News from Tobo

I know that many of you still pray for the church in Tobo and are interested in hearing updates as to how things are going back in Lengbati. I received this update from the Williamsons a few days ago and thought I would post it so that you could be in prayer, both for them and the believers in Tobo. God's ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts; but we can rest in His sovereign plan, convinced that his love never fails and that his kingdom will not end. The following 2 paragraphs are from Williamson's update:

"In December we met with our NTM leadership, church planting consultants, and teammates about the condition of the church and the concerns we have with its growth. Nisae and I have poured our hearts into the believers here and have given much effort into seeing them grow in maturity and adapt a Biblical Worldview that is lived out among their unbelieving community. What we have seen in response has not been what we have hoped and prayed for, but rather our efforts have been met with resistance and callousness. The believers have closed the door themselves on our family’s ministry among them and ultimately on what the Holy Spirit wants to do in their lives. At the conclusion of our meetings, we all decided that it would be best to take a step back from the Church here in Tobo and allow them some time to decide for themselves if they are going to follow after the Lord or not or continue to live in the shadow of their prideful community.

Nisae and I have done everything possible to spur on growth in the believers’ lives and to facilitate the possible reigniting of the church. We’ve built friendships, laughed, cried, admonished, preached the Word and modeled it, pursued, and encouraged each believer in hopes that God would use these efforts to produce fruit in their lives. However, the Lord has not chosen to bring about a harvest at this time and we think that leaving the Tobo church on their own is now what is best for them, and us. Therefore, with the support of our leadership, consultants & teammates, we have decided to move out of the tribe in February and live in Madang (the town where our support center lies). After we’ve put a stop to our teaching in Tobo and explained why we are moving out and the reasons we are all stepping back from the church, our co-workers, Chad & Janeene Mankins, will continue to live in Tobo to translate God’s Word and other materials in hopes that down the road the church will reignite and desire growth."

Please lift up this situation before the Lord. Thank you for your prayers, they make all the difference.

Peace,
Jason for the Knapps

Clay Pots ~ Busy months

You haven't heard from me for awhile. That is because I have been flat out busy. The month of September found me traveling twice a week down to Illinois for further training and "on the job experience" in immigration law. It was a great experience to sit down face to face with people, hear their stories, understand their situation, and help them to apply for an immigration benefit.

September and October are also are busy months in the chimney business, so I have been come home black with soot or concrete dust four days a week. I am thankful to God that he, in his grace, has chosen to humble me... in the village of Lengbati, people put me on a pedestal, hung on my every word, and never let me sit in the smoke or get myself dirty with mud or ashes. Ironically, now I have been exalted to lonely rooftops, hanging on ladder rungs, and filling my lungs and eyes with ashes every day. I am grateful to God for the experience.

The month of October was full of gathering documents and information in the compilation of the application package to be sent to the Board of Immigration Appeals for the recognition of James Place as an Immigration Legal Services site and my own partial accreditation. November will be a month of waiting for the BIA's approval of the application, creating handouts and documents to be used in the office, writing down procedures, learning new computer programs, physically moving into the office space, and getting the word out to the public. I am praying that God would allow us to officially launch early in 2012.

Immigration is a touchy subject in our country today. It seems to be a topic which surfaces frequently in the Presidential campaign, and there are strong and legitimate opinions on both sides of the issue. When I was living in the village of Lengbati, I found myself in the midst of situations where both sides had legitimate arguments which always made the situation 'touchy' and potentially volatile. I find myself in much the same situation with immigration; but I have learned that in such situations, the best thing to do is to fall at the feet of Jesus and beg for wisdom and discretion, and ask for him to give me his heart of love for all people.

Please pray with me that God would do just that... that he would impart wisdom, discretion, patience, compassion, and love to myself and those who are working along side me in this ministry. And pray that God would use us to introduce these needy people to Jesus Christ and the citizenship which awaits them in heaven if they believe.

