Dear Family and Friends;
As you already know we are here in balmy, humid, and hot, but lovely PNG. From the time we left the airport in Seattle to the time we landed and up to now we have experienced every emotion known to man. We have lugged heavy suitcases all over Singapore and Port Moresby, but by the grace of God nothing was lost or stolen. In fact, no one in customs in any city did anything but wave us through even though we carried 3 times the amount of luggage as everyone else. I have found God to be endlessly kind. Keith and Cindy Bickley waited for 4 flights to come in before we did due to problems in Singapore and mechanical difficulties. But we met and made connections with a lady named Dorothy who works for the airlines and lives in PNG (Victor prayed over her in the waiting area of the airport about 3am for healing and she felt better and fell asleep, we later found out that she is a Baptist ), a catholic priest that works in the highlands, a wonderful nun from the Philippines who loved gadgets and we talked and shared about reaching out to those in need – she blessed us before we left. It was a crossing of religious boundaries and it was good.
We live in the village of Rallubong in the upstairs area of a two story house. Alex enjoys playing rugby football (see picture). The owners of the home, Pastor Komet and Regena are leaders in this community. Due to the tropical climate all the windows are screened for as much air flow as possible so while that is advantageous it is like a fish bowl and you hear all, and I mean all and they hear all. I am looking out the window as I type this and a slight breeze is bringing in the slight scent of Hibiscus, rice and drying coconut. Thirty feet away is a wall of palm trees, banana trees, a Lau Lau tree, a poinsettia tree and a lot of green that I haven’t identified yet. Then if you look closely there are quiet paths that lead off to other families that just are hidden in a few feet. It’s amazing that we can drive around and now identify roads through the jungle that just looked like a dirt path when we first came. At night the air is full of all sorts of sounds. Roosters crowing, rasping, clicking (actually that is the huge hissing cockroaches we have to spray with a can of bug spray in each hand),chirping, one bird actually sounds like a baby crying, and the geckos singing out to each other. But it is the people that capture your heart. I was trying to scrape out the meat of a coconut to cook vegetables in the other day and a whole group of villagers and children came to point and laugh. They can’t believe a grown woman doesn’t know how to do what they have been doing since they were five years old. I just laughed with them and said” Mi got easy easy”, which in Tok Pisin is;” I go very slowly”. They shook their heads in agreement, yes, you sure are slow.
We are learning so much. Did you know that that plastic tray under the hamburger (minced meat as they call it here), can double as a handy bed-side catch all after you bleach it? Or that tin cans are a hot commodity? I was washing my laundry on a board with a plastic brush and a bar of soap (although I think I was wetter with sweat than my laundry was), and I went to hang up the piece I was working on and by the time I returned someone had removed my soap and brush from the can and then they removed the can. Are you aware of all the uses of a wooden clothes pin? Right now 4 clothes pins are holding my one clock together that was accidentally knocked to the ground. It works, you just avert your eyes from the 4 strategically placed pins.
A few days ago some people from another village stole some cocoa from the people of our village. Apparently this has been a long standing frustration issue and so we just missed a group of men armed with bush knives and guns going to retaliate. One man was shot twice through the arm. Victor was able to pray over Pastor Komet before he went to try to be the peacemaker. Later Pastor Komet reported that as he and other men took a stance for peace they could sense God’s presence with them. The whole area was uneasy and fear in any language or culture still looks and feels the same. By the grace of God. The police became involved and there wasn’t any more violence. This tests the very heart of the Christians. Will they follow the way of Papa God or will they revert back to the culture of retaliation.
We met a lady who was trying to get herself and her family to the highlands to reunite with her husband who worked in the mines. I saw her standing not too far from me and motioned for her to come sit by me. She practiced her English and I practiced my Pigin. Her name is Jenny. She had 5 daughters and the youngest was only a month old but looked so small that I would have guessed she was only a week old. She began talking of her frustration and it was a opportunity to talk and lay hands and pray over her. God was so present. Please pray for her.
