The last few weeks have been another reminder of the crucial importance of prayer (James 5:13-18). Thank you for praying for my (Dave) recent trip to Asia. I enjoyed the opportunity to interact with and teach college students. I had the privilege to preach in several churches including two on Palm Sunday. It’s always a blessing to worship together with believers from around the world. A highlight was attending and speaking in a pastors’ conference. These pastors serve in various regions throughout Asia facing growing affliction and persecution. The theme of the conference was “Standing in the Coming Storm.” As bad as the opposition to Christianity has been in Asia, it seems to be getting much worse. I have to be vague in a public forum like this but one local leader, who is well aware of the current situation, described it as the “normalization of hate” towards Christians. I’ll write more on that in another post. The wars, church burnings, and blatant attacks on Christians continue to spread throughout several countries in Asia. At the same time, the Gospel continues to spread to the regions beyond and to those who have never heard. The needs and unreached peoples seem endless, so please continue to pray for our Asian brothers and sisters who are serving faithfully in the midst of evil opposition.
While in Asia I was able to visit ODBM team members serving in an extremely difficult and restricted region. Due to a social media campaign against them, they had to leave their home for some time. Thankfully God has answered much prayer and enabled them to return safely as part of a phased-in return. Again, I need to be vague, but please be praying for God’s continued wisdom and protection. He knows their names. I was thankful I could meet with them to provide a little encouragement and work through the process forward together.
On my way back, I began to get sick. I’m not exactly sure what kind of bug it was, but by the time I got home, I was very ill. I was in bed for the next several days and lost over 20 lbs. I had to delay my next trip to Papua New Guinea (PNG) to allow my body more time to recover, but thankfully due to the prayers of many, I’m doing much better and on my way to PNG.
It seems like there have been more obstacles and challenges to this particular trip than all of the other times that I have visited PNG. First was my extreme poor health. Then last month there was a major fuel shortage in the country. That seems to be mostly resolved. Then I had issues rescheduling my tickets because the Air Niugini website was down for several days. Then there’s a new requirement for a visa that caused a snag. Thankfully, with my brother’s (Bill) help, I was finally able to finalize my tickets and get my visa last night with a few hours to spare.
I greatly appreciate your prayers as I travel the next few days via Doha (Qatar) and Singapore enroute to PNG. I will be meeting up with a good friend, Layne, and Lord willing will be ministering in Simbai April 10-17. We will be flying into a different grass airstrip from where we lived (2000-2010) and will be living in bush at the main church for a combined missions conference. Several of the Simbai churches will be coming together at the “mother” church to celebrate the Gospel and consider their next steps to advance the Good News. Living in bush means no electricity, plumbing, etc. We’ll be staying in the local village. There have been so many challenges to this trip even happening. Please pray that God will give good weather, allow us to fly into Simbai safely, protect our health, and bless in the services. I’m thrilled to return “home” and see the churches that we served with and love dearly. My illness is still lingering a bit so I’m not at 100% yet. Pray that God’s grace will be made perfect in our weakness.
Thank you for also praying for Shawn and the girls while I’m away once again. They’re all busy coming down the final stretch of the spring semester. God continues to give Shawn some amazing opportunities to share about her new book, The Freedom Chain. She was recently interviewed by a local TV station. Pray with us that God will continue to use it for His glory. We appreciate so much your faithful prayers and support for us. We thank and praise the Lord for you!
Praise the Lord with us,
Dave & Shawn
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