20100229 Our February Newsletter

Dear Family and Friends:

This has been an unusual month and we have had God work in unexpected ways.

Many of you know that we have been fasting and praying for the last three years for a spiritual breakthrough here in regards to a previous Foursquare leader who has continued to inflict much harm and damage in our area. Within the last two months God has opened doors for the process of addressing this unresolved conflict. We are praying for healing and restoration for all those that have been affected. It has been great to see our pastors respond so positively to the process. Our pastors’ countenances are changing and we are seeing more hope and confidence in the faces of the pastors that only God can bring about. We kept the minutes from the last two meetings with the pastor and recently presented the findings to the PNG Foursquare National Executive Council (NEC). The NEC was quite pleased with the work that is being done here. The pastor is ready to publically apologize to the Foursquare leaders here and we plan to hold a formal reconciliation service and in April or May 2010. Thanks for your continued prayers in this area.

In preparation for our next medical outreach in March, we went down the south coast for about three hours to do a community-entry visit in a place called Gar. Pastor Willy, one of our younger pastors, is the pastor of the church there (see picture). Earlier on in Pastor Willy’s pastorate, he asked God what he could do for his community and God directed him to dig twenty pit toilets in a few months time for the community. In the heat and the humidity here that is a heavy labor, but after that the people’s hearts were so softened that the church in Gar grew in number. Because of a recent influx of cults in the area, Pastor Willy’s church has been struggling a bit and so we are going there to do a medical and evangelism outreach. We will formally dedicate a new church building and hold a water baptism service at the beach as well (see picture).

We have also finalized the East New Britain Province Foursquare ministry calendar for the year. Papa God has so many exciting plans for the Province. Our ever growing medical ministry will continue regular outreaches to remote areas in the PNG island region. Other highlights of the calendar include the regional United Foursquare Women’s (UFW) meeting which will be held in Kokopo later this year and continued Leadership Training for the pastors and leaders. Sponsorship for a provincial radio ministry is now in place and our radio program will begin shortly as well.

This month was a busy Leadership Training month. Our focus for some time now has been on the leader’s spirituality and the need for healing through repentance and forgiveness in the life of the leader. And as we have given examples of how God has healed areas in our own personal lives, the pastors are becoming increasingly open to us about areas in their lives that need healing. They are personally seeing that God is their Healer and that He cares about their past wounds.

Finally, we just returned from the Foursquare National Convention in Goroka in the Eastern Highlands Province (see picture). It was great to be with the pastors and leaders from all over Papua New Guinea again. In addition to fellowshipping with the pastors and leaders at the meeting, several pastors and leaders accepted our invitations to participate in our youth and children’s programs in our Province this year. We had a great time “storying” with them and laughing with them.

Thanks for your continued support and prayers. We realize the sacrifice you are making to set aside time to pray and to support us financially even in tough financial times.

Blessings,

Victor and Lori and Alexander Obregon

Attempt Great Things For God

Expect Great Things From God

William Carey