Please be in prayer

We would like to ask you to lift up our dear friends, the Waldens, in prayer. They need prayer for comfort and peace as last night their youngest of five children, Olivia went to be home with the Lord. Olivia, who was 18 years old, had been battling brain cancer for months and is now without pain and resting in the presence of her Savior. This wonderful truth gives peace to the family, but the loss of their precious daughter is still painful. Please pray for the great Comforter to wrap His loving arms around them and give them wisdom in the final plans they need to make.

We love this dear family so very much and met them through out New Tribes Mission training. They were always such an encouragement and true friends to us. Olivia would babysit Gabby for us years ago. She always had a smile on her precious face and a laugh in her eye. She is greatly missed. Please pray for her family during this time. Thank you.

Ellie loving on Owen

Snuggles before bed...

S-U-P-E-R EZZY!

Here is our SUPER little guy! Gabby got this "superman" cape a few years ago when attending a friend's birthday party. This cape has given many hours of super hero fun....the other night, we decided to give Ez Man a try with the cape. He looks like a real super hero, huh? :)

In our eyes, he is a super hero because of GOD, Ezzy's life is a true example of God's GOODNESS and GRACE!

Our little Superman is now TWO and we PRAISE God for the gift of Ezzy's precious life.

Our Niece (and Cousin) Alayna Joy Markley!!

Alayna Joy Markley Born January 22, 2007 at 4:05 am 8 lbs. 13 oz 19 ¾” long April had a really restless night not able to get to sleep, then at 12:30 we understood why. Her water broke and an hour later the contractions hit hard. Praise the Lord that even though my parents aren’t here yet (they will get here on Wednesday), there were some friends with New Tribes staying in town who offered to watch the boys. So we headed to the hospital ready for a long night, but less than 4 hours later we greeted our precious daughter for the first time. The delivery was monumentally fast and she managed to get herself wound up in the umbilical cord in the process. It was wrapped around her shoulders keeping her from proceeding down the birth canal, and I had to prematurely cut the cord. We are praising the Lord that overall Alayna is doing great, even though she had a rough time a couple months ago. Thank you all so much for your prayers, and support on our behalf. We are so grateful for all of you!

Angels rejoicing....

Dear praying friends,

We have an update to share with you about a wonderful day! Enjoy reading and praise God for the salvation of precious souls!

The email is as follows:

January 16th will forever be marked in history as the birth of the Tobo church! Tuesday, Jason taught on the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. There were many people that came, more than what we were expecting. A large group of people left immediately after the teaching to go get dressed in their traditional clothes to show support for the cargo cult. Yet others stayed around just silently sitting and talking. 2 groups of men formed around Jason and Chad as they pelted each of them with questions. Some were having a hard time believing that Jesus washed ALL their sins away...if they were to sin again how would they stay righteous before God? Others had worked all their lives to gain God's favor and didn't want to be told that all those years of "works" were for naught. And yet others still didn't want to let go of the Cargo Cult and were looking for some way they could follow both.Jason and Chad took the rest of the afternoon going to different houses and asking questions and seeing where people are at. We don't know how many are saved, but we do know that there are brothers and sisters in Christ here now. We know of at least 4-5 families who have put their faith in Jesus alone, and we haven't been able to talk to everyone yet. Tragically, there are some who clearly have rejected, and that saddens our hearts. So we ask you to continue to pray as people are still struggling to choose. God is working in people's hearts!We are VERY excited to tell you that not only did Alis and his family stay back from going to the Cargo Cult meetings; but they are now believers in Jesus Christ! After the teaching on Wednesday, Alis was just sitting there crying, so Jason went to him and just sat with him for a while, and Alis said, "Thank you Jesus." Jason asked, "What are you thankful for?" And Alis said, "I am no longer afraid that I will go to hell, Jesus' blood saved me." Alis is our land owner. To say he has been nothing but a frustration to our team would be an understatement. If we could have picked one person whom we didn't think would get saved it would have been him!:-) Thank God that our thoughts are not His!!!! Alis is very much like a Peter in that he speaks often without thinking first; but there is a definite change in his life these past few days. And we also know that as the Holy Spirit works in his life that others will see the change. In the last week or so, we have been noticing a change in his personality going from a very angry man to almost quiet and humble. Isn't God awesome?!!!!As God shows us who He has chosen to be His church here in Tobo, we will be sure to share it with you.Thank you again for your prayers, it is because of your prayers that many of these people have trusted in Jesus as their Savior. In a way the work is just beginning! We have babies in Christ. Pray that God would work through us to disciple these new Christians so that they can someday soon reach the rest of Tobo!

