Weathering a storm

Dear Friends and Family:

Well Nina and I are currently out at our regional base and recouping from a wild last couple weeks. Following the baptisms in the village we had an incident that required us to get Nina and Beau out of Yembiyembi and call in the police.

I won't go into too many details but the crux of it came down to the teaching and some of the changes (in the believers and their families)  that are taking place in Yembiyembi. The leaders of the other side are starting to see where the teaching is leading and what the eventual outcome is probably going to be (as evidenced by the baptisms and some of the testimonies during it) and they are starting to get desperate.  Because of that there were some plans formed by a small group of men to try and provoke the believers into an all out fight and then go after us (Nina, Beau and myself) with the goal of getting us out of Yembiyembi.

 

In the end the police did a good job (it helped that some of them spoke our tribal language) and the men who put the plan into action were charged, forced to pay a massive fine and threatened within an inch of their lives. Keep in mind that the bulk of the village is standing with us and many would do anything to keep us from leaving. Also keep in mind that these guys are baby baby believers and their knee jerk reaction in the past to these type of situations is to fight back  with everything in them and some of them slipped back into that and the violence that erupted from that was too much to keep Nina and Beau in the bush.

 

But the most encouraging part of this whole incident was how the believers stood up and defended the gospel, the teaching, the baptisms and reminded the unbelievers in the tribe that with or without us there they would never leave what they have come to believe in.  Pita, Lawrence and Michael in particular stood up and together gave the gospel to the village and reminded them of how they used to live and how they could not imagine living in the "dark" again, not knowing what this life, and the life beyond was about.

 

This e-mail is purposely vague because we don't want to go into too many details yet, just know that we are doing well and things are cooling down in Yembiyembi. But please keep praying for the Yembiyembi believers and the unbelievers that are still in darkness, we are in truly in a war for the future of that tribe.  We have had some good meetings with our regional leadership and have a good plan in place, but do be praying for us as a family. In 7 days we will be heading back in and the "war" within the village, we are also prepping for the teaching of the book of Romans,  moving the teaching building, the believers doing a re-teaching from Adam to Christ for new believers and ones that didn't get it the first time, and our second baptism. 

 

Again I leave you with 2 quotes.

My oldest father Lucas said this after the 2 men leading the other side had demanded that the teaching, baptisms, and catching new crossers (what our tribe says when some teaches someone else the gospel and they understand).

"How can we stop any of those…those are the posts (the main points) of Jesus talk, those are the posts that He taught. If we take those posts out of the house the house will fall. NO, we will not, we have to listen to God, not to men, just like the first crosser/followers Peter and Jon did."

 

Micheal, said this when the police questioned him about why he left the other "church" (Micheal was the #2 man there before he was saved).

"The eyes of my thinking were opened, just like the fish scales dropped from Paul's eyes (when Paul received back his sight after the Damascus road, a lesson we taught 3 weeks ago) the fish scales dropped off the eyes of my mind. I saw my massive book (sin debt) and realized that I could not remove it, only one man could, only Jesus. How could I give my back to that, it is the true true talk of God, it is the only way to go to his side. So I give my backside to any other talk, it is only lies, I will only stand on God's talk, I will not go back to lies, my eyes are open now. "

 

Guys my uncle Zaccheus took me aside after the police had left and the village was in turmoil and reminded me that the strongest weapon of this fight is going "talking to our papa" (prayer).

So please don't let up in your prayers for the village of Yembiyembi, the entire Bises language group (the believers are beginning to talk about when this talk is heading to our first sister village Paliagwi/Mensuat in 2009), and the safety of our family in the middle of this all. God is building his kingdom in Yembiyembi in an incredible way, and these trials and challenges are the fuel that are producing incredible men and women of God.

 

Love you all,

Brooks for Nina and Beau

 

 

The Literacy Project: Video Update

Death Adders and the book of Acts

Dear Friends and Family:

Hope this e-mail finds you well wherever you are at. Life in
Yembiyembi continues to roll along, but with significant changes
happening in the villages. The teaching program has continued on with
a "crossers meeting" (the believers call themselves "the crossers"
because they have crossed from Satan's side to God's) every week as
well as a Sat night men's meeting, and Wed afternoon woman's meeting.

Some things that have been happening recently that have never happened
before are: singing in the believers meeting, testimonies by new
believers, public prayer by men and women, and a wholesale changes by
some of the believers to drop old customs and beliefs.

