FOUND ~ Ankle & Nara

Ankle

This man came knocking on our door this afternoon looking for Jason. Jason had gone to another village earlier this morning and wouldn't be back for another hour or so. He said he would wait for him to come back.

Ankle came because he was excited to tell Jason that his wife, Nara, was saved last night!! It had been a big burden on his heart. When he would come to the believer's meetings every week he would be one of the only men whose wife wasn't saved. He greatly desired that his wife too shared this new life. He said, "If I had died and gone to heaven, and my wife didn't, it would not have be right, she needs to go too," so he had been praying for her and talking and witnessing to her daily. "Now Jesus has grabbed her, and she is going to heaven too, and I am so happy," he said. He greatly desires to teach their children, together, about God's Word.

Also, yesterday Ankle came to the time of fellowship and applying of the Scriptures to specific areas of our lives which some of the core group do on Tuesdays. He enjoyed it so much he wanted to stay until after dark (the meeting had started at 10am :-)

Pray for Ankle as he continues to witness to his family. His father is Yaka Siwia (a past Wanted e-mail) and is sick. Ankle tells him that he doesn't know when he will die. He has tried to share with him over and over again the message of salvation before he dies but as Ankle put it, "He just listens and then just puts it to the back of his head".

Thursday mornings (tomorrow) are the believer's meetings. Ankle was proud to say that both he and his wife would be there tomorrow. Pray that it will be a great time of fellowship and encouragement for the believers and pray for wisdom for Jason as he leads in the study of God's Word. It can be a little discouraging at times that the numbers God has chosen are so few (in light of how many people are here) but yet we are so incredibly thankful for the depth and maturity of the ones God has hand picked to be his disciples here in Tobo.

His Clay Pots,
Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, and Malachi Knapp & The Tobo Church

Sophia Dressing Up 2

Sophia Dressing Up

Protective Daddy:-)

We were pleasantly surprised when we looked out our kitchen window and saw Alis sitting on the ground in the open reading the Scriptures. This man has caused more frustration in our lives than we care to admit, but now because of God's saving grace he is our brother in Christ. It was Sunday, and he wasn't going to the village "church" which he has faithfully done for years. He was openly reading the Scriptures for all to see! Praise the Lord for this man and his family. We often wonder what Christians felt when they met their persecutor, Saul, now Paul, now changed and one of them. We were a little skeptical of Alis at first. But we have seen him growing in the Lord over the past month and all we can do is glorify God every time we look at him.

Many of you have asked about the cult happenings lately. The atmosphere around here isn't exactly normal. There are rumors of police who are planning on coming to each village and making havoc on those involved in it. The villages were also told to go to the nearest police station and report what their family and friends are doing, which is basically turning them in. But that hasn't happened because the people who were going down to the station were forcefully stopped and sent back. In addition the cargo cult's money, which was locked in their secret house in the village was stolen this week. Probably by one of their own, but they were talking about that all day yesterday. They are calling it all the "big heavy". Our sphere of influence has certainly been diminished. Please be in prayer for your fellow baby brothers and sisters as they rely on God for strength and wisdom during this time.

On Tuesday Jason met with 4 men, Alis, Tingon, Paulas, and the Doctor for an discussion time on what they have been learning from the Bible. They spent a couple of hours encouraging each other, telling each other their testimonies, and looking at scriptures. Paulas was talking about how he saw that Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan in the form of a snake, but when the Lord Jesus was tempted by Satan, the Bible doesn't say what form he came in. He was saying that we need to be on guard for Satan's temptations as they will probably come in our minds; and not always from what we can see. It was exciting to hear him apply God's Word to his life. He had preached awhile back at a village Lutheran church on some of the things he was learning from the Bible. When he had finished they told him, "Where did you get this talk? Who told it to you? Your talk is something different from what we have heard, we don't like it." But Paulas said that he had just been studying God's Word and that is what he learned. They wouldn't listen to him. But that gave Jason an opportunity to talk about persecution and that it was to be expected. Jason asked the men sitting there, "what can man do to you?" And Tingon got all excited and shouted, "NOTHING! They can kill us, but we are going to heaven, they can hurt this body but they can't hurt our spirit!!" Alis started clapping, but then got embarrassed. Jason told him not to stop, God gets praise from our excitement!:-)

His Clay Pots,
Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, Malachi Knapp & The Tobo Church

The kiddos

Micah's 8th Birthday on February 8th:-)

Jason and Malachi jammin

Sophia and Malachi

Micah 3rd grade!

Sophia and Malachi's pictures

Jason and the Kids

Our 2 cats, (Rat Catchers) Scamper and Abigail

FOUND ~ Asa Salap

Asa Salap with his Grandson

The whole village calls this man "Asa salap" (Grandpa's finger) because he has a unique way of "shaking hands" with all the children...as soon as they see him all the kids stick out their finger and he shakes it and makes them laugh. He is a funny old man who recently believed in Jesus Christ as his Savior, and Jesus has saved him from his sins. You should see his smile when he thinks about the fact that he is accepted by God because of what Jesus did on the cross. But not only has he been saved, but his whole immediate family has also believed in Jesus as their Savior. His wife, two sons and daughter in law have all been saved and you can see their joy in what Christ has done for them.

There is a sickness that has been going around the village the last few weeks and their whole family has been sick and unable to come to the believer's meetings. Pray that they would be healed and that their faith would remain strong in the Lord.

Thank you for your prayers.
His Clay Pots,
Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, and Malachi Knapp and the Tobo Church