Found ~ Ambux

“A few weeks ago, when that man stood up in our meeting and said that he had seen Jesus, and that Jesus had told him to forsake all his sins and his old ways, and to straighten his life out, I heard it and I wasn’t satisfied with what he said. I know that no one can see Jesus, because he went to heaven and is sitting at God’s right hand. I also know that Jesus washed our sins away when he died on the cross, and that all we must do is believe in him. All that we will learn of Jesus is in the Bible, if it comes from somewhere else, it is a lie. I knew he was not telling us the truth. I think that he and his group came that day to pull us into their false belief. And I wasn’t happy with that.” -- Ambux

Ambux is Asa Salap’s son. He too was saved at the end of our teaching on the life of Christ back in January. He has been faithfully coming to the believer’s meetings along with his wife. He is a quiet guy, but has said some very profound things to us lately. He and his wife have one young son and a baby due any day now. He also has been helping Chad with translating the Bible, and has been a huge help and encouragement to us as he works with us in that.

I was greatly pleased and excited to hear him say what he said above. He had come to Chad to do a translation session with him, when Chad asked him what he thought of the previous weeks meeting. I just happened to be passing by, and stopped in to say hi. We couldn’t stop this man from talking, he just wanted us to know that he wasn’t in agreement with what happened, and that if they kept coming, he was not going to come anymore to the meetings; because it wasn’t correct. This means that he is learning and putting into practice what he has been hearing from God’s Word, and we couldn’t be more excited!

Continue to pray for these believers, that their faith would grow stronger, and that they would be able to comprehend more and more the love that God has for them in Christ Jesus.

Also, for those of you who are wondering. I never did make it to the other village with Nikos a few weeks ago to confront these false prophets that came into our midst. To make a long story short, one of the leaders of that group came to see me after I didn’t show up at his place. I was able to talk to him, and tell him that this was not just my thoughts; but the thoughts of all who were present on that day, but that he and his group were no longer going to be allowed to break in and lead in singing or prayer or give testimonies. They are allowed to come and listen and learn; but not to lead in any way. He was an interesting fellow to say the least; but he agreed and went on his way. We haven’t seen any of them for the past 2 weeks.

Thank you for your prayers concerning these issues.
His Clay Pots,
Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, Malachi Knapp & the Tobo Church

Clay Pots ~ 3rd Partners!

As many of you know we have been working among the Tobo people for over 5 years now with our partners, Chad and Janeene Mankins. And you may also know, that we have been praying for just as long for more help! And this past month our prayers were answered!! We will let Jason and Nisae tell you in their own words the answer to our prayer!

6 ½ years ago Nisae & I made the commitment to serve the Lord in Tribal missions. We have trained, prepared, & prayed for our future ministry among tribal people, and we’ve seen the Lord direct us through many decisions and lead us to the people in PNG. Once again the Lord has given us clear direction and this time to a specific people group. This last week we made the decision to join the existing team working among the Tobo people! We are thrilled to know that this is the Lord’s will for us and for the Tobo people.

The Tobos are a group of about 9,000 people who live at about 6,000 ft in the Finisterre mountain range in Eastern PNG. “Finisterre” actually means “the ends of the Earth”! Our teammates are the Knapps & the Mankins and they have lived in Tobo since July of 2002. It took them 2 years to learn the language and culture and in January of this year they presented the Gospel with a small group of Tobo people. Now there are around 60 believers who make up the Tobo church. With such a large area and large people group these missionary families expressed to us the need for another family to come join them in discipling believers, teaching others and translating scripture.

Praise the Lord with us for answering our prayer for more laborers here in the Tobo tribe! Could you be praying for the Williamson’s as they begin to gather house building materials, trust the Lord for the large amount of funds, and make the needed flight arrangements? The first of October is the target date for when they will move into the tribe and begin to build their house (with the help of Kyle and Jen Pederson, our sister and brother-in-law, and our little nephew NoahJ!) We will keep you posted and send you pictures!