His Clay Pots,
Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, and Malachi Knapp

Prayer for missionaries about to PREACH the GOSPEL for the FIRST time!

We received this e-mail from Edwin's sister April Markley and would ask you to PRAY for the precious souls of the Lengbati Tribe in Papua New Guinea! To GOD be the glory!

The following is from the Knapp family:

We were told this week that the followers of the Cargo Cult will be leaving to go to another village on Monday for a "holy day" on Tuesday and Wednesday. They are going in order to worship their leader, do the required rituals, and wait for the cargo (i.e. the bread which perishes) they think is coming. They will be coming back on Thursday and Friday.
Jason went down to our neighbors house and saw that he had his bark loin cloth drying outside on the grass.......
Jason: "I see that you have your bark outside. Are you planning on going? I see you at the teaching ever day and I know you are struggling in your heart, is this the decision you are struggling about?"
Alis: "Yes, I am struggling greatly. On the one hand I am scared of all the other men who want me to keep on believing in this Cargo Cult. But I am also afraid of God who sees all, and I know that if I go and put that loin cloth on and follow them this week, I will be choosing eternity in hell. My insides are split in two. "

So, in light of the facts, we have decided that instead of teaching the gospel next week, we are going to go ahead and present Christ's Arrest this Monday and then His death, burial, and resurrection this Tuesday morning!!!! This is different than what our last update said. Our reasoning for this is that we do not want to "feed our pearls to swine". They will just trample it underfoot, and are not coming for the true bread of life, but for the bread that perishes. And for those who have made the decision to stay back and listen to God's Talk, we feel that they are ready to hear the power of the message: the Gospel of Christ.

Please be on your knees, we NEED your prayers!!!! Pray for the ones "on the fence", pray for the ones who stay back, and pray for fellow Brothers and Sisters to be added to the family of Christ in the next 48 hours.

We ask that you pass this e-mail on to as many people as you can and ask them to pray for the Tobo people. If they would like more information and background send them to our web page. http://www.claypots.org/

His Clay Pots,
Jason, Kellie, Micah, Sophia, & Malachi Knapp

A NEW Year before us!

We apologize for not writing sooner and for being "away" for so long!

There has been much happening among our Borbe BUNCH :)

We REJOICE in the excitment of a NEW year ahead of us. We enjoyed a JOYOUS Christmas with friends and family. We marvel at God's goodness and would like to share with you some things He is doing and continues to do in our lives!

We recently returned from a trip to Children's Hosital where Ezra had surgery on his feet. Some of you may know that he has been wearing casts since mid August in preperation of this foot surgery. He was wearing casts to position his feet to be ready to undergo this surgery which was to correct his bones and "loosen" up the tendon cords in his heels. Pins were placed near his ankles to keep his feet in the correct position. He did very well during the surgery; it was once he "woke up" that the extreme pain set in. It took the nurses a while to figure out a good medication to put him on for his pain, but we soon saw that the love of family is what was the best medicine after all. :) We went to St. Louis as a family and desired to involve the girls and Owen in the whole event. It proved to be a very wise decision on daddy's part, since Ezzy ended up needing to stay one night in the hospital. Daddy stayed the night with him, while mommy stayed with the other kiddos at the hotel. Ezra reacted and calmed down once he was surrounded by his siblings and mommy and daddy. It warmed our hearts to see him "melt" and relax once his parents took over his care. :) Once he was stable enough, we decided to discharge him and keep him one night at our hotel, which was minutes away from the hospital. This way if in the middle of the night his pain was unmanageable, the hospital care was minutes away at our aid. Ezra did great and actually feel sound asleep in his car seat on the drive to the hotel, among the craziness of his sisters! Family love really IS the best medicine, along with MANY prayers for him!!! So he is now in casts healing and will continue to wear them for a while until his feet are fully healed. He will then start major therapy to strengthen his weak leg and foot muscles.

We do ask you continue to pray for a speedy recovery and for wisdom as his parents in caring for him while he is in pain; it is very hard to watch him suffer; we continue to entrust our precious son to the GREAT physician!!! We look forward to holding sweet Ezzy without casts and teaching him to walk! We KNOW God has plans and we await to see what God will do with these little guys feet! We know God has the power to heal him and give him the ability to walk. We often sing a song that talks of God using Peter to heal a lame man and how the man went leaping and praising God....we love making Ezzy dance at that part of the song. We pray that one day for him to dance on his own!

