20080723 Our July Newsletter

Moning olgeta (Tok Pisin for “good morning everyone”);

 

We just completed a three day medical/evangelism outreach to Riete in the central Gazelle peninsula here in East New Britain. It was great but exhausting.  This outreach came about because one of the elders of Riete had come to an outreach last March to receive medicine. He was prayed for and miraculously healed.  He then went back to Riete and kept asking if we would come to his area.  The pastors here also wanted to do an outreach there because there is no Foursquare Church there. Several of our pastors have envisioned a Foursquare church plant in the area for some time now. There are two other churches in the area, but sound doctrine is not preached in these churches. One church, for example, teaches that there is no Trinity and only the Holy Spirit.

 

The nice thing about the outreach was that we could get there by land vehicle and it only took 1 ½ hours to get there. It was a real blessing to be able to come home each night to sleep in our own beds.  Alex has been sick this last week so we were able to have him rest at home and yet check in on him over our two way radios.  He is thinner and paler but growing stronger now each day.  There were real spiritual battles before this outreach.  Alex was ill and there was an “out of the blue” infestation of mice in our house. There were also odd things like our bedroom door latch breaking right after we showered so we couldn’t get into the room to sleep. We really cannot express our thanks for those who supported us in prayer.

 

On the medical outreach, we worked well into the night and gave two full days of medical care seeing 615 patients (see picture). In the evening, we had evangelism services where the speaker is under a small makeshift tin roof in case it rains. The rest of the people sit in groups on the ground under the open sky.  Huge fruit bats (a.k.a. “flying foxes”) dive overhead and the stage is dimly lit by a couple of fluorescent lights that are powered by a small generator that we bring with us.

 

On the second evangelism night, 8 people gave their hearts to Jesus and on the last night 48 people came forward to receive Christ. One of them was “councilor” Justin, the local level government official of the Riete village.  Throughout the outreach, the councilor expressed his interest that a Foursquare Church be built in the area. Pastor John Uralai, our Foursquare church pastor closest to Riete, will assure that all those who received Christ will get proper follow-up, including an opportunity for water baptism and discipleship. Pastor John will also be working with the local church and government community in Riete to plant a Foursquare church there before long.

 

Two health officers from the local hospital (Vonopope) also staffed the outreach and held a back pain in-service (see picture). Two Foursquare PNG youth leaders manned the wound care station and one of the Pastors was our Pharmacy assistant  (we gave out over 1,000 small plastic bags with medicine in them).  Then two other PNG pastors helped with the village language (tok ples), calling out numbers and weights.  You should have seen the people get excited over receiving used glasses.  We had one pair of very thick used prescription glasses that no one previously could use. So, before we left the house I asked God to find the right person for these glasses. Then at the outreach, Victor saw a lady complaining of her vision and when she tried those glasses on her face light up with a shy smile and she just kept bubbling on about how she could “see now.” It really was wonderful (see picture). 

 

Here are our prayer requests;

·         Continued protection - physically, emotionally and spiritually.

·         Godly wisdom, open doors and discernment.

·         The August outreach to Duke of York island.

·         The September outreach to Open Bay.

·         The team from NWC that is coming in October – unity, divine appointments and fruitfulness.

·         Continued favor with the government, medical, and church community here (we are now receiving a small monthly contribution from the East New Britain Community Development Office here to do medical and evangelism outreaches). Please pray that the Provincial Health Department will soon allow us to secure medications and childhood immunizations through the Provincial Area Medical Store in Rabaul.

·         Please remember our oldest son, Nathan, who lives in the Seattle area.

·         Please pray for the Bible School and our Leadership Training classes.

·         Please pray for signs and wonders to confirm God’s word and attract hearers to the Gospel.

·         Please pray for Lydia, the wife of the late Regional Supervisor Pastor Jonah Horis, and her family as they are grieving.

 

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. It is an honor to partner with you here in the Papua New Guinea Islands.

 

 

Blessings,

 

Victor, Lori, and Alexander Obregon

    Attempt Great Things For God.

         Expect Great Things From God.

                 William Carey