A small but steady start
Faith is spreading among the Patpatar believers in Papua New Guinea.
No more than 20 attend regularly, but the missionaries are praying that the small church will grow and become stronger.
The small group has been meeting as a church at the traditional men's house but they are careful to not fall into old habits of worship where the message of the Gospel is distorted.
"Instead of performing the customs associated with the Patpatar clan, we have been able to teach what we have been given as members of God's clan," missionary Aaron Luse wrote.
One Patpatar believer, Subul, has been pressured by unbelievers in his village to return to their religious exercises and to doing good works. They told him he will not go to Heaven.
Subul is a quiet man who hardly speaks up, but after one of the meetings ended he shared with his fellow believers.
"It doesn't matter if they call me a man of sin. It is not my work that will get me to Heaven. It is the work Jesus did for me and I am believing in that," Subul said.
The missionaries will start teaching in the book of Acts soon.
"This will be an exciting journey as we study the early church, the spread of the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit despite the persecution [the church] faced," Aaron wrote.
Please pray that Subul and other Patpatar believers will remain firm in what they believe and that outside pressures will not sway them. Also pray for the unbelievers in the village who have not placed their hope in Christ, but rather in their own works and good deeds.
No more than 20 attend regularly, but the missionaries are praying that the small church will grow and become stronger.
The small group has been meeting as a church at the traditional men's house but they are careful to not fall into old habits of worship where the message of the Gospel is distorted.
"Instead of performing the customs associated with the Patpatar clan, we have been able to teach what we have been given as members of God's clan," missionary Aaron Luse wrote.
One Patpatar believer, Subul, has been pressured by unbelievers in his village to return to their religious exercises and to doing good works. They told him he will not go to Heaven.
Subul is a quiet man who hardly speaks up, but after one of the meetings ended he shared with his fellow believers.
"It doesn't matter if they call me a man of sin. It is not my work that will get me to Heaven. It is the work Jesus did for me and I am believing in that," Subul said.
The missionaries will start teaching in the book of Acts soon.
"This will be an exciting journey as we study the early church, the spread of the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit despite the persecution [the church] faced," Aaron wrote.
Please pray that Subul and other Patpatar believers will remain firm in what they believe and that outside pressures will not sway them. Also pray for the unbelievers in the village who have not placed their hope in Christ, but rather in their own works and good deeds.