Greetings from a mile away from the village of the Mihi Tribe and Remembering You.
I meditated on “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” again:
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, There is no shadow or turning with Thee; Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Summer and winter And spring time and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above;
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, Mercy and love.
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today, And bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
“Time flows like flowing streams”, a Korean expression, which applies to us, as already another year is drawing to a close.
We have come so far—only by His grace—as we walked and climbed the hills and valleys of joy and tears.
It rains every night, as the wet season is here, giving moisture to dry gardens and making our water tank overflow with sweet rain water. The wet season supplies plentiful of garden food for the people and makes them contentment; with thankful hearts, we, too, are grateful to God—even though we feel sticky and smell mold at every corner of our house. Thankfully, our kerosene heater helps us stop the molding and clear out the dampness, as well as boils hot water in our tea pot. At this special time of Christmas, during the pitch dark nights here in the Mihi village, our hearts feel cozy with our candles and 12 volt solar light, which gives us dim light. Every year the Christmas season helps us to prepare for the New Year ahead, by keeping our focus on Jesus—He must be our motivation—knowing that without Him life would be hopeless. There are none of the things we used to have for Christmas in this lonely, isolated and remote place of the Mihi tribe. But we and our translation helpers are all full of joy and excitement anticipating celebrating the birth of Christ our Savior on Christmas day, knowing Jesus Christ our Savior Himself is our joy and the greatest gift of all. What a wonderful blessing we have in Him—only by God’s grace. We are grateful and realize that we do not deserve such a gift!
We would like to wish you a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year “for the Lord will go before you.” We also wanted to express our deep appreciation for your prayers for us and our tribal ministry during this year. Thank you for surrounding us with your love and encouragement and for helping us in many ways. We are grateful to you as you partner with us in seeking to bring the Gospel to the Mihi tribal people. We marvel that God, in His grace, has allowed us to be in His service. Of course, we realize that this work is a team effort with you! We are dependent and thankful for your faithful involvement, which makes it possible for us to continue to work on Bible translation in the Mihi language, church planting, discipleship and teaching literacy. Please pray with us this coming year as we teach the people to read and write the Words of God, as we prepare to teach the people biblical truths from Creation to Christ and as we endeavor to be witnesses for Christ through our lives.
We thank God for His healing hand upon Seong. He is doing his normal, daily work very well, even though he cannot hike and lift heavy objects. A result of the medical checkup in October was encouraging. The sternum has healed well with 8 wires joined and the grafted ascending aorta has healed well. To the surprise of the vascular surgeon, the tears in Seong’s descending aorta, which had tears of 3.5cm last year, was the same size this year. The descending aorta must be checked once every 3 months at NTM clinic in PNG and once a year in Cairns base hospital. A new additional medication (a B12 shot) I give Seong, bravely with prayers, once a month, as taught how to give by the NTM doctor. Seong’s nick name is a “miracle man” or “blessed man”. What a thrill to see how the Lord has gone before us and answered yours and our prayers. We know that God has kept Seong for a very important reason, and he is honored that God has allowed him to continue working for Him. Each day, we must trust Him and He will direct our paths. We know God has so much in store for us and it will be great to see Him working through our lives, in the good times and the difficult times, for the Mihi tribal people’s salvation.
We trust that as each of you remember the Christ of Christmas that you would remember to pray that the Mihi tribal people would come to know Christ and the true meaning of Christmas. Thank you so much again for your prayers and friendship as together we serve our Lord.
May you have a wonderful Christmas knowing your confidence is in the Lord as we soon begin a New Year, 2015!
Praise points:
Praise God for His healing hand for Seong as He has spared Seong’s life again (2003 & 2013) for His work, at His place, in His way.
Praise God that He prepares the people’s hearts as they desire and hunger to know of God.
Praise God that our second daughter-in-law, Sally, will be delivering a girl (Ashlyn), that God has given, in Feb, 2015.
Praise God for our 18 translation team members, who faithfully participate in the translation work.
Praise God that the work at this stage of translation is going well as we work on New Testament.
Prayer Points:
Pray for Seong’s health as he is diabetic and protein leaks from his kidney. Especially pray that there is no more tearing of his descending aorta at the back of his heart.
Pray for Mina’s health as her protein, fiber, iron and cholesterol are low. We need to make wise choices with limited food in the bush.
Pray for our preparation for teaching the Bible lessons (Creation to Christ).
Pray for our flight (helicopter) expenses (NTM helicopter & 206 Cesena) back and forth in to the tribe.
Pray for our new teaching house for Bible lessons and for teaching literacy. The wild-grass roofing of our teaching house and literacy classroom is getting old and leaks. We have changed the wild grass more than enough. It is time to build permanent houses with tin roofing and a plywood floor, as the people desire.
Pray that our daily, financial-ministry needs in the tribe will be met, such as drums of petrol, diesel and kerosene for running generator, etc.; as well as for printing literacy booklets, serving the 18 translation team with savory & drinks every day and medical supplies for the people here.
Though our living conditions haven’t always been ideal, we would not complain to God, the Giver of all good gifts and the Blesser of all blessings—how blessed we are to serve Him here! The more we learn of the passion of Christ, the more we feel the passion He puts in our hearts for the Mihi tribal people!
We trust the Lord to daily encourage you, as he has us, as you journey with Him.
Only by His grace, Seong and Mina
