41Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 46And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 47Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Acts 2:41, 42, 46, and 47
These are the verses with which Mom began her journal entry for June 23. Because of the heavy rains, Dad and Mom were wondering if they would be able to get back into the village. The airstrip was wet, but The Lord allowed the rain to stop for the night before they flew back into the village. Here are some excerpts from Mom’s journal.
June 23. Praise the Lord for allowing us to come home today! There was no rain during the night. It was VERY foggy this morning, but wasn’t long before it lifted, and the sun came out. There were still lots of clouds today. Daddy took all the rest of the cargo over to NTM as soon as we got it ready. We were supposed to be the second flight, but the people for the first flight hadn’t shown up yet so Brent said to come over right away and we could go. Daddy had to go pick up the rest of our cargo at MAF because NTM said they would be doing another flight this way with cargo for Taniaraba so they’d be able to bring the rest of our stuff in too.
As soon as he got the stuff from MAF, he came back to get me. We went on over to the hangar. Weighed up the rest of the stuff which would come in later, so we could pay for everything before we left. Left Goroka around 9:40, and arrived in Owena a little after 10:00. The airstrip was quite soft, and Brent had a hard time getting up to the top.
It looked like there was plenty of mud around, but Taro said the trail down to the house was not too bad. Then Apekio came along and said that she had fixed the lower trail for me. So I thought, Okay, since you went to that trouble, I’ll go that way. That was a big mistake. Almost the whole trail was muddy and puddly. It took me quite a while to get home. Daddy got there long before I did.
We had most of the cargo dropped off at the little house so we won’t have to move it all up there later. Spent the rest of the morning and afternoon unpacking and putting things away, with a little bit of a nap stuck in there about mid-afternoon.
We had started to go for nap earlier, after we ate lunch, but Peter came with his littlest boy Leon. Leon was quite sick, and Peter wanted us to pray for him. We were happy to do that. Peter said he has been thinking a lot about the things we told him, and wants to come over here to be with us for church services, but he hasn’t yet.
Early afternoon, the Lord sent us a little rain. But after a while, the skies cleared up again, and Brent was able to get back in with the rest of the cargo. So all our cargo got in on the two flights today. Praise the Lord for safety and nice weather.
Please pray for Peter. Pray that he will gladly receive the word so that he can grow and be added to the church. Pray for Peter to understand and to trust God so that he can raise his little boy to love Jesus.
June 24. No rain last night. Some rain clouds off in the distance today, but no rain here — mostly sunshine. ☼ Daniel was able to get the rest of the walls done for the toilet up at the other house. Tomorrow some of the ladies will bring kunai for the roof. Praise the Lord for Daniel’s help!
After breakfast this morning, we did laundry. Much of the day again was busy taking care of people at the door, and going back and forth to the other house to take or get things. Neomi’s mother came late this afternoon, and I took a little time to read to her from the book of John.
Please pray for Neomi’s mother. When Dad and Mom move into their new house, they will be farther away from her and will not get to see her as often. She cannot read and depends on Mom to encourage her through God’s word. Pray that she will stay encouraged and that Mom will be able to still visit with her and build her up through the word of God.
June 25. The Lord gave us sunshine this morning and rain this afternoon.
Did some backups this morning, and looked for Hebrews on one of the old CD’s. Couldn’t find Hebrews, but did find Revelation. Got back to working on Psalms again after that. When I was about to close down, Neomi’s mother came with some peanuts. Took some time to read to her from John’s Gospel before starting dinner. Made a chicken stew for the weekend.
Worked this afternoon on the booklet, Sios I Gat Glori (A Glorious Church).
Daddy and I read II Corinthians chapter 3 in our prayer time today. Verses 5 and 6 were a special encouragement. “5Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; 6Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”