Paul Before the Sanhedrin

Sue says:

Once again in Book of Acts class, it was drama day. This time students presented Paul on trial before the Sanhedrin. Though the students are different, some of the costumes are the same. Once again Paul is the one with the gold robe. The high priest has on the breastpiece of judgment. This scene is from Acts 23. Good stuff!

First Water Filter Test Results

Petri Dish Showing Active Bacteria Colonies (Large Purple and Pink Dots)

Jeff writes:

The first test result is in for the water filter, and it shows that we have bad bacteria in the water. I know this because of the purple and pink dots growing in the petri dish. Each one represents an E-coli  bacterial colony. The goal is to reduce these colonies to nearly zero.

This was to be expected because I took the sample yesterday evening before the schmutzdecke, which is the biological killing zone at the top of the sand, had formed. So even though the water had passed through the sand and the gravel, the sample at this time is nearly the same as unfiltered Waghi River water.

I am now running the filter to clean out the bad bacteria. We will take our next test this Friday and compare results. Lord willing the water will be cleaner.

Keep praying.

P.S.

One small piece of unrelated news is today I was interviewed on PNG's NBC radio. This station is  equivalent to National Public Radio in the US. I was asked questions pertaining to the topic of biblical ethics. The 15-minute session went well, and hopefully the Lord was honored.

Water Filter First Phase Finished

Students Checking Out the Slow-Sand Water Filter (Inside the Two Steel Drums)

Jeff writes:

After nearly two months of sometimes painful and frustrating effort, five students and I finally were able to set up our slow-sand water filter. Our desire is to take the highly polluted Waghi River water and turn it into safe drinking water. In so doing we want to become independent of the droughts we experience here in dry season.

To complete the water filter we used materials readily available in PNG. We got our sand and gravel from the nearby Waghi River. We built our own sand and gravel sieves. Our welder joined two steel drums together, and our plumber fitted the necessary valves to make the thing work.

Today we assembled the filter itself and connected it to a Waghi river outlet. The water flows into the filter via a float valve similar to those found in toilets. The valve prevents the filter from overflowing. The water is filtered by a meter of fine sand, followed by around 10 cm coarse sand, and the last layer consists of around 10 cm of pea-sized gravel. At the bottom of the barrels are two more valves. One will be used to back flush the filter when it needs cleaning. Lord willing drinking water will flow out of the other.

This is a homemade design based on some good research, but we will not really know how well it will work until we test the quality of both the input and the output water. I have received biological test kits from Australia that will reveal E. coli bacteria present in the samples. The goal is to have plenty of bad buggies going in and hopefully close to zero coming out.

I had a bit of a scare when initially no water came out of the clean water valve. It took longer than I thought to fill up the two barrels. When the water did finally flow, it had an oily residue on the top from the steel pipe we drilled out to collect the water inside the filter. The oil began to go away, but the water was clouded with sediment. However, after about five minutes it began to flow clearly. In fact it was so clear that our carpenter Thomas wanted to take home a bottle to put into his refrigerator to drink. I told him not to do that as it will take around a week for the filter to develop a biological bacteria killing zone called a schmutzdecke which will really start eliminating the bad bacteria. Needless to say, however, we were all overjoyed to get to this point.

It is a bit scary to try something new and to go out on a limb so to speak. I certainly was nervous. So when we reached the point of seeing the clear water flow, it was time to lift up a grateful prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord.

God has a sense of humor I think as I am teaching Exodus this term. We are learning there that He seems to specialize in getting water from strange places and in unusual ways.

So is there something that you are afraid to tackle in your life? I would say go to God in prayer and then go for it. Go ahead, and by faith trust Him to help you today; see what kind of living water the Lord will cause to well up in your life.

Paul and Silas Visit Philippi

Sue says:

Today the Book of Acts class was transported back to Philippi during Paul's second missionary journey. A group of students helped us better understand what went on as Paul and Silas cast a demon out of a slave girl, were beaten and thrown into prison, sang God's praises despite their afflictions, led the jailer and his (her in this case) family to faith in Christ and demanded a public release from prison because they were unjustly imprisoned.

Above, Paul and Silas are put in the care of  the jailer and a guard.

To the right, the guard listens while Paul and Silas are entreated by the magistrate to quietly leave town (so he won't have to admit a miscarriage of justice.)

This class session definitely got more discussion going than the usual lectures!  

Good News Arrives!

Sue says:

A letter arrived to let us know that one of our graduates, Biangkepe, who was pictured earlier this year at our missions conference, received an award in Malaysia as she attended training for becoming a missionary. Out of the candidates from nine nations, she was chosen as the best example of Christian character and principles. This gal was in our student cell group the first year we served here.We praise the Lord for students who go on to bear the Lord's name with honor.

