Dear Family and Friends,
What a busy time this has been. One of the highlights this past month was ministering with the Northwest Church team in the Duke of York Islands region here in Papua New Guinea. We sailed in our own banana boat from Kokopo Town to Mioko Island which is a small island in the region. As usual, we combined our daytime medical outreaches with evening evangelism services. The pastors here were very encouraged with the response at the outreach. We must acknowledge the four people that came as a team from our sending church in the U.S. – Mary Schell, Becca Schell, Desiree White, and Kile Rury (see pictures). They were such troopers and together we endured many “third-world” hardships including intense tropical heat, lack of electricity, invasion of geckoes, rats, pit toilets, outside showers, swollen limbs, and lack of sleep to name a few. There was a strong sense of spiritual opposition and darkness when we were there and one couldn’t help but notice the hopelessness in the people’s faces. We thank God that we could bring the light of the Gospel and hope to them. Our best estimate and our statistics show that we saw over 700 people in the two days that we were there. Our PNG nurses had the opportunity to do HIV/AIDS awareness teaching and general hygiene and dental hygiene teaching. We have heard many good things since leaving the Duke of York Islands. There were many same day healings from malaria, musculoskeletal pain, and upper respiratory infections, just to name a few.
As noted above, the small island in the Duke of York island region where we ministered is called Mioko Island. When we moved from the village into town earlier this year we did so primarily because we needed a dependable water source. We sensed that God was really clear about where we were supposed to live, so we moved there. The PNG caretakers of the place where we now live are our neighbors. They are Benjamin and Joanna and their four children. Whenever we have extra food, God will often direct us to go give it to this family. As it turns out, this family originally came from Mioko Island. And when we went as a team to Mioko, we discovered that it was Joanna’s uncle’s house that we stayed in. And so, God provided a bridge of love for us to the island through this family.
The Duke of York islands are a very dark area spiritually and many practice a syncretistic mix of witchcraft along with some nominal Christian religious practices. Our medical and evangelism outreach was the first time that a Pentecostal church was allowed to come into the region. During the time we were at the outreach, we noticed that there were two funeral services held. One was for a young child and the other for an old man. Our pastors took the opportunity to visit the mourning families and present the Gospel to them in a loving and caring way. Traditionally, those that are in mourning couldn’t come to the evangelism outreach so God opened a way for them to be ministered to in a very personal way. Only God could orchestrate something so meaningful as this in their culture. When our banana boat left Mioko after the outreach, we sensed the pleasure of God as we encountered several pods of dolphins on the way back.
In addition to the medical outreach, the U.S. team also ministered with us in several other venues – a two-day women’s meeting, a youth service, a men’s prayer service, and a water baptism service. At the water baptism service , the team for Northwest Church participated in the service where over 100 people were baptized. It was a special time for us as Alex had asked us to baptize him. Pastor Labette, one of the pioneering pastors in the area, brought Alex out to the ocean to be baptized and he witnessed his confession of faith (see picture).
Alex recently broke his left arm. He was playing at the beach jumping from one log to the other and fell. We splinted and iced down the arm right away but it was obviously broken and so the next day we went to the “haus sik” (hospital). Thankfully, there was power and water and we were able to confirm the “greenstick” fracture by X-Ray. Before we could view the X-Ray, though, the film had to be hung outside on a bush behind the hospital to dry. Alex is now sporting a heavy plaster cast. He is doing well now, but suffers because of the heat and itching underneath the cast (see picture).
We send out a big thank you to all who sent us cards, soaps, candy, Costco’s “trailmix”, and all the wonderful things that arrived along with the team from Northwest Church. It was amazing how much the team could bring besides the medical supplies we needed. It was overwhelming to be given so much.
Victor and I continue to be involved in reconciliation work both between villages and within marriages. This has been an unexpected ministry. Anyone who knows our personal and marriage history would be as amazed at this as we are. But God is clear that in our weakness He can shine out and be strong if we will do what He wants. We are very dependent on the Holy Spirit. Just yesterday, we returned from an hour trip into the bush to talk and pray with the Pastors and leaders of a remote church along with our Provincial Foursquare Pastor. It is very humbling to be in a hard packed dirt floored bush church that doesn’t have electricity or running water - the thin walls of the building are made of peeled bamboo strips - holding hands with the Pastor and leaders as they repent and ask for God’s wisdom and help.
We realize that there is a lot going on in the states. Markets are doing all sorts of things and people have lost jobs and homes. We thank you so much for being faithful in your prayers and giving in the midst of all of this. Please know that we are praying for you and your families. We wanted to encourage you that your support does indeed go towards real people with real stories. One Pastor that we have been encouraging and teaching is Pastor Willy (see picture). He is full of the Holy Spirit and has been pastoring a new church plant that arose out of one of our medical and evangelism outreaches. His church started with two elderly women. Then, at our outreach many people responded to the Gospel including many children. As a result, Pastor Willy has over 50 children in Sunday school. Pastor Willy recently asked God to help him fill a need in his community. The Lord showed him that he was to begin digging pit toilets (these are deep wide holes in the ground that take a lot of manual labor in the heat here) for his community. The people have been so touched that he would do this for them. He has dug over twenty pit toilets so far, and so people frequently ask him, “Why do you continue to you do this?” and he replies, “I want you to know how much Jesus loves you.” God has a unique calling for this young man who loves the Lord very much. Please pray for him. He is ready and willing to go to Bible School. In fact, he was accepted to business school but instead chose to follow his call to full-time ministry. He is also young and single who wants to be married and so please pray for a godly wife. Pray also that the Lord will give him a deeper understanding of how to live out his faith before people who tend to dismiss him due to his young age. This is just one of the personal stories here that you are a part of. Thank you for letting us represent you.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.
Blessings,
Victor, Lori, and Alexander Obregon
Attempt Great Things For God.
Expect Great Things From God.
William Carey
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