Ty & Mike Report A Good Trip

Ty and Mike are both back from their trip out to the tribe and had an encouraging report concerning spiritual things there.

Pops had arranged a pretty rigorous speaking schedule for Mike and the report is that he was received well. Ty met numerous times with the group of guys (now men with families) that he grew up with and they had many encouraging talks! Many of their generation (24-30 year-olds) are actively pursuing Christ and are taking steps to lead their families accordingly. There have been some difficulties with their increasing involvement in the church because the elderly leaders have maintained relatively tight reigns on their positions. Further, the younger guys unanimously acknowledged the difficulty of balancing the survival of their family's with making time for spiritual/church things. Which brings me to a significant prayer request...

As I have mentioned before, the collapse of the price of nickel has caused the mine to cease operations. They have kept a skeleton crew on site to maintain security, but pretty much all of the local workers have been laid off. The significance of this is very big for Lamane and the surrounding sitios. The creation of real paying jobs and the influx of cash that they and the traffic to/from the mine has produced over the past couple of years has significantly inflated the local economy. Further, the global recession and the droughts of last year have nearly tripled the price of rice. Finally, the fact that many people had begun to work and were relying on paychecks to provide for their needs has meant that they have not maintained their own private rice fields. These factors combined with a significant decline in the local fish population are adding up to a very serious and difficult situation. The prospect of not having enough food to feed their families is a very real threat.

That being said, this problem should not be met by simply going in and handing out bags of free rice. Among the locals there is already the frequent expectation for handouts from foreigners. Many see foreigners as a bottomless source of wealth and do not understand that the handouts they receive are only available because someone else has worked or sacrificed to make them so. Foreign generosity has frequently enabled irresponsible behavior and encouraged laziness amongst the locals. Hence, if we are to help we need to find a way to do so that encourages them to be proactive to combat their situation as well. Please pray for wisdom in this situation and that God would continue to provide for them.

Going back to the spiritual work that we are doing there, Ty said that he was struck by how much Pops is out. He said that Pops is rarely at the house and that he is maintaining a weekly schedule that has him in each of the 6 villages multiple times a week. Pops is loving the work. His goal for this trip was to concentrate on Ephesians and he has spent the whole past month on Chapter One. He says he's been "going from the spiritual blessings to man to the God-ward glory that is to flow from the church." Several of the groups in the outlying sitios have been very responsive and passionate in his discussions/studies with them. However, some of the others have been the opposite. Pops says that he feels like some of what he's sharing may be going over some people's heads, but that's okay as long as the leaders are following and being encouraged and he believes that they are.

There are a number of other encouraging things as well, a group of the elders collectively sought reconciliation with a member of the community over a situation that had alienated this individual for the past couple of years. This reconciliation was successful. There is also a young man (mid-twenties) who has returned to the tribe after getting a theological education from outside and Pops has been working with him quite a bit. Pops says that he is very "dedicated and capable" and is motivated to be involved with the church. All in all, a good report.

Please continue to pray that the local church leadership would be motivated and inspired to include and disciple the younger generation. Please pray for the physical sustenance of the people--having enough food is a real concern for them. Finally, please continue to pray for Pops' physical health and well-being. He got a relatively minor burn on his shin from a motorbike muffler (while Ty and Mike were still in the tribe) but it has now become infected and could be serious (infection is serious a serious concern there in the jungle). Thank you all for you ongoing prayer and support! It is truly a blessing to be able to experience this instance of the unification and physical outworking of the church as Christ's body. God bless,

Tim Mewmaw