André and Aurélie Tousch and family have just spent three weeks in the village with their Iski friends. For Aurélie and the children, it was the last trip to their “home” in the middle of the jungle. Indeed, next month they are going back to France. André will continue the translation work and the trips to PNG, but for the rest of the family it is the end of this chapter of their lives.
They are grateful to the Lord for these three weeks and for the good times spent with their friends. They are even more thankful for the change that the Gospel has brought in their lives. The apostle Paul once wrote to his friends: “All those people speak about how you received us when we visited you, and how you turned away from idols to God, to serve the true and living God” (1 Thessalonians 1.9) This is what André and Aurélie experienced in the Iski village. What a welcome when they settled in 2014! The people watched over them for three years, then they received the Gospel, and abandoned occult and perverse practices, to turn to Jesus, the God of love. Paul wrote to other friends: “And so I am sure that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it on until it is finished on the Day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1.6) The church in the village is still young, only five years old, and they know there will be trials.
The Iski believers organised a special meeting in the village for their departure. Many of their friends from the village where a second church was planted in 2019, also came for the occasion. The singing continued into the night. The women of the village gave André and Aurélie’s daughters traditional grass skirts dyed with plant extracts.
Pray for these young churches, that the Lord gives them wisdom and strength to grow in His grace. Pray for the leaders.
Continue to pray for André & Aurélie’s colleagues Jason and Nisae Williamson who will remain in PNG, and will continue to visit the churches regularly.
Thank you for your prayers for the Tousch family and for the work of the Lord among the Iski people.