One of the neatest things though was the opportunity to take two of
our new believers on a survey trip to a different tribe that is being
looked at for allocation of new missionaries. The new tribe called
"Biem" has a similar background to Yembiyembi (Animistic/Catholic
Syncretism) and the opportunity for our 2 guys (Peter and Job) to
share (in the trade language) what they had come out of and in a
limited way share that there was is much more these guys needed to
hear, was awesome. Most nights they were up past 2 in the morning (a
everyday occurrence here, but still very painful for me) talking and
explaining to the Biem people what would happen if the missionaries
were to come, and asking questions about their belief system. It was a
really neat opportunity and a great growing time for Job and Peter as
they were able to think back on the massive changes that have come
into their lives over the last 4 years and more specifically the last
7 months.

Sometimes I am leery of writing out these quotes only because the
back-story on the individual that gave it is not able to be given. The
people that said these things are growing and changing right in front
of us in ways that we could not have imagined last year, but this
growth comes with sacrifices. Remember that roughly 50% of the
Yembiyembi village is still not saved, and around 10% of it is
adamantly opposed to what is happening in the tribe

The first night when Peter and Job arrived back from their trip to
Biem their canoe strings were cut sending their canoes way down river,
many of the believers have unbelieving spouses or a parent that are
putting massive pressure on them to stop coming to the meetings and
return to "normal" Yembi life. In the last 6 months some of the new
believers have had babies and the pressure to perform customs or
rituals on these newborn children has been….immense. Pray for guys
like Silas, Roger, Paul, Dennis, Andrew, Job, Gloria, Prisca and
Regina, that in the face of these challenges they would stay strong.
Trials challenges and opposition are not a bad thing, they actually
have an incredibly purifying effect on the body of believers
(half-hearted people usually jump ship fast), but we need to continue
to hold them up in prayer through these so they would come out
stronger on the other side.

After hearing that we will have to fly in a plane and boat across 5
hours of open ocean to get to Biem island for the survey some of the
women in the tribe started to wail for Job and Peter thinking they
might die. Job had never been in a plane or on the open ocean but
stood up in his house that night and said this: "Don't cry for me, I
don't feel any fear in my bones about this trip. I sit in one man's
hand and if He closes His fingers then I know it is my time, but He
holds/controls the waves of the sea and of the air (wind) so I don't
feel any fear".

One of the Biem Islanders asked Peter in a meeting if he had left his
beliefs that he was brought up with. Peter said this "I have. I
realized that I had been eating talk that was mixed with maggots, some
of it was good, but some of it was making me very sick. I was not
ready for the time of death, I was on a path that men had created that
was full of lies. Now I don't swallow (believe quickly) talk from
anyone, black man, white man, priest, village elder, none of them. I
hear their talk, I scale it (evaluate it) and if it is true talk I
down it (believe it), if not I throw it away, I only believe what is
true".

In the ladies meeting last week my mother Gloria stood up to talk to
God (pray) in public: "God break our heads in this meeting (open our
minds to understand) so that we see with clear eyes your talk, we
don't want our thinking to be cloudy. Keep your eyes on our 3 who are
on the big salt-water lake (the island survey to Biem), bring them
back here to us, that is the end of my talk".

My brother in-law Dennis whose wife (Vila) was sick said this: "Many
are asking me to make the offering of the spirits (killing then
burning a chicken in the house to satisfy whatever spirit is causing
the sickness), but I will not go down the path of man's talk
(untruth). I know who can make her better and I will only ask Him".
Then he asked if Tony would pray with him right there for Vila. She
has slowly been coming back to health this last week.

Next week we cross into another first for the believers here as we
step into the book of Acts. We are still working like crazy to finish
the necessary scriptures portions of Acts, and laying the foundations
for Romans (to be taught soon after Acts), so pray that the Lord gives
us good health and allows us to stay ahead of the teaching with
translated materials. Already in the translation of Acts we have seen
the believers that are working with us really respond to that book, we
are hoping the same holds true for the rest of the believers.

Last night in our men's meeting we were talking about a man from a
neighboring village who had been bitten and killed by a poisonous
snake when a 4 and half foot Death Adder came slithering right between
the legs of my brother-in law into the middle of our meeting and swung
around back to where me and my fathers were sitting. Nina and Beau
were asleep but heard the yelling and hooting as the men scattered and
climbed up poles to get away. We finally pinned it down with a shovel
as it went in and out of the stools and leaves that everyone was
sitting on. No amount of coffee can wake you up like having a
poisonous snake slither right under your chair. We had a good laugh
after it was over, though I was checking my boxers to make sure I
could continue.

