Post on 23-Feb-2018
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NEW
GUINEA
NEWS
Forwarding
Agents:
Mr.
nd Mrs.
Dale
Dunlap
Route16,
Rhea Road
Knozville,TN 37920
^
John
and Bonita Pryor
Volume
3
September-October, 1979
No
TheGras
ountry
Convention in June
was a
ood
experience or
l l
of
s,
espite
a
rather shaky
beginning.
The olk at
Samban
had
onstructed
anew
uilding
for worship,
but as
l l the folk gathered,
one of
the main
beams supporting
the
f l o o r
began to break. Amid
the
loud
cracking noise,
the f l o o r lowering
about
ten inches, and
people
jumping out the
windows,
some f
us began
to
wonder
f
we ere going
to
have a eeting
f t e r
a l l
The edication s ervice to commence
the
Convention did continue.
Afterward
al l
the
men
athered to
i f t
up the
l o o r
and
insert a new beam,
plus
add a
couple
more,
nd
h e
rest
of he meeting went
on
without urther incidents of
his
nature.
Michael, Helen and
Brooke
Burgar
represented
the
Australian Churches of
Christ
Mission
at the Convention.
Michael
led
a
series
of
studies
from
Hebrews 2:2 ach morning,
hile during
the
other
services
various
local
pastors
shared
from God s
Word.
And onita ed
twoafternoon
essions orthe
adies.
The
people of Samban had worked hard to
build the
new building,
provide
sleeping
quarters,and ather and repare ood or
those
attending.
Their
e f f o r t s
were
greatly appreciated
by those
in
attendance.
The
third
week
in
June
found
unexpectedly in Madang.
Jesse
required
to have
urgery.
Wehad b
keepinga lose check onhim or what
doctor
in Wewak had diagnosed
a
hydrocele.
Hehad
autioned us hat
f
swelling became pronounced we
ho
contact a doctor immediately.
Monday morning after the Convent
ended
on
Sunday,
e
alked
to our
doc
in Madang ia
our
radio
ked. He dvi
us
to
bring
Jesse
in
soon. So
ne
an
half
hours
later, we were
on
our wa
Madang.
The surgeon at the Mada
hospital confirmed a
hernia
condit
and
suggested we have t taken
car
because of our isolated living situat
Our i r s t reaction was ypical. But
the i n i t i a l
shock,
we
were
in
agreement
with our doctors.
As far as
we
are
concerned Je ss
recovery
was
othing
short
of
a
ira
His urgery was ver by :00 a.m. Aft
three
hour
nap
and some ce
cream
wasup
and wal king about as
f noth
had ever happened.
By
vening he w
running
up and down
the
halls of
hospital. Needless to say, he w
dismissed
the
next day. Within
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weeks
we ot the
go-ahead to
go
back
to
the bush. The
whole experience
was a
tremendous
lesson
on how our Father
looks after His children.
Upon eturning
o
Samban e earned
in
more
e t a i l
whatwehad
otten
wind
of
in Madang about
our timber
being
transported, e
had
not
been
shipped
I
had
to
make a r i p
to Angoram to check
into
the problem. There had
been
machinery breakdowns
at
the
sawmill.
S t i l l praying that God would
take
control
and keep
the
water level
in the creeks
at
an adequate l e v e l
and
provide the
timber,
we
marked off the house and
began the cement
work.
thankful or
good
workmen
who
rovi
a ot of elbow grease". I was lad to ha
Bonita's
help,
too, as
she
was th
working right
along with
a l l us guys
Our house
will be up
on
seven-foot
posts, to guard
against
possible
high
water,
and
o
be
as oolas ossible.Sowe
had to
dig
forty holes, eighteen inches
deep and
about
ten inches square, and
form a
ten
inch
square
block above
the
surface
on
which the posts
are
to stand.
In addition to the
cement stumps we
needed a
ix
foot by ineteen foot
pad or
our
water
tanks to s i t on, a pad
for
our
outhouse, pads or the bottoms of the
two
staircases, and a twelve foot
by
ourteen
foot pad underneath the house for a
workshop and storage
area. All
of
the
cement
had to
be mixed by hand
and
therefore, took
two
weeks.
But we
were
We re now waiting for
the rest
of
timber.
