Foundations
During my time at Bible School in Waukesha, Wisconsin, I attended DaySpring Baptist Church. They had been meeting in a rented space for several years, but had plans for a building of their own. God provided land for the church to purchase and build on. I attended the ground breaking ceremony that marked what would be the beginning of a year of hard work to construct the building. They were laying the foundations and getting everything set up for years of future ministry. Church members were encouraged to help in whatever ways we could. People came and served each day in jobs that were far from glamorous. Jobs like hanging dry wall, sweeping and cleaning up, bringing lunches for workers, moving rocks to clear space for landscaping, and painting walls. We worked hard, knowing that this would be a place for the church to meet, for people to hear God’s Word, grow in their faith, break addictions, for kids to have a Christian education, for community outreach events, and a place where missionaries would be sent out from and have a church family to come back to. They spent time laying the foundations for many ministry opportunities that would later come.
On April 6, Luke and I are headed to Papua New Guinea!! Our work permits are approved, passports are in hand, and plane tickets are purchased for April 6 at 6:30PM Pacific Time. We have 46 hours of travel time as we will fly from LA to Qatar, to Singapore, to Papua New Guinea.
After 4+ years of training and a time of partnership development, you may think we are going to jump right into a tribe! As exciting as that sounds, that is not the plan. When we arrive in Papua New Guinea, we plan to do some ground work that will be the basis and foundation for years of future ministry in a tribe.
When we first get to PNG, we will be helping out in support roles in a town called Goroka until our orientation begins in August. We will be ministering to missionary kids and maybe helping out in other roles as well. We also plan on doing as much language and culture learning as time will allow.
In August, we will move to a different town called Madang and we will be joined by other new missionaries for orientation. We will spend most of our days learning the national language and culture that is necessary for living and working in Papua New Guinea. We will also be getting oriented to the country and our organization’s work there. We will be involved in a local church in town with national believers. We will learn from other missionaries, take a medical clinic, and wrap up the orientation by spending 4-6 weeks in a tribe with an established church.
During this process, we will also be looking for co-workers. We will be praying, “Lord, who would you have us spend the next 10-20 years of our lives with to see an established church planted among a currently unreached people group? Who are the people we will not only celebrate the joys of ministry with, but also with whom we will stand in the trenches of ministry with?” This is not a light decision. And after that decision has been made comes next, “Lord, who will you send us to?” The tribes that are available for us to move in with have been asking for years for missionaries to come live with them and teach them God’s Word.
So, we have lots of work to do before we move into a tribe. We know that these steps are foundational for our future ministry, ones that we do not take lightly. We pray that you will be praying with us along the way, through the not so glamorous, yet foundational times of our ministry.
Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support. We are so grateful for the team that is with us in this ministry. We can’t do it without you. We covet your prayers. We would be naïve to think we don’t have a target on our backs as we seek to go into areas where God’s Word has never been taught or translated into the people’s own language.
Prayer and praise:
Praise the Lord for time with family and friends these last few weeks before we leave!
Praise the Lord for getting our work permits back and plane tickets being cheaper than we anticipated.
Pray for our deepening relationship with the Lord, the most vital part of our ministry.
Pray for the continued strengthening of our marriage.
Please pray for our transition to Papua New Guinea, that God would lead us in team formation, and for the people group God will lead us to live among and minister to.
SEE YOU IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA!!
PNG Contact Info:
E-mail
Luke: luke_thek@ntm.org
Jess: jessica_thek@ntm.org
Imessage (iPhone users)
Whatsapp
Luke: +18054236830
Jess: +18165207474
Social Media
Mail - Contact us if you would like our PNG mailing address and info on sending packages to PNG.