Prayer Letter Archive

May 18, 2003

Dear Praying Friends,

Greetings from Jeanne and I! We have been enjoying the Springtime and all the new life. We enjoy taking care of the yard - mowing the lawn, planting a garden, and being able to deck the yard out with a few flowers. It won’t be too long though and the heat of summer will set in.

Jeanne and I recently returned home from a two week trip to one of our NTM Missionary Training Centers in Baker City, Oregon. There we were able to take part in teaching a church planting module to our missionary candidates. It was a real busy time but a lot of fun as we were able to share with these dedicated students some of what they would be facing as they seek to plant churches cross-culturally in a tribal setting. We were able to get to know many of the students and spend much time together with them. We were also able to take a Saturday and see where they did their "jungle camp" training. This all takes place on a large ranch up in the mountains at about a 5000 foot altitude. It was a nice day but kind of cool at that altitude. As we write this letter the students are presently enjoying their jungle camp training and learning how to "rough it" a bit. Most of the students seemed to really be looking forward to this time.

Our Wana translation helper and coworker, Elisha Bowa, also just recently returned home from a three week trip into our Wana Tribe. It was quite a trip as he had to go over land and sea, with a lot of hard hiking. During his trip he was able to make visits to all three of our churches and to give encouragement to them. We received about 20 letters from our folks and they all seemed so thankful that he could make this trip. While we were in Baker City, Elisha emailed us a detailed 10-page report so we were able to catch up on all the latest!

Elisha had only been home about two weeks when we received sad news that the wife of one of our deacons passed away during childbirth. She was able to give birth to the baby but then afterward bled to death. It came as a shock to us all as this lady was always such a healthy lady. Her husband, Lao Saka, and the kids will surely appreciate our prayers during this difficult time. In Wana culture they view sisters and brothers as fathers and mothers of their children as well. So Lao’s sister has taken the baby and will be nursing it for him.

Our Wana Team will also be taking a little different shape beginning next month. Elisha and Juarni have felt the Lord leading them to a ministry in East Indonesia in the province of Papua. They first left for there around three years ago, but had to be evacuated due to violence on that island. Since that time they have been working with our team. Things have settled down now in Papua so they are making plans to return. We have two new Wana families who will be taking their place - they are the Miyanto & Esron families. They will be graduating from our Mission Training Center this month and will be taking over for Elisha and his family. They are presently learning new computer skills in order to be able to fit into this new ministry and they would appreciate our prayers for them. We are looking forward to their help and the opportunity to work together with them.

We too want to thank you for your faithful prayers for us and for your all important part on our "Wana Team". Thanks for being our partners.

In His Love,

Ed & Jeanne Casteel