DaveW

Pro 26:4-5 (4) Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. (5) Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

I rarely post here, but this brings me to my favourite Calvinist question - surely you have an answer for me. Can you show me a clearly stated testimony of salvation for Calvin please? And whilst you are at it, you might give your own testimony of salvation. I will not answer, for I have no interest in any sort of debate, but would dearly love for SOME Calvinist to give me a clear record of Calvin's salvation testimony. Preferably something in his own words, and not what others have said of him. This should be an easy question to answer, and it requires no further clarity so there is no need for you to ask me all sorts of questions (which I will not answer anyway). If you refuse to give such a reference, I will have to assume it is because you either do not understand salvation yourself, or you cannot find such a testimony for Calvin. No one has yet provided any such thing to me, in spite of asking this question of Calvinists for the last 15 years.

My Hannah-Rose is back home safe and sound. The Lord worked everything in such a way that there was a small window of opportunity where everything worked together to get her back home by Christmas Eve, so she was able to spend Christmas with her family. After a full few days of visiting people, and a busy Sunday at church with everyone wanting to talk about everything PNG, she is now under my orders to sit at home and rest. She is now intending on getting a nursing job here at home and doing some more nursing study while she waits for the Lord to open another opportunity for her to serve in a similar ministry. Thanks for your prayers.

We have managed to get a flight for her to Brisbane, which is in the State of Queensland. And it is a direct flight, so 3 hours and no stops. Blessings. There she will have to stay in "Hotel Quarantine" for two weeks, before boarding a flight home to Perth (the other side of Australia, in Western Australia). Actually a longer flight than from PNG, around 5 1/2 hours. Yes it is THAT far. It is basically like a flight from New York to San Francisco: top right to bottom left of the nation. The current rules might make it difficult for her to get into WA, and even if we can get her back home, she will then (most likely) have to be in home isolation for another two weeks. We have the funds to pay for all of this as the Lord has provided bountifully. The clinic is actually closing officially tomorrow, and then she has to fly from the Highlands to Port Moresby, if the weather permits, on Itty Bitty Airlines (not its real name...). The intervening time between now and the 3rd Dec will be spent packing and rolling everything up. Flight to Aus is the 10th. The Lord is providing in all sorts of ways. Sad to see that ministry closing, but happy to be seeing our oldest little girl again soon. Please keep the local IB church and Pastor (Pastor Ben)in prayer up there, and be praying for the missionary family who will continue their support work up there, and the schooling ministry that will also continue there. Thanks folks, Dave.

A final update for the folk here who care. For all sorts of reasons the Clinic is having to close down. Covid and the PNG government are making it almost impossible to get staff. Hannah-Rose has been running the clinic on site for these past months, with the Missionaries keeping track of the official side of things, but without more staff to help at the clinic, and with the government causing difficulties the decision has been made to close the clinic. They are all devastated, but accepting that the Lord is moving them on. Please pray that we can get Hannah-Rose flights back to Australia, and then back home to Perth. It is difficult getting into Australia at the moment. What should be a 3 hour flight looks to be a multi stop flight taking 42 hours.... That is if we can get her a seat. Please pray also for her future leading to other ministry opportunities. Thanks folks. Dave

Or dealing with people..... I need no advice, no rebuke, no encouragement - the purpose is to give you a laugh, because that's about all that can be done. I have been preaching verse by verse through a book for adult Sunday School. Someone said to me that they don't come to Sunday School because they don't like that style of preaching. Morning service I am preaching through a list of questions that people put on a list for that purpose. Someone said to me that there has been some discussion and 'a few people' have mentioned that they are getting more out of the SS series than out of the "snippets"( their word) I am doing for the morning service, and that I should swap them. And apparently I am preaching too much about salvation. Yep, you read that right. Last few week's messages have had a mention of salvation, but as a portion, not the focus. You can please some of the people some of the time....... but you can't slap any of them anytime.

I miss the reasoned, godly voice and advice of my friend Alan. I miss his lessons posted here. I miss his input to the discussions. Mostly I miss his gentle advice, direction, and when necessary, rebukes. Pro 27:6(a) Faithful are the wounds of a friend; Pro 27:17 (17) Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. Although we never met face to face, I count him as a true friend, and look forward to the day when we do meet face to face, as we glory in the Lord together.

Long story short - the PNG government has changed the visa requirements for those at the clinic, and it has caused some problems. As a result it is difficult for new staff to get in, and some have had to leave. This all means that Hannah-Rose is now basically running the clinic. She is doing fine in most respects, misses her family and home church, but loves the work, the church there in Kotidanga, and loves the people she is working with and for.

Just trolling through old posts and found this one. Time for an update: Isaiah 29 currently. 2 years....... AM service is answering questions people are asking on a sign up sheet. Been very interesting so far. PM is nominally "Ships". (But this can be anything from Noah's Ark to fishing boats to friendSHIP and fellowSHIP). But 29 chapters in 100ish weeks....

I got a report from an evangelist friend who has been visiting Myanmar over the last several years. He is keeping in touch with his local Christian contacts and the other day got a report. It is certainly not improving from the reports earlier in this thread. Keep them in prayer.

Well, late last week they were able to fly up to the airstrip. First try on Friday was no good - cloud everywhere (Normal for PNG) and so the plane would not have been able to find the airstrip. They didn't even try. Saturday, they gave it a go, and the pilot said in 21 years of flying PNG he had NEVER seen it that clear.... Sunday, she was in Church at Kotidanga. She said the service was wonderful and she was able to follow the general line of the message - understood enough of the language to "sort of follow it". This week she ahs been observing clinic, in the mornings and having intensive language studies in the afternoons. She is a little overwhelmed, but loving it. This is what the Lord made her for. The others at the clinic are wonderful, and have all been through this already of course, so they are helping her out, and apparently loving her being there already. Thanks for the prayers folks.

My Hannah-Rose has made it through the boredom of 2 weeks quarantine in a hotel in Port Moresby, and is currently spending the day with the missionaries, getting to know them and making last minute preparations before flying up to the Kotidanga region on Friday (that will be Thursday night for most of you!) The flight is by a single engined small transport - typically a Pilatus Porter or similar for those who care, and the airstrip on the mountain is slightly larger than a postage stamp. The pilots who fly in such places are absolute heroes. A one hour flight, assuming the weather is good enough and clear to the stirp, then followed by a 5 mile hike to Kunai. By the time you wake on Friday morning she will be just about ready to go to sleep in her quarters after a long, exciting and no doubt stressful day. Then she will start with the work.

Kunai health clinic is in the northern Highlands, although about 5 years ago she went to the southern highlands for a couple of weeks, so she has an idea of what she is getting into. The Clinic is under the administration of some US missionaries, and it is a ministry of Kotidanga Baptist Church, which is the local IB church, pastored by a PNG national. She has now landed in Port Moresby, and is currently en route to the hotel where she will have to quarantine for two weeks. After that, she will spend a little time with the missionaries, John and Lena, before heading up to her new home for the next 12 months at least.

My daughter, Hannah-Rose is a registered nurse. She has left Perth this afternoon to fly to Brisbane and then on to Port Morseby, Papua New Guinea. She will be serving at Kunai health clinic. The clinic is an independent baptist missionary run clinic with the purpose of reaching the people of the Kotidanga region and beyond for the Lord. I would appreciate prayer for her travel and for her service for the Lord into the future. Regards, DaveW