Treasure in Jars of Clay

Hello everyone!

Thank you, everyone for your faithful prayers and concern. We’ve been so moved by all of your encouragement and love via emails and calls since we’ve been back from Krin Krin.

It’s hard to know where to start… :)

God was so, so faithful to keep us safe, well and to draw us closer to himself and each other.

The Lee family refreshed and inspired us in so many ways. Their home is almost constantly bustling and full of children who the Lees care for and feed every day, visitors from the community stopping by, a boy or girl who needs their knee bandaged for the 10^th time, or someone bursting and announcing a medical emergency and call for Maria or Eva (the two oldest girls) to “come quick!” We felt so welcomed and honored to get to know Mr. and Mrs. Lee and each of their precious children. Sitting for hours at a time sorting red beans and rice and listening to Mrs. Lee tell story after story and scrubbing our clothes on the rocks of the Wanki river while we laughed with the Lee girls are some of the many memories we will cherish.

Please keep the Lee family and Krin Krin in your prayers. Their home is so full of Christ’s joy and peace, but it shines out brightly against the darkness of the community around them. Drugs, prostitution, witch craft, superstition, sickness and hungry bellies cast the village into a whole into a poignant spirit of hopelessness and darkness. The moment you set foot in the village, you can’t help but feel it. The Lee’s said the notoriously dangerous community witch-doctor will often come to sit under their stilt house and chat because he likes the peace that is in their home. Not only is it eerie and sober, but life there is just plain rough. Everyone is constantly battling MERSA staff infections and/or dysentery; there is no running water, no fans, no refrigeration, no toilets, and no local hospital or clinic. Pray that the Gospel would break through to the people of Krin Krin. The Lees have also requested prayers that a docter or nurse would feel called to come and serve in the medical clinic that they are in the process of starting up.

Sorting beans and folding laundry… :)

Winding down after a long day…

 We took a few afternoons while we were there to walk around the village and get pictures and notes from the families of children who are in Verbo.

We walked for over an hour along the river and through a handful of communities (including Swawk-Swawk, and Tulongkee :-) to deliver a letter from one of the girls to her family. They got all dressed up for the picture and offered us a sack of their freshly harvested and beat-out beans.

 The two weeks we were there, the Lees were watching the five older kids for this Mommy and Daddy while they were in Waspam delivering their baby and getting surgery. The Lees said the Mom most likely would have died if they had been able to get them to Waspam. A day or so before we left, the parents returned unexpectedly. The mom was still very sick, especially after the 10 hour boat ride, with a new born baby in the hot sun. They will be staying with the Lees for another couple weeks while the mother recovers and the Father get the house back in order. Their house had been broken into and several of their fruit trees cut down for no apparent reason when they returned home.

 This is the home of one of the Lees' closer friends Almok. His wife is 14 and pregnant with their first baby. Mary and Eva rushed to their house early Easter morning because she was bleeding and afraid that the baby had passed away. By God's grace, all turned out well; the baby is safe.

Calling out last good-byes from the boat...

Thank you again for your love and prayers. We are praying for you as well!

Much love,

-Liesl