We helped Keith and Cindy Bickley put a 3 day evangelistic outreach in a village of Kabanga this last Friday, Saturday and Sunday (see pictures). It was by the ocean and we had to travel several miles through some "hard-to-believe" rut infested roads. It is so dark without electricity and then in the jungle that it seems you are on another planet. Then a generator was turned on and 2 lights shone out before the stars and moon rose overhead. I wish you could see what I have. People hungry for God. Coming forward for prayer. How the Father’s heart loves them. On Saturday Alex helped with the puppets (see picture) and Victor and I briefly spoke to the kids. But on Sunday I was able to teach a group of kids Jesus loves me in sign language and look at them and tell them Papa God loves them. Keith preached a great sermon that reminded me of Pastor Steve. Then Victor and I spoke briefly and then they prayed for us as most of you know we have been physically suffering; Victor with 20-30-festering weeping bug bites that were trying to turn into leg ulcers that he got the first day we came and my heat rash that covers my arms and keeps trying to spread. But then the most wonderful experience we’ve had there was a water baptism for those who had given their hearts and lives to Jesus. Cindy and I got to help baptize them in the ocean while the other believers sang praises on the shore (see picture).We were split into teams of two. We had the liberty to lay hands on them and pray our guts out. It was so awesome. It was worth all the problems just to be a part of them dedicating their lives to the king of Kings. I pray that I will get to do that again. I love baptizing.
Well I could go on and on but I know that your lives are busy also. Please write to us if you want. It’s so good to hear from home. We found Focus on the Family on our short wave radio last night so that was exciting. Please pray for our oldest son Nathan as he is graduating from SPU in June and we are not there. We have a lot of important decisions that are coming up. Please pray that we will be spirit led and not need driven. That we will have the mind of Christ. For unity, endurance, for love, love, love for the people and the grace to absorb the language and culture. We love and miss you, may God reveal his truths to you in a deeper way.
Blessings,
Victor, Lori, and Alexander Obregon
As you already know we are here in balmy, humid, and hot, but lovely PNG. From the time we left the airport in Seattle to the time we landed and up to now we have experienced every emotion known to man. We have lugged heavy suitcases all over Singapore and Port Moresby, but by the grace of God nothing was lost or stolen. In fact, no one in customs in any city did anything but wave us through even though we carried 3 times the amount of luggage as everyone else. I have found God to be endlessly kind. Keith and Cindy Bickley waited for 4 flights to come in before we did due to problems in Singapore and mechanical difficulties. But we met and made connections with a lady named Dorothy who works for the airlines and lives in PNG (Victor prayed over her in the waiting area of the airport about 3am for healing and she felt better and fell asleep, we later found out that she is a Baptist ), a catholic priest that works in the highlands, a wonderful nun from the Philippines who loved gadgets and we talked and shared about reaching out to those in need – she blessed us before we left. It was a crossing of religious boundaries and it was good.
We live in the village of Rallubong in the upstairs area of a two story house. Alex enjoys playing rugby football (see picture). The owners of the home, Pastor Komet and Regena are leaders in this community. Due to the tropical climate all the windows are screened for as much air flow as possible so while that is advantageous it is like a fish bowl and you hear all, and I mean all and they hear all. I am looking out the window as I type this and a slight breeze is bringing in the slight scent of Hibiscus, rice and drying coconut. Thirty feet away is a wall of palm trees, banana trees, a Lau Lau tree, a poinsettia tree and a lot of green that I haven’t identified yet. Then if you look closely there are quiet paths that lead off to other families that just are hidden in a few feet. It’s amazing that we can drive around and now identify roads through the jungle that just looked like a dirt path when we first came. At night the air is full of all sorts of sounds. Roosters crowing, rasping, clicking (actually that is the huge hissing cockroaches we have to spray with a can of bug spray in each hand),chirping, one bird actually sounds like a baby crying, and the geckos singing out to each other. But it is the people that capture your heart. I was trying to scrape out the meat of a coconut to cook vegetables in the other day and a whole group of villagers and children came to point and laugh. They can’t believe a grown woman doesn’t know how to do what they have been doing since they were five years old. I just laughed with them and said” Mi got easy easy”, which in Tok Pisin is;” I go very slowly”. They shook their heads in agreement, yes, you sure are slow.
