Ready To Sleep For a Week!

Well it is the end of a great 4 days of conference here at Hoskins. The NTM team in the Islands Region has celebrated what the Lord has done for another year and we are all but ready to sleep for the next week. Our speaker was Barry Challinor from NTM Durham in Canada and what an encouragement he was.

We have a great team here in the Islands and this is the "best" region. That sounds a bit presumptuous but it just means that wherever God has you is the best place otherwise why would you be there? I guess that it boils down to whether we serve Christ out of duty or because we love Him. That's it for this week. Hope you have a good one too.

Our son Johnathan (left)

Various Conference Photos

Burns' News March 2006

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” Proverbs 3:1

One of the biggest questions that man has to ask is about purpose. Why are we here; what is it all about; and how do I fit in the plan of eternity? We have all had these thoughts from time to time but we are not left in the dark, God has already given the answers, it just depends on whether we choose to listen or not. On such, hang life and death, in eternity that is. We often find ourselves in strange situations and feel we are not in the place where we should be, doing what God intended. We will see this for what it is if we but realise as did Solomon that God has a reason and a purpose for every situation we find ourselves in. At the time we may think our situation is just plain awful but when we place our trust in the providence of God we will be able to look back and realise that it was His plan all along and the end result will be to bring many more sons to heaven and so doing glorifying our Heavenly Father.

You might say that our past year has seen plenty of those ‘why’ questions, with unknown directions and unrequited reasons as to why we were spending so much time dealing with a patchwork of family, medical, debriefing, psychological, stress and rest situations.

Family

Well for one thing we needed to have some serious family time and God was in the business of seeing that we did. What blessings we received in the arrival of our two grand children, Malachi and Keziah! Our times with Amanda and Michael and Johnathan and Candy were a real blessing and we feel we have come to know our children afresh.

Being able to trip up and visit my (Trev’s) parents was well worth the effort as we shared many things and caught up on lost time together. For the first time God opened up an opportunity to share of His love to dad as I saw a renewed interest in his heart for spiritual answers. We spent two great days just being with Trev’s brother in the country at the foothills of the Stirling Ranges.

Amanda and Michael are now settling into their new ministry with SIM in the Wattle Grove Baptist buildings. They have just been involved in the SIM Rep seminar in Sydney and are eager to get involved a lot more. Michael has to reconsider his options with his theological studies as one of the subjects is not available this year. Keziah is blooming and healthy, we miss having her around.

God had another purpose in having us home too, that of making some readjustments to our thinking and His priorities. We learned to trust Him more for those situations we did not understand. We learned to become more honest with each other and others. Most of all we found that place of resting in Him who leads us through all of life’s situations, to accept all His purposes under heaven.

Returning To Hoskins

Our trip back to PNG was a long one with a stop off in Goroka to baby-sit Malachi while Johnathan and Candy attended an important seminar. Arrival in Hoskins was to a new flat, nicely finished, just missing enough storage. That is now slowly being changed with the installation of tailor made furniture that fits the small area and hopefully we will soon be able to stow all our chattels.

Work in the Resource Centre started with a vengeance, reorganizing office space, stock taking, printing for half a dozen books lined up. Some exciting things are happening as God is moving the Mangseng Bible Teachers to re-start their literacy school. On top of this they are having lessons printed for 1 Corinthians, 1Timothy and Titus as well as a full set of phase 1 (Creation to Christ). God has touched their hearts to walk with Him. In the midst of this was the blessing of having 3 Mangseng teachers come to help work on the project. This gave them a better insight as to what goes into producing their books and has helped to build relationships between us, which is so important. Remember how God provided moneys for a new Guillotine? Praise God, this machine has already saved much time and back breaking work. There has been a small hitch as a new Saddle stapler was not the standard we needed. Estelle is now learning the ropes to help out in the finance office but will be the only one to run it for the month of July.

Johnathan and Candy have settled in and are now into their third week of Orientation and Tok Pisin study. Malachi is doing well with the climate; has cut his first tooth and is just a bundle of delight to have around. Of course his Nana and Grandad enjoy him and are quite handy or should I say at hand. Our Islands Region Conference is from March 11th-15th and for our part we are to run a TRC workshop on print-shop procedure and the ice-cream social. Candy is to set up and oversee the children’s meetings. Some hear that we are back and are quick to pay us a visit.

There are some exciting times happening as our fellow Aussie Gary McCay brings years of work to a climax as he teaches from Creation to Christ. Please pray that many there in Ora Village will respond as he finishes presenting the final teaching on Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

Prayer and Praise

Praise God for the times He gave us with our families while we were home on medical leave. Praise Him for the rest and restitution we received via the prayerful help of His servants while we were “smelling the roses” in Australia in 2005. Praise God for strength for all our co-workers who serve Him faithfully here to bring the precious Word of God to the lost in PNG. Praise God for bringing Johnathan and Candy safely to PNG and that their household goods have finally been sent from Geelong.

Pray for Johnathan and Candy as they orientate into PNG culture and language and pray that their goods will find safe passage and not be too long in coming (generally takes 2-3 months). Pray for the coming conference and our parts in it. Pray for the Kol people of Ora as they hear the gospel of Christ in their own tongue. Pray that work in the TRC run smooth and be a blessing. Pray that God will send someone to help Estelle in the finance office during July. Pray we will be able to negotiate for a better saddle stapler. Pray for His continuing supply of finances, as living expenses has risen greatly.

Because Christ first loved us,

Trevor & Estelle Burns