Hello Faithful Partners, We are in great need for some ADULT VITAMINS for the June trip and need your help. Would you ask your church to help us by bringing in some adult vitamins in the next two or three weeks. You can send them to:
Centerville Christian Church
C/O Brazil Trip Team
111-113 North Mortan Ave.
Centerville, Indiana 47330
They will need them by the end of May. They will be packing the first week of June. Please accept our thanks already for your partnership and extra help at this time.
Earl and Ruth Anne
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Central Florida Pregnancy Center, Inc
April 28, 2009
Dear Pastor and Congregation,
Thank you for your recent gift to this very important ministry. Your support is vital to our ability to offer hope to women and teens facing unplanned pregnancies.
Spring has arrived and nature hints at the glory of resurrection! Praise be to God and our Lord Jesus Christ for so great a salvation!
By God's grace the Center has been open a whole month! We had forty client visits, ministering hope in the face of uncertainty and offering powerful reasons to choose life. Please plan to "walk for life" on May 2nd. We desperately need the funding to pay for our rent and overhead. For information, or to request a pledge form, call the Center at: 386-574-5894.
These are the hours we are open: Mon. & Weds. 9:30-1:30 and Tues. 12-8pm.
Thank you for giving, praying and serving!
Purposely Pro-life,
Jessica Errico
Executive Director
Dear Pastor and Congregation,
Thank you for your recent gift to this very important ministry. Your support is vital to our ability to offer hope to women and teens facing unplanned pregnancies.
Spring has arrived and nature hints at the glory of resurrection! Praise be to God and our Lord Jesus Christ for so great a salvation!
By God's grace the Center has been open a whole month! We had forty client visits, ministering hope in the face of uncertainty and offering powerful reasons to choose life. Please plan to "walk for life" on May 2nd. We desperately need the funding to pay for our rent and overhead. For information, or to request a pledge form, call the Center at: 386-574-5894.
These are the hours we are open: Mon. & Weds. 9:30-1:30 and Tues. 12-8pm.
Thank you for giving, praying and serving!
Purposely Pro-life,
Jessica Errico
Executive Director
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Thank you letter from Gospel for Asia
March 31, 2009
Dear Friends in Christ,
Biju's college internship was in a mountaintop village. But he didn't have any free time for skiing. Instead he climbed--up and down steep dirt roads. He was taking the Gospel to rural villages that could only be reached on foot.
As a Gospel for Asia Bible college student, his six-month practical ministry internship prepared him for life as a missionary. Althogh it was only "practice," Biju led 12 families to know the Lord. Imagine what will happen when he goes into ministry full-time!
My friends, your gift to God's work through GFA is making a difference in people's lives--people like those in the mountaintop village where Biju started his first church. Thank you so much for being part of this. God bless you!
Yours for the lost of Asia,
K. P. Yohannan
Founder & President
Gospel for Asia conducts our ministry with the highest standards of financial integrity in managing the funds entrusted to us by God's people. We are a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) and have been certified as one of the "Best in America" by the Independent Charities of America (ICA). This is your assurance that we meet the highest standards of public accountability, cost efficiency and program effectiveness set by both of these organizations.
Dear Friends in Christ,
Biju's college internship was in a mountaintop village. But he didn't have any free time for skiing. Instead he climbed--up and down steep dirt roads. He was taking the Gospel to rural villages that could only be reached on foot.
As a Gospel for Asia Bible college student, his six-month practical ministry internship prepared him for life as a missionary. Althogh it was only "practice," Biju led 12 families to know the Lord. Imagine what will happen when he goes into ministry full-time!
My friends, your gift to God's work through GFA is making a difference in people's lives--people like those in the mountaintop village where Biju started his first church. Thank you so much for being part of this. God bless you!
Yours for the lost of Asia,
K. P. Yohannan
Founder & President
Gospel for Asia conducts our ministry with the highest standards of financial integrity in managing the funds entrusted to us by God's people. We are a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) and have been certified as one of the "Best in America" by the Independent Charities of America (ICA). This is your assurance that we meet the highest standards of public accountability, cost efficiency and program effectiveness set by both of these organizations.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
February 2009 Central Brazil Mission newsletter
Welcome to our first edition of the C.B.M. electronic newsletter. After spending the entire year of 2008 in the U.S. on furlough, we were glad to get back home. We only had about two weeks to get readjusted and ready for our first Amazon Boat Ministry trip. We had a very good trip with a FAME team led by Lonnie Burley. Earl had two sisters that came as a part of the team. There are U.S. church teams confirmed for trips to help us until 2012, and two months of that year are already confirmed as well.
Marlon and Yara did a great job last year leading our C.B.M. Ministry that included six Amazon boat trips. Marlon will be visiting mission teams and committees from some of our supporting churches in September or October with one of our C.B.M. Trustees.
If you have prayed for us, financially supported us, participated or will participate on an Amazon boat mission trip or however you have partnered with us, we say thank you. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to friends and family. Our desire is to keep our partners updated as to what C.B.M. is doing and how your prayers are being answered.
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SAVE THIS DATE: JULY 25, 2009 - Earl and Ruth Anne will be celebrating two anniversaries on July 25.
1). 40th year in Brazil as missionaries.
2). 50th wedding anniversary.
The 40/50 Celebration will be at the Georgetown, Ohio Church of Christ on Saturday, July 25.
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THIS YEAR OF 2009, WE HOPE TO ………….
1). Have very successful Amazon Boat Ministry Trips each month. (12 groups confirmed for 2009 and also 12 for 2010).
2). Build 3 or 4 new village churches and provide national leaders for each of them.
3). To begin construction early in the year on our new medical boat. Plans are to start construction in March. (Still needing about $500,000).
4). To begin a new work in Barcelos, Amazonas up the Rio Negro about 50 hours from Manaus. (Have invitation from the mayor and 2 doctors to begin working in their hospital and in the county).
5). To have definite plans in progress for the music department at our Bible college with Rafael as director.
6). Two or three more new churches in the central Brazil region.
7). Marlon visiting some of our supporting churches in September or October.
8). Have some increase in our regular monthly support because of the low exchange rate of the dollar in Brazil. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Visit our website: www.cbm.org.br
NEW MEDICAL BOAT CONSTRUCTION TO BEGIN IN MARCH!
Marlon and Yara did a great job last year leading our C.B.M. Ministry that included six Amazon boat trips. Marlon will be visiting mission teams and committees from some of our supporting churches in September or October with one of our C.B.M. Trustees.
If you have prayed for us, financially supported us, participated or will participate on an Amazon boat mission trip or however you have partnered with us, we say thank you. Please feel free to forward this newsletter to friends and family. Our desire is to keep our partners updated as to what C.B.M. is doing and how your prayers are being answered.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SAVE THIS DATE: JULY 25, 2009 - Earl and Ruth Anne will be celebrating two anniversaries on July 25.
1). 40th year in Brazil as missionaries.
2). 50th wedding anniversary.
The 40/50 Celebration will be at the Georgetown, Ohio Church of Christ on Saturday, July 25.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
THIS YEAR OF 2009, WE HOPE TO ………….
1). Have very successful Amazon Boat Ministry Trips each month. (12 groups confirmed for 2009 and also 12 for 2010).
2). Build 3 or 4 new village churches and provide national leaders for each of them.
3). To begin construction early in the year on our new medical boat. Plans are to start construction in March. (Still needing about $500,000).
4). To begin a new work in Barcelos, Amazonas up the Rio Negro about 50 hours from Manaus. (Have invitation from the mayor and 2 doctors to begin working in their hospital and in the county).
5). To have definite plans in progress for the music department at our Bible college with Rafael as director.
6). Two or three more new churches in the central Brazil region.
7). Marlon visiting some of our supporting churches in September or October.
8). Have some increase in our regular monthly support because of the low exchange rate of the dollar in Brazil. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Visit our website: www.cbm.org.br
NEW MEDICAL BOAT CONSTRUCTION TO BEGIN IN MARCH!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Great services yesterday!
What a wonderful day of worship, encouragement and learning today! We are thankful that John W. Samples came and shared about the Arab Christians. We are blessed to learn how some of the earliest Christians from Pentecost were Arabs--Acts 2:11. Of the 12 members of the CHLF teams, at least half can trace their ancestors back for a thousand years! And to top it off, their ancestors have lived in the same town that they live in today! And to really top it off, their ancestors have been Christians for as long as they remember. So it may well be that their ancestors were in the crowd on Pentecost.
If you attended first service, you heard the audio but not the video of Saleem. Second service we were privileged to hear both audio and video. If you want to watch the videos, then check out below on
http://www.youtube.com/amojohn
If you attended first service, you heard the audio but not the video of Saleem. Second service we were privileged to hear both audio and video. If you want to watch the videos, then check out below on
http://www.youtube.com/amojohn
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Hear from Christian HolyLand Foundation's U.S. Team Leader
Today at 9am and 11am, you have the opportunity to hear first-hand about the mission work currently being done in Israel by the teams from Christian HolyLand! It will be an exciting day for Cornerstone!
Letter dated February 18, 2009 from Christian HolyLand Foundation
Dear Friends at Cornerstone,
Saleem and I are looking forward to our visit in Deltona in April. Thank you for your continued faithfulness to the work of planting churches in Israel.
You may have seen this in our monthly Team Reports, but allow me to share with you a recent note from Ibrahim and Ekhlas about some of the activities resulting from the $6,000 in special benevolence gifts given by folks like you as an extra help this past Christmas:
In Him, for them,
John W. Samples
U.S Team Leader
Saleem and I are looking forward to our visit in Deltona in April. Thank you for your continued faithfulness to the work of planting churches in Israel.
You may have seen this in our monthly Team Reports, but allow me to share with you a recent note from Ibrahim and Ekhlas about some of the activities resulting from the $6,000 in special benevolence gifts given by folks like you as an extra help this past Christmas:
We made many special visits during the Christmas season. We entered their homes, shared a devotional thought about Christmas, the incarnation, unconditional love, the meaning of giving as the heavenly Father sent His only Son to our earth. We rejoiced together and we believe that our Lord also rejoiced. We also gave them a financial gift from the Christmas funds you sent; a man from Nazareth, we helped to pay his electrical bill which he didn't know how he was going to pay; we helped a widow from Cana who has three sons, the oldest is 11 years old, to buy a heater to keep her children protected from the cold of winter. We also gave an amount to a a young man who is serving the Lord and is going through a difficult and embarassing financial time. He thanks the Lord and said that now he can buy clothes for his children and chocolate for Christmas. Thank you dear brothers and sisters who are supporting this work, for you are the reason for the smile on the faces of many needy people today in Israel.
In Him, for them,
John W. Samples
U.S Team Leader
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Information about Christian HolyLand Foundation
CHLF's Mission Statement
The purpose of Christian HolyLand Foundation, Inc. is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the Holy Land and its surrounding areas, and to establish and maintain a base of operations from which churches patterned after the New Testament order may be started. To aid in the accomplishment of this purpose, every practical and scriptural means may be employed, including educational centers, benevolent ministries, care facilities, and training centers.