Beau continues to grow like crazy, he is starting 2nd grade in 2 weeks
and is preparing himself mentally for the coming battles with his
mother. She in turn is listing her bribes, methods of inflicting pain
and other "motivators" to get him through.

Thanks guys, we love and appreciate you all, thanks for your continued
encouragement support and steadfastness in keeping us out here. We are
members of a greater team and we are thankful that you are part of
that team.

Your friends,

Brooks, Nina and Beau

P.S. The immensely spiritual job of taping any college or pro football
games (USC, Michigan, or the Chargers makes you extra spiritual) and
sending them to this address is there for the taking J.

Brooks Buser

P.O. Box 625

Wewak E.S.P.

Papua New Guinea

Beau improving and Yembiyembi update

Dear Friends and Family:

Well 4 days ago Beau's low grade fevers were still lingering around so we caught a flight up to Goroka, our mission headquarters in Papua New Guinea, to get some blood tests done and to see the Dr. Beau has been improving on a daily basis but still had the occasional flare up with slight fevers so we thought it would be best while we are out of the tribe to try and get as many answers as possible before we head back in. The doctor said it could be a virus of some sort, Dengue Fever or a couple things complicated with Malaria. Either way he is on the mend and we are really grateful for it. Most of the blood work is being sent to Australia and we won't get the results for another week or so, but we are feeling much better as he continues improving. Thanks so much for praying for and for your encouraging e-mails.

Nina and I are enjoying our time out at our mission bases and relaxing a bit now that things have turned with Beau. The last 9 months in Yembiyembi have been incredible and it has been our privilege to be a part of the things that the Lord has done there. The new believers and their growth has been one of the neatest things to see. Many are coming to grips with what it means to be a child of God and are now re-evaluating everything that they believed to see if it is true or "mans talk". Our first Yembiyembi public testimony from one of the big men in the Toucan Clan (Andrew) was incredible to hear and take in, this is a small piece from the middle of it: "For years I did not understand clearly God and the debt that I carried with him. I have been eating sago with rot in it (believing something that had an element of truth but was overall wrong), I was one who talked well but was carrying sick around. Well now I know, and no one can take push me back to ignorance again, NO, I am done with mans talk, on God's talk alone will I stand."

Another neat thing to watch has been the way God has sent the message from Yembiyembi out to other villages in the area. My lesson helper and brother-in-law, Job, took all his lesson summaries (for every day of teaching there was a one page summary for anyone who attended) and brought them over to his dad and brothers in anther village, a day and half hike away, called Chambri. His brother has been reading them to the rest of the family at night and working their way through them, storing up questions for Job when he came. The week before we came out here to Wewak Job went to Chambri to check on his dad (he is the publically acknowledged witch doctor for that area) . His dad was standing on the banks of the lake yelling "Youngest son, youngest son, I am waiting for you to come explain this talk to me, don't waste time I am not long for this ground, come explain what all this means". So Job sat through the night and taught the entire house from Adam through the fall of mankind. Job had to get back to Yembiyembi the next day but he will continue to go back and forth to review the lessons with his family. Remember that Job is barely a 2 month old believer himself, but when he got back he told me; "If God has spoke/chosen for my family not to be ignorant of this talk, then the only way they will hear is from my mouth, in my hands they sit (he is responsible for giving them the message of life)". It was awesome to hear the Chambri's starting to hear the Word, but even more exciting to see Job realizing that God was wanting to use him.

These past months there have also been some big time challenges that have come forward from ones in the tribe that do not agree with what is happening, and have been very harsh on the new believers. Continue to pray for these five especially: Donald, Kerobim Manu, Sophia, Otto, and Jeffery. All five of them have family members that are now saved (Sophia's husband is Andrew , the one who gave the first testimony), but their "eyes" are still very much blind, don't let up on them, keep praying.

We sure appreciate all of you guys and the encouraging e-mails we have gotten from everyone as we went through this thing with Beau, you guys are great.

Guys that should do it. I feel like a broken record asking and thanking you for prayers on our behalf, but if we didn't believe that it made a massive difference we wouldn't' be out here. So thanks for praying for us, and continuing to up hold the Yembis and this entire ministry in prayer.