We rest in God's wisdom and His perfect plan...

God has also given us many wonderful opportunities to share with our girls the true meaning of Christmas. It has been a joy to see them so excited to talk of Jesus and how we celebrate His birth during this time of year. We hosted a lunch on Christmas day and had a birthday cake for Jesus, a tradition that Liz did growing up. It was a very packed and fun filled day.

We rejoice with Edwin's sister, April and praise God for a healthy pregnancy thus far and breathe a bit easier now that she has entered the "safe zone" in her pregnancy!!! :) We thank God for His perfect wisdom and for His perfect grace given towards the Markleys. He is a good God and has used them to picture true trust and faith in the power of God!

Here is a blog that they have started to read updates and enjoy some prego pics of April, super cute!!!

We send our LOVE and hugs to you all!

Happy JOYOUS New Year to you! Rejoice in ALL God so lovingly has in store for you this coming year!!!

In His LOVE,

The Borbe Bunch

Merry Christmas!

We wish you all a VERY Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love,

The Borbe Bunch

Mary and a Wiseman

The girls were part of a live Nativity scene during our children's choir program. It was very cute and they had fun dressing up!

Ho Ho Ho....Merry Christmas!

Ready, set.....SLIDE!

These are some pictures from our sledding fun at Nana and Papa's house. It was Ezra's first time sliding. We think he loved it! :)

A Markley Family Update

I have been wanting to update you all in regards to Edwin's sister, April Markley. I apologize for not getting an update out sooner.
I do want to say THANK YOU all for the amazing support of prayer on the Markley's behalf and for our family as well. You have all been so kind and thoughtful in your emails and comments about the situation our family is going through.
We have recieved an email from April, praising the Lord that she is doing very well and that things seem to be healing! We serve a POWERFUL God! The doctors there in Australia have told her that she does need to stay near a large hospital that is equipped for an early delivery, since she is still as risk of that happening. For her to go back to Papua New Guinea before she has the baby, is out of the question. The main question that needed to be answered was whether or not she would be able to travel back to the states for the remaining time of her pregnancy. She has been cleared by the doctors to travel home to the states, but due to the extra financial need, they have chosen, through much prayer, that they are to stay in Cairns Australia for the remaining months of April's pregnancy. To tell you the truth, both Edwin and I were bummed to hear that they are not coming home, but THRILLED that both mommy and baby are healthy and doing well!!! All praise to God!
We THANK you for your prayers for our family. It was an opportunity for us to commit our beloved family into God's mighty hand of protection. We would ask that you do continue to lift the Markley family up before the Lord; for the months ahead of being away from their fellow co-workers, for their two boys, Jordan and Judah, as life has quickly changed for them, for Jeremiah as he desires to continue to work on as much tribal translation work as possible, and of course, for dear April as she continues to homeschool the boys, her pregnancy as she grows their precious little one, and making their new living arrangements as homey as possible, especially with Christmas around the corner.
Thank you and God bless you!

Let it snow...let it snow...let it snow...

Well, as many know, our little town has been hit by what we from the east would call, a good "north-east-a". It started a few days ago, the temp. dropping quite low and then the snow came. Needless to say, the girls have been absolutely thrilled with their answered prayers for snow! To tell you the truth, mommy, did NOT want any snow, basically I was looking forward to a normal midwest kind of winter...which is very little snow, if any at all. But once I awoke to the shrills of my girls excitment because of everything in sight being covered in snow, all I could do was smile and help them get dressed for some good 'ol snow playing!

Seeing the snow did remind me of my growing up years, being from New England, childhood memories flooded my mind of playing endless hours outside with my brother and sister. We used to go zipping down a HUGE pile of snow into our backyard (it was accumulated for us by dad who when snowblowing the driveway would blow the snow into a giant mountian for us to slide down). Then there were the tunnels we would make with mom, you see snow storms would bring amounts of snow that would pile up to be taller than me, as a kid, that was super fun!

Now, as a mommy, I have the joy of helping my kiddos into their snow gear, wiping up puddles of melted snow, and my favorite part, kissing rosy red cheeks! :) It has been fun as a family to have some time together enjoying God's beautiful creation of sparkly white snow. I wanted to share some pictures with you all of our "winter wonderland".

Much to be THANKFUL for...

We have so much to be thankful for. God is good and we THANK Him for a wonderful day of enjoying friends and family. We send LOVE and PRAYERS to the family and friends who are miles away. Know we LOVE you all and THANK God for each and every one of you!!!

