A Very Blessed Christmas to You

Wishing you much joy as you celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ,

our Saviour,

our Prince of Peace,

our Mighty God,

and the Only One Who brings hope and healing and true love into our lives!

Couldn't quite get it together for a family shot this year,

but here is one of the kids at least.

We really want to say thank you as well, for all the support and prayers, comments and cards this past year. It all means a lot to us and it's very encouraging that you would take the time to think of us and keep up with our Days in Lae.

Thank you and may God continue to bless and keep you, also in the new year.

Welcome to the Family

Last Sunday was a joyous day as we welcomed some sisters into our church family. Grace Binabe and Jennifer Samson professed their faith in Christ and then also became members of our church, and two little girls were baptized as well. It is always a joy to witness this and we pray that these women and girls will faithfully serve the Lord for the rest of their lives! The only sad part of the day was that the husbands, although they were there, did not make the same commitment. We pray for the Spirit to move them and that they will also publicly confess Christ as Lord and Saviour and commit to being faithful members of our church.

This is Ian baptizing Martha as her mother and aunt stand behind her.

Here's Grace and Jenny with the pidgin Bibles they received from the church,

and also Martha with her baptism certificate.

Her sister, Angela, was also baptized

but I wasn't able to pin her down to join the photo.

That same Sunday, we also officially welcomed Pastor Tim and Francine (and Avigail) into our church family. Here they are, with front row seats, enjoying the various performances put on to welcome them (mostly songs). It is already a blessing to have them with us.

Some of the youth singing their welcome song.

And of course there was food...

and time to 'story' together...

and here's Karlyn, relaxing and enjoying PNG kaikai!

What a beautiful day it was!

Meet Little Agnes

We praise and thank God that the little baby who fell from the hospital bed at birth seems to be doing well. She came home from the hospital two days ago, and does not seem to have any lasting effects from the fall.

Here she is with her mom, Annie and big sister, Christina.

Baby Agnes

On the political scene, it looks like they've decided who our Prime Minister is, which is probably a good thing. The Governor-General changed his mind and decided to reinstate the 'popular illegitimate one', who I guess is now legit. Hopefully this is the end of the tug-of-war.

Prayers Needed for a Little One

A couple from our church was blessed with a baby girl yesterday, however, when the mother was giving birth at the public hospital, there were no nurses present with her (and they do not allow the husbands in) and when the baby came out, she slipped off the bed and fell into a bucket that was on the floor. Unbelievable, isn't it? And yet somehow it does not surprise us.

We do not know the extent of the injuries to the little one, although she is crying a lot as if in pain and had quite a high temperature today. We ask you to please pray that there will be no serious, permanent injuries from this fall.

Please also pray for the parents, Jerry and Annie. About 2.5 years ago, they already lost their second child who was stillborn at birth.

We cling to the promises of our Good Shepherd:

"He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." Isaiah 40:11

The Earth Quakes

We just felt a 7.3 magnitude earthquake here in PNG. All is ok in Lae, since it was 89 km south-west of here, although there was a lot of shaking and things falling off shelves, and we ran out of the house, just in case. We're not sure yet how those are doing who were nearer to the epi-centre.

This earthquake hit also at a time of political upheaval as on Tuesday a Supreme Court decision reinstated Sir Michael Somare as Prime Minister, even though 109 MPs refused to drop their support for Peter O'Neill, who was voted in by parliament on August 2, 2011 (because Somare had been away in Singapore for many months for serious medical treatment). Somare is urging police to remain neutral and do their utmost to maintain peace, law and order. In effect, we really have two Prime Ministers right now, one supported by Parliament and the other by a Supreme Court decision.

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging...

Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."

Psalm 46

God's children

It really is safe to say that things are stable again here in Lae. We're thankful for that! We also hope that the tribes involved can move on and let the government deal with the larger issues of law and order. We would like to keep things moving with our blog too, and so it's time to update you on a few other things that have also been happening in our ministry and family these past few weeks.

First of all, we'd like to share that we had a very special Sunday a few weeks ago where two of God's children were baptized. It is always beautiful to be reminded of God's promises to the children of believers and we do pray that both of these children will respond to these promises as they get older and come to confess Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord!

And here they are:

This is Martha with her son, Tobias.

And Monica, with her daughter, Nadia (my namesake!).

Our Heavenly Father's faithful love for these precious children is even more beautiful considering that their earthly fathers are not really involved in their lives right now. A sad reality, and also one that brings heartache to the mothers. Please also pray for them that they will have all they need to raise their children to know the Lord!

That's all for now, please check again soon for another update.