A second letter also bore welcome news. The commission from the Office of Higher Education has granted our college (CLTC) provisional accreditation for two years. After two years, another delegation will visit our campus. If we have taken adequate action on the areas pointed out to us, full accreditation will be granted. It is quite surprising that the commission was appointed and has taken such quick action on our application. We thank those who prayed for this event and our Lord who heard our prayers.  

Hospitality Night and Other Things

Sue says:

Graduation will take place in about about three and a half months, but Friday was the night the faculty members invited graduating students and their families for a meal. We hosted this family from the Solomon Islands. They  have added much to the college community through leading in worshiping the Lord through song.

Papa Josiah is a pastor who has been equipped to preach and teach even better than he had before. He was in my Christian counseling class and a number of Jeff's classes. He's in our cell group this year too. He recently was blessed by a class on Youth Ministry that has enabled him to understand the needs of his own kids in a new light.

Mama Esther was in my pidgin class when they first arrived four years ago. Now she speaks pidgin better than I do, and she has also learned to read and write. She sews skillfully too. She sewed all the dresses for the graduating women last year and new curtains for our guest house. Esther will receive a women's ministry certificate.

In other news, Jeff is continuing to work on a water filter. Students have assisted him by sieving gravel to get fine sand needed to filter out impurities from water. This week he hopes to assemble his filter on a permanent  site and begin trying it out. 

Also on the subject of water, the Lord has blessed us with rain two nights in a row. Tonight a heavy rain like we haven't heard in a long time is falling. I have been able to move nursery seedlings of  lettuce to our garden recently. They like being shaded by banana trees next to them. Lettuce isn't available at local markets because nationals don't eat it much. Growing it myself ensures a supply. What a blessing to have this rain on the transplants.

It sounds like our water tank will be full tomorrow. The students must be praising the Lord that they won't need to stand in a central line with buckets to receive their water rations. When tanks are full, the students receive their water supply at their individual villages.

Without a Witness?

Jeff writes:

Peace has finally come to Bung Ples!

Two weeks ago after a protracted conflict which lasted several months involving the destruction of many homes and gardens everyone has shaken hands and has drunk Coca Cola to end the enmity between the warring clans

Our brother in Christ, Michael Kongo, was on hand to witness the ceremony. I loaned him my camera, and he took these photos. Hence, I was not present, so you are getting a Melanesian's-eye-view of the events.

When the former combatants had assembled, a pastor opened the ceremony with prayer and a sermon from 1 Kings 12, which describes the tragic breakup of Israel into two competing kingdoms. Several speeches followed.

Then the leaders gathered in a circle, held hands and prayed.

Upon concluding the prayer, they all embraced, and wept over the destruction caused by the fighting.

One of the pastors then took the breast of pig and brought it to the assembled leaders. He gave it to each one who took a bite of it in turn.

Following this the young men, who had done the fighting, assembled to drink a can of Coca Cola.

In unison they upended their cans and drank the contents.

When I asked Michael how old this ceremony is, he said his ancestors had done the same for generations. However, instead of Coke, they drank sugarcane juice.

I offer these photos to you with a question. Of what does this whole ceremony remind you?

Think about it, and we will post our thoughts later.

Rain Falls!

Sue says:

We thank the Lord for sending us a soaking rain for an hour or more last night. It was a lovely sound to hear pattering on our roof and to picture it filling our tanks. Water rationing will continue, to make wise use of what we have.  

A few flowers are surviving the drought. They remind us of God's faithfulness day by day.

Water Rationing Begun

Sue says:

Thanks to you who are praying about our water situation. Rationing has been put in place for the students because so little potable water is left in their tank. Each family (or group of four singles) is given one bucket of drinking water per day. The picture shows our student body president (left) overseeing the distribution from the water tank.

We are learning new things about trusting God in this process. Today I was reading Exodus 14:13: But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today."

This verse reminds me that there is water for today. (And it even sprinkled a bit last night to water our gardens.) There's water in the tank that's being drawn for each family for today's ration. I don't need to worry about tomorrow. It isn't here yet.

By the way, our cell group outreach went well last Sunday. The gal on the left of the picture in the previous entry taught the congregation an observation and application method for learning from Bible stories. The man in the center gave an application for the story of Jesus calming the wind and the waves. The other gals walked around the village inviting people before the service began. The guys led singing. The whole group sang a special song for offering time. We thank God for helping us adapt to the situation in that congregation. We pray they will continue to grow in their faith as they use the method we taught them.