Snapshot from Diane Reese on March 27, 2009

Dear friends,

Sometimes we think of the people we work with as “poor.” While it’s
true that most of them have few material possessions, I was recently
reminded that poor people are sometimes very rich—in faith and in
generosity.

About a month ago, our daughter Hadassah started collecting money for
food and medicine for people in Zimbabwe, and she wanted to ask her
friends if they would contribute something. So her Sunday school class
took up a collection. Marcus decided to mention it briefly to some of
the other churches in the area also, just in case any of them had some
money they wanted to contribute. The response was moving.

Wesley, one of the Christians from the Gama church, showed up at our
door with 100 Kina (KEEnah). Workers in town could earn that in a week
or two, but none of those village Christians have jobs.

church building with sago leaf roof

They have been
saving for months to buy a metal roof for their church building so
that they wouldn’t have to keep remaking the roof out of leaves, but
they decided that it was more important to help people who were
starving than to have a permanent metal roof, so they gave a substantial part of their savings. The Christians there
have few possessions, no running water or electricity, but they gave
generously.

Other contributors included a single mom, a new Christian family, and
many others. One kept a dime for herself and gave the rest of her
cash, which totaled about $20. May the Lord reward them all, many
times over, for their loving, sacrificial gifts. What dear, sweet
people!

Love,

Diane Reese (and Marcus, Hannah, Hadassah, Rochelle and Faith)

Snapshot from Diane Reese on February 20, 2009

Dear friends,

February is back-to-school time in PNG, and it is good to see the
children in all the different schools’ uniforms walking down the
streets again. School brings some quiet to my house (with only two
children at home to make noise). It also means my life gets back to
normal after the fun chaos of our yearly scholarship program.

A short report on the program this year:

We helped 99 students pay their school fees, thanks to the donations
of many wonderful people in the US. Those 99 students, who were
accepted after submitting applications, did community service during
two weeks in January before being awarded their scholarships. They
collected roofing materials for a church roof, cut grass and cleaned
around the Provincial AIDS Council’s office, cut grass along a road,
collected rubbish around town, cleaned up the hospital grounds, and
did work at three different local schools.

The cooperation among the Christians helping with the program was
truly wonderful, and the work days, as usual, were a highlight.

Many of those students would not have been able to attend school
without help. A big thanks to all who prayed or gave or encouraged us.

Diane Reese (with Marcus, Hannah, Hadassah and Rochelle)

Some of the students at a work day before receiving their scholarships

Snapshots from Marcus Reese on January 12, 2009

Dear Friends,

Mission work is full of human drama. Please let me share a little of
it with you here, and I hope you will join me in praying about each
part–with thanksgiving!

John and Angela Tanby committed themselves to Jesus Christ on November 3, 2008.
John died of an ulcer on December 3, leaving Angela with five kids, the oldest 21, the youngest 9.
Angela’s father died on December 9.
Angela lost her house and other properties to her in-laws on December 12 and moved to the nearby neighborhood called Popova where her relatives live.
A married man some miles away occasionally pressures Angela to commit adultery with him, but she is standing firm. (Don’t give up now, the rest is positive!)
Her kids say that Angela stopped swearing at them after she was baptized.
Angela has already hosted three Bible studies for her relatives and neighbors in Popova. In spite of opposition, many are interested in joining Christ.
Angela’s eldest brother Gabriel and her neighbor Jacinta led the way and were baptized on January 11.
And thus begins the story of another baby church.

Gabriel and Jacinta after their baptism

While you pray, please also remember my grandmother, Sibyl Reese, who
is now dying after a life of faithfulness to God.

Thanks for your involvement in our story!

Marcus (with Diane, Hannah, Hadassah, Rochelle, and Faith)

Snapshot from Diane Reese for Christmas, 2008

Dear friends,

Sometimes people wonder what our holidays are like here in PNG. Of
course, we miss our dear families in the States, and wish we could be
with them, but we mostly find ourselves counting blessings. Here are a
few:

We don’t have any of the USA’s lovely poinsettias, but Hadassah’s
friend gave us a beautiful arrangement of orchids for Christmas.

We don’t have any snow, but the breeze off the Pacific Ocean and the
clouds coming down off the mountains have cooled our hottest season
down quite nicely, and the view is unbeatable!

We don’t have any shopping mall, but our little Christmas tree runneth
over anyway. One source of great joy to me was taking each of my
oldest three daughters Christmas shopping. The oldest two get a weekly
allowance of $1.00, and they save a portion of that every week for
their Christmas shopping at the end of the year. So armed with $10.00
each (which seemed like a fortune to them) they managed to find
lovely, thoughtful gifts for each sister and parent.

Of course, many things we do here are the same. I make the same
Christmas tree rolls my mother made every Christmas when I was growing
up. We eat a shocking amount of chocolate. We decorate Christmas
cookies and sing carols at the hospital. Our children occasionally
have a scuffle over a new toy. We find ourselves overwhelmed by the
riches of the season–great food, great loved ones, great gifts, and a
great Saviour.

Have a wonderful rest of the holiday season!

Love,

Diane Reese (with Marcus, Hannah, Hadassah, Rochelle, and Faith)

Our family at the end of 2008

Snapshots from Marcus Reese on November 13, 2008

Dear friends,

We have never seen people respond to Jesus as they have
recently. In twelve weeks, thirteen people have been baptized.

You can see their pictures and names in the attached collage.

God opened the door for these people. Please ask him to
continue so that many more can find the same happiness.
And ask him to teach and protect his new followers.

Marcus

Thirteen people to pray for