Admiral’s Update No 7 2012

Greetings Everyone,

Phil and Alex have recovered from their malaria and were both “on deck” today with Phil leading prayer and Alex the worship time. I spoke on the Tabernacle using flannelgraph materials to explain the set-up and the furnishings and how they all point to Jesus.

Last year I challenged various groups to read the Bible through in three years and this talk was part of guiding their understanding of Jewish culture and history. It was really well received. In the evening we screened a DVD, “In Search of a Miracle” about modern day Israeli history including the rescue at Entebbe.

Tomorrow we are scheduled to go round to the South Coast for Phil to install lights in the Bible College. We are held up on two counts — elections are underway here and the electrol papers haven’t arrived so we need to wait for the people guilding us through the narrow reef passage to vote first. Secondly we need some clear, still weather to get through that same dreaded passage. Please pray for safe passage for us and opportunites to encourage the five South Coast fellowships before heading for Sudest — another area where we need good visibility.

God bless you all,

Pam and Phil

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Admiral’s Update No 6 2012

Greetings Everyone,

We have been a week in Rossel Island after a hard four day bash down against the weather. We had ten on board including the parents with a new born baby only a few days old returning home from the hospital. He was no trouble at all, rocked to sleep if somewhat violently at times by the boat.

Since then we have motored around to a new fellowship and to another established church on the north coast of the island, taking supplies and showing films in the evening. At the main church we screened a Reinhardt Bonke film — a really inspiring look at his life and ministry. When they saw the crowd of 1,600,000 people at one night’s meeting in Lagos, Nigeria, they were absolutely amazed. We have also started making mud bricks in preparation for Steve and Caroline’s visit. They plan to help the people build a mud brick church. After about 7-8 years the bush material ones have to be pulled down and replaced. The old church is leaking and starting to disintegrate.

Today I gave the sermon, speaking from chapters 24 and 25 of Matthew about the return of Jesus. Many told me after it that it had challenged them to get more serious with God. Phil had planned to do a tag team but he came down with malaria. He was shaking that much this morning that he could hardly hold the microphone steady to do our radio skeds. He went back to bed then to sleep it off after starting a course of the Chinese medicine which is really effective. We have both just got over a bout of the flu we picked up in Misima — the first time either of us have had the flu for years.

Tonight I’m screening “Fireproof”, an excellent video on marriage and will get a quick lesson from Phil on setting up the projector. I will take the hand-held VHF radio to speak to him if I get stuck. Please pray for Phil’s recovery and also Alex, a team member with us who also has malaria.

Pray for Steve and Caroline, stuck in Australia with adverse weather, short finances and dead batteries.

Praise God for the service today with a great worship time and an awareness of God’s Spirit in control

Bless each of you,

Pam and Phil

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Admiral’s Update No 5 2012

Greetings Everyone,

Things are looking up.  The pilot boat returned and actually came over to our sand spit to drop off the customs officer and wait for him to clear us.  It was Sunday but he didn’t charge us overtime as he said, “You’re doing a good job”.  He said the reason the pilot boat crew brought him over was they thought they might be able to get some smokes and grog from us.  We gave them all a Bible each!!

We bashed back to Pana Pom Pom where the Panaeati people came over in their sailing canoe to greet us.  We arranged to return in September and to do a Leadership Conference there.  Then to Misima with smooth seas and no wind but a tasty trevally in the fridge along with some paw paws, bananas and passionfruit from our friends.

First stop, the dentist.  Ronald smoothed off my chipped tooth and checked the rest of them.  I had a deep hole in a back molar and he filled that while Phil’s head was hanging over him saying, “Gee there’s a lot of gunk in it” as he cleaned it out.  Phil fixed his “new” dentist chair, installing the foot pedal mechanism that had finally arrived after five years so Ronald decided we were quits and didn’t charge us anything.  (Now he doesn’t have to use the old banana-chair like chair that he had been using.)

Typical Misima — its raining — and we are waiting for the weather to sail on to Rossel island.  Hopefully we will leave on Monday.

God bless,

Pam and Phil

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