It w i l l have to be
transpor
from Wewak. The
Lord
has
blessed
with several unseasonal showers,and
water has remained
up. In
fact,
creeks
should
have been down by n
People in a
nearby
village have accu
the Samban
people of working magic
keep the water up.
It has
been
a
go
opportunity
for
our people to witn
about
the power of prayer.
Another beautiful thing we h
witnessed
in just this
last
week w
twenty of our Samban eople giving
th
lives
to
the
Lord. The Mission h
ongoing
Discipleship
classes at e
station, taught by the local pasto
People interested
in becoming hristi
attend the classes to learn
about
Christian
walk. t heend
of
each er
of classes there is a aptismal
service
those who ecideto
follow
theLord. P
of the significance for conducting
classes
in this
manner s
the role
t
baptism plays in the
i f e
of
each
onve
Baptism
is
his
formal announcem
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that
he
i s renouncing his
past
and
accepting
Christ as Saviour
and
Lord
of
his l i f e . It is interesting to
note
that the
local Christians do the baptizing, and
that men
baptize
men,
and
women
baptize women. Some f the folks were a
l i t t l e
surprised when I told them
that
back
home
I'd
never
seen
a
woman
baptize another woman, ut that t
was
customary
or
the pastor or male eaders
to do
a l l
the baptizing.
The
word
for
Christian in
our language
refers to one
who
has een washed
n
baptism. Soyou
can
see what
a
ignificant part baptism
plays
in the l i f e of a
hristian
here.
Not nly did July 22mark
he
Spiritual
birth for these
new
converts,
but
i t
also
marked the
second
birthday of our l i t t l e
Jesse. I t is hard to believe
he
is two
already. We aped his party
for
our
folks,
but wehad
o
doa ot of ranslating of is
speech.
Although he
understands
English, he speaks mostly Pidgin
English
with
a
mattering of
nglish and
Botin.
He
id enjoy a ery
nice
birthday,
and we enjoyed i t
with him.
The
next three
to five months will be
spent in building
our
house. We
s k yo u
t o continue in
prayer
with
us
that
o
timber w i l l getin and that
our house
go up
smoothly. We re grateful for yo
continued support of our work,and pr
God's blessings
for you.
JESSE S
CORNER
I guess the part I liked about going
the hospital was getting to eat some
cream. I
can'tsay hat
liked too much
the rest of
i t .
I
hope I don't have to
back there for a ong time. My octorw
real nice. I saw him
n Madang
efore
came back, and he
e t
me eat part of
sandwich
at the snack
bar.
It was
good o
get back
to
Samban
and o a l l
friends.
They
l l
wanted o see where
doctor
cut me Ed. note
-
idgin
operate on ).
I
really
like
to show
ff
scar, too. I really had
a
neat
birth
party.
We
had
cake
and ice cream an
got some neat presents. Mamma a
Papa
gave
me
a
i t t l e guitar uke) o no
won't have
o bother papa
about
playi
his all the time. Maybe l l
e
able
really play i t by
my ext
birthday.
S
ya,
Jesse.
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SHARING
N
THE
WORD
One f the lessons we'velearned
while being here in PNG s that
while one sharesfrom the Word o
others,
he
must lso i l l himself
n
proportion to what
he
hares. If
he
doesn t
take
time
to i l l
himself,
he
may find himself
in
a
situation
where
he
needs to draw from
his
own spiritual
resources
and
then
find he has none from which to
draw.
It
can work onversely,
oo.
With no
sharing
and constant
f i l l i n g
there
will be stagnation.
Read
Hebrews
4:12, 13, and
consider
this
that I read
recently.
The
i r s t thing to
be
noticed is
that the
Word f
God s living. His
Word is
sure to
be living when
we
see t . For fwe do ot ind t living,
we simply have
failed to
see the
Word. We
ay have
ead over
the
words
f the
Bible,
but f we o ot
touch something living, we do not
see God's Word.
Jesse and
Bonita
in hospital
Madang.
w
W -7
OS
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^0
N WGUINEA
Forwarding
Agents:
r
and
Mrs Dale Dunlan
Forwarding
Agents:
Mr.
and Mrs.Dale
Dunlap
Route
16,
Rhea Road
Knoxville.TN
37920
John and
Bonita
Pryor
Volume
3
November-December,
1979
Numbe
At
the
end
of
September
we
were
in
Madang.
