Well, well, the last few days have been quite interesting. I got to meet two amazing career missionaries on Sunday morning, preach Sunday night, and God is still teaching me tons of things about how to work with the Australians and to love Him more in the process.

First off, the missionaries. I got to eat lunch with an older couple named Tom and Salome Hoey on Sunday morning. It was probably one of the most amazing experiences of my life, and this is the reason: these two souls have been serving in Papua New Guinea for the past 39 years. What makes it more amazing is that they pioneer workers with the Batami people (i.e. Cannibals!) That's right, they were the first people to bring the gospel to these people that had a cultural history of murdering and eating one another. 39 YEARS! They moved thier whole family out there when they were in thier 30s. They left thier jobs, relatives, comforts, safety...everything. Now can you see why I was so blessed to be able to spend a few hours with them and hear their stories of the ways that God worked with them. They imparted much wisdom to me. In fact, so much that I can't even begin to tell you it here. However, I will share one story they told me about how they finally were able to bring the gospel effectively to these people. Tom found out, after several years of working there, that the Batami people had a local legend about eternal life. The story began with a crying baby. All problems within this culture are related to a crying baby somewhere down the line. Anyway, the baby was crying because he was dying. Now, there were two spirits that wanted to help the baby. There was the good spirit (I don't remember their names, very local), then directly opposed to this was the bad or evil spirit. When they knew that the baby was dying, they raced for thier resepctive fruits. The good spirit went to get the fruit from the tree of life while the evil spirit went to get the fruit from the tree of death. Well, while the good spirit was on his way back with the fruit of life, he heard the baby's crying stop. The evil spirit had beaten him there, and fed the baby the fruit of death. Because of this, the Batami believe that eternal life had been lost forever. They thought that there was no way to get it back. How awesome is that! Imagine that joy that Tom and Salome had when they could stand in front of all the Batami together and effectively say "We bring good news! Eternal Life has not been lost. Our God has made a way through His Son Jesus Christ! Come to repentance and know the Lord." And people came. Now, there is a thriving church within the Batami people group. In fact, they are now beginning to reach out to other tribes in the area. They have all given up their cannibal ways. Talk about amazing ways that God reveals Himself. Now, imagine how incredibly encouraged I was to hear that from someone who had gone into much harder soil than I have even here, had prevailed in such a way as that. Man, God is good!

I also was allowed the opportunity to preach to the church that night. It was the night before a state holiday, so there really weren't very many people there. However, I made up my mind a long time ago that I would preach the same to 5 people as I would to 500. And, through no worth on my own part, God blessed it. I really believe there were some hearts genuinely encouraged and changed in that room. I preached on how we must all passionately pursue Jesus Christ. The church in Australia, in many ways, suffers from the same disease that the church in America suffers from: lethargic apathy. Many people were very pleased and said they enjoyed it, which is really the only way I can judge whether it had any affect or not. I believe that God has been faithful to me though. Someone apparently even said they thought I was a young Billy Graham. I told him I appreciated the compliment, but I was no Billy Graham. Just for the record, I wasn't entirely sure how to handle that. If anyone knows a better way to take those kind of compliments without insulting the people who give them to you, I'm all ears. So, all that to say, thank you to everyone who prayed for me. God heard your prayers and has worked a work that was not here before. That' good enough for me. Thanks again.

God is still teaching me so much about doing the little things with a pure heart and motive. Today, I spent 4 hours fixing the font size on powerpoint slides for 250 songs. Then, I moved boxes to the youth minister's office. Lastly, I went around and tightened the screw on cabinet handles in the youth room. While this may sound mundane and fruitless to many others, I believe that God has a purpose in it. First, by doing these small, almost ridiculous sounding things with a happy heart, I have made a great impression on the staff and church. I believe this is going to open up even more doors for ministry as the summer continues. Second, I have realized that even though I am not on the front lines of thier ministry all of the time, I am doing things that suppor the ministry. In the end, they are going to be the people that remain here for life. This is not my ministry. This is thier ministry location, in which I am only participating for a short time. Third, God has shown me today how much He has already been changing my heart. When I was asked to do all of these things, part of me wanted to cry out "dumb!", but before that thought could become fully formed the Spirit would say "Whether you eat or drink, do everything as if you do it for Christ". When this scripture would come to mind, I would immediately let go of my own pride over these menial tasks, and I would embrace them as if I were leading someone to Christ through those activities. That may sound crazy to some, but I am convinced that it is the truth that God is teaching me. Perhaps it will bless you as well.

I really do think God is changing me. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I know it is happening. I can't see it in any huge ways, but I can see it in the small things. I can see it in the way I react to things now. I can see it in the way my mind works. I don't entirely understand it all, but I am convinced it is happening. Honestly, it kind of scrares me. Over that though, it makes me excited. Oh to know Him and the Power of His Ressurection! I feel God working. Thanks for all your prayers in this matter. Keep it up. I think I'm really starting to learn what Christianity is all about. Thanks.

Yeah, I know this was long, but I felt like I had a lot to say. Also, I don't know when I will be able to post again. I'm moving to a new billet tomorrow, so I don't know if I will have internet access or not. In addition, as soon as I leave that house, I will be going pretty much straight camping for two weeks. Then, I will be in another house for the last 3 weeks where I won't have internet access. So pretty much, the only time I will be able to post is when I am at the church. That really doesn't afford me much opporunity, so it could be awhile. Please comment as much as you want though. I will be able to check that, and you really can't imagine how encouraging it is for me to hear from all of you. I love you all in Jesus, and I pray constantly for your edification in the faith.

In Christ Alone,

Andrew