The Christian HolyLand Foundation, Inc. (CHLF) is an independent organization formed in the early 1980s for the purpose of bringing the Gospel message to the Holy Land.
As a 501(c)3 charitable organization under the tax code of the United States, contributions are tax deductible. The governing structure of the Foundation includes the American Committee, and from that the Executive Committee, which directs the policies and budgets of the organization's operations. The men and women on these committees traditionally are leaders within Independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. They are elected at annual meetings that coincide with the National Missionary Convention, another independent organization of like-minded Christians working to reach the world for Christ.
Financial support for CHLF ministry initiatives comes primarily from individuals and churches traditionally associated with the non-denominational Restoration Movement that began in the United States around 1800. That support is voluntary and is determined by each of the churches individually.
While there is no single Statement of Faith for the thousands of Independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ around the world, elements that would be common among them, and which CHLF embraces, include:
The unity of Believers.
The authority of the Scriptures.
The deity and physical resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Triune God--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Salvation is a gift from God through His Son, Jesus; not through works.
Complete obedience includes submission to the Father through baptism by immersion.
Confidence that the Son will return to gather His church, and of an eternity with our heavenly Father.
Additionally, a number of individuals and churches holding similar beliefs but raised from other backgrounds have supported and do support the work of CHLF.
As part of implementing the CHLF Mission Statement listed on each page of this website, it is a significant task of the organization to educate Christians and their churches outside of the Holy Land about the struggles and opportunities for Kingdom building within the Arab-Israeli communities.
CHLF is non-political in its approach, focusing on the ministries that are leading Believers into deeper relationships with their Lord and welcoming converts that respond to the Gospel message that is taught from pulpits and from the lifestyle modeling of our Team of native Galileans.
CHLF avoids eschatological (end-time) debates because of the divisive history these issues have had between Believers in the Holy Land and Christians in other parts of the world, particularly the United States. We are not Christian Zionists, as some American evangelicals have been called; we are simply Believers in the teachings and the person of our Lord Jesus Christ and are reaching out to our brothers and sisters in Israel and beyond to help them as they respond to Christ's charge to teach and make disciples.
All monies received by the Christian HolyLand Foundation are used in direct ministry through a registered non-profit organization--or Amuta--in Israel with a small portion allocated to the task of awareness education and fundraising to support their work. We are not a grant-making foundation.
The purpose of Christian HolyLand Foundation, Inc. is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the Holy Land and its surrounding areas, and to establish and maintain a base of operations from which churches patterned after the New Testament order may be started. To aid in the accomplishment of this purpose, every practical and scriptural means may be employed, including educational centers, benevolent ministries, care facilities, and training centers.
The Christian HolyLand Foundation, Inc. (CHLF) is an independent organization formed in the early 1980s for the purpose of bringing the Gospel message to the Holy Land.
As a 501(c)3 charitable organization under the tax code of the United States, contributions are tax deductible. The governing structure of the Foundation includes the American Committee, and from that the Executive Committee, which directs the policies and budgets of the organization's operations. The men and women on these committees traditionally are leaders within Independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. They are elected at annual meetings that coincide with the National Missionary Convention, another independent organization of like-minded Christians working to reach the world for Christ.
Financial support for CHLF ministry initiatives comes primarily from individuals and churches traditionally associated with the non-denominational Restoration Movement that began in the United States around 1800. That support is voluntary and is determined by each of the churches individually.
While there is no single Statement of Faith for the thousands of Independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ around the world, elements that would be common among them, and which CHLF embraces, include:
The unity of Believers.
The authority of the Scriptures.
The deity and physical resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Triune God--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Salvation is a gift from God through His Son, Jesus; not through works.
Complete obedience includes submission to the Father through baptism by immersion.
Confidence that the Son will return to gather His church, and of an eternity with our heavenly Father.
Additionally, a number of individuals and churches holding similar beliefs but raised from other backgrounds have supported and do support the work of CHLF.
As part of implementing the CHLF Mission Statement listed on each page of this website, it is a significant task of the organization to educate Christians and their churches outside of the Holy Land about the struggles and opportunities for Kingdom building within the Arab-Israeli communities.
CHLF is non-political in its approach, focusing on the ministries that are leading Believers into deeper relationships with their Lord and welcoming converts that respond to the Gospel message that is taught from pulpits and from the lifestyle modeling of our Team of native Galileans.
CHLF avoids eschatological (end-time) debates because of the divisive history these issues have had between Believers in the Holy Land and Christians in other parts of the world, particularly the United States. We are not Christian Zionists, as some American evangelicals have been called; we are simply Believers in the teachings and the person of our Lord Jesus Christ and are reaching out to our brothers and sisters in Israel and beyond to help them as they respond to Christ's charge to teach and make disciples.
All monies received by the Christian HolyLand Foundation are used in direct ministry through a registered non-profit organization--or Amuta--in Israel with a small portion allocated to the task of awareness education and fundraising to support their work. We are not a grant-making foundation.
Friday, April 24, 2009
John Samples preaching Sunday, April 26th, for both services at Cornerstone Christian Church
If you want to hear more about the ministry occuring with Arab believers in Israel, then this Sunday will be an excellent opportunity to hear first-hand! John will be delivering the sermom at both the 9am and 11am service! See you there!!
Mother's Day in Israel and new friend for CHF--From a March news letter from John Samples from Christian HolyLand Foundation
We experienced two very special blessings yesterday (Saturday, March 21) in Israel that I want to share with you right away.
One was certainly the Mother's Day event in Eilaboun where about 900 women gathered for worship and fellowship. I'll tell you more about that in a moment.
The other was meeting a unique lady last night in Turan who has given me permission to tell you her story. She asks for your specific prayers during a time of trials and growth in her life.
You may remember Andera talking in the last report about visiting a lady in a nearby kibbutz whose background was Christian. Her name is Rosa. She came to Israel 15 years ago from her native Ecuador to live in the kibbutz with her new Jewish husband. She has raised her two children--Israeli and Jewish by birth--with the values and knowledge of Christianity, but her personal faith began growing and being very real to her just a couple of years ago.
The more her faith grew, the more her husband distanced himself from her until he left her early last year. He still professes love for her, and she for him, but he says his spirit will not let him share the same room with her because of her faith in Jesus. He has now moved to a new city and they only have contact when arranging for their 12- and 7-year-old to visit him.
Rosa told me she has not had contact with Believers the entire time she has been in Israel, until Andera and another lady learned of her through God's intervention and began visiting her. She is now greatly encouraged and looking for opportunities to get to know Him better, and looking for ways to be involved in the local church. She has even become a generous financial supporter of the Church at Turan.
While she was given options to visit a church of Believing Jews (where she could understand the language of her adopted country) she has asked to stay in fellowship with her new Arab friends at Turan where someone will translate the sermons and songs from Arabic into either English or Hebrew for her.
She shed tears of joy and trials several times during our conversation, particularly when talking about her new-found friends and how God has answered her prayers in His time about her loneliness and her need for Christian fellowship.
She is asking for specific prayers for these three things: Her husband's heart that he might find God and through that experience return to his family; Her own strength to remain faithful to the things God has called her to be; and for the growth of her children as they struggle with the loss of their father and the persecution from other children in the kibbutz because of their Christian beliefs.
I believe God has brought Rosa to this ministry as much as this ministry to her. It is not clear what He is doing right now, but I ask your sincere and specific prayers for this lady of faith, for the Team's response to her in a very difficult situation, and for our openness to whatever it is the Lord is doing between a few loving Arabs and this lady of the kibbutz.
One was certainly the Mother's Day event in Eilaboun where about 900 women gathered for worship and fellowship. I'll tell you more about that in a moment.
The other was meeting a unique lady last night in Turan who has given me permission to tell you her story. She asks for your specific prayers during a time of trials and growth in her life.
You may remember Andera talking in the last report about visiting a lady in a nearby kibbutz whose background was Christian. Her name is Rosa. She came to Israel 15 years ago from her native Ecuador to live in the kibbutz with her new Jewish husband. She has raised her two children--Israeli and Jewish by birth--with the values and knowledge of Christianity, but her personal faith began growing and being very real to her just a couple of years ago.
The more her faith grew, the more her husband distanced himself from her until he left her early last year. He still professes love for her, and she for him, but he says his spirit will not let him share the same room with her because of her faith in Jesus. He has now moved to a new city and they only have contact when arranging for their 12- and 7-year-old to visit him.
Rosa told me she has not had contact with Believers the entire time she has been in Israel, until Andera and another lady learned of her through God's intervention and began visiting her. She is now greatly encouraged and looking for opportunities to get to know Him better, and looking for ways to be involved in the local church. She has even become a generous financial supporter of the Church at Turan.
While she was given options to visit a church of Believing Jews (where she could understand the language of her adopted country) she has asked to stay in fellowship with her new Arab friends at Turan where someone will translate the sermons and songs from Arabic into either English or Hebrew for her.
She shed tears of joy and trials several times during our conversation, particularly when talking about her new-found friends and how God has answered her prayers in His time about her loneliness and her need for Christian fellowship.
She is asking for specific prayers for these three things: Her husband's heart that he might find God and through that experience return to his family; Her own strength to remain faithful to the things God has called her to be; and for the growth of her children as they struggle with the loss of their father and the persecution from other children in the kibbutz because of their Christian beliefs.
I believe God has brought Rosa to this ministry as much as this ministry to her. It is not clear what He is doing right now, but I ask your sincere and specific prayers for this lady of faith, for the Team's response to her in a very difficult situation, and for our openness to whatever it is the Lord is doing between a few loving Arabs and this lady of the kibbutz.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Marsha Miles
Last evening Cornerstone was blessed to hear from a true warrier of the gospel--someone who has been willing to give of her life so that unreached peoples have the opportunity to know the word of God. She was an encouragement for each of us to be doing our part to spread the gospel to those right here in central florida and to those groups of people who are are still unreached with the gospel of Jesus.
The post below is the fascinating story of her husband's Niles trip to Papau New Guinea. Warning, once you start reading, you may not be able to stop!
The post below is the fascinating story of her husband's Niles trip to Papau New Guinea. Warning, once you start reading, you may not be able to stop!
Amazing adventure in Papau New Guinea
There And Back Again: A Programmer's Tale by Nathan Miles
Part 1 - The Boat Race
I flew up in the copilot’s seat from Wewak to Vanimo last Friday. The sea looks beautiful from the air---a 1 hour flight up the coast and just like sitting in your front room as far as your rear end can tell. During this flight I learned that it would be a 3.5 hour boat ride going back 1/3 of the distance flown up the coast in order to get to Arop village. This seemed reasonable. A nice relaxing boat ride 3.5 hours one way and 3.5 hours a week later. You, know there are some things in life that it is really good that you don't know in advance---it would ruin the fun of it all.
