This is a picture of our people at the Cargo Cult meeting last month.

What does the date October 16th mean for you? For the Tobo people it will mean the first day they will be taught the Word of God correctly in their own language. Yes, for the first time in their lives they will hear God's Word, the Bible, in their own language. After 10 years of preparing for this moment we have a target date to start teaching! Will you rise up and faithfully be in prayer that the hearts of the Tobo people will not be hardened towards God's Word? For Jason as he diligently continues to translate the Bible lessons that will be taught. And for Tingong, Jason's translation helper, for wisdom and health as he continues to help. For Chad as he translates the Bible portions to be used during the teaching. For Chad's helper, Rigo, for wisdom and health for him as well. And for Jason and Chad as they search for the best way to convey God's Word in a foreign tongue.

Later updates will explain the who, what, when, and where of the teaching process.

Clay Pots ~ Reunited

My little trooper and traveling companion...he has more hours logged on an airplane than he has ever been in a car.

21 Doctor's, surgeons, and dentist visits, 6 days of traveling, 1 month of being gone from my husband and kids and it was time to come home!!!!! I just arrived in PNG this morning and yes I am pain free! The final diagnosis was... due to my previous surgery a year ago, my bowels have dropped into that empty opening resulting in a bad kink which then completely stopped everything from working properly. In addition there were cysts that they were concerned about. The surgeon said he had only seen patients in the emergency room with what I had due to the extreme amount of pain it gives you. I was so thankful for God's strength during all of this that allowed me to still function amidst it. I was able to get cleaned out and with the medicine they put me on it will help keep my colon functioning as it should. 2 days before I was to fly back to PNG the cysts burst on their own and so I didn't have to have surgery to remove them.

I'm not going to pretend these 3 weeks were fun because they were the farthest thing from that. I was in the doctor's office every day and went through some pretty humiliating and painful tests and procedures...just use your imagination. There were the very low times of when there was the thought of cancer and the lonely times without my husband there to help make decisions and be the strong one to lean on.

But despite all of that and no matter what the outcome could have been GOD IS GOOD. So thank you for your prayers, concern, and love during this time towards me in the States and towards Jason and the kids here in PNG. I have so many awesome stories of God sending people to help me everywhere I went. Like the businessman who insisted on holding my bags for over 2 hours while we waited to check in at the LA airport or the dentist who paid for all my dental bills. Whether you tell us you pray for us or not, makes no difference, we know there were people praying for us and we thank you dearly for that sacrifice in your own lives to encourage us through that.

God's work is moving forward, thank you for helping us be a part of it.
His fixed up clay pot, Kellie for the family

Clay Pots~Committee and Sondik's Response to Jason

(Committee is the one sitting on the pink mat and
Sondik is the one in the blue and white shirt. Mike Mikolovich is our translation consultant and is sitting next to Jason in the chair.)

"Our church leaders have not been teaching us the Word of God correctly. I sat and listened to you and I was afraid"
(said by Committee)
"Reading the Word is God in the trade language is like eating white men's food. It is okay but the taste isn't very good. But hearing it in our very own language is like eating our food and it tastes sweet and good"
(said by Sondik)

These 2 comments were made to Jason after he had finished going over the first 6 Bible lessons he had translated with 4 Tobo guys and the translation consultant this past week. The first 6 lessons cover the 6 days of creation up until the creation of man, introduces the trinity, and also highlights that God is eternal, self-sufficient, omniscient, omnipotent, and loving. Keep praying for this fall when all of Dengenu will be taught the Bible lessons and hear the truth for the first time ever in their own language!!!J

His Clay Pots,
Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, and Malachi Knapp
www.claypots.org

PS: For those who have asked how Kellie's teeth went...well it's a long story...we will let you know in the next update....:-)

Clay Pots: Teacher's Training Course

Teacher's Training Course

Last Friday, 12 students graduated from the literacy teacher's training course. This next month we are looking at possibly 3 new literacy classes starting up in 3 different villages with these teachers. The first day of the course Jason told them this, "The reason we want everyone to learn to read and write is so that when we give you the Word of God in your language it will not just sit there and go to waste. But we want you to be able to read it and gain true knowledge."
We wanted to thank all of you who are giving so generously to the literacy program. It is very humbling for us to have to ask for help in paying for things but we truly believe that this work is worthy of your support.
Tomorrow morning, Kellie will be flying out for her root canals. On that flight there will be 3 translation consultants flying in here. While Kellie is gone for 3 days, Jason will not only be watching 3 kids, but also taking his first translation check. They will be going over 6 of his Bible lessons that he has translated. If all goes well it will also be his last translation check! He will be given the green light from here on out. We are in awe of God bringing him to that point. We would greatly appreciate prayers for Jason and the kids during this extremely important time. Also, Chad will be going over his translation of Genesis 1-22 during those three days. So these are big times here. Thanks for your prayers.

His Clay Pots,
Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, and Malachi Knapp