching started at 7:30 this morning and ended around 8:45, and not a drop fell from the sky! This probably comes as no surprise to most of you, for you have been right there with us, praying and bringing the Dinangat people and our team before the Lord, pleading with Him on our behalf. On this, the first day of the Bible teaching in the Dinangat language, we can say with confidence that God has heard your prayers, and He has answered abundantly!
It looks like the entire village showed up! We estimate about 130-150 were there, including friends from on top of the mountain who haven’t been in the village for a very long time. You cannot imagine the sense of joy we all felt, as we watched more and more arriving to our little knoll on the hill that had been designated as the teaching area. We began our training for this moment in 1999. This is what we have come for!
Our co-worker, Gary, started today’s lesson with just a brief history of the Bible’s origin. In the middle of the lesson, the rest of the team got up and we all gave short testimonies of how we came to know the Bible was true and that we each believe in its ultimate authenticity and authority. Even though this group of people has had a lot of exposure to the Bible in the trade language, there are many, many heretical beliefs out there, (not to mention the added-in animistic beliefs) and going back to the beginning, teaching through God’s character, the truth about sin, God’s love and grace in His dealings with the Israelites, all the way up to the Cross and beyond, is the only way to root out all of those false beliefs and by God’s grace replace them with the clear understanding of the Gospel of Christ. I will lay out the schedule of this weeks’ teaching below so can follow along and know what truth’s the people will be challenged with weekly.
Yesterday, we strung up a time line of beads that is over a hundred feet long. There is one white bead for every year, a red bead to mark every hundredth year, and a larger blue one to mark every thousandth year of our world’s existence. We will use this time line to pinpoint certain events in Bible history. Many people here had no idea that the earth was that old (praise the Lord the evolutionists have no reign here!) We also used it to point out when the Bible first came to America, Germany, Papua New Guinea, and that now, in 2008, it is finally coming to the Dinangat people! One woman remarked that she couldn’t understand why it has taken so long for the Bible to come to them. The people seem to be very excited to come hear this important teaching! After the lesson, Ralf asked a few review questions and then opened it up for other questions. In this shy, reserved community, we weren’t expecting much, but we were amazed and excited to see several men speaking up and asking questions; this is unheard of in this culture!
Jeremiah is also busy making audio tapes of the all lessons for the people to review in their homes. We have handed out special hand crank players for them to use, since most of them do not have batteries. We are praying this will be an effective tool for review along with printed summaries of the lessons for those who can read.
We know God is at work here, and we are so privileged to be a part of it! Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers, please keep it up! Now more than ever we know the enemy will be seeking ways to distract and discourage us all, and so we desperately need your protective prayers. Thank you for your faithful support through your letters, emails, packages and finances, which all allow us to remain here as your hands and feet for spreading the Good News!
Teaching Schedule:
January 28 through February 1
Monday - The Bible is God’s message to all people.
Tuesday - The Bible tells us what God is like and that He alone existed before everything and everyone else.
Wednesday - God created the spirits. God created the heavens and the earth.
Thursday - God revealed His nature and attributes through His creative acts (Days 1-3).
Friday - God revealed His nature and attributes through His creative acts (Days 4-6).
Rejoicing in His Faithfulness!
Jeremiah, April, Jordan, Judah and Alayna Markley
Ps. 108:5
Dear Praying Friends,
It rained all last night. Somewhere around 3:30 a.m. I woke up to the worrisome drip dripping sound on our metal roof, and begged the Lord again for good weather for our meetings which would be held outside. Even now as I type, it is pouring out and a hot cup of coffee sounds really good. But guess what? The teaching started at 7:30 this morning and ended around 8:45, and not a drop fell from the sky! This probably comes as no surprise to most of you, for you have been right there with us, praying and bringing the Dinangat people and our team before the Lord, pleading with Him on our behalf. On this, the first day of the Bible teaching in the Dinangat language, we can say with confidence that God has heard your prayers, and He has answered abundantly!
It looks like the entire village showed up! We estimate about 130-150 were there, including friends from on top of the mountain who haven’t been in the village for a very long time. You cannot imagine the sense of joy we all felt, as we watched more and more arriving to our little knoll on the hill that had been designated as the teaching area. We began our training for this moment in 1999. This is what we have come for!
Our co-worker, Gary, started today’s lesson with just a brief history of the Bible’s origin. In the middle of the lesson, the rest of the team got up and we all gave short testimonies of how we came to know the Bible was true and that we each believe in its ultimate authenticity and authority. Even though this group of people has had a lot of exposure to the Bible in the trade language, there are many, many heretical beliefs out there, (not to mention the added-in animistic beliefs) and going back to the beginning, teaching through God’s character, the truth about sin, God’s love and grace in His dealings with the Israelites, all the way up to the Cross and beyond, is the only way to root out all of those false beliefs and by God’s grace replace them with the clear understanding of the Gospel of Christ. I will lay out the schedule of this weeks’ teaching below so can follow along and know what truth’s the people will be challenged with weekly.
Yesterday, we strung up a time line of beads that is over a hundred feet long. There is one white bead for every year, a red bead to mark every hundredth year, and a larger blue one to mark every thousandth year of our world’s existence. We will use this time line to pinpoint certain events in Bible history. Many people here had no idea that the earth was that old (praise the Lord the evolutionists have no reign here!) We also used it to point out when the Bible first came to America, Germany, Papua New Guinea, and that now, in 2008, it is finally coming to the Dinangat people! One woman remarked that she couldn’t understand why it has taken so long for the Bible to come to them. The people seem to be very excited to come hear this important teaching! After the lesson, Ralf asked a few review questions and then opened it up for other questions. In this shy, reserved community, we weren’t expecting much, but we were amazed and excited to see several men speaking up and asking questions; this is unheard of in this culture!
Jeremiah is also busy making audio tapes of the all lessons for the people to review in their homes. We have handed out special hand crank players for them to use, since most of them do not have batteries. We are praying this will be an effective tool for review along with printed summaries of the lessons for those who can read.
We know God is at work here, and we are so privileged to be a part of it! Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers, please keep it up! Now more than ever we know the enemy will be seeking ways to distract and discourage us all, and so we desperately need your protective prayers. Thank you for your faithful support through your letters, emails, packages and finances, which all allow us to remain here as your hands and feet for spreading the Good News!
Teaching Schedule:
January 28 through February 1
Monday - The Bible is God’s message to all people.
Tuesday - The Bible tells us what God is like and that He alone existed before everything and everyone else.
Wednesday - God created the spirits. God created the heavens and the earth.
Thursday - God revealed His nature and attributes through His creative acts (Days 1-3).
Friday - God revealed His nature and attributes through His creative acts (Days 4-6).
Rejoicing in His Faithfulness!
Jeremiah, April, Jordan, Judah and Alayna Markley
1 comment:
Wow, so exciting Kari! It makes me feel a little sad too, does it you? I'm not jealous, just...oh you know...sigh! I wish we were all right there working together. Thanks for sharing this.
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