His Clay Pots,
The Tobo Team…(which is now officially outnumbered by the kids!!!)
Jason, Kellie, Micah (8), Sophia (6), & Malachi (2) Knapp
Chad, Janeene & Elijah (2) Mankins
Jason, Nisae, Kadynn (5), Judah (3), & Edan (20months) Williamson

Photos of Our House

Our House, with Mankin's house right behind ours


New Home Schooling Corner in Kitchen


Malachi's Room, ladder to Micah's loft


Micah's Loft


The Kitchen


The Kitchen


Jason's Office


Sophia's Room


Our Bedroom


Living Room


Living Room

Clay Pots ~ Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

EVERY WEDNESDAY NIGHT 6-8pm

Your Wednesday night between 6-8pm is when the Tobo believers meet together here in PNG. (Your Wednesday night is our Thursday morning because we are 15 hours ahead of you.) As you sit down and eat dinner every Wednesday night could you remember to pray? Or perhaps that is when you are at church for a Bible study or prayer meeting. While you are meeting, would you be willing to pray for your fellow brothers and sisters meeting at the same time half a world away?

This week I was reminded of Galatians 1:6-9. During the believer’s meeting last Thursday we were joined by a group of men and women from a village across the valley. One of the men had come the previous week; possibly to spy us out. They caught us off guard and brought their guitars, and proceeded to take over the meeting. PNG culture does not allow us to “shame” someone in a public forum, so the believers just sat there. These people were false prophets from a false belief who came and sang songs which we didn’t know (they were in another language to boot), prayed lofty memorized prayers showing off their lack of knowledge of Bible references, and they gave testimonies of how Jesus had appeared to and literally “spoken” to them. Praise the Lord, they did not try to do any teaching. But, they were there to take Jesus’ sheep and try to “lure” them away to their false believe. Some of it was subtle and some of it wasn’t.

I have talked to different believers this past week about what happened during that meeting, just to see what they thought of it. I have come away from those discussions encouraged with their maturity. It has been a great time of discipleship. Tingon said, “I felt very uncomfortable. That man was just showing off in his prayer like the Pharisees did in Jesus time. It wasn’t true.” And after I asked Nikos if anyone could actually see Jesus, he said, “No, Jesus is at God’s right hand, and God speaks to us through what the prophets wrote in His Word. If it isn’t written in God’s Word then it’s not true and it’s a lie.” So I asked him if a person adds anything to the gospel, what does the apostle Paul say about that in Galatians? And Nikos let out a yell and said, “Anyone who adds to the good news, and does not simply believe that Jesus died on the cross for them, they are going to hell! They are Satan’s people! Wow, I never saw it like that before!”

This Tuesday, Nikos and I will be hiking to where this group lives and telling them if they come again they can only sit and listen. They will not be allowed to sing their songs, pray their prayers, or speak. Please be praying for us as we go and confront them. And please be praying for the believers: that they will not be swerved from the truth; and that as we meet again next week and talk with them about what happened last week, that they will apply the truths of God’s Word to their lives.

Don’t forget to pray on Wednesdays! As you sit and eat dinner on Wednesday night, half way around the world, your brothers and sisters are worshipping the Lord in the Tobo language. Kind of awesome hey?!

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

Clay Pots ~ Just Between Us Ladies

My much coveted and looked forward to “girl time” with fellow missionaries when going out to town!

I thought it would be nice to sit down and just write a letter from one lady to another. Recently I was asked how long I have lived here in PNG by a new missionary and I said,” 6 years this August” and you know what? They looked at me like I was this old and seasoned missionary!! Boy do I have them fooled! It’s hard to believe that it has been 6 years ago that we packed up and headed to a completely unknown country, ministry, and way of life. Along with those things my mixed feelings of fear and excitement. Now I sit here 6 years later and I still have those mixed feelings of fear and excitement! I love looking back at what God has done in those 6 years in my life as a wife, mother, and friend. I can honestly say He never failed me, never gave up on me, never left me, never stopped being good, and never stopped growing me. I wish I could say the same about myself!

