Meet our TEAM!
Who are all those good looking people? Well, thank you for praying as we spent hours talking and meeting with these two families who are now our TEAM!
From left to right - The Weavers: Meegan, Maggie, Chris, Aydin and in the front, Calyn. Luke and I, and then the Brendles: Sienna, Kelsey, Nathan, and Simeon
Last week, our co-worker Nathan, along with 2 other missionaries and 2 Papua New Guinean church leaders spent 2 days hiking through a mountain range in the central region of Papua New Guinea, surveying a people group in order to gauge their interest in hearing God’s talk in their own language.
The first village they visited very eagerly expressed their desire for missionaries to come. They believe that missionaries have the secret to worshipping God and if they can learn it and implement it correctly, then they will have the key to gaining all the cargo that their sinful hearts lustfully want, but have little access to. Many people in PNG believe this and we refer to it as the “cargo cult.” When they heard men were coming on a survey trip, they seemed to withhold that information from the other villages because they want the missionaries and the possibility of cargo all to themselves.
In another village, they met a man who, 20 years ago, helped a Bible translator from another organization translate the New Testament into their language. This man quickly and soberly confessed to them that he had messed up the translation. He told them he used the wrong words in the translation that affirmed the spirits of their ancestors, rather than the true God of the Bible. This seems to be a burden weighing on him heavily ever since, and perhaps now he thinks this could be his chance to fix things. There needs to be more checking done of this translation’s reliability and readability among the people.
The last village they came to is a bit smaller and the men surveying only had 50 minutes left before the helicopter would come pick them up, so they cut right to the chase. They told them what our organization does - that when we move into a people group, we come to learn their language and culture, teach them how to read and write, translate and teach God’s Word, and disciple them to be their own mature church. When the people heard this, they all seemed to be genuinely interested and longing to know what is true. Amazingly, there were leaders from 2 different cults represented who also expressed a desire to know the truth. Cult leaders can be hostile to a new group coming in, but not these guys. They seemed to be genuinely hungry to know what is true.
Could these be the people God will send us to? We will see. There is much more survey work to be done and time to wait as the people gather and talk without any missionaries or guests there. The 2 PNG church leaders will circle back through these villages in a few weeks and ask them what they are thinking.
Bush Orientation
Tomorrow we are flying and motor canoeing into a hot, swampy people group located along the Sepik River, in the Western region of Papua New Guinea with a single missionary, Lisa, who works and lives among the Wabuku people. We will be there for close to 8 weeks. I (Jess) will be finishing up my language study, we will learn TONS of culture, and we will learn what it is like to live in a remote tribal location. Will you please pray with us that our time there will be a great learning experience, that God would use it to further equip us for ministry, and that we would be a blessing to Lisa and to the Wabuku people. Thank you!
A brief history of the Wabuku work:
Lisa has been working among the Wabuku people for about 20 years. Over the years, there have been many missionaries join the work, and unfortunately most of these missionaries have also left the work for various reasons. Currently working with Lisa is another family who just checked out of their language and culture study of the Wabuku people (woohoo!) When they return, the team will begin teaching God’s Word again from creation to Christ. The Wabuku people heard God’s Word presented many years ago and some believed, but they have lacked ongoing teaching and discipleship. Our goal is not just to see believers born, but to see a mature church established. For this reason, Lisa has stuck it out and patiently waited for co-workers to learn the language and culture and to join her in seeing God establish a mature church among the Wabuku people. Without a mature, multiplying church, it would end with just the one generation of believers. However, with a mature, growing, and multiplying church, God’s Word and the gospel will continue to be taught to the future generations of the Wabuku people and to neighboring villages and people groups. Please pray with us over the Wabuku people as they hear truth and grow in their understanding of who God is and what Jesus has done for them in dying on the cross for our sins!
A few days ago we flew from Goroka to Wewak. Tomorrow, we fly and motor canoe from Wewak into Wabuku, where the star is on the map.
Click below to see a short video of Wabuku:
Prayer and Praise
Praise the Lord for Luke checking out of the national language. This means he is fluent enough to be able to formally teach the Bible in the national language. The national language allows us to have some form of communication before and during our learning of their tribal language.
Praise the Lord for the formation of our church planting team! Please continue to pray for us as we continue getting to know one another and learning how to work well together.
Please pray for God’s guidance as we survey and decide on what people group to allocate into.
Please continue to pray for the salvation of our PNG friends Peter, Julie, and their family who have become our PNG family.
Please pray for our time in Wabuku. That we would learn a lot and be a blessing to the missionaries and the Wabuku people.
Please pray for Jess to gain more fluency in the national language these next 8 weeks and that she will check out when she returns.
Pray for the continued strengthening of our walks with the Lord as well as our marriage.