Senior Flierl Seminary
PMB "Logaweng"
Finschhafen, Morobe Province
Papua New Guinea

October 21, 2007

Dear Friends,

A couple days ago I was thinking the dry season had arrived. Then, the last couple days have been nothing but rain! Oh well---

Let me tell you about this morning. Our worship service this morning included the baptism of one baby, the confirmation of 15 young people (about half of them were children of our national staff), and Holy Communion. The service began about an hour late and lasted almost three hours, but, so what? In spite of the rain, the Sunday school children brought the confirmands into the church with a singsing. The confirmands were all dressed up in white "meri blouses" for the girls and white shirts and ties for the boys. To begin the service, the Sunday school children all stood up in front and sang. The liturgist was the pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church at the bottom of the hill. First came the baptism; this was the child of one of our national staff. The message was preached by the chaplain of the nearby hospital. After that was the confirmation. Five pastors took part, four of them national pastors. Five of the confirmands went up to receive their confirmation blessing at one time. Behind them stood their parents &/or other family members. Yes, the front of our chapel was quite crowded! The service of Holy Communion then concluded the worship service. Two of our year 5 students, Benny and Jonah, had been teachers of the confirmation class so they were very much involved in the planning and preparation. Several of our lower-grade students were leading the Sunday school children. Our chapel was packed & there were people standing outside!

Classes continue. I'm teaching many of the same courses that I've taught in years before. One new class, which is being a struggle for me, is "theory of Bible study" which I'm teaching to the wives of our third year class. This is being a struggle for me because I really don't know what is expected of me or what I'm supposed to be teaching in this class. I don't know what the "theory of Bible study" is; I just lead Bible studies. In this class, I'm pretty much just muddling along & trying to help the ladies learn something about leading Bible studies.

The school year is coming to a close; we don't have many weeks left. Graduation will be December 2. We have a smaller graduating class than usual this year, only 10 men. A couple of these young men have become special friends to me; I'm going to really miss them when they leave.

The first weekend in November will be the retreat for those of us whose main language is English. It is a small group, & yours truly will be leading the Bible studies. So far, at every retreat I've attended this year, I've been the Bible study leader. I'm not sure what the reason for this is---maybe I'm the only one who's willing to volunteer??? Anyway, the text is Isaiah 40: 28 – 31, with the theme of "Where does our strength come from?" If you get this letter soon enough, I would really appreciate your prayers. Thank you.

This is the year I come home on leave. I'll be in the U.S. from December 11 until February 21. At this point, I don't know how much time I will have, but I would like to visit some of your congregations & some of you personally. You can contact me by e-mail. My address over here is: sisterruthellen@global.net.pg. My brother's address in Minneapolis is prebel@comcast.net. I would suggest that you send a message to both of us; messages occasionally get lost over the ocean.

Thank you, my friends, for your support. I am very grateful for your prayers, your financial support, and your letters. May each of you be blessed with a Thanksgiving and Christmas season that is filled with His love, His peace and His joy.

Your Friend in Jesus,

Sister Ruth Ellen Rebelein