His Clay Pot,

Jason

Fellow Citizens

In the Bible, Jesus tells us to: “Love your neighbor as yourself”. In a challenging response, a man asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” In his classic way, Jesus answered a question by telling a story. In response to the question of who is my neighbor, Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan in which we learn that our neighbor is anyone who is in need, regardless of race or ethnicity. But this wasn’t a new revelation that started with Jesus; from the beginning, God's heart has always been for all people, and he vividly displayed it when he told Israel: “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”(Lev. 19:33-34) God wanted Israel to remember their past and how he saved them, so that it would shape how they lived in the present. God’s heart of love has always been for all sinners from all nations, races, and ethnicities and he wanted Israel to be his avenue of grace to the world. All of us, regardless of our race or national origin, are by nature lost and separated from God just as Israel was in Egypt; but instead of leaving us in our helpless, vulnerable condition as outcasts, in the same way that God redeemed Israel, He had compassion on those of us who believed in his Son and made us “… a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles…” (1 Peter 2:9-11). Peter calls those of us who are Christians sojourners or immigrants in this world, and we are immigrants because although we live in this world, God by his grace has given us amnesty into his kingdom and our citizenship is in heaven: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God…”(Eph. 2:19) Just like Israel, we, of all people, as Christians should should remember our past so it will shape how we live in the present.

In light of this, I am excited to be studying and working my way towards being an accredited immigration representative, which is an avenue by which I can demonstrate love to my "neighbors" by showing compassion to the vulnerable and assisting the ‘aliens’ in becoming not only citizens of our physical country, but more importantly, citizens of the household of God. In the coming months and years, I hope to inform and challenge others to see the white harvest of the nations right outside our front doors.

The garden project has been a success. I am always amazed at the fruitfulness God causes from one small plot of ground. It has been exciting to see the families tend their gardens and reap the benefits of their labor. Many are excited to try again next year and are already talking about what they would do differently. It has been such a blessing to get to know these immigrant families and help them to feel more welcome in our city.

Clay Pots ~ Ending of an Era

When we came home from Papua New Guinea we wondered where God was leading us and how He was going to use us. He clearly directed our family to minister to the Hispanic population through the avenue of a new ministry that we started (Clay Pots) in partnership with our supporting churches. Its purpose was to plant a Hispanic church. The latest census shows that the Hispanic population has grown to over 50 million in the USA, a growth of 26%. An amazing statistic! As Jason built relationships and made connections with a number of Hispanic families, Hispanic pastors, churches, organizations, business owners, etc., it became apparent to him that the majority of Hispanics did not desire to separate, but to integrate into our society. So as we looked at it, Clay Pots ministry, in its original intention of a separate church plant, needed to be re-evaluated.

In the meantime a large church that Jason was ministering with, adopted the vision of integration. That church was looking at hiring a part time Legal Consultant for Immigrants. Jason applied for the job thinking that it could be a good fit, and we just found out this past week that he was chosen to fill the position. We feel so blessed that they chose Jason as this allows him to continue to pursue the relationships which were built and the ministry that was started, just through different means. Jason will be properly trained and accredited and then eventually will have an office downtown Waukesha. Jason will continue to work part time with Kellie's Dad at Ziebarth Masonry & Chimney Service to supplement our income, and Kellie has been asked back to the public school, part-time, to continue helping out as a literacy teacher. We are so thankful to see God's hand ever so gently moving us in this direction. With this new job, though, we will have to leave our Waukesha Bible Church family whom we have been a part of for over 25+ years. Our hearts are heavy, but we know that where God guides, He will provide (on all levels). He has never let us down and we know that he never will.

We have also moved! We have been trying for the past year and a half to build a home, buy a home, and lastly purchase a foreclosed home. For various reasons, they all fell through. We were disappointed, but God has provided a wonderful place to rent where our family can spread out and enjoy a deck. Our new address is 1609 Dover Dr. Waukesha, WI 53186. Our email address continues to be: jason@claypots.org (or) kellie@claypots.org (or) Micah's is soccerstudjr@gmail.com

We do covet your continued prayers and support as we make yet another transition in life. Pray that we can finish this summer out strong with the garden project, transition well, not worry about tomorrow, and look with joy towards the future. For those of you who have faithfully supported us financially through the many years, there are no words to express our gratitude to you. You have touched our own lives and through your gifts, the lives of others in Papua New Guinea and in Waukesha. Thank you so much! July 31stwill be the official ending of Clay Pots ministry.

That said, we will continue to live our lives as God’s vessels of grace and we will continue to allow God to use our frail vessels as he sees fit. So we will continue to post updates on our blog from time to time. But we will no longer be sending out mass emails. So if you want to keep up with our family, just check out our blogspot: www.claypots.org.

His Clay Pots,
Jason, Kellie, Micah (12), Sophia(10), & Malachi(7) Knapp