A Wide Door
“Oh my gosh! It’s approved!!,” I exclaim as I go to look at my calendar, “What?! It’s only been 8 days!”
When Jess and I were first moving to Papua New Guinea 4 years ago, we experienced many delays and ended up going about 3 months later than we had intended. We thought we might have a similar situation on our hands after we found out we recently had a massive oversight.
We thought Jess’ entry permit was valid for another year, but no it was her work permit that was still valid and her entry permit had expired. We didn’t realize this until Nov 26th. With an average wait time of 30 days for the permit to even be approved and a large break for the Christmas holiday looming, it was easy to begin to think there would be some delay in our intended departure date of January 9th.
There is not a single missionary story in history that is not without it’s significant periods of delay and waiting. I (Luke) even preached recently on 1 Corinthians 16:9, “For a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” Surely this was just one of the many trials, adversaries, or tribulations that the Lord put on the other side of our wide open door.
NOPE!
In his sovereignty and grace he decided to approve Jess’ entry permit in record time and clear the way for a timely arrival back to Uruwa that we may continue in learning language and culture. Incredible!
Rather than resting in Isaiah 40:31 which promises strength to those who wait, we took heart in the portion of Esther 4:14 that says, “…and who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this.”
We know many missionaries that have been derailed for multiple years or even from their ministry entirely by circumstances that are out of their control. We know that we don’t deserve for things to go right with us any more than those people deserve to have things go wrong, so it just brings us back to our knees in praise of the one who has given us such undeserved kindness. Many trials may come, but this just isn’t one of them. We are stoked to head back to PNG! Our next update will come from the other side of the world.
Our friends back in Uruwa
Prayer and Praise
Praise the Lord for receiving Jess’ visa so rapidly! And that Luke and Naz got all of their paperwork needed for PNG as well.
Pray for us as we adjust to parenthood. It has been difficult for 2 very driven people to be in charge of a baby with such constant care. A very humbling and sharpening process.
Praise God for the opportunity Luke had to speak at the Bible school in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Luke had many great conversations with students and many seemed eager to follow the Lord to the ends of the earth! We also recently had the privilege to speak at a youth conference and that also was very well received.
Please continue praying for language and culture learning for our co-workers, the Weavers and the Brendles. Now you can also add us back into this prayer because we will be gearing up to be back at it!
Pray for God to be preparing the Uruwa people’s hearts to hear and receive the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ one day. Pray that He would be using our lives to be ambassadors for Him as we seek to display His love.
Pray for the many relationships that we will be going back to in Uruwa and especially for Mono and Guong, with whom we hope to restore our relationships with.
Please pray for continued team unity.
Pray for the continued strengthening of our walks with the Lord as well as our marriage.
Want to receive more frequent updates and prayer requests? Join our prayer group via Facebook or e-mail using the buttons below. And as always, please let us know how we can be praying for you as well!
Luke & Jessica Thek
Luke:
US phone: 8054236830
whatsapp: +18054236830
email: luke_thek@ntm.org
Jess:
US phone: 8165207474
whatsapp: +18165207474
email: jessica_thek@ntm.org