We needed to make a nice fast trip to Arop to get there before dark. Two reasons for this. The "Otto" is the name of the pass into the bay at Arop. It was named after a German policeman from pre WW1. The Germans owned the place back then. The Otto is "interesting"---there are waves coming in, there are waves coming out, there is the tide coming out or in or not depending on the time of day, there is the wind blowing the water around. What happens when all four worktogether? A scary randomness where an area of water may be flat as Texas one second and have an 8 foot potentially boat flipping wave a few seconds later---not really the kind of thing you would like to try in the dark. In addition, for reasons described below, the 1.5 hour walk from the boat landing has its own set of challenges. Walking this in the dark would be somewhere between stupid and suicidal for a gringo.
Our first leg up in making a fast transit was to have a boat waiting for us as we got off the plan. (Ha ha ha he he he, good one, Nathan!) It was only 100 yards to the beach so this should not have been hard. In addition the head translator guy Emil had prearranged a boat to meet us and even hiked the 1.5 hours from his house down to the beach the previous day to use his cell phone to verify the skipper was on the way. So was the boat there? Nogat (pidgin for "no"). Not clear whether this was "circumstance beyond the control" of said skipper or something more sinister but either way it takes _1 hour gone_ tofigure out that boat was not coming so John headed off the find another while I kept an eye on the baggage---encouraged to vigilance by the fact that all my food for the next 10 days was in that pile. John found a second skipper for _1 more hour gone.
Sadly said skipper had not bought gas yet. It could maybe have been bought on the water front but it would be cheaper .5 hours back each way by car. Fetching gas, _1 hour gone_. It is now 3pm. We can still make it thru the Otto by dark if we start now and make good time. We hop in the boat with our stuff and the skipper pulls the starting rope. Em i strongpela tumas (he is too strong). The rope breaks. No problem, he knows a nearby mechanic. Mechanic is knowledgeable but hampered by fact he does not have a Phillips screw driver or the correct size wrench. In an impressive display of improvisation he replaces pull rope anyway. _1 more hour gone_. It is now 4 pm. We probably should have abandoned attempt to get to Arop on Friday at that point but hope springs eternal in the human breast and we head out. A perfect transit would get us there just before dark. John is partly motivated in this by the fact that a group of friends from the village has already agreed to make the 1.5 hour trek down to the beach to help us carry our stuff from boat to village and there is no way to call them back at this point---it is an amazingly kind act on their part and we do not want to disappoint. (Aside: If you want neighbors or complete strangers to do a major favor for you I recommend asking in PNG rather than Dallas.)
The boat has a cross board installed in the back for us to sit on. Sadly it extends over the edge of boat so that everything splashed up is redirected into faces of passengers. Result---John and I are mostly soaked by the time we make it out Vanimo harbor. By end of first 15 minutes I am dearly wishing my swim goggles from my backpack were accessible since salt water and eyes are (in my humble opinion) a poor combination. Next best thing is to hold your head down and let your Tilly hat brim take the worst of it. Works, sorta.
As to making perfect time sadly there is a cyclone (Pacific talk for Hurricane) stalled off the coast of Australia. Luckily that was a ways away. Unluckily it was causing it to rain torrentially in PNG every day. This caused rivers to flood and run to the sea (which by the way is why were boat riding and not going into Arop by car or plane---the flooding had ruined roads and airstrips). Anyway these flooding rivers meant the each of the several times we went past a river mouth the water running out hitting the waves coming in created 6 foot swells. Not particularly dangerous as long as a good skipper keeps the boat headed into them (which of course assumes the motor keeps running) but it slowed things down considerable especially since John thinks the skipper decided to go slow sparing his two wimpy non-local-boys passengers the worst of the beating by the waves. I think I am glad he did. My rear end was pretty banged up by the slow transit version and I hate to think what the fast transit version would have done.
One other thing which will become important shortly. The flooded rivers carry big fallen trees out to sea. Not too much of a problem in the day time with the crew guy sitting up front warning the skipper how to steer to avoid them.
With one thing and another our poor tired and beaten butts get to the Otto around 6:30PM just after dark. Skipper decides to try it anyway. I don't think he was a local Arop man---they would have known better. John is scared; I am not too scared---that is because I am ignorant---ignorance is a great protection against fear. So we head in; we get part way thru and 8 foot wave out of nowhere turns the boat into a roller coaster. Fortunately wave hits head on, same wavehitting sidewise would have meant, at best, a nice swim in the Pacific and at worst? Skipper sees the light, even though there now is none and we give up and head another hour up the coast to Aitape, fast. Disappointed Arop friends get to hike back 1.5 hours in dark and come back on next day to help us carry. If a cup of cold water given gets a reward in heaven these guys are destined to be rich there.
Well ignorance saved me from being scared in advance at the Otto but sadly even I did not have sufficient ignorance to not be able to imagine what it would mean if our boat which was now proceeding full speed ahead (maybe 25 mph?) thru the darkness with no moon and no lights happened to run head on into one of the floating trees washed down by the flooding rivers. I think this is the most scared I have ever been but by the grace of God we made it to Aitape with boatintact.
With help of kind strangers we unload boat, put stuff it into kind strangers truck, and carry it to local guest house where kind strangers help us unload maybe 200 hundred pounds of stuff. PNG is the land of kind strangers. Guest house gets 1/2 star rating but I am glad to have bed and be alive.
Next morning we WTHOKS (with the help of kind strangers) retransport, reload, the boat is there (only 1/2 hour late, which is good) we make a fast 1 hour transit. This time skipper has hired a local (to the Otto) man to pilot us in. Assistant skipper is amazing and takes us right thru Otto without a pause which is highly unusual and we this time experience barely a ripple due to assistant skippers perfect timing.
So how did we do on our fast transit? Well 3.5 hour trip has become pretty much exactly 24 hours but at least it gives me plenty of room for improvement on return trip. Once again ignorance of the future is a source of bliss.
Part 1A - The Swamp
Well, we get in at high noon to link up with friends, several of whom have made the 1.5 hour hike each way a second day to meet us and help carry our stuff to village. I am a bit put out with John. He had mentioned there was 1.5 hour walk to village we would be making. He did not mention first hour was thru a Mangrove swamp. The swamp had the added feature of having been rained on more or less continuously for the last 10 days. Now I am not sure what it takes to improve a dirt path thru a swamp but I think I can state from personal experience rather authoritatively that 10 days of rain does not do it.
I had chosen my Crocs for this trip. I hate to think what would have happened to my street shoes. Crocs do have one problem. When you place them in mud that comes up over your ankle they tend to stay down when your foot comes up. Next you get to balance on one foot while fishing around in the mud to retrieve the shoe for the other. I never actually fell all the way down but I came close enough a few dozen times to keep the process interesting.
We made it thru the swamp and for a moment my joy was unbounded until I realized there was still a half hour walk ahead. It is now 1pm and a massive tropical sun is beating down reminding me of my Kipling saying "Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noon day sun." I am carrying my 15 pound back and comforting myself that at least I remained mostly vertical thru the swamp when I look up ahead. There is a young woman, she weighs 90 pounds max, she is carrying at least 40 pounds of our luggage, she is walking faster than I am, and she has not yet broken a sweat. Humbling to say the least.
We make reasonable time on the dry ground. There is one little problem. The closer we get to John's house in the village the more people we know and the more we need to stop and chat. It is a relief to get to John's house pretty much exactly 24 hours after the airplane has landed.
Will the trip back be better? Stay tuned kids.
Part 2 - Home Again/The Swamp (reprise)
After 7 more raining days have had their opportunity to improve the swamp it is time for me to head home. We need to make an alternate path this time. My heart falls a bit when I hear this path described as a "bad" road (previous path was the "good" road, who knew?). I do have one major advantage this time. I have borrowed John's walking stick. Three legs are much better than two for transiting the mud. You can put your third leg in the worst part of the path and balance along the grass at the edge of path sometimes. Sadly sometimes you just have to suck it up and head straight thru the knee deep water and ankle deep mud. Third legs saves me from an undesirable bath several times.
We have done this leg of the trip at 6am and so missed the worst heat of the day. Altho grueling coming out has not been as hard as going in and I am cautiously hopeful about upcoming boat ride. We have left early in morning in order to avoid winds that happened as sun heats up ocean. We are on the water by 8am and have 10 more hours of sunlight to make a 3.5 hour trip. Weather is good. Motor is working. Life is good. What could go wrong?
Part 2B - The boat transit record reattempted
(best experienced if you hum the Gilligan's Island theme to yourself while reading)
We get to the "Otto" 20 minutes later after creeping across the middle of the lagoon which is oddly enuf in the middle shallowest and most likely to ground a boat and chew up a propeller. We spend the next 15 minutes watching waves come in thru the Otto while the skipper waits for the best moment to make a dash out into the open ocean. The six adults in the boat engage in a lengthy and experienced discussion about the best time to dash for it. The gringo and David (age 6) do not have an opinion, well David might have had one or two. Skipper makes good choice and we get past the Otto with just a small bump or two.
We start out with 2 foot waves on the ocean. This is like driving over a bumpy road. Not too bad really. Within an hour the wind had come up and the waves were at 4 feet. This is mildly painful when the boat smacks down. An hour later and the wind is a bit stronger. 6 foot waves. Judging from skippers reaction on both trips this is about the limit of "safe" for a 18 foot power boat on the ocean. It is pretty painful from time to time. The problem is when the timing gets just right and the front end of the boat is crashing down just as this next wave is rushing up the resulting smack is pretty outrageous for those (like me) sitting in front. Oddly on this trip a life jacket was a real "life saver". Well, not literally but a second life jacket I brought along to sit on and cushion my rear during smack downs on waves did help a bit.
We finally get within sight of Vanimo. This is good. The wind has now however pushed the waves to 8 feet. Not "safe" in this small of a boat and something needs to be done. The skipper heads the boat toward the beach 500 yards away and guns it. Evidently this is the "safe" way to land on an unknown beach. I think the goal was to come in on top of a big wave to maximize the water depth beneath the hull as we come in. It works and we are safe on the beach within sight of our objective. So near yet so far.
At this point I discover an unpleasant truth. The boat cannot be left down by the water. It must be hauled up above the high water mark. Everyone says I should just sit down and watch but of course I am too proud to do this--especially when the two women are helping push. It is 10am-ish and we sit down on the beach. The captain is confident that by late afternoon the high winds will go down and we can get on our way. This pretty much always happens there and in Dallas too. By the middle of the afternoon the wind velocity has changed quite a bit. It has now twice as fast as the morning and we have to leave the beach altogether because sitting down there is like being in a sandstorm. We move just off the beach in the shelter of some trees and everyone naps for the rest of the afternoon. Around 5pm we look up and see really dark rain clouds heading our way. It is time to abandon the beach altogether.
Fortunately we have the PNG Kindness to Strangers thing going for us. The people that live just down the beach 1/4 mile say we are welcome to use an abandoned house in their village for the night. We gather up all zillion pounds of stuff in the boat including the outboard motor and 30 gallons of gas and make the trek to the village. The villagers also bring us a water basin, bananas, squash, and firewood for the night.
Well, I am glad to have a roof over my head as it is raining now. The 1/2 star hotel in Aitape is now remembered fondly because it had things the abandoned house does not have: beds, toilets, screens in the windows, a roof that does not leak, etc. I have never slept on a unfinished wood floor for a night before. Hopefully I won't do it again. A life preserver makes a reasonable pillow. You don't really need a blanket in the tropics. I am sooo glad when morning comes.