Thanks so much,

Brooks Nina and Beau

P.S. Anyone who mourned/is in mourning for the Lakers meltdown at the finals I feel your pain. Next year…..next year.

Beau being sick

Dear Friends and Family:

 

Well the last few weeks have been challenging in ways we did not expect. About a month ago Beau started coming down with these around the clock fevers that would spike and drop all day.  4 different medications and 4 weeks later we still are not sure what it is or how to bring it under control. So 4 days ago Nina and Beau flew out of the tribe and yesterday I made it out to join them here at our regional mission base on the coast.

The first indicators pointed to Chloroquine resistant malaria, then to Dengue Fever, and now there are more things pointing to something called Scrub Typhus.   If in 72 hours he does not shake the fevers on his current medicine we will be flying to our national base in Goroka to see a doctor, get some blood tests done and hopefully find some answers.  Appreciate very much your prayers for Beau during this time.

 

In another week or so we will write about the progress in Yembiyembi and the growth of the new church and the believers. Some very neat things going on not only in Yembiyembi but in surrounding villages that are starting to hear from the "Crossers" (this is what the believers call themselves "The bridge crossers").

 

Thanks so much guys,

Brooks

 

P.S. Because we are out at our base (Internet and fast e-mail connections) I will try and attach a couple pictures to these updates. Nina went on a trip to a waterfall with her mother, and Beau with a tree kangaroo.

 

P.S.S. This is what Acts 1:7-8 sounds like in Bises:  Then Jisas he told them like this "Nope, you ones don't know the period of time when those things will happen, only God Father does, so don't give thoughts to that. But I tell you in a small chunk of time God Spirit will be coming, then He will be living in you, then with strength you will be my mouths  to spread my talk to the village of Jerusalem, to the ground of Judia, to the ground of Samaria and to all of the ground, to the edges,  to all those places will you spread my talk".

 

 

 

Last 2 days of teaching

Dear Friends and Family:

Last night we taught the lesson of Jesus celebrating the Passover with his disciples, tonight is Jesus arrest, and tomorrow is His death, burial, resurrection and ascension. The teaching is drawing nearly the entire village at this point, some for just the excitement that is there, and some to see what this is all about, but most to understand how the bridge-man (Jesus) was able to make a way back to God's side from Satan's.

Last night after we taught the lesson I sat with a group of men as they talked and discussed what has come, and what is coming in these last couple days:

My father Lawrence said this: "This is the first time we have heard the meaning of this talk, our thinking is coming clear on why Jesus came, and how he was the bridge-man (bridge between Satan's side and God's)."

Peter, my brother-in law, had this: "At night my wife (Merryrose) and sons sit and read this talk over and over. This is not a now talk, this promise talk started with Adam and it is coming true, God did not forget his promise, he followed it (fulfilled it) with the bridge-man, he would not leave us with our steal-father (Satan), our true father didn't forget us".

Rodney, my cassowary clan brother, who helped me with the last lesson 3 days ago and we believe is now saved said this: "This talk is very sweet, I tell you the truth, the last day of this talk is so sweet it will make your teeth tickle (it is really sweet)".

And my in-law Job, who also helped with that lesson and knows he is saved said this "The God of this river (pointing to the river by the teaching house), of these stars, he knows me, he did not forget me. He is my only real father, and when my person (body) goes back to the dirt, I will not be pushed far from him (separated from God) to the lake of fire, no! I know the road to the other side now, and I know who bought by book (his record of sins), and for that reason I will go with Him.

I am cutting this note a little shorter today because of the tasks still to do these last 48 hours. As I type Tony is firing up the chainsaw and we are cutting up a couple boards to make the cross for tomorrows lesson, Nina is meeting with a group of ladies to re-explain why Judas betrayed Jesus, Tara is down in the village meeting her mother and sisters, Tim is working on the translating a portion of Luke we will need, and Courtney is reviewing lessons with her family members (tribal family).

Some prayer requests for the last 2 days are these:

1. Our health, (my voice) would hold up for tomorrows 2 hour and the day afters 3 hour lesson. Then as we stay up all night (last Sat night we had questions from about 40 guys till 4:30 in the morning) and talk through all the lessons that we would stay strong and keep our energy level high.
2. That the people on the fence would understand very clearly the gospel message, and why for ones who are searching, this IS sweet talk.
3. That God would do an incredible work in Yembiyembi over these next days, and see many come from Satan's side to God's.

