2009 Trip

I want to start by apologizing for the exceptionally long silence since my last update!

As most of you know Pops had a profitable last week in the tribe last April and God answered our prayers about keeping the malaria flare up in check. Resting a lot during the days, he managed to keep all of his meetings in the evenings and even a few lunch/afternoon appointments. The major focus of these last gatherings with the elders and leaders in the 6 villages was to challenge them to maintain the level of interaction with each other that he had modeled while there and to continue working on conflict resolution. He left them with a number of very specific goals to work on with the understanding that he would be following up on these during his next visit.

Pops has currently set the dates for his next trip loosely from the middle of January to the middle of March. The main goal for this trip is to continue modeling and teaching the people about living Christ and Christianity rather than simply going through the motions of religion. Last year the format and duration of Pops trip was very conducive to this message and we anticipate this year being more of the same.

Another objective of this trip will be to continue prodding the current leadership to choose and disciple members of the younger generations who can both take over the leadership of the current body of believers and take the message of Christ to new areas. In line with this objective Pops’ sons Ty and Ryan are both considering joining him in the tribe for a week or so in order to reconnect with and challenge some of their childhood friends.

The final objective that I’ll mention here stems from Pops’ recent acceptance of the role of an elder at their Maryland church. A number of leaders from Bay Area have expressed a desire for Pops to share his experience with missions with the local body. One of the ways that has been considered to do this is for some members/leaders of Bay Area to visit Pops in the tribe for a week or two during future trips. There are currently a couple potential takers for this coming trip and we’re excited about how God can use this opportunity to both encourage the Tagbanwas and to challenge the American believers that are able to go.

As always, thank you all for your continued prayers! We have been very blessed by the level of support that has been continually put forward and I know that it is very encouraging to the Tagbanwas too. I’ll try to make more frequent posts throughout the coming months while we’re gearing up for the coming trip. For now, please just be praying that God would give clarity for those considering a visit to Pops during this trip, and for provision once the clarity is there. Also, please continue to specifically pray for the Tagbanwas. The infighting and corruption that has resulted from the nickel mine has greatly enhanced the importance of local believers living their faith daily, and this at a time when there are more temptations than ever from the outside world. Finally, please pray for Pops, that God would give him wisdom and grace both in preparing for and in implementing this next trip.

Thanks again for your support,

In Christ,

Tim Mewmaw