The
semi-annualPBT eeting
had
been
the
20th
to the 23rd and
we
remained
in
Madang
n
order o r Bonita
t o f a m i l i a r i z e
brother
David Pryor
on
the
PBT
bookkeeping procedures. Bonita
had
been s s i s t i n g
Ron
ugsburger n t i l
he l e f t the
f i
rst
of October
for
a two
month s speaking tour i n the United
S t a t e s .
So
he was ble to acquaint David
with the accounting system of
th e
support work that he would be assuming
in
Ron s absence.
After
explaining the procedures, we
were readyand ager o r e t u r n t o Samban
and
resume work
on our house.
We
arrived
back
in Samban
on October
12,
and began immediately wherewe ad e f t
o f f back in August.
At h i s
point we e e l
that the
Lord has
eally
blessed
u s
n our
housebuilding. The work has
moved
along
q u i t e
w e l l .
There have
been
only
a
couple of minor i n j u r i e s . And
elays
in
working have come at times wh en r e s t
was
eeded anyway.
Typical work
days
began at
6 : 0 0
a.m. and
continued
u n t i l
noon. Afternoon hours rangedfrom :30-
3:00
u n t i l
6 : 0 0 - 7 : 0 0 depending on when
a
good
q u i t t i n g
point
was
reached.
T
midday
break was ong
enough
t o
al
for rest and
to avoid
the
midday
s
which is
unbearably
hot.
John and he lpers nailing door
jam
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When
we e f t Samban n August, the
p o s t s
had been e r e c t e d , we ad n a i l e d
a l l
the bearers
the
timbe rs thatrun across
the width of he house
on
he ine of osts)
and
had begun to nail
l o o r
j o i s t s .
From
October 15-20, we inished nailing
the
f l o o r
j o i s t s ,
braced
among he
p o s t s ,
and
began p u t t i n g down
the
tongue
and
groove
f l o o r i n g .
The
ollowing
week we
f i
nished
the flooring,
laid
out the plates
and
chiseled
out for a l l the studs. The
usual method
for
building partitions here
i s
chiseling
out a l o t for each
stud.
This
adds
extra strength, and i s h e l p f u l
especially
where
earthquakes
are
concerned.
From ctober29-November
,
we tood up a l l
the
p a r t i t i o n s
and n a i l e d
no ggins
braces
between s t u d s , o r
the
same reasons
as above),
and ran out of
n a i l s .
At
he beginning
of
the
next week
we ot more
n a i l s , b u i l t
and stood up
the
back s t a i r s , nailed
the
a f t e r s ,
and
added
additional nailers
where
extra screen
wire would
be
stapled. Then from
November 2-17 we ut on he sisalation
(a
thick r e f l e c t i v e paper
that goes
underneath the
corrugated
iron roof to
Putting up
oofing
iron.
help keep
the
house r
om
e t t i n g too h
and f i
nished
putting
the
roofing iron
and
also
the
g u t t e r i n g . During
following
week, we
enclosed
the ho
and sleeping sections in screen
w i r e , a
built
the
ront staircase.
The
reason
p u t t i n g screen wire
throughout
the
ho
i s
to p r o t e c t ourselves rom
he
mosqui
which
are q u i t e p l e n t i f u l
here during
wet season. And we re hoping to av
having t o sleep
inside
mosquito n
which
wehave done n the
past.
Also,
wall
of our house will be o n l y eight
inches high a l l around
the house
so a
take
advantage
o f every
bree
Unfortunately, the breezes are not
p l e n t i f u l as the mosquitos. Next
we
the f irst week
in December
we will
going t o
Wewak
t o
p i c k
up plumb
s u p p l i e s
and
a l l
the i n c i d e n t a l s w e l
needing to f i
nish
up
the house.
During the
time
we ave
been bac
Samban we have enjoyed the comp
of Dianne
Feeney,
who is here
do
research among
he
Botinsand
maki
comparative study between them
another language group in
the
Ra
River
area.
Her
research
will
aid
u
several areas of ur work. Dianne
s
of the teachers at
Woolwich
ible Col
in Sydney ustralia.
Several
people
have
asked us how
spend
various t r a d i t i o n a l
U.S. h o l i d
Sowe hought you
might njoy
sharin
our Thanksgiving. We probably s
our time in
preparation
f o r
the
m
somewhat i f f e r e n t l y from you. All of
food
preparations were
from
scrat
e
utchered
our
own
duckand
hic
n o
turkey.
