Clay Pots ~ Malachi and our Family

We have a praise and yet another prayer request: Malachi has healed up wonderfully form his stitches and concussion. However since then he has come down with malaria. Through a series of circumstances the Doctor examined him and found an un-related problem which will require surgery. So Malachi will be going into surgery on October 2nd. They will be closing up a tube, removing some fluid, and preventing a future hernia. Our prayer request is that he will heal up completely from the malaria and his fever will leave so that he can be strong enough to do the surgery in a couple weeks.

To be honest, we as a family are barely holding on as we feel that we have little to no time to process one crisis before we head into the next. Please be in prayer for us as we fall into His arms and “give up”. As some of you have probably noticed we have really stepped back from communicating and being involved in things. Even to the point of having to go back on our word and withdraw from things we had originally said we would love to do. We as a family need more time to work through everything, and we really need some “normal” time as our own family. At this point in time, talking about our time in the tribe is painful for us because we have had so many crisis that we have not had a chance to fully internalize or process. We thank you for your love and grace towards us as we take this time to refresh our souls.

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

Clay Pots ~ Remembering to Pray

Micah and Sophia’s first day of school!

Bored. Twiddling our fingers. HoHum. I keep thinking one of these days I can use those words to describe our lives, but alas we are nothing close to that these days! Malachi thought it would be kind of cool this past week to jump off a retaining wall, get a concussion, 15 stitches, 5 hours in the hospital, and a visit to the dentist. Dad and Mom did not find it so cool. Malachi is now experiencing the joy of eating everything through a straw and talking like Rocky.

The two weeks before that, we as a family have been grieving, praying, and struggling with the situation Kellie’s brother and family have been going through. We are grateful for the body of believers nation-wide who have comforted and helped out Kellie’s parents, their Bed and Breakfast, and Jonathan.

When we first arrived in the States the Tobo church and our co-workers were never very far from our thoughts at any given hour of the day. The busier we get though, the more we find ourselves only thinking of them perhaps once a day. We are realizing how much more difficult it is for you to remember to pray for the Tobo believers when you have never even been to Papua New Guinea and have never met them. But the simple truth is that this job is a group effort. We and our co-workers cannot do this without you or your prayers. So during this year, our desire is to foster additional prayer and financial support for the Tobo church. Sometimes simply writing a check each month can remind us to pray for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ being persecuted on the other side of the globe. For instance, one lady from the Tobo church is no longer allowed to come to the church meetings because her husband has threatened to slit her throat. Wow, I know how hard it is to think beyond our crazy schedules here in the States, but could you take a minute and pray for her and for other Tobo believers who are faced with this sort of opposition? And pray for other believers who have not been persecuted, but need to persevere and grow in their faith by making the tough decisions instead of being hesitant and afraid to make a stand for Christ. Also, pray for our co-workers the Mankins and Williamsons, that God will give them the wisdom and strength as they disciple the believers and stand in the face of opposition. God has so designed that prayer is vital to the spread and belief of the gospel, so please continue to lift up the Tobo church before our heavenly Father. Thank you.

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

Clay Pots ~ The Past 6 Weeks

In the past 6 weeks we have slept in our own bed about 5 times. But we are grateful to be able to say that our suitcases are stored away for now and we plan on being home for awhile! In our last e-mail, we told you that we were going on a camping trip, and that our family would be taking time to try to deal with things that have happened to us as a family in the past few years. We talked about the highs and lows in the tribe and about our feelings and/or struggles concerning them. It was a much needed time in the quietness of nature to talk and pray. We made lists of all the good things that have happened in the past 4 years and all of the bad things. We asked God to help us focus on the good and to trust Him with the bad. It was a great time to get to understand our children and ourselves a little bit better. And we thank God for giving us seasons of refreshing, and the assurance that He will never leave us or forsake us.

The kids voiced that although they are loving the States, they are anxious and excited to return to home (the tribe) in a year’s time. Jason too is enjoying being here immensely, but misses his friends and desires to continue the task of discipleship. I, however, am still struggling with choosing contentment and joy when faced with returning to the tribe. Honestly and selfishly. I truly enjoy and love my culture here in the States. I love convenience, shopping, and lots of people speaking English! I love not being watched through my windows. I love wearing pants and jewelry. I love being clean and wearing new clothes. I love my husband not having to be pulled in a million different directions. I love being able to know when I go outside I won't be followed and touched. I love having a doctor and dentist to take my kids to. I love running out of groceries and running to the store at any time I want to. And I love going on a date with my husband and having the chance to actually miss my kids!

So can you pray for me? Pray that I will trust God to give me the grace and strength when I need it. Pray that I will enjoy this year instead of getting anxious when I think of having to go back. I can say without a doubt that I know God wants us to go back to the tribe and finish well, but I don’t want to go back and just survive… I want to thrive.

Thank you for being gracious with us as we have been traveling, healing, and ignoring e-mails. We felt that we needed to take this summer to re-gain our footing. And we are excited as fall approaches (what happened to the summer?!) in order to be more involved in your lives!

Here are some of the highlights of the past 6 weeks that we thought you might enjoy seeing…

We got the incredible privilege to attend the wedding of our friends in Northern Ireland, Tim and Vivienne (Eakin) Price, and while there we celebrated our 11th Wedding Anniversary with a stopover in Paris!

Malachi’s 4th Birthday!

Getting to spend a weekend with Uncle Jonathan (who isn’t very good at arm wrestling)

When we went camping all the kids were sooo excited to see their machetes again and be able to do what they miss the most….climb trees, cut trees, and make fires

More fishing of course

We got to go to the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) show in Oshkosh, the biggest air show in the world! Our to-be-pilot, Micah, was in awe of everything. There was a plane landing or taking off every 8 seconds!!

Clay Pots ~ Healing

The new one!

Have you ever noticed that things break down in three's? Our van, our laptop, and another thing all gave us problems in one week. It has been one of those stretching times for us as we trust God to provide for our physical needs and not allow ourselves to worry. We didn’t do too good of a job of it this past week, but as always, God has started to intervene despite our lack of faith. When our first van started pouring fluid all over the driveway, our family prayed around the dinner table for God to provide for us. We need a reliable vehicle for all the traveling we do. That night we went on a bike ride. We went to a used car dealership thinking that it would be closed for the night. But it was still open. (He normally would have closed two hours earlier, but had to finish something up) Well, in the lot was a van of same make and model as the one with fluid problems, but it looked a lot newer and nicer for a good price, $4,000.00. So yesterday we picked it up praying that God would provide the money for it. That afternoon our church dropped off a $1,000.00 check. Also, this past weekend someone gave us $600.00, and to top it off the man from whom we had bought the first van gave us all our $ back, $1000.00. So within 24 hours God provided for over half of the vehicle! And we know He will continue to provide for the rest because we have already seen him pay off our medical bills from all those surgeries.

Also, this next week our family of 5 will be leaving for a 2 week primitive camping trip up north. We ask that you pray for our family as we go. In many ways, we all are still dealing with and processing all that happened to us while living in the tribe. Our children have been through alot in the past years. As a first response it is easy to say we are okay and doing fine; but we have come to realize in the past weeks, that we are struggling and need some emotional and spiritual rest. Kellie has actually had panic attacks when she thinks about going back to the tribe and I have been dealing with high emotions as well. We want to take this time camping to pray and talk as a family. We are going to make lists of what we have seen or gone through and take time to talk to God about those things. So we ask that, as you think of it, you pray for our family. Pray that we will heal completely in this next year so that we can finish well.

We thank God for every one of you and how He has uses each of you in our lives,

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