April 2020
Dear Praying Friends,
This report will try to cover some of the things that have happened in the last 10 weeks for our family. It will nearly be May by the time some of you get this news....and maybe longer. We will attempt to send it out from the jungle with our limited internet from our IPhone. Due to the Corona Virus siege, Christi and Grace were not able to get out the first week of April for our 2 months supply. The delay in getting this report ready and sent was because of this...we usually send out the newsletter from the “Big City”. No big city yet, and who knows how long it will be.
On another note, a youth who had helped the most in the construction of the permanent church building came to me one day. Riwaldo said, ”Mark, I would like to get baptized.” That caught me by surprise: had he even been born yet into the family of God? ...I asked myself. Around here the people make a profession of faith and years later “feel” ready to get baptized. Riwaldo is going straight to the point, so I asked him about his decision to follow Christ by faith. He said, “Oh I did that already. When we were working on the post of the church building, I asked the Lord for Salvation.” Wow! that also took me by surprise. So, on Sunday, February 16, I baptized both Riwaldo and our daughter Glory. She too, had confessed to come to Christ for the remission of her sins! Praise the Lord. Glory was the last of our children who have come to Christ unto Salvation. We pray both Glory and Riwaldo come to grow more and more in this Christian Life.
One of the greatest challenges that Riwaldo and all the Kaintiba youth face is the strong pull of peer-pressure. It may seem like it would be the same as any place, but in PNG it is even more so. Their whole world/world view revolves around this pressure. Their whole economic system and lively-hood depend upon it. Much shame and guilt come to those who do not hold the “party line”, or don’t hang out with everyone else. In a tribe society, to do things as an independent is strongly forbidden and discouraged greatly. It is an unspoken rule to do things only because “everyone else is doing it, so you should, too”. Independent thinking is a totally foreign philosophy, so to be “Spirit led” is one of the hardest commands for a new born Christian to attempt. The whole of all Christian belief is CONTRARY to the Hamtai world view. Pray for all our baby Christians who are yet not ready for the meat of the Word.
Please pray for wisdom as we go forward into this new norm of life. If we do not get our normal supplies soon, we will be almost back to how it was for the Americans settling the wild west. Trials, sickness, hardships, and wild Indians! All these things make us to consider an evacuation to a “safer” place, but then, how long will THAT place be safe? The only place we feel safe is where Father has placed us at the present. Since the Corona Virus is a world wide pestilence, we must come to terms that anywhere we flee to has its own complications, also. The verse that seems to fit what God has for us today is: “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” -Apostle Paul (Acts 20:24)
This, though, does not clear my anxious thoughts I have concerning Christi and our 5 precious girls. Is it right for me as a father to take their lives into my hand without at least giving them their own choice in the matter? But what options do they have? All children have to live with their fathers choices, whether good or bad. Pray my German “stubbornness” is not an excuse to be hardheaded in the matter. Christi and I have prayed often concerning this these past 2 months. We do need God’s wisdom day by day.
Christi’s Corner: On February 20th, my 4 ladies were able to graduate from the literacy class I had been teaching them. It was a small event with food being served afterwards. They seemed to appreciate it. To follow up I am having a reading club where they practice reading. Hadassah has been a great help to this as I have two groups who read. I am thankful for her willingness to help. The challenge for me during this Corona Virus siege is seeing how far we can stretch supplies and come up with other menu ideas. I have a missionary friend also in the bush. We share ideas by iMessage. We are both in the same boat, not able to get supplies.
For His Glory,
Mark and Christi Helzerman
Hadassah,
Grace, Hope, Serenity, and Glory
E-mail: mhelzerman@gmail.com