Love,

The Borbe Bunch

Update on Markley Family

Thank you to all who have been praying for our precious family. We have recieved an update email from them thanking everyone for praying and letting us know that April has been released from the hospital there in Cairns and they are all together as a family. They are enjoying being together after such a quick rush to Australia.

They will wait a week there near the hospital and then meet with the doctors to discuss whether or not they should fly home to the states to deliver the baby. Our hearts LONG for them to come home, but we KNOW that God is in control and has a perfect plan, even though we do not know it yet. So, for now, we wait a bit longer before we know the next step for them. Please continue to pray for them. For rest and peace in what lies ahead for them. Please keep Jordan and Judah in your prayers, it can be hard to be so young and all of a sudden have so much change. We personally KNOW the power of prayer and the peace that comes directly from God during a stressful and scary time as a family, because of fellow believers praying...brother and sisters in Christ praying when you are too weary to pray yourselves. Love to you all.

Thank you again for your prayers!

PLEASE PRAY!

We ask you to pray for our family, Edwin's older sister, April and her husband Jeremiah and two sons, Jordan and Judah. April and Jeremiah are missionaries with New Tribes Mission and are working among the Dinagant tribal people of Papua New Guinea. April is 29 weeks pregnant and within the last 24 hours has had to pack up the family and leave their tribal location by emergency medical transportation, a small plane, by orders of the Mission doctor there in PNG.

After viewing an ultrasound along with other signs of complications, April along with her family are now in Cains, Australia at a hospital awaiting instructions from the doctor as to what she should do. The baby IS FINE and healthy and April is doing OK. She called us last night from Australia and sounded very peaceful knowing that God is in control of her health and the baby's. They need to make a descision as to whether or not she will be able to travel back to PNG and continue in her pregnancy there, stay in Australia, (which is equipped with all the medical equipment needed for mom and baby) or fly home to America and be near a large hospital ready and equipped to care for the baby if born early.
The reason for April's sudden trip to Australia is due to the lack of emergency medical equipment in PNG. She is for now settled in at the hospital there in Cains. April's placenta is detaching and with that comes decisions, as I wrote, in regards to what they should do for both Mom and Baby's safety and for the family as a whole.

We LOVE them all so very much and our hearts long for them to come home, to be near us so that we can help with the boys and help in any other ways possible. We want them near to support and love on them. But, God has them miles away from us during this time, to grow us in our faith, to entrust their family to His precious HAND in complete control of the situation.

Please PRAY for wisdom in decision making and for guidance in the doctor's advice to them. They are great examples of TRUST in God and we praise Him that they cling to God for strength. Join us in uplifting them before the Lord during this time. As soon as we know any more in regards to their plans, we will let you all know.

Thank you for your prayers for the Markley family.

My boys...

My boys...so sweet and such a priceless picture.

My heart is so blessed and happy with the sight of my "men" all together. I praise God for His many blessings and for His grace towards us in the privilege of raising our two sons. We have greatly enjoyed our first week with little Owen and pray for many more together as a family. We do thank God for every precious moment we have together. God is good and GREATLY to be PRAISED. So take time to PRAISE HIM today for ALL He has done...the blessing of family and the blessing of HIS SON, Jesus, who paid our price for sin and made a way for salvation.

I thank you Father for my sons, but also for the precious life of your son, Jesus.

The girls will often end their prayers with..."but most of all, thank you for Jesus..." they have learned this precious truth by the example of their daddy praying that way.

May we never loose sight of thankfulness towards our Father God for the blessing of HIS SON...

Enjoy your families today and give lots of hugs...

Proud Brother and Sisters

We LOVE seeing Ez man and Owen together.....melts our hearts!
Gabby LOVES her little brother....she really can't get enough holding time!

Ellie, dressed as a princess for the day :) loves to snuggle "the new baby". She still calls him that, she has to get used to his name, I guess! :)

Owen is so tiny, he fits inside Ellie's baby doll carrier! She thinks this is pretty cool! :)

Going home...

We are home!

What a blessing to bring our little guy HOME!!! He is doing great! We wanted to show you a picture of him with his eyes wide open...and YES, we think he looks like his big sister Ellie :) (Many have asked and commented on him looking Ellie, we agree!) Time will tell if he will have blond hair too. He looks a lot like Ellie when she was born!! God is GOOD, we are enjoying our sweet

Owen Joshua!!