We get up at 5am. Everyone else has bananas cooked in the fire for breakfast. I settle for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich left over from my pack from the day before. We gather up all the stuff and head down to the beach getting there right at dawn.
We haul the boat down to the beach. Down is good. Down is easier than up. At this point the gringo discovers a painful truth. It is a lot easier getting onto a beach in a power boat than off a beach. Here is the deal. When a two foot wave comes in when it hits the shallow water it piles up and becomes a 4 foot wave or 6 foot wave if a couple hit at the same time. I think the technical term for this is a "breaker". Now an 18 foot boat is able to handle this OK---as long as it hits it straight head on---hit sidewise the boat ends up either full of water or upside down. With a power boat you have to get it far enuf away from the shore so you can get the motor down without the propeller hitting the bottom and you have to get the motor started and get the boat steered and pointed right into the wave before the first wave hits. Waves come a bit randomly but I suppose on the average every 10 seconds. That is not much time to get 8 people including a gringo who has never done this before into a boat and get the motor down and started.
We stand next to the boat on the beach for an hour. Skipper never sees a time calm enuf to give it a try. After one hour tide is now too high to try. We move boat back up off the beach (oh my aching back) and wait for tide to turn. We wait a couple hours. Skipper consults with local beach gurus as they pass and decides that 100 yards down the beach would be a safer place to give this a try. With help of locals we push boat 100 yards down beach. We wait another hour.
I am really worried at this point. I have never tried this push the boat into the water and jump in when the skipper calls "Kalap!" (pidgin for "jump"). You see once you start the operation you have to carry it thru. Stopping in the middle can be life threatening for all involved. I pray that I will make it into the boat and not cause everyone (including Emil's 6 year old son David) to be killed. Finally we go. Hop into boat not as hard as I feared. We do it when water is still only knee deep. The two crewmen have a harder time they cannot hop in until water is chest deep. The gringo makes one awkward leap and lands smack in the middle of the boat. Not beautiful but effective. Everyone else hops in. We hit the first wave perfectly. Jink hard right and scoot out before the next wave can catch us and are on our way for the 20 minute remaining leg to Vanimo.
We get there. I help haul the boat up (next day my shoulders are sooo mad I did not listen when they told me not to help). I go to the hotel to check in. It has been 30 hours, a night sleeping on the floor of an abandoned house, and several immersions in sea water since I last bathed. I bet the clerk thot I was the most bedraggled gringo they ever saw but they let me in anyway. A shower and I collapsed into bed.
Sadly the trip out did not beat the trip in. I have managed to squeeze a projected total transit time of 7 boat hours into "only" 52 hours.
Well it was certainly a memorable experience.
-- Nathan
Part 1 - The Boat Race
I flew up in the copilot’s seat from Wewak to Vanimo last Friday. The sea looks beautiful from the air---a 1 hour flight up the coast and just like sitting in your front room as far as your rear end can tell. During this flight I learned that it would be a 3.5 hour boat ride going back 1/3 of the distance flown up the coast in order to get to Arop village. This seemed reasonable. A nice relaxing boat ride 3.5 hours one way and 3.5 hours a week later. You, know there are some things in life that it is really good that you don't know in advance---it would ruin the fun of it all.
We needed to make a nice fast trip to Arop to get there before dark. Two reasons for this. The "Otto" is the name of the pass into the bay at Arop. It was named after a German policeman from pre WW1. The Germans owned the place back then. The Otto is "interesting"---there are waves coming in, there are waves coming out, there is the tide coming out or in or not depending on the time of day, there is the wind blowing the water around. What happens when all four worktogether? A scary randomness where an area of water may be flat as Texas one second and have an 8 foot potentially boat flipping wave a few seconds later---not really the kind of thing you would like to try in the dark. In addition, for reasons described below, the 1.5 hour walk from the boat landing has its own set of challenges. Walking this in the dark would be somewhere between stupid and suicidal for a gringo.
Our first leg up in making a fast transit was to have a boat waiting for us as we got off the plan. (Ha ha ha he he he, good one, Nathan!) It was only 100 yards to the beach so this should not have been hard. In addition the head translator guy Emil had prearranged a boat to meet us and even hiked the 1.5 hours from his house down to the beach the previous day to use his cell phone to verify the skipper was on the way. So was the boat there? Nogat (pidgin for "no"). Not clear whether this was "circumstance beyond the control" of said skipper or something more sinister but either way it takes _1 hour gone_ tofigure out that boat was not coming so John headed off the find another while I kept an eye on the baggage---encouraged to vigilance by the fact that all my food for the next 10 days was in that pile. John found a second skipper for _1 more hour gone.
Sadly said skipper had not bought gas yet. It could maybe have been bought on the water front but it would be cheaper .5 hours back each way by car. Fetching gas, _1 hour gone_. It is now 3pm. We can still make it thru the Otto by dark if we start now and make good time. We hop in the boat with our stuff and the skipper pulls the starting rope. Em i strongpela tumas (he is too strong). The rope breaks. No problem, he knows a nearby mechanic. Mechanic is knowledgeable but hampered by fact he does not have a Phillips screw driver or the correct size wrench. In an impressive display of improvisation he replaces pull rope anyway. _1 more hour gone_. It is now 4 pm. We probably should have abandoned attempt to get to Arop on Friday at that point but hope springs eternal in the human breast and we head out. A perfect transit would get us there just before dark. John is partly motivated in this by the fact that a group of friends from the village has already agreed to make the 1.5 hour trek down to the beach to help us carry our stuff from boat to village and there is no way to call them back at this point---it is an amazingly kind act on their part and we do not want to disappoint. (Aside: If you want neighbors or complete strangers to do a major favor for you I recommend asking in PNG rather than Dallas.)
The boat has a cross board installed in the back for us to sit on. Sadly it extends over the edge of boat so that everything splashed up is redirected into faces of passengers. Result---John and I are mostly soaked by the time we make it out Vanimo harbor. By end of first 15 minutes I am dearly wishing my swim goggles from my backpack were accessible since salt water and eyes are (in my humble opinion) a poor combination. Next best thing is to hold your head down and let your Tilly hat brim take the worst of it. Works, sorta.
As to making perfect time sadly there is a cyclone (Pacific talk for Hurricane) stalled off the coast of Australia. Luckily that was a ways away. Unluckily it was causing it to rain torrentially in PNG every day. This caused rivers to flood and run to the sea (which by the way is why were boat riding and not going into Arop by car or plane---the flooding had ruined roads and airstrips). Anyway these flooding rivers meant the each of the several times we went past a river mouth the water running out hitting the waves coming in created 6 foot swells. Not particularly dangerous as long as a good skipper keeps the boat headed into them (which of course assumes the motor keeps running) but it slowed things down considerable especially since John thinks the skipper decided to go slow sparing his two wimpy non-local-boys passengers the worst of the beating by the waves. I think I am glad he did. My rear end was pretty banged up by the slow transit version and I hate to think what the fast transit version would have done.
One other thing which will become important shortly. The flooded rivers carry big fallen trees out to sea. Not too much of a problem in the day time with the crew guy sitting up front warning the skipper how to steer to avoid them.
With one thing and another our poor tired and beaten butts get to the Otto around 6:30PM just after dark. Skipper decides to try it anyway. I don't think he was a local Arop man---they would have known better. John is scared; I am not too scared---that is because I am ignorant---ignorance is a great protection against fear. So we head in; we get part way thru and 8 foot wave out of nowhere turns the boat into a roller coaster. Fortunately wave hits head on, same wavehitting sidewise would have meant, at best, a nice swim in the Pacific and at worst? Skipper sees the light, even though there now is none and we give up and head another hour up the coast to Aitape, fast. Disappointed Arop friends get to hike back 1.5 hours in dark and come back on next day to help us carry. If a cup of cold water given gets a reward in heaven these guys are destined to be rich there.
Well ignorance saved me from being scared in advance at the Otto but sadly even I did not have sufficient ignorance to not be able to imagine what it would mean if our boat which was now proceeding full speed ahead (maybe 25 mph?) thru the darkness with no moon and no lights happened to run head on into one of the floating trees washed down by the flooding rivers. I think this is the most scared I have ever been but by the grace of God we made it to Aitape with boatintact.
With help of kind strangers we unload boat, put stuff it into kind strangers truck, and carry it to local guest house where kind strangers help us unload maybe 200 hundred pounds of stuff. PNG is the land of kind strangers. Guest house gets 1/2 star rating but I am glad to have bed and be alive.
Next morning we WTHOKS (with the help of kind strangers) retransport, reload, the boat is there (only 1/2 hour late, which is good) we make a fast 1 hour transit. This time skipper has hired a local (to the Otto) man to pilot us in. Assistant skipper is amazing and takes us right thru Otto without a pause which is highly unusual and we this time experience barely a ripple due to assistant skippers perfect timing.
So how did we do on our fast transit? Well 3.5 hour trip has become pretty much exactly 24 hours but at least it gives me plenty of room for improvement on return trip. Once again ignorance of the future is a source of bliss.
Part 1A - The Swamp
Well, we get in at high noon to link up with friends, several of whom have made the 1.5 hour hike each way a second day to meet us and help carry our stuff to village. I am a bit put out with John. He had mentioned there was 1.5 hour walk to village we would be making. He did not mention first hour was thru a Mangrove swamp. The swamp had the added feature of having been rained on more or less continuously for the last 10 days. Now I am not sure what it takes to improve a dirt path thru a swamp but I think I can state from personal experience rather authoritatively that 10 days of rain does not do it.
I had chosen my Crocs for this trip. I hate to think what would have happened to my street shoes. Crocs do have one problem. When you place them in mud that comes up over your ankle they tend to stay down when your foot comes up. Next you get to balance on one foot while fishing around in the mud to retrieve the shoe for the other. I never actually fell all the way down but I came close enough a few dozen times to keep the process interesting.
We made it thru the swamp and for a moment my joy was unbounded until I realized there was still a half hour walk ahead. It is now 1pm and a massive tropical sun is beating down reminding me of my Kipling saying "Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noon day sun." I am carrying my 15 pound back and comforting myself that at least I remained mostly vertical thru the swamp when I look up ahead. There is a young woman, she weighs 90 pounds max, she is carrying at least 40 pounds of our luggage, she is walking faster than I am, and she has not yet broken a sweat. Humbling to say the least.
We make reasonable time on the dry ground. There is one little problem. The closer we get to John's house in the village the more people we know and the more we need to stop and chat. It is a relief to get to John's house pretty much exactly 24 hours after the airplane has landed.
Will the trip back be better? Stay tuned kids.
Part 2 - Home Again/The Swamp (reprise)
After 7 more raining days have had their opportunity to improve the swamp it is time for me to head home. We need to make an alternate path this time. My heart falls a bit when I hear this path described as a "bad" road (previous path was the "good" road, who knew?). I do have one major advantage this time. I have borrowed John's walking stick. Three legs are much better than two for transiting the mud. You can put your third leg in the worst part of the path and balance along the grass at the edge of path sometimes. Sadly sometimes you just have to suck it up and head straight thru the knee deep water and ankle deep mud. Third legs saves me from an undesirable bath several times.