Not much else guys, the specific times for teaching today will be 5:30 till 7:30 at night, and tomorrow 4:00 till 7:00.

Appreciate you all so much, and the way you have stood with us through all of this,

Brooks for Nina and Beau

Week #9

Dear Friends and Family:

Well we completed our second to last week of teaching and are into our last 48 hour break before going for 8 straight days of teaching, culminating in the death burial and resurrection. This last week was….very exciting. One of the lessons this last week was on Jesus healing the paralytic, and when it was explained to them what was meant by taking his sins away, heads started to nod and smiles were popping up all over the teaching house. Some people didn't stop smiling that whole night (which is very un-Yembiyembi), it was an amazing thing to be a part of, just to watch them react to the "bridge-man" the Savior and how Jesus did have the power to bring them to God's side.

 

Comments from that night:

Paul -  "This talk is really getting sweet, this was sweet, very sweet".

Robert - "This makes me very excited to see him (the paralytic) go across, Jesus just….took him across!"

Andrew -  (he was yelling this to everyone in the teaching house)- "Get your sago ready, this talk is getting hot (good), we don't want any words to drop to the ground, make sure your food is ready for next week"

Regina- "Only the ones who saw their sick, only those went across, chest-strikers (the proud) don't get across, I must be clear on my sick (sin), I must not trick myself on the sick I have."

 

Keep praying for some of the older folks, but know that you are making a difference. Last week we asked you to pray for Helen, Sita, Ilen, Regina and Clara. Regina (Nina's mother) has made a complete about face to her previous belief system. Many of us were shocked last week (not just the white-skins, but the Yembi's as well) when she came out and said she was "done with the old ways of thinking", she knew what was "true and only on His talk was she going to stand (believe in)". Clara, Ilen and Helen have been faithfully coming and listening and should be here tomorrow morning for the Thursday ladies get together (the three ladies on the team meet with any women who want to come up and go over questions from the teaching, last week we had over 50 ladies talking about God's Word). Continue to pray for Sita though, and add a lady named Sophia to your list. Both are still coming but seem to be getting harder in their thinking and more contentious as we explain what a Pharisee looks like, and what true repentance is.

As we see others fading, we are watching others come on strong. Salvius a guy who has been a fairly constant pain in our neck since we got here has stepped up recently and been very faithful to attend, and is not shy about telling others that he is following the talk, and he will be one of the first to cross over to God's side when he understands. After last Saturday night's meeting he went down after the meeting and woke up his mother and wife (Sita and Edita) and had a strong talk about repentance and the bridge-man finally being there.

Last week Salvius and I went pig hunting (we got no pigs, got rained on through the night, but had great talks) and said this "I feel like the clouds of my thinking are blowing away and I am understanding clearly for the first time how God sees me, how big of a book (record of sins) I have and big my debt with God is". Others that recently we have seen really coming, seeking, and understanding are Bernadette, Sabina, Prisca, Kevin, Leopa, Marianna, Eric, Julie, Godfried, Matthew, Herman and some others. If you want to put faces to names, their pictures are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/yembiyembi/. And if your new to the website, pick out some of those people and pray for them, this next week will be, for some, the biggest week of their lives.

As we head into the last week please continue to pray for your people, this is the last 100 meters of a long race that started in January. The week starts on Sat and goes till next Sat (19-26^th) and will probably not be without challenges. Please pray that things go well, that the kids are able to stay quiet, that the dogs and pigs stay away, that the people would be listening and tracking, that God would move in an incredible way and the beginning of the harvest in Yembiyembi would be great.

Especially pray for these 3 guys, Kerobim (Manu), Otto, and Jeffery. All three are older men raised in the worldview system of the tribe, and have not been able to shake it. Kerobim has missed only a couple lessons and is ready for next week, but remains quietly against the teaching. Pray that something gets through to these guys, that one of their kids, sisters, brothers, fathers is able to make an impact on them, and bring them around.

Not much else guys. When we started the teaching I felt like we were launched into space, and next week I feel like we are going to be landing on the moon. None of us are really sure what to expect, but we do know that God is going ahead of us, and that is on account of you and your prayers. Please continue to be faithful this week, it is a big one.


Thanks guys, appreciate you all very much,

Brooks for Nina and Beau