Carjacking by gunpoint...

Friday night Jessica went to her friend Rachel Fallend's house for a sleep-over. Rachel's dad, Greg, is a missionary pilot with MAF. (Mission Aviation Fellowship)

On Saturday morning, Greg decided to take the kids-- Jessica, Rachel, and her brother, Louis, to a local horse/country golf club to see the horses, and also to ride the Fallend's motorbike at one of their outdoor tracks.

After a fun morning, they began their return home along the single lane, bumpy road. After a few minutes of driving at a slow pace, six or seven nationals blocked the road and stopped the vehicle. They proceeded to pull out a gun and gesture for Greg to get down from the vehicle. Louis was in the passenger side front and the girls were in the back. Thankfully, the boy had the presence of mind to get out of the front of the vehicle and unlock the back door so Jessica and Rachel could escape with him out of harm's way. Greg was taken from the car, and eventually hit over the top of the head really hard with a rock. As you know head wounds bleed a lot. The kids were very shaken up as they watched all the blood and the waving of the gun at Greg. The rascals then jumped into the car and drove away.

We received word of the carjacking, but the information we received made us come to the conclusion that the girls and Greg had been taken away by the rascals. We were relieved to later find out that this information was not accurate, and indeed everyone had been found and was safe.

Greg went to the police station to report the incident, but the police refused to help, saying they had no fuel for their cars so they couldn't go search for the stolen car.

Eventually Jessica made it safely back home to us. We were reminded today of what is truly important in life. We know that PNG has a high robbery and rape rate, but we know things like this can happen anywhere, and ultimately God is in control. We are praising Him for sparing the lives of the Fallends and Jessica.

We pray that the kids especially can work through the trauma of this event and that it will not have any long-term effects on them. Today at dinner, Jessica asked if she could lead us in prayer. She thanked God for keeping them safe, and also asked that the robbers would come to know the Lord as their Savior.

Together to reach the tribes of PNG,
Phil and Kristi Jansma - Jessica, Karina, Logan, Olivia, and Kayla

Olivia is Saved!

This Thanksgiving we were reminded just how much you play a part in allowing us to be here on the field. We count your partnering with us a great sacrifice. Thank you for standing behind us in faithfully praying for us and financially giving towards our needs here in PNG.

God is doing some exciting things in the hearts and lives of the believers here in PNG. Recently, missionaries from all around PNG brought several of their translation helpers to a workshop to better equip them to serve. It was exciting to see what God was teaching these young believers through their own people. These future leaders were challenged in new ways to boldly testify for Him. It was exciting to see their enthusiasm. It was very contagious. Many were excited to get back to their tribes to share with others about this life changing good news.

We want to praise the Lord that recently Olivia came to understand and accept Christ’s work on the cross! Thanks to all of you who have been praying for her salvation. What joy it brings us to know that she desires to follow after Him, and become obedient to His Word.

This past month, our house became infested with rats. We are not sure what spurred the sudden migration of rats to our house, but they soon began to keep us all up at night. Kristi began to have rat nightmares. She wondered if a second episode of that August night in Vanimo where Kayla got bit by a rat was looming in the near future. Finally, I was able to collect several traps, poison pellets, and rat glue, and went on the warpath. In just 24 hours, we killed ten rats! Since then, we have adopted a little kitten which we hope will someday become a reliable “mouser”.

A couple of weeks ago, while I was playing soccer, I was kicked really hard in the inside of my shin just above my ankle. This injury appeared to be getting worse instead of better, so yesterday I went to our local medical clinic. The doctor was quite concerned that it had bled a substantial amount deep into the muscles and ligaments. He gave me some medication and things to prevent blood clots from spreading and told me to monitor it closely. If it gets worse in the next couple of weeks, I may need to be flown to Australia to get it checked out further. This is a VERY costly trip so we would appreciate you pray for it to heal quickly so this trip would not be necessary.

Together to reach the tribes of PNG,
Phil and Kristi Jansma - Jessica, Karina, Logan, Olivia, and Kayla