We have done this leg of the trip at 6am and so missed the worst heat of the day. Altho grueling coming out has not been as hard as going in and I am cautiously hopeful about upcoming boat ride. We have left early in morning in order to avoid winds that happened as sun heats up ocean. We are on the water by 8am and have 10 more hours of sunlight to make a 3.5 hour trip. Weather is good. Motor is working. Life is good. What could go wrong?
Part 2B - The boat transit record reattempted
(best experienced if you hum the Gilligan's Island theme to yourself while reading)
We get to the "Otto" 20 minutes later after creeping across the middle of the lagoon which is oddly enuf in the middle shallowest and most likely to ground a boat and chew up a propeller. We spend the next 15 minutes watching waves come in thru the Otto while the skipper waits for the best moment to make a dash out into the open ocean. The six adults in the boat engage in a lengthy and experienced discussion about the best time to dash for it. The gringo and David (age 6) do not have an opinion, well David might have had one or two. Skipper makes good choice and we get past the Otto with just a small bump or two.
We start out with 2 foot waves on the ocean. This is like driving over a bumpy road. Not too bad really. Within an hour the wind had come up and the waves were at 4 feet. This is mildly painful when the boat smacks down. An hour later and the wind is a bit stronger. 6 foot waves. Judging from skippers reaction on both trips this is about the limit of "safe" for a 18 foot power boat on the ocean. It is pretty painful from time to time. The problem is when the timing gets just right and the front end of the boat is crashing down just as this next wave is rushing up the resulting smack is pretty outrageous for those (like me) sitting in front. Oddly on this trip a life jacket was a real "life saver". Well, not literally but a second life jacket I brought along to sit on and cushion my rear during smack downs on waves did help a bit.
We finally get within sight of Vanimo. This is good. The wind has now however pushed the waves to 8 feet. Not "safe" in this small of a boat and something needs to be done. The skipper heads the boat toward the beach 500 yards away and guns it. Evidently this is the "safe" way to land on an unknown beach. I think the goal was to come in on top of a big wave to maximize the water depth beneath the hull as we come in. It works and we are safe on the beach within sight of our objective. So near yet so far.
At this point I discover an unpleasant truth. The boat cannot be left down by the water. It must be hauled up above the high water mark. Everyone says I should just sit down and watch but of course I am too proud to do this--especially when the two women are helping push. It is 10am-ish and we sit down on the beach. The captain is confident that by late afternoon the high winds will go down and we can get on our way. This pretty much always happens there and in Dallas too. By the middle of the afternoon the wind velocity has changed quite a bit. It has now twice as fast as the morning and we have to leave the beach altogether because sitting down there is like being in a sandstorm. We move just off the beach in the shelter of some trees and everyone naps for the rest of the afternoon. Around 5pm we look up and see really dark rain clouds heading our way. It is time to abandon the beach altogether.
Fortunately we have the PNG Kindness to Strangers thing going for us. The people that live just down the beach 1/4 mile say we are welcome to use an abandoned house in their village for the night. We gather up all zillion pounds of stuff in the boat including the outboard motor and 30 gallons of gas and make the trek to the village. The villagers also bring us a water basin, bananas, squash, and firewood for the night.
Well, I am glad to have a roof over my head as it is raining now. The 1/2 star hotel in Aitape is now remembered fondly because it had things the abandoned house does not have: beds, toilets, screens in the windows, a roof that does not leak, etc. I have never slept on a unfinished wood floor for a night before. Hopefully I won't do it again. A life preserver makes a reasonable pillow. You don't really need a blanket in the tropics. I am sooo glad when morning comes.
We get up at 5am. Everyone else has bananas cooked in the fire for breakfast. I settle for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich left over from my pack from the day before. We gather up all the stuff and head down to the beach getting there right at dawn.
We haul the boat down to the beach. Down is good. Down is easier than up. At this point the gringo discovers a painful truth. It is a lot easier getting onto a beach in a power boat than off a beach. Here is the deal. When a two foot wave comes in when it hits the shallow water it piles up and becomes a 4 foot wave or 6 foot wave if a couple hit at the same time. I think the technical term for this is a "breaker". Now an 18 foot boat is able to handle this OK---as long as it hits it straight head on---hit sidewise the boat ends up either full of water or upside down. With a power boat you have to get it far enuf away from the shore so you can get the motor down without the propeller hitting the bottom and you have to get the motor started and get the boat steered and pointed right into the wave before the first wave hits. Waves come a bit randomly but I suppose on the average every 10 seconds. That is not much time to get 8 people including a gringo who has never done this before into a boat and get the motor down and started.
We stand next to the boat on the beach for an hour. Skipper never sees a time calm enuf to give it a try. After one hour tide is now too high to try. We move boat back up off the beach (oh my aching back) and wait for tide to turn. We wait a couple hours. Skipper consults with local beach gurus as they pass and decides that 100 yards down the beach would be a safer place to give this a try. With help of locals we push boat 100 yards down beach. We wait another hour.
I am really worried at this point. I have never tried this push the boat into the water and jump in when the skipper calls "Kalap!" (pidgin for "jump"). You see once you start the operation you have to carry it thru. Stopping in the middle can be life threatening for all involved. I pray that I will make it into the boat and not cause everyone (including Emil's 6 year old son David) to be killed. Finally we go. Hop into boat not as hard as I feared. We do it when water is still only knee deep. The two crewmen have a harder time they cannot hop in until water is chest deep. The gringo makes one awkward leap and lands smack in the middle of the boat. Not beautiful but effective. Everyone else hops in. We hit the first wave perfectly. Jink hard right and scoot out before the next wave can catch us and are on our way for the 20 minute remaining leg to Vanimo.
We get there. I help haul the boat up (next day my shoulders are sooo mad I did not listen when they told me not to help). I go to the hotel to check in. It has been 30 hours, a night sleeping on the floor of an abandoned house, and several immersions in sea water since I last bathed. I bet the clerk thot I was the most bedraggled gringo they ever saw but they let me in anyway. A shower and I collapsed into bed.
Sadly the trip out did not beat the trip in. I have managed to squeeze a projected total transit time of 7 boat hours into "only" 52 hours.
Well it was certainly a memorable experience.
-- Nathan
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Update on the death of Saleem's father
Due to the response we have had to yesterday's news about the death of Saleem's father in Nazareth and the efforts made to get Saleem home in time for the funeral, I thought I should send an update so everyone would know what's going on.
First, Saleem made it home just a few hours ago, and he was in time only because the family decided to delay the funeral until tomorrow to be sure he would be there. Unfortunately, his luggage is still in New York, but that's a very minor thing and Saleem seemed in strong spirits when I heard from him as he traveled from the Tel Aviv airport to Nazareth.
Amazingly, on all the combinations of airlines we searched, there was only one seat left that would get to Israel in time so I didn't get to go with him, and I felt awful watching Saleem go through security by himself at the Orlando airport. it seemed to be the picture of loneliness for someone on such a journey.
When I called his wife Andera to tell her he was on the plane, and to apologize for not being with him, she was very much at peace and assured me that she was content that the time alone would be used wisely between Saleem and God. Then my wife Bobbi this morning reminded me that it was 16 years ago yesterday that I had to travel 18 hours by myself to get back to my family after the unexpected death of my brother, and I suddenly knew what Andera was talking about.
So we thank God today for what He is doing in the presence of our human griefs, and what He is preparing in advance for us to do.
And we thank him for the amazing life of Saleem's father Suhail, and his legacy of ministry in Israel. I just learned today that Suhail had worked with Chuck Colson's prison fellowship ministries in Israeli prisons holding Palestinians. Suhail is survived by his wife Fida, two sons, Saleem and Fadi and daughter Samia.
In Him, for Them,
John W Samples
American Team Leader
P.S. One final note, and Saleem seems to think it was a direct intervention of God... The seat that was the only one left between Orlando and Tel Aviv turned out to be in first class. Saleem says the accommodations went a long way to helping him be rested and ready for the tasks he must now take care of as the eldest son. I told him not to get used to it; I don't think any of us could sleep at those prices if it wasn't an emergency;-]
First, Saleem made it home just a few hours ago, and he was in time only because the family decided to delay the funeral until tomorrow to be sure he would be there. Unfortunately, his luggage is still in New York, but that's a very minor thing and Saleem seemed in strong spirits when I heard from him as he traveled from the Tel Aviv airport to Nazareth.
Amazingly, on all the combinations of airlines we searched, there was only one seat left that would get to Israel in time so I didn't get to go with him, and I felt awful watching Saleem go through security by himself at the Orlando airport. it seemed to be the picture of loneliness for someone on such a journey.
When I called his wife Andera to tell her he was on the plane, and to apologize for not being with him, she was very much at peace and assured me that she was content that the time alone would be used wisely between Saleem and God. Then my wife Bobbi this morning reminded me that it was 16 years ago yesterday that I had to travel 18 hours by myself to get back to my family after the unexpected death of my brother, and I suddenly knew what Andera was talking about.
So we thank God today for what He is doing in the presence of our human griefs, and what He is preparing in advance for us to do.
And we thank him for the amazing life of Saleem's father Suhail, and his legacy of ministry in Israel. I just learned today that Suhail had worked with Chuck Colson's prison fellowship ministries in Israeli prisons holding Palestinians. Suhail is survived by his wife Fida, two sons, Saleem and Fadi and daughter Samia.
In Him, for Them,
John W Samples
American Team Leader
P.S. One final note, and Saleem seems to think it was a direct intervention of God... The seat that was the only one left between Orlando and Tel Aviv turned out to be in first class. Saleem says the accommodations went a long way to helping him be rested and ready for the tasks he must now take care of as the eldest son. I told him not to get used to it; I don't think any of us could sleep at those prices if it wasn't an emergency;-]
Marsha Relyea-Miles will be at Cornerstone tonight at 7:00pm
The post below has the February news letter from Marsha. Since she is coming tonight, I wanted to get you as up to date as possible. Earlier this week I posted the March monthly news letter. The April news letter is not yet available.
Marsha is a really moving speaker so looking forward to an awesome service this evening!!
http://www.pioneerbible.org/cms/tiki-index.php
Marsha is a really moving speaker so looking forward to an awesome service this evening!!
http://www.pioneerbible.org/cms/tiki-index.php
February 2009 News Letter from Marsha Relyea-Miles
February 2009
Dear friends and family,
Two years ago our Pioneer Bible Translators team began praying for a long-range goal of recruiting 200 of the right new missionaries for our team. We project that if we have 385 adults on our team by the end of 2012 we will be able to begin projects to meet all of the translation needs identified in our current fields and start four new fields. We prayed this last year that God would help us end the year with 231 adults on our team to keep the pace needed to achieve our six year goal. God enabled us to exceed that goal by giving us 39 new recruits during 2008, bringing us to a total of 233 teammates, which is a growth rate of over 12 percent.