Our
umpkin p i e began
pumpkin, which
Bonita
cut up, t r a i
and mixed
with various
ingredient
make
a
t r u l y d e l i c i o u s p i e .
We
mis
cranberry sauce, nd a
r e s h
t o s s e d sa
but
Bonita's
dressing
was ood
enoug
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7/8
us on
he house). And
on
op of
l l this,
have
the f a i t h f u l prayers
and
support
a l l of
you back home.
The
ord has
r
been good to us.
Our family
wishes
you a l l a hap
holiday season, and God's
r i c h
blessings in the New Year.
Bonita
cutting pumpkin.
make
up o r t . We
issed
being with l l
our
families,
but
explaining things
to
Dianne
on
the
details
of the f i r s t
Thanksgiving
helped
t o
make
the
conversation
at
the table quite i v e l y . We
we re able to listen to
parts
of some
holiday f o o t b a l l games
the
next day,
which
was
ctually Thanksgiving in the
States.
When we began to
count
ur
blessings,
we found much f or which we were
thankful.
First o f
l l ,
we
re
a l l
healthy.
Next, he
Lord
has e a l l y b l e s s e d us
n
the
progress
we
have been able
t o make
on
the house.
I t s
really amazing o
us how
rapidly
the house has gone up. And we
are
so thankful for
the
willingness o f
he
people to
help
us we
have
been
hiring
local men rom rea villages to work or
JESSE S CORNER
I have
e a l y
had a o t of un helpi
(Ed.
uotes)Papa ndMama uilding o
new
house.
I
s p e c i a l l y
l i k e t o
d r i l l h o l
butPapa e t s
c r o s s
i f I make a
o l e
i n
new l o o r , instead ofan l d p i e c e of o
A
ole
s
a ole,seems o
me.
didn't
seeing
my
r
iend
Mandape
cut
up
chicken
and duck
friends, but
they
s
were
good
a f t e r Mama ooked them
Thanksgivi ng. I can't wait o move
our
new house
cause then
l l
get
a
ro
ofmy ery
own. I
sure do i k e
riding w
Papa
on
the
motorbike.
I wish I had
o
of
myown.
Maybe
l l
get
one a t e r .
See
Je
Jesse,
watching Mandape
i l l and
up
chicken
and duck.
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SH RING m
In some recent reading, I came
across
a thought
by
Watchman
Nee hat eally struck me
s itting
for this
holiday
season,
and
or
our
situation here. I ' l l just share i t
verbatim, as I ould not add
to
t .
What s 'blessing ? It s
the
working
o f God
where there
s
nothing to
account for
His
working. For
instance,
you
calculate that a
penny hould
bu y
a
ennyworth. But
f
y ou
have
not
paid your pennyand
God
has
given
y ou
ten
thou
sand penn ywo rth,
then
y o u
have
i o basis for your calcula
tions. When
five loaves
pro
vide ood or
ive thousand
and
leave-twelve baskets-of
f r a g
ments,
that
s blessing. When
the ruit y our ervice
s
out f
a l l proportion to the g i f t s
y o u
possess, that s
b l e s s i n g .
Or o
be
rather
extreme,
when,
ak
ing account o f your f a i l u r e s ,
there
should
be no r u i t
at
a l l
f r o m
your
labours
and s t i l l
there
i s f r u i t ,
that
s blessing.
Many
f us
o n l y expect e s u l t s
commensurate with what we
are in ourselves,
but blessing
i s f r u i t that s
out of
l l
corre
spondence
with what we
r e .
It
i s not ust
the
working o f ause
and
f f e c t ,
for
when
we
eckon
on
the basis o f
whatwe
ut
in
we
erely bar
the
way
or
God
to work b e y o n d our
reckoning.
Ifon he other hand we et
our
THE WOR
hearts upon
he blessing o f he
Lord, we
shall
find
things
happen
that are altogether out
o f
keeping with our capacity
and
that
surpass
even
our
dreams.
Prove me
now
herewith, aith
th
Lord
of
hosts, fI i l l no t open y o
the
windows
of
heaven,
and pou
y ou
out a lessing, hat here shal
not be r o o m enough
to
receive
i t .
Malachi
:1
S
S
I
1
|8l
S