Even though I live in a different country than you and have a different ministry and different lifestyle. I know that we all struggle with a lot of the same things. And ultimately we are all learning to be totally and completely dependent on our God. I frankly don’t enjoy the molding part of being a clay pot for Him and have prayed that desperate prayer of “Father leave me alone it hurts too much!!!” But when it’s all said and done I am so thankful that He didn’t stop and leave me alone.

I want to thank each one of you ladies for being with me in this journey of life and for praying for me in this ministry. It has it’s hardships just like anywhere else. But I am privileged to be a part of it and to have you behind me in it. Thank you for the grace, love, and forgiveness that you have poured out on me as I learn to be what He wants me to be and as I represent you over here to the Tobo church. I am sure God could have picked someone wiser, more loving, more perfect. But I guess He thinks this broken pot is useful out here in PNG.

Your prayers, letters, e-mails, packages, and gifts of love do not go unnoticed and you are a big factor in keeping me sane out here in an isolated mountain tribe. You are my special gifts of blessings and my long distance “girl time”!

Here are some questions I get asked that I thought might be fun to answer and feel free to ask anything else you might think of:

How do you get your food and supplies?
Once a month I send out a grocery list to a supply buyer in town who takes that list and try’s to find it all in our limited grocery stores in town and then packs it up, weighs it, and puts it on the plane for us. Once a month a small little 206 Cessna plane then flies into our grass airstrip and brings us all our food, veggies, eggs, mail, and supplies. Including all cosmetics, office supplies, hardware, medical, etc. That is one of my biggest jobs. To make sure we have enough to eat for a month and not to forget anything on that list!! There are times that due to weather or scheduling the plane cant come in so I also need to keep an extra month worth of supplies on hand for those “just in case” moments!

What is your kitchen like?
We don’t have a toaster, a refrigerator, a mixer, a microwave or anything that requires electricity. We do have a freezer that runs off of solar power for all our meats and leftovers. We fly in gas bottles that run our gas stove and oven. Jason made a gravity fed water system. So above our house is a spring that he piped into our house and I have running water in my kitchen and bathroom. We also heat the water through the gas bottles for a must have hot water shower for me!

What do you cook?
I try and cook as American as possible. The Tobo people’s sweet potatoes and spinach get old really fast.

Is there anywhere to go to getaway?
No. There is just mountain after mountain of tribe after tribe of people after people. If we go for a walk or sit on the porch there is always people around looking at us or following us. I am still trying to talk the Grandparents, Wal-mart, McDonalds, and Kohls to move out here!

How do you do laundry?
I have an automatic washing machine that we run on our generator and then hang the laundry out under the roof of our porch.

Do you dress-up and wear make-up?
You bet! I still have a husband who I like to flirt with. We try to make a date night once a week where the kids go to bed early and we go on a date to… our living room.

Do you get TV?
No we don’t, but we do have a DVD player and TV that we love to watch movies/sitcoms on. It has to have a good Hollywood ending though for me to watch it!!

What do you do for the kid’s schooling?
I home school Micah and Sophia. I dream of living in a place that I can send them to a school that has a qualified teacher!

Do you love what you do?
I know this is where God wants me to be and I would not trade it for anywhere else. I also know we will not be here forever.

What are holidays like there?
Even though we don’t have hallmark to remind us we make a pretty good party way out here! If it is a holiday we make sure to decorate and celebrate it! Yes, despite popular opinion…the Easter Bunny, Santa Clause, and the Tooth Fairy do know where PNG is.

What do you do for medical and dental?
We have medicines and medical books in the tribe so we try and do a lot of diagnosing and treating ourselves. When that doesn’t work we then fly out to see our mission Dr. It’s usually a $2,000.00 trip not covered by insurance so we don’t like to do that very often. And if the weather is bad or it’s night time then a plane can't get into here to get us out. We have learned (and in the process of learning) to rest in that God will take care of us and our kids in His perfect way, no matter where we are.

What is your house like?
I will send you pictures of it…once it’s all cleaned up!

Well I have tried to keep this e-mail short but you know how woman are!!!

His Clay Pot,
Kellie