An old Arkansas fisherman once said, “If you want to catch bass, you have to go where the bass are.” In order to meet up with potential new missionaries, we need to go where they are. Some of them are in churches around the country. Many of them attend the National Missionary Convention or Perspectives courses. Many of them are in Christian Colleges, Seminaries, and Campus Ministries. So, we go to those places to meet them and share with them PBT’s vision of seeing lives transformed through God’s Word in every language.
This last month 2 of my co-workers, Richard Chowning and Josi Ingram, and I were privileged to visit the campuses of St. Louis Christian College and Harding University Graduate School of Religion to challenge people to be involved in Bible translation. Other PBT co-workers made similar recruiting visits to Lincoln Christian College, Auburn University, Manhattan Christian College, Ozark Christian College, Cincinnati Christian University, Purdue Campus House, Northwest Christian University, and Dallas Christian College. Please pray with us that by the end of 2009 we will be growing at 13 percent and end the year with 261 teammates working together to disciple the Bible-less peoples of the world!
We also would appreciate your prayers for our up-coming ministry opportunities. The PBT GROUNDBREAKING for our new International Service Center happens on March 7 at 10:00 a.m. (Hope you can come!) Pray for Nathan as he leaves on March 8 for a 3 week trip to Papua New Guinea to field test Bible translation software. I am scheduled to speak at twelve Perspectives courses, beginning March 9. (My schedule is below, so you can be praying for me.)
In the summer we are planning to take a ministry team back to Papua New Guinea to the Aruamu people. I recently had a long Skype-call with Steven Dazim, the coordinator of the Aruamu translation project, when he was in town. He asked me to try to find a “good preacher” who could go to PNG with us this summer to preach at an Evangelistic Crusade for 4 nights. Would you please pray with us that God would bring someone to serve Him and the Aruamus in this way?
If YOU have this gifting and would be willing to serve in this way on this mission trip, or if you know of someone who would, please call me! (214-205-7060)
“If you want to catch bass, you have to go where the bass are!”
Your fellow “fishers of men,”
Nathan and Marsha Miles
Dear friends and family,
Two years ago our Pioneer Bible Translators team began praying for a long-range goal of recruiting 200 of the right new missionaries for our team. We project that if we have 385 adults on our team by the end of 2012 we will be able to begin projects to meet all of the translation needs identified in our current fields and start four new fields. We prayed this last year that God would help us end the year with 231 adults on our team to keep the pace needed to achieve our six year goal. God enabled us to exceed that goal by giving us 39 new recruits during 2008, bringing us to a total of 233 teammates, which is a growth rate of over 12 percent.
An old Arkansas fisherman once said, “If you want to catch bass, you have to go where the bass are.” In order to meet up with potential new missionaries, we need to go where they are. Some of them are in churches around the country. Many of them attend the National Missionary Convention or Perspectives courses. Many of them are in Christian Colleges, Seminaries, and Campus Ministries. So, we go to those places to meet them and share with them PBT’s vision of seeing lives transformed through God’s Word in every language.
This last month 2 of my co-workers, Richard Chowning and Josi Ingram, and I were privileged to visit the campuses of St. Louis Christian College and Harding University Graduate School of Religion to challenge people to be involved in Bible translation. Other PBT co-workers made similar recruiting visits to Lincoln Christian College, Auburn University, Manhattan Christian College, Ozark Christian College, Cincinnati Christian University, Purdue Campus House, Northwest Christian University, and Dallas Christian College. Please pray with us that by the end of 2009 we will be growing at 13 percent and end the year with 261 teammates working together to disciple the Bible-less peoples of the world!
We also would appreciate your prayers for our up-coming ministry opportunities. The PBT GROUNDBREAKING for our new International Service Center happens on March 7 at 10:00 a.m. (Hope you can come!) Pray for Nathan as he leaves on March 8 for a 3 week trip to Papua New Guinea to field test Bible translation software. I am scheduled to speak at twelve Perspectives courses, beginning March 9. (My schedule is below, so you can be praying for me.)
In the summer we are planning to take a ministry team back to Papua New Guinea to the Aruamu people. I recently had a long Skype-call with Steven Dazim, the coordinator of the Aruamu translation project, when he was in town. He asked me to try to find a “good preacher” who could go to PNG with us this summer to preach at an Evangelistic Crusade for 4 nights. Would you please pray with us that God would bring someone to serve Him and the Aruamus in this way?
If YOU have this gifting and would be willing to serve in this way on this mission trip, or if you know of someone who would, please call me! (214-205-7060)
“If you want to catch bass, you have to go where the bass are!”
Your fellow “fishers of men,”
Nathan and Marsha Miles
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Sad news from Christian HolyLand Foundation
And David said to his people, "A great leader and a great man has fallen today in Israel..."
2 Samuel 3:38 (Living)
Another of God's fine servants has gone home.
Shortly after 2:00 o'clock this morning Saleem and I received a call from Andera back in Israel that Saleem's father, Suhail, has passed away unexpectedly at his home in Nazareth. He had been diagnosed with Parkinsons about four years ago, but Saleem told me just yesterday that his father's health seemed to have improved in recent days after some adjustments in his medications.
We are scrambling to get Saleem back to Israel as soon as possible; funerals there generally take place within 24-36 hours after death, but it appears that the quickest he can arrive in Tel Aviv is about 3pm on Wednesday. Please pray for Saleem as he copes with his grief while traveling, and while knowing that his family back home is making the necessary arrangements in his absence.
Suhail was a leading pastor in the evangelical movement in Israel for more than 40 years. He was used by God in a number of churches, including new church plants in Eilaboun and Turan that today continue to grow and reflect the Christ in their communities. He was also among the first of the Arab pastors to suggest and then implement a reaching out from the Arab Believers to the Jewish Believers in Israel. His heart and his view was always Kingdom focused and the ripples of his life will be felt for generations in the HolyLand. Suhail's sons, Saleem and his brother Fedi are both in full-time ministry in the Galilee, and his daughter, Samia, is very involved in ministry in Haifa.
If you would like to contact Saleem, the best way right now would be through email, although he will likely not get a chance to see it for a couple of days: Saleem@CHLF.org.
Saleem and I have been sharing the story of the CHLF Team and Ministry with individuals and churches in Florida for the past week. We were also scheduled to attend the Exponential Church Planting conference in Orlando starting later today, and then preach in Deltona this weekend (which I will still do). In evaluating the trip so far, we agreed just yesterday that if the journey ended early it would have already exceeded all our expectations and hopes.
The CHLF Family has experienced a number of personal losses in the past few months, begininning in November with the unexpected death of Leland Houser's wife Ellen, followed in December by the death of one of the CHLF Founders, Harold Noe. In January, CHLF Team member Bishara Khazen lost his mother in Israel and Hani Billan lost his father. Last month, CHLF Chairman Steve Hammer's mother passed away in California.
Please remember the CHLF Team, both in the US and Israel, as we strive to keep focused on God's leading and wonderful work as life continues with all of its ups and downs, joys and griefs.
Additional Notes: Delta has waived the fees for changing Saleem's return flight, but there will be a substantial additional fare reflecting the difference between the price of the ticket when purchased as compared to today.
I am still hoping to accompany Saleem back to Israel for the funeral and then return this weekend, but as of right now it appears that Saleem may have gotten the last seat available that would arrive on Wednesday. We are still looking.
In Him, for Them,
John W Samples
American Team Leader
Roger & Laura's March News Letter
March was a very busy and hectic month Glory to God. As always I must start out this report with Gratitude and Thanks. Your prayers and support helped make the month of March a victorious battle for the Lord. We have had salvation's, baptism, and people being united in Marriage in the sight of God. And of course the Chaplain getting shot a few times by some saved and unsaved Yankees, but Thank God for Resurrection. As the enemy tried to attack us on the west coast of Florida and this Chaplain and his wife were called over to Crystal River to minister to the good people. The weather was perfect and we had our ministry camp set up by Friday early afternoon. Saturday afternoon the enemy attacked and it was a hard fight. But some of the best ministering is done on the battle field, reading Scripture and praying for the soldiers. Many are hearing Scripture verses for the first time in their lives. Think about that. Many of these people never step in a Church. Many have never read any of the Bible, Here in America! We as Christians take it for granted when we read Scripture. But, there are many I read to, who have Never Ever read Isaiah, Psalms, or James. They couldn't even tell you that those books are in the Bible. An then....They hear it for the very first time in their lives, some being in their fifties. And they lay there, and hear God's Word. And He moves, I can see it in some of their faces because they are listening. And then it's off to the next person and the next. God is Amazing at where and how He works.
Saturday evening, I was blessed to perform a wedding service in camp under the large oaks for William and Donna Cobb. There were just great and we had fun and so did Jesus. I pray that they will be blessed together. They both know the Lord and both go to the same church that Laura and I attend. At least when I get to go to Church.
Sunday morning was beautiful and we had a great time for worship and church under those same large oaks because they are everywhere. We had 85 come to services and my message was "When God Departs". Can He? He has before, will He? Again, He has before in peoples lives. Deny Him long enough, deny He exists long enough. Keep kicking Him out of our schools and court houses long enough. Keep living your lives as if He doesn't exist long enough. And then have the nerve to say where was God when something goes wrong. One person gave their heart to the Lord that morning and one more re-dedicated their life to Him. Thank you God!
The following weekend it was off to Ft. Clinch in Fernandina Beach Florida. Saturday I wa there with Bud Bonifay letting the men know that we were there and had the chance to minister some, then it was back to Bud & Sue's home in Jacksonville for the night and then up early Sunday morning to head back to the fort. We figured that we would have about 15 in attendance but instead we had 48. It was so neat because we had more civilians than soldiers. They thought I guess, for some fire and brimstone acting preacher, SURPRISE....They got Jesus and no one complained. I preached the same message as the week before since it was a new group of people. We had no salvation's, but an invitation was given. I will always do that. But the harvest is not mine to take. I'm just a planter and sower of a living, breathing Seed. What a great time it was to be in the company of hungry Americans.
This past weekend it was off to the Battle of Narcoossee Mills. We got there about 1:00 Friday afternoon and got set up around 3:00. From then on our tent fly never seemed to be empty. I did get off by myself with Petra for 2 hours in the woods. Just me, my God, my Bible and my dog. And I didn't want to come out of the woods. I don't get to spend much time like that with God. I did my Bible reading out loud to my dog and she listened of course and my praying was to God and He listened of course. I was honored to perform a wedding for Steve & Debra Simkins on Saturday evening. Earlier that day was a hard battle with the Yankees and the whooped us pretty bad, in fact they shot me to pieces, but not until the end, so no one missed any Scriptures. I always make sure of that. I ain't dying until I'm done reading.
