Overseas Missionaries

GRETEL LAPTHORNE-KITU IN INDONESIA

Gretel lived in East Java for four year. She was teaching English in a Language School and was learning the language and culture of the Madurese people.kitus.jpg

In September 2006 Gretel attended a Leadership Conference run by Youth With A Mission in Bali.

There she met Jhoni Kitu. Jhoni had helped pioneer the YWAM work in West Kalimantan. A romance quickly blossomed and on 30 July 2007 Gretel and Jhoni will now be working in West Kalimantan based in the city of Singkawang. There are many Madurese settlers around Singkawang and Gretel hopes to be able to reach out and minister these people.

Gretel and Jhoni praise God that they have been able to rent a large house close to the centre of Singkawang. It will be very handy for accommodating visiting outreach teams.


TIM & SHARON LITHGOW - WYCLIFFE BIBLE TRANSLATORS IN PNG, also known as Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL)

At the Branch Conference in March 2007, Tim was elected as Associate Director for Support Affairs. This will mean an end to Tim’s work as a pilot as he takes on this very important administrative role. The new job entails the oversight of 13 lithgows.jpgof the departments at Ukarumpa (some of those being Autoshop, Aviation, Construction, Finance Office, Industrial, Non-Print Media and the Store) plus the 7 regional centres that SIL operates throughout PNG.

In January the SIL Branch had 315 language personnel, 279 support staff and 247 permanent national employees. About 1/2 of the support personnel and about 90% of the PNG employees serve in the departments that Tim is responsible for. Another aspect of this job is maintaining strong community relations with the villages around the Centre where a number of the permanent employees and all the casual employees come from.

Sharon continues her finance supervision of the Autoshop office and the Industrial office. A highlight of the year was the marriage of daughter Mandy, to Jeremy Gibson in Brisbane on 15 September.


SHANE & ILDIKO MURPHY IN ROMANIA

Shane & Ildiko serve in Romania where they have established a church in the village of Huedin. This year has seen a renewing of the church and an exciting time of reaching out to the community in which they murphy.jpglive. One project is to build better family relationships through family camps. This has had positive feedback.

Their church in Huedin Transylvania has grown as people they have led to Christ over the past decade are now operating in positions of leadership and bringing in new people with new needs to be met.

On a personal note, Shane and Ildiko praise God for the provision of a new car, a 2003 Opel Zafira, a family in the church agreed to sell their car to Shane and Ildiko and to allow them time to pay off the $5000 that they owe for the car.

Romania’s entry into the European Union has greatly reduced the red tape and cost of visas for Shane and Ildiko. The previous fees of $300 each year have gone and Shane, as the spouse of a Romanian citizen, now has a 5 year visa for free.

Rangeville’s support for this mission in Romania is greatly appreciated.