Well, there is a time for everything under the sun as the wise King Solomon teaches. And, our lives are no different.
A Time to Rest The Lord Blessed us with an amazing and providential rest from our ministry labors for a few months through a short stateside visit. We have been able to take a mental break of sorts and to spend time with our girls, our family, and some of YOU, our faith family. He knows that we are but dust and knows when to make us stop… and breathe. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
A Time to Work The Lord Blessed us with a stent of physical labor fixing up a house that our son-in-law and daughter will now move in to. What a blessing to sweat and work hard physically and finish project like this. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
A Time to Laugh The Lord Blessed us in the middle of physical labor with spiritual and emotional refreshment through your love and friendships. Thanks to all of you who came alongside of us and allowed us to work in your homes with you and who came and helped with our projects too. Laughter is surely sweet medicine from above and we experienced much of it during this short visit home. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
A Time to Cry The Lord Blessed us with some sweet times of vulnerability where tears punctuate our conversation and reveal our ministry struggles and longings for our brothers and sisters in PNG. People are messy. The Church is messy. We are messy. We are thankful for people in our faith family who aren’t afraid to be messy with us. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
A Time to Wait The Lord Blessed us with a period of Waiting…and even threw in a Women’s Retreat at one of our supporting churches on “Waiting” to make sure we got the point. 🙂 One thing that we have been waiting on since April is the arrival of our translation books. These books have the translation that has been done and checked up to this point and is bound in book form. We have been excitedly waiting for the books to arrive so that we can set a date for a conference for the 9 Inapang and Tangguat churches. We were thrilled today to open a picture (above) sent by our co-worker, Promise, who was there when the 30 some odd BOXES of books finally arrived by helicopter to the village! THANK YOU LORD!!!! This means in our little corner of the world….it is A TIME TO READ and be encouraged with these written words of God in the Inapang language! Please pray as we wait for the completion of this project. Pray that we will not grow weary in doing good and that the last 40% that needs to be drafted will be done in a timely manner and will be used by many to know Jesus more! We are also waiting for the Lord to give us direction on a plan for a secondary education centre for the Inapang and Ramu Valley works. Please join us in asking God to show us how he wants us to invest in the second generation of believers in these tribal churches.Blessed be the name of the Lord.
A Time for Action The Lord has Blessed us with an opportunity to sit under David Platt during a recent chapel service and although the great Commission and the nations and the Inapang people group are our constant heartbeat, it was nice for the Lord to provide a little “kick in the seat” as we look at leaving family and friends and comforts again to go back home to PNG. What a phenomenal time in the Word (1Cor.15). I was asked yesterday about going back and if it would be hard and replied, “If the resurrection were not real, it would be hard.” One of my life mentors and friends, Jodi Ware, gently corrected me and said, “If the Resurrection were not real, it would be impossible. It will still be hard.” What a blessing to be surrounded by men & women who think rightly about the brevity of our lives and can encourage us to embrace the hard things of life with JOY as we set our minds on things above. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
A Time for Thanks The Lord has Blessed us with so many of you on our team who inspire us to be more like Christ. Thank you for your lives of integrity, your others-centered views of life, your passion for the gospel and your appreciation and love for the all-sanctifying blood of Jesus Christ. Pray for us that our attitude will be as we sung last night at prayer meeting….”All I have is Christ, Jesus be my Life!” Blessed be the name of the Lord.
By God’s Grace and For His Glory~
The Housleys
inapangministries 
Y’all remain in our prayers as you return to PNG. We also intercede for the precious national believers there (even those not yet reborn). God is always working. May He be pleased to breathe new life into countless souls and grow every believer into maturity in Christ. He is able. He is the God Who Saves. And He completes the good work He begins. Praise His Name! And may grace and peace be with you.
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