We are learning so much. Did you know that that plastic tray under the hamburger (minced meat as they call it here), can double as a handy bed-side catch all after you bleach it? Or that tin cans are a hot commodity? I was washing my laundry on a board with a plastic brush and a bar of soap (although I think I was wetter with sweat than my laundry was), and I went to hang up the piece I was working on and by the time I returned someone had removed my soap and brush from the can and then they removed the can. Are you aware of all the uses of a wooden clothes pin? Right now 4 clothes pins are holding my one clock together that was accidentally knocked to the ground. It works, you just avert your eyes from the 4 strategically placed pins.
A few days ago some people from another village stole some cocoa from the people of our village. Apparently this has been a long standing frustration issue and so we just missed a group of men armed with bush knives and guns going to retaliate. One man was shot twice through the arm. Victor was able to pray over Pastor Komet before he went to try to be the peacemaker. Later Pastor Komet reported that as he and other men took a stance for peace they could sense God’s presence with them. The whole area was uneasy and fear in any language or culture still looks and feels the same. By the grace of God. The police became involved and there wasn’t any more violence. This tests the very heart of the Christians. Will they follow the way of Papa God or will they revert back to the culture of retaliation.
We met a lady who was trying to get herself and her family to the highlands to reunite with her husband who worked in the mines. I saw her standing not too far from me and motioned for her to come sit by me. She practiced her English and I practiced my Pigin. Her name is Jenny. She had 5 daughters and the youngest was only a month old but looked so small that I would have guessed she was only a week old. She began talking of her frustration and it was a opportunity to talk and lay hands and pray over her. God was so present. Please pray for her.
We helped Keith and Cindy Bickley put a 3 day evangelistic outreach in a village of Kabanga this last Friday, Saturday and Sunday (see pictures). It was by the ocean and we had to travel several miles through some "hard-to-believe" rut infested roads. It is so dark without electricity and then in the jungle that it seems you are on another planet. Then a generator was turned on and 2 lights shone out before the stars and moon rose overhead. I wish you could see what I have. People hungry for God. Coming forward for prayer. How the Father’s heart loves them. On Saturday Alex helped with the puppets (see picture) and Victor and I briefly spoke to the kids. But on Sunday I was able to teach a group of kids Jesus loves me in sign language and look at them and tell them Papa God loves them. Keith preached a great sermon that reminded me of Pastor Steve. Then Victor and I spoke briefly and then they prayed for us as most of you know we have been physically suffering; Victor with 20-30-festering weeping bug bites that were trying to turn into leg ulcers that he got the first day we came and my heat rash that covers my arms and keeps trying to spread. But then the most wonderful experience we’ve had there was a water baptism for those who had given their hearts and lives to Jesus. Cindy and I got to help baptize them in the ocean while the other believers sang praises on the shore (see picture).We were split into teams of two. We had the liberty to lay hands on them and pray our guts out. It was so awesome. It was worth all the problems just to be a part of them dedicating their lives to the king of Kings. I pray that I will get to do that again. I love baptizing.
Well I could go on and on but I know that your lives are busy also. Please write to us if you want. It’s so good to hear from home. We found Focus on the Family on our short wave radio last night so that was exciting. Please pray for our oldest son Nathan as he is graduating from SPU in June and we are not there. We have a lot of important decisions that are coming up. Please pray that we will be spirit led and not need driven. That we will have the mind of Christ. For unity, endurance, for love, love, love for the people and the grace to absorb the language and culture. We love and miss you, may God reveal his truths to you in a deeper way.
Blessings,
Victor, Lori, and Alexander Obregon
Attempt Great Things For God
Expect Great Things From God
William Carey
William Carey
1 comments:
I love your blog and hearing how you are doing. The pictures really help to know what it looks like and it looks lush and wonderful! Can you update more than once a month??
God Bless you all as you serve Him!!
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