Sunday morning it was raining pretty hard for Church, so we had to have it under a pavilion, but still 106 came in the rain to hear the Word. The message was "Peters Threes", we had a young lady who is not even a re-enactor give her heart to Jesus that great wet morning. It is kind of funny but lately spectators are giving their hearts to the Lord also. They come to see what is going on and walk out saved. God is so Awesome. But these are Americans too and ready or not here He comes. Then after church, I was honored to renew the wedding vows of 20 years for Bob & Carolyn Giese. They became the ministers, because they showed the people that marriage can work. They know that it is not 50/50 but both give 100%. And then we walked directly into the lake, Jesus, Bob, Carolyn & I and I baptized them in that cold water. But that cold water jut couldn't out do the blessing that we all received that wet morning. And now I am going to close but not before I say thank you again for making this all possible. You have been an obvious blessing to many people and I love you for it, and one day many people are going to be thanking you. Laura & I pray you will be super blessed for caring so much about what God is doing on the outside of the church walls and for covering us on the Battle Line. We love you, We pray for you and We Thank You!
I remain in His Service,
Chaplain Roger
Saturday evening, I was blessed to perform a wedding service in camp under the large oaks for William and Donna Cobb. There were just great and we had fun and so did Jesus. I pray that they will be blessed together. They both know the Lord and both go to the same church that Laura and I attend. At least when I get to go to Church.
Sunday morning was beautiful and we had a great time for worship and church under those same large oaks because they are everywhere. We had 85 come to services and my message was "When God Departs". Can He? He has before, will He? Again, He has before in peoples lives. Deny Him long enough, deny He exists long enough. Keep kicking Him out of our schools and court houses long enough. Keep living your lives as if He doesn't exist long enough. And then have the nerve to say where was God when something goes wrong. One person gave their heart to the Lord that morning and one more re-dedicated their life to Him. Thank you God!
The following weekend it was off to Ft. Clinch in Fernandina Beach Florida. Saturday I wa there with Bud Bonifay letting the men know that we were there and had the chance to minister some, then it was back to Bud & Sue's home in Jacksonville for the night and then up early Sunday morning to head back to the fort. We figured that we would have about 15 in attendance but instead we had 48. It was so neat because we had more civilians than soldiers. They thought I guess, for some fire and brimstone acting preacher, SURPRISE....They got Jesus and no one complained. I preached the same message as the week before since it was a new group of people. We had no salvation's, but an invitation was given. I will always do that. But the harvest is not mine to take. I'm just a planter and sower of a living, breathing Seed. What a great time it was to be in the company of hungry Americans.
This past weekend it was off to the Battle of Narcoossee Mills. We got there about 1:00 Friday afternoon and got set up around 3:00. From then on our tent fly never seemed to be empty. I did get off by myself with Petra for 2 hours in the woods. Just me, my God, my Bible and my dog. And I didn't want to come out of the woods. I don't get to spend much time like that with God. I did my Bible reading out loud to my dog and she listened of course and my praying was to God and He listened of course. I was honored to perform a wedding for Steve & Debra Simkins on Saturday evening. Earlier that day was a hard battle with the Yankees and the whooped us pretty bad, in fact they shot me to pieces, but not until the end, so no one missed any Scriptures. I always make sure of that. I ain't dying until I'm done reading.
Sunday morning it was raining pretty hard for Church, so we had to have it under a pavilion, but still 106 came in the rain to hear the Word. The message was "Peters Threes", we had a young lady who is not even a re-enactor give her heart to Jesus that great wet morning. It is kind of funny but lately spectators are giving their hearts to the Lord also. They come to see what is going on and walk out saved. God is so Awesome. But these are Americans too and ready or not here He comes. Then after church, I was honored to renew the wedding vows of 20 years for Bob & Carolyn Giese. They became the ministers, because they showed the people that marriage can work. They know that it is not 50/50 but both give 100%. And then we walked directly into the lake, Jesus, Bob, Carolyn & I and I baptized them in that cold water. But that cold water jut couldn't out do the blessing that we all received that wet morning. And now I am going to close but not before I say thank you again for making this all possible. You have been an obvious blessing to many people and I love you for it, and one day many people are going to be thanking you. Laura & I pray you will be super blessed for caring so much about what God is doing on the outside of the church walls and for covering us on the Battle Line. We love you, We pray for you and We Thank You!
I remain in His Service,
Chaplain Roger
Monday, April 20, 2009
Below is the first part of the enews from Christian Holyland Foundation. If you would like to get the full report to your inbox monthly, you can sign up at the link below. John Samples wrote the note below and will be speaking this Sunday, April 26th at Cornerstone.
http://www.chlf.org/CHLF%20Mailing%20List%20Sign-Up.htm
It is one of my privileges and challenges to edit these reports to you each month. On one hand I feel like I have a front row seat for some of the most interesting and exciting stories coming out of Israel, and on the other hand I need to protect the privacy of young Believers in the Holy Land that are in danger of persecution for their Kingdom work and their relationship with the Christ (while also trying to keep these reports short enough that people will actually read them;-).
Since the last eReport, it was also my privilege to be with the Team in Galilee, and to share the ministry and some of the historical sites of Israel with a couple from Indianapolis. I will be back in May and June to meet with supporters and pilgrims from Phoenix, AZ and Northampton, VA. I try to avoid being a tour guide (just because there are so many other things I need to be doing) but I must admit that I get a great deal of pleasure from introducing people to the work and the country. I think it is probably good for me as well to continue to see the ministry through the fresh eyes of companions who are seeing it all up close for the first time.
We had the honor of delivering a few special gifts on this trip: · Stadia generously donated two video projectors that are being used in the churches to help teach and disciple. · New Life Christian Church in northern Virginia provided several boxes of clothes for the Team and their children, and probably enough to also be used in mercy ministries. · Fort Des Moines Church of Christ in Iowa gave a special gift of more than $2,000 to help the Team with their significant fuel bills (if you think prices are high where you live, they are way less than half the price of petro in Israel). In the photo [right] Saleem shows he knows what to do with a $100 bill. · And the couple who made a significant gift to help cover the expenses of the Mother's Day event also played a big role in the little ripples that are changing lives in Israel. All of these generosities are greatly appreciated!
And in case anyone is looking for a project... we're still hoping to be blessed with a translation system that would help with training and worship. Prices for a mid-grade system have recently fallen to about $3,000.
I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about finances because I know a lot of other ministries are also struggling right now, but neither do I want to give the impression that money is not a need for the Christian HolyLand Foundation. God continues to provide for the work, and the gap between our spending committments and our income from donations continues to shrink, but we are still in the red and need your help to meet our goal of balancing the budget by the end of this year when we expect our start-up funds to be exhausted.
The book of James suggests that we do not have, because we do not ask, or because we ask with wrong motives. I am completely clear of conscience in my motives for asking for your financial support, because the work in Israel that your dollars make possible needs to be done for so many reasons, the greatest of which is that these people need the Gospel of the Christ.
So I am asking for your support, financially and prayerfully. And if you can help us spread the word by forwarding this eReport to others you think might be interested in the work, or by helping arrange an opportunity for us to present the ministry to your church, that would be very helpful.
Please take a few minutes and read the stories below from your Team in Israel. And thank you for your continuing support of CHLF, and for allowing me to be your linkage to this amazing ministry.
In Him, for Them,
John W Samples
American Team Leader
http://www.chlf.org/CHLF%20Mailing%20List%20Sign-Up.htm
It is one of my privileges and challenges to edit these reports to you each month. On one hand I feel like I have a front row seat for some of the most interesting and exciting stories coming out of Israel, and on the other hand I need to protect the privacy of young Believers in the Holy Land that are in danger of persecution for their Kingdom work and their relationship with the Christ (while also trying to keep these reports short enough that people will actually read them;-).
Since the last eReport, it was also my privilege to be with the Team in Galilee, and to share the ministry and some of the historical sites of Israel with a couple from Indianapolis. I will be back in May and June to meet with supporters and pilgrims from Phoenix, AZ and Northampton, VA. I try to avoid being a tour guide (just because there are so many other things I need to be doing) but I must admit that I get a great deal of pleasure from introducing people to the work and the country. I think it is probably good for me as well to continue to see the ministry through the fresh eyes of companions who are seeing it all up close for the first time.
We had the honor of delivering a few special gifts on this trip: · Stadia generously donated two video projectors that are being used in the churches to help teach and disciple. · New Life Christian Church in northern Virginia provided several boxes of clothes for the Team and their children, and probably enough to also be used in mercy ministries. · Fort Des Moines Church of Christ in Iowa gave a special gift of more than $2,000 to help the Team with their significant fuel bills (if you think prices are high where you live, they are way less than half the price of petro in Israel). In the photo [right] Saleem shows he knows what to do with a $100 bill. · And the couple who made a significant gift to help cover the expenses of the Mother's Day event also played a big role in the little ripples that are changing lives in Israel. All of these generosities are greatly appreciated!
And in case anyone is looking for a project... we're still hoping to be blessed with a translation system that would help with training and worship. Prices for a mid-grade system have recently fallen to about $3,000.
I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about finances because I know a lot of other ministries are also struggling right now, but neither do I want to give the impression that money is not a need for the Christian HolyLand Foundation. God continues to provide for the work, and the gap between our spending committments and our income from donations continues to shrink, but we are still in the red and need your help to meet our goal of balancing the budget by the end of this year when we expect our start-up funds to be exhausted.
The book of James suggests that we do not have, because we do not ask, or because we ask with wrong motives. I am completely clear of conscience in my motives for asking for your financial support, because the work in Israel that your dollars make possible needs to be done for so many reasons, the greatest of which is that these people need the Gospel of the Christ.
So I am asking for your support, financially and prayerfully. And if you can help us spread the word by forwarding this eReport to others you think might be interested in the work, or by helping arrange an opportunity for us to present the ministry to your church, that would be very helpful.
Please take a few minutes and read the stories below from your Team in Israel. And thank you for your continuing support of CHLF, and for allowing me to be your linkage to this amazing ministry.
In Him, for Them,
John W Samples
American Team Leader
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Central Florida Pregnancy -- 689 Deltona Boulevard, Deltona, FL
After a long and frustrating wait, the Center's door reopened in March to serve women and teens in our four towns community. During January and February the Center conducted two intensive volunteer training programs (equipping 14 ladies to be ambassadors for life), filed their tax exempt paperwork, and emptied office space so it could be remodeled to building code specifications. During this time they counseled women over the phone and referred them to the Ultrasound Van that comes to their parking lot each week.
On May 2nd there is a Walk for Life. You may pick up a sponsor pledge form in the church hallway.
On May 2nd there is a Walk for Life. You may pick up a sponsor pledge form in the church hallway.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Latest news letter from Marsha Relyea-Miles
Travelin’ Miles: Don’t Stop Praying!
Dear Friends and family, Thank you VERY much for your prayers this last month. Please DON’T STOP PRAYING!
Our new International Service Center in Dallas is now officially under construction. At our GROUNDBREAKING on March 7 we celebrated with many friends and with tears of joy as we turned over the first soil to begin building the first real home of Pioneer Bible Translators – our launching pad from which we will send forth many missionaries with the passionate vision of seeing lives transformed through God’s Word in every language on the planet!
