A Story from South Africa

A recent newsletter from Helping Hands in Africa included a story about a 10 year-old boy who attended their Orphan Intervention Program. He said this: "My mother was bad so they put her in a hole and covered her with sand so that she would die."

The newsletter went onto remind us that death is a very present reality in the lives of children in the village but it is also a misunderstood reality. Children are seldom spoken to about death. Often the child is told that his or her mother left to work in another town rather than be told that the child's mother died. This leaves the child with a sense of abandonment and an inability to come to closure. Even the process of funerals remains a mystery, with children many times not being included, even in a funeral of their own parents.

Grief Care is vital for these young children and adolescents to ask questions, express how they are feeling, to have their fears eased and their misconceptions dispelled. It is important for them to learn how to cope with loss, changes and trauma and to be empowered to make good decisions.

Mibu church teaches the Gospel to Mina language speakers

3/9/08

Two years ago in March 2006, the word from Mibu in PNG was that virtually every member of the town of Mibu had consciously chosen to believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. A new church was born in Mibu. On March 21, 2006, Joey Tartaglia sent this email: "A baby church has just been born in Mibu. Though we're not up nights, we feel the excitement and concerns of a new parent. Though we have been praying for this, anticipating this, hardly daring to hope for such a thorough reception of the Gospel, it is really happening."

Now two years later, not only is the Mibu church going on and growing in the Lord, but they are actively sending out teams to share the story of the Good News to other villages. Their first such experience was to go to Tariknan, where their own Ma language is also spoken. God blessed the co-venture of the missionaries and Mibu teachers, and many in Tariknan accepted the message of Jesus.

This year, the Mibu church has crossed the language barrier to teach God's story in Yongem. The people of Yongem speak the Mina language, which is somewhat similar to the Ma language. The Mibu teachers are on their own this time, as the missionaries stepped to the background, helping with translation needs and with coaching, but no teaching.

After a few months of teaching, the news from Geoff Husa is that the people of Yongem have heard the message, understood it, and that many are putting their faith in Jesus Christ. Geoff writes:

"Just heard back from the guys who were doing the evangelism teaching in Yongem! They finished on Wednesday and have a total, as of now, of 78 new believers! They suspect there will be more over the next few weeks as some are still thinking through the teaching. As is usually the case, some more will trickle in as they reflect on the teaching and 'see the light'. One guy died of an illness just days after he was heard giving a clear testimony; the first Yongem believer to be with God in glory!"

McCoy and Askews report on Easter outreach in Kosova

Easter Week 3/19/08

Yesterday I joined the group of Christians to pick up trash around the hospital. Part of the time there was a cold rain, but thankfully they had brought some lightweight rain ponchos. Nearly 100 people showed up, representing at least 4 churches from Prishtina and 6 churches from other cities. I got to meet guys from several other cities. Then we all went back to one of the churches to have hamburgers! Two of the pastors were picking up trash together, and one told me later that they overheard two Muslim men comment that they would never be able to get a group of Muslims organized to do such a project. They seemed a little embarassed about that and then told the pastors that they hoped God would bless them with heaven for their work! Tomorrow we are supposed to go to one of the border crossings into Serbia to pick up trash there, but with the snow, I suspect it may be canceled. Sunday they have scheduled an open air joint Easter service in downtown. Pray for the sun to come out!

Easter Week 3/22/08

Today we went to downtown Prishtina and cleaned the area around the national theatre, where the Easter celebration/service will be held tomorrow. Others handed out flowers and invitations to the Easter program. It is such a joy to see these young Christians for all over Kosova working together and really enjoying the fellowship with each other. I also got to meet more of the missionaries here, from several different mission agencies. There really is a love, cooperation and unity among the protestant churches and missionaries here, and that is such a joy to see and participate in! I have had so many offers of help. Praise God for His body here---small but growing in love, unity and influence.

Yesterday some of them went to deliver food and clothes to some of the poorest families in the area. I was surprised to hear that most of the food an clothes were donations from businesses here---most non-Christian! One business gave 5000 Euros, which is more than $7500! The business eople here are beginning to trust and respect the Christian community. What a wonderful witness! The evangelical church here is less than 1% of the population.

The government of the newly independent Kosova put up a large sign to celebrate the birth of their new country. The sign says: NEWBORN. I wonder if believers can use that to bridge into spiritual conversation?!

Easter Sunday, 3/23/08
Praise God for the beautiful weather He gave us for the Easter service/celebration! It was warm and sunny with only a few fluffy clouds. It got cool later and today is raining again! The service seemed to go well, though of course I could not understand any of the speaking. But they had a drama of the resurrection, a children's choir, a worship band, Scripture read, and a pastor gave a simple explanation of the meaning and importance of Easter (at least I was told that is what he spoke about!). It was a good crowd, though evidently the number of non-believers was not large. But a number of people walked by and paused a few moments to see what was going on. And it was great for so many believers to be in one place at one time (a few hundred, which is a lot here). And it was fun for me to see many people I knew, including one of those we had sponsored to Urbana whom I had not yet seen since he lives in another town. Also got to say hi to other missionaries I have met. So it was a beautiful, joyous day.

Jon and Harriet Askew summarize:

We had a good Easter service with all of the churches of Kosova participating. There were perhaps 500 people in the open air service held outside the national theater and on the pedestrian mall. So, there were people walking through all of the time and being curious. Though it wasn’t the best venue, it was the culmination of the cooperation of all churches in a weeklong list of service to the people of Kosova. We’re thinking that some unity has developed in the process, as well as some witness to those affected. AND we had perfect weather for those few hours. It was not so nice before and after. Now we’ve had a couple of days of snow and rain.
Pray for ongoing witness from the lives of Christians.