As part of the GROUNDBREAKING celebration we passed out stakes and sharpies to everyone, and asked them to write a special blessing or a prayer or a favorite verse on the stake, and to hammer it in the ground around the roped-off perimeter of our future building, as a way of articulating a collective prayer as we build and work. We are saving those stakes, varnishing them, and using them in different meaningful ways around the landscaping on the property.
After the ceremony my son Bobby came up to me and gave me a meaning-laced hug and then he showed me his stake which he was going to hammer into the ground. It said, “Don’t stop praying” -- which brought tears to my eyes! Those of you who have walked with our family through the last few years will know that those words were the last words John Relyea said before he died four years ago. They have been our battle cry, motivating us and inspiring us in so many ways. Bobby’s thought of writing THAT reminder on his stake meant so much to me. I “lost it” right there under the cedar trees.
We are SO grateful for your constant prayers for our Bible translation ministry. This last month we’ve been “travelin’ miles” – MANY of them! I have spoken at 5 of the 12 Perspectives classes at which I am scheduled to share about world missions – the task remaining, and how to build bridges of love to unreached peoples. Please don’t stop praying; I have 7 more classes to speak at in different places in the next few weeks. Pray that God will link me up with future GOERS and SENDERS and INTERCESSORS.
Thank you for your prayers for Nathan. He has truly been in the “uttermost part of the earth.” (Read his harrowing account of part of his travels below.) He reports that the software that he went to test in a cluster project in the jungles of PNG is working. There were some complicated bugs that surfaced while he was there. With only one more day left in the village, he sent a radio message asking me to pray that he could solve these. I emailed several people to pray for this. He told me after he arrived back in the U.S. that the very next morning he woke up and was lying there under his mosquito net – and realized that he JUST KNEW the answer to the problem. An epiphany sort of thing. God DOES answer our prayers. Don’t stop praying!
The United Bible Societies’ software development team which Nathan heads up is on home stretch in developing and testing a new release of their big software package for Bible translators called Paratext. Please pray with us that the team will be able to identify and solve ALL MAJOR ISSUES in the next 4 weeks. Paratext 7.0 is scheduled to be released in June at a Bible Societies meeting in Thailand, and then made available to Bible translators around the world.
Don’t stop praying!
Marsha(for Nathan and our whole clan)
Dear Friends and family, Thank you VERY much for your prayers this last month. Please DON’T STOP PRAYING!
Our new International Service Center in Dallas is now officially under construction. At our GROUNDBREAKING on March 7 we celebrated with many friends and with tears of joy as we turned over the first soil to begin building the first real home of Pioneer Bible Translators – our launching pad from which we will send forth many missionaries with the passionate vision of seeing lives transformed through God’s Word in every language on the planet!
As part of the GROUNDBREAKING celebration we passed out stakes and sharpies to everyone, and asked them to write a special blessing or a prayer or a favorite verse on the stake, and to hammer it in the ground around the roped-off perimeter of our future building, as a way of articulating a collective prayer as we build and work. We are saving those stakes, varnishing them, and using them in different meaningful ways around the landscaping on the property.
After the ceremony my son Bobby came up to me and gave me a meaning-laced hug and then he showed me his stake which he was going to hammer into the ground. It said, “Don’t stop praying” -- which brought tears to my eyes! Those of you who have walked with our family through the last few years will know that those words were the last words John Relyea said before he died four years ago. They have been our battle cry, motivating us and inspiring us in so many ways. Bobby’s thought of writing THAT reminder on his stake meant so much to me. I “lost it” right there under the cedar trees.
We are SO grateful for your constant prayers for our Bible translation ministry. This last month we’ve been “travelin’ miles” – MANY of them! I have spoken at 5 of the 12 Perspectives classes at which I am scheduled to share about world missions – the task remaining, and how to build bridges of love to unreached peoples. Please don’t stop praying; I have 7 more classes to speak at in different places in the next few weeks. Pray that God will link me up with future GOERS and SENDERS and INTERCESSORS.
Thank you for your prayers for Nathan. He has truly been in the “uttermost part of the earth.” (Read his harrowing account of part of his travels below.) He reports that the software that he went to test in a cluster project in the jungles of PNG is working. There were some complicated bugs that surfaced while he was there. With only one more day left in the village, he sent a radio message asking me to pray that he could solve these. I emailed several people to pray for this. He told me after he arrived back in the U.S. that the very next morning he woke up and was lying there under his mosquito net – and realized that he JUST KNEW the answer to the problem. An epiphany sort of thing. God DOES answer our prayers. Don’t stop praying!
The United Bible Societies’ software development team which Nathan heads up is on home stretch in developing and testing a new release of their big software package for Bible translators called Paratext. Please pray with us that the team will be able to identify and solve ALL MAJOR ISSUES in the next 4 weeks. Paratext 7.0 is scheduled to be released in June at a Bible Societies meeting in Thailand, and then made available to Bible translators around the world.
Don’t stop praying!
Marsha(for Nathan and our whole clan)
Great speakers coming to CCCC!
In addition to Marsha Relyea's (See blog from yesterday for Marsha's info) presentation to us this coming Wednesday, April 22nd, we are also excited to announce we will have two speakers from Christian HolyLand Foundation during our Sunday services on April 26th. We will hear both from John, who is the director of Christian HolyLand, as well as Saleem. Saleem lives in Nazareth and serves full-time with Christian Holyland. Below is the contents of email that Saleem sent to Nancy Capps who serves with the Mission Committee by supporting in prayer Saleem and his family:
Greetings from Nazareth Israel ,
It is very encouraging to hear and to know that there is someone praying for us and uplifting us and the Lord’s work in this country before the throne of God. You know, as Arabs we are the minority in this country; as Christians we are even a greater minority, and then as evangelical Arab Christians, we a third time minority … and to have brothers and sisters from the other side of the world knowing about us, and praying for us is a powerful encouragement..
Thank you, and please convey our thanks to our brothers and sisters in your church, who support us and pray for us. We would love to have you come and visit us and worship the Lord with us, so please accept our invitation and let us know when you come to Israel . May God bless you and fill you with His love and peace.
Wishing you a merry Christmas from the holy land and specifically from Nazareth , the hometown of Jesus.
Greetings from Nazareth Israel ,
It is very encouraging to hear and to know that there is someone praying for us and uplifting us and the Lord’s work in this country before the throne of God. You know, as Arabs we are the minority in this country; as Christians we are even a greater minority, and then as evangelical Arab Christians, we a third time minority … and to have brothers and sisters from the other side of the world knowing about us, and praying for us is a powerful encouragement..
Thank you, and please convey our thanks to our brothers and sisters in your church, who support us and pray for us. We would love to have you come and visit us and worship the Lord with us, so please accept our invitation and let us know when you come to Israel . May God bless you and fill you with His love and peace.
Wishing you a merry Christmas from the holy land and specifically from Nazareth , the hometown of Jesus.
Christian HolyLand Foundation
Arm-in-Arm with Believers in Israel and throughout the Holy Land since 1984
“...You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth." Acts 1:8
These words of Christ, spoken to his apostles just before He ascended to be with his Father in Heaven, have been true through generations of Missions that have taken the Gospel to–quite literally–the uttermost parts of the earth. In the next passage of Acts, two men suddenly stood alongside these witnesses and asked, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky?” Jesus’ earthly ministry was done. Now it was time for the people he brought to Himself to get about the task of taking the Good News to Israel and beyond. In the nearly 2,000 years since that moment, the land to which Christ first brought his message of peace and salvation has not received the Gospel in proportion to the rest of the world.
Today, the number of believing Christians (as opposed to political Christians) in Israel is probably the least it has been since the first century; estimates suggest only about 10,000 would claim to know Jesus as their personal savior.
In 2005, the Christian HolyLand Foundation (CHLF) came alongside a group of twelve modern-day Galileeans who had begun asking questions about their Christian faith. They sought to return to the New Testament model of the early church, and to teach the Gospel in churches and homes along the very paths and in the same communities where Jesus first taught.
CHLF has been active in Israel since the 1980s. Our mission is now focused on this group in Galilee, where they are reaching the lost, teaching believers, training leaders, forming home churches and working toward new church plants. The Israeli Team members are all Israeli by nationality, Arab by heritage, and Christians by the grace of God. They reach out to all peoples in their communities, and respond with the Love of Christ to all that God places before them.
Each family receives a full-time salary from CHLF so that they can give their full attention to the work God has prepared for them. The investment of time and resources in this work is significant as the cost of living in Israel is comparable to much of the United States. This is a challenging work, and enormously rewarding. On behalf of Bishara and Randa, Saleem and Andera, Hanna and Lina, Hani and Shifa, Elias and Rose, Ibrahim and Ekhlass, and all their children that will be the next generation of preachers and teachers, thank you for your prayers and financial support.
For more information about the work of the Christian HolyLand Foundation, Inc., visit the website at:
Friday, April 17, 2009
Marsha Relyea coming to Cornerstone!
Cornerstone is privileged to have Marsha Relyea coming on Wednesday, April 22nd at 7pm. Marsha is a powerful speaker has has spoke at Cornerstone in the past. Below is her professional bio:
Marsha (Relyea) Miles is a missionary with Pioneer Bible Translators. Together with her late husband John Relyea, she has served as a Bible translator for the Aruamu people group in Papua New Guinea for 23 years. The Relyeas lived in an Aruamu village, analyzed and created an alphabet for this previously unwritten language, and worked together with local leaders to develop an extensive literacy and scripture-use program, and completed the translation of the New Testament into the Aruamu language.
Marsha served as President of the 2007 National Missionary Convention. She currently serves as Director of Church Mobilization and Development with PBT and is based in Dallas, TX. Marsha is married to Nathan Miles of the United Bible Societies. She holds a Bachelor of Theology from Ozark Christian College and an MA in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Arlington. She is still involved with the Aruamu Old Testament project, exegetically checking the translation.
God has given Marsha a passionate heart for world missions, and a very compelling story to tell, drawn from front-line mission experience, sitting in the dirt in steamy jungles sharing with people about the Lord and translating the scriptures for them. Her inspiring challenge to mission involvement comes through with bold eloquence.
Marsha (Relyea) Miles is a missionary with Pioneer Bible Translators. Together with her late husband John Relyea, she has served as a Bible translator for the Aruamu people group in Papua New Guinea for 23 years. The Relyeas lived in an Aruamu village, analyzed and created an alphabet for this previously unwritten language, and worked together with local leaders to develop an extensive literacy and scripture-use program, and completed the translation of the New Testament into the Aruamu language.
Marsha served as President of the 2007 National Missionary Convention. She currently serves as Director of Church Mobilization and Development with PBT and is based in Dallas, TX. Marsha is married to Nathan Miles of the United Bible Societies. She holds a Bachelor of Theology from Ozark Christian College and an MA in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Arlington. She is still involved with the Aruamu Old Testament project, exegetically checking the translation.
God has given Marsha a passionate heart for world missions, and a very compelling story to tell, drawn from front-line mission experience, sitting in the dirt in steamy jungles sharing with people about the Lord and translating the scriptures for them. Her inspiring challenge to mission involvement comes through with bold eloquence.
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