Church Planting in PNG

"Back home you see people at church and maybe once or twice a week. Here you live so close to your partners you can hear them flush the toilet." The young church planting missionary was sharing his story across the lunch table. "We work in teams in the bush here. Our homes are just twenty feet apart and we do almost everything together. Even though we get along, it isn't an easy thing. We sure need help in this area." He went on to admit that he seldom gets away from his work, even when - like now - he and his family are out of the tribe for a purposeful break. "I always have a project I am working on, it's hard to break away and spend time with the family." As we shared together, his passion for what he does was very clear. Their team was making a difference in the tribe they were working in. He shared of how some of the tribal fathers were growing in their capacity to teach the Word. His excitement was catching as he shared of what progress had been made in this area. At the same time our new friend made it clear that he was very interested in what we are doing here and indicated that it was critical for where they were at. "We go through a lot of training before we get to the field," he shared, "but it seems that we don't realize how important interpersonal skills are until we have been here a few years living and working side by side with our partners." He was encouraged when we told that besides doing several workshops while we are here, our primary role is mentor coaching three of the missionaries here so that they can continue organizing and facilitating workshops into the future. He indicated that he would be very happy to attend a Sharpening Your Interpersonal Skills workshop when it was made available in his part of the country.
 
Why do we do what we do? Just maybe it is so that a team of church planters living among the tribes along the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea can continue doing what God has called them to do... translating the Bible; evangelizing; teaching new believers; training elders; and finally leaving the tribe and moving on to new ministry when the church is able to continue to live and grow in a spiritually mature and healthy state. We are so excited to see the team of facilitators here growing in their understanding of the materials and in their abilities to share that material with others. Our desire is that the three facilitators here (and maybe more in the future) will be able to continue holding SYIS workshops for years to come and make it available even to the church planters who live in very remote locations and are so busy that they seldom can take a break from their work to take care of themselves.

We have had a great two weeks so far while we have been here among the missionaries of Lapillo. We have gotten to hear many of their stories, and are once again impressed by the quality of people who give of their lives to bring the true Gospel to those who have never heard. Many of the stories we have heard are sad, and grief plays a constant part in the lives of these sent ones. Losses of family, friends, ministry and even children have been shared with us as we have made new friends and gained insights into their lives.  Too many times the stories include names of others who have left the field for reasons that could have been avoided. Too many people are carrying multiple jobs and roles because co-workers have left the field suddenly and without time to prepare for replacements. Too often the leadership is faced with the hard choice of closing down ministry or letting people burn out trying to carry too heavy a load. This is the reality of missions, but we do not believe this is what God has in mind for His sent ones. This is why we do what we do.

Return On Investment?

Well, we are on our way. From Lincoln, Nebraska to Denver and now in San Francisco. Next will be Sydney and finally on to Port Moresby and Goroka in Papua New Guinea. A very long trip...

Some of our final instructions to our son Nic as we left the homestead and headed for the airport had to do with the garden. We have many vegetables and fruit on the vine, and we have watched them grow with the joy that comes from seeing something we did bearing fruit. It has been a bit difficult to know that we would be away when many of the tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, watermelon and cantaloupe would be ready to be picked... to be harvested. We just hope that Nic will be aware of when the best time to harvest the various items will be. It is his first time to be involved in a garden, you know.

Many times in the spiritual world we are also called away from "our work" before the fruit is fully ready to be harvested and we need to trust others to complete the task. This can be very difficult, especially if we have taken ownership of our little spiritual garden.

It's good to be reminded that it is God's garden and we are His workers, not the owners of the plot. The Apostle Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians 3: "What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe-as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building."

This is a very hard lesson to learn for many of us, and when God moves us out of one place and into another we can tend to resist and argue with Him. The reality is that when we are trying to stay in the place God wants us to leave, we are no longer doing our "ministry" for Him, but for ourselves.

Let someone else harvest the fruit of your hard work? Why not? It may be time to move on and plant another garden.



How Cool is the Kingdom!

And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come." (Mark 4:26-29 ESV)

We were recently talking with friends who had been missionaries for many years, but who had come back to the USA quite some time ago. They shared how they had had the opportunity recently to visit the place they had served, and where they had faced some significant struggles (even some opposition) in their ministry. It was so exciting to them to see that the seeds they had planted long ago had not been planted in vain, but the seeds had in fact grown, sprouted, and born much fruit. They shared how the church in this place was now very much where they had hoped and dreamed it would get to, and that there was now a lively and vibrant Christ life impacting the community.

In my morning reading today I came across the thought that we should work as if everything depends on God, and pray as if everything depends on us! If we could engage with our work, ministry or outreach with excitement and anticipation, knowing that it all depends on God and not on us, how would that impact our day to day life? And if we would pray as if everything of importance in our lives was dependent on our prayers, how much more seriously would we take those special times of communion with our Heavenly Father?

At Risk

On Sunday morning as we were sitting and waiting for the service to start at Bethesda Christian Centre, I was enjoying watching all the young children coming in and finding their places. It seems that about a third of the congregation is less than 12 years old, so there is always a lot of movement and noise as they come in and get settled. I was struck by how significant it is to have input into the lives of children, and yet at the same time what an important stewardship it is. My thoughts went to the fact that these days so many kids are at risk, not just in countries like Cambodia, Myanmar & Thailand, but even in countries like Singapore. This was cemented into my mind later in the service when one of our friends tearfully shared how she had witnessed an accident the day before where a young boy was hit by a car. Being at risk may vary from place to place, but it does seem that kids are at a very vulnerable place in life and we as Christians have a lot of opportunities to be there for them and impact their lives for good into the future.

We may not always be able to keep children from running out into the road in front of a car, and we may also not always be able to stop people from selling their daughters and sons into the sex trade just to put food on the table. But we have personally encountered situations where our friends in ministry across Asia have made life-and-death differences in the existence of the children they interact with. There are kids sitting in BCC who will spend eternity with Christ because ministry workers there were faithful in sharing God’s Word. There are children growing up in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and all over Asia who are the next generation of God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved. This is happening because of His people who have been faithful to their calling over many years.

Yet as we work alongside ministry leaders we realize how fragile the stewardship can be. Our Lord Jesus Christ has stated categorically that without Him we can do nothing. What we have seen is that without Christ’s daily interaction in and through our lives, His children can easily do worse than nothing. We can actually abuse the very stewardship that has been entrusted to us of people’s lives and future. When a ministry leader fails in whatever way, he or she impacts everyone around them. Their families suffer; their team members are devastated; the ministry languishes with no direction and a loss of trustworthiness. Our desire is to see exactly the opposite happen – strong ministry leaders, walking closely with the Lord, impacting their family and their teams in a God honoring way. Godly men and women who have a passion to make a difference into the future will make more of an impact in their own cultures & countries than people like us from overseas ever will. But we can be there for them, to encourage them, to coach them and to facilitate their journey along paths which we have already traveled or that we can explore together.

Children around us are at risk. Stewards around us are also at risk. Our passion is to increase the opportunities that the kids have to become enthusiastic Christ followers, making their journey a little easier tomorrow because of what we are doing with others today to strengthen the stewards of His church and to encourage each other in our walk with the Lord. We may be limited in the number of kids we can personally interact with, but we can be sure that if those young ministry leaders we are walking alongside stay true to Him, they will impact their teams, and their teams will impact many, many others, and as a result we believe that children across Asia can be less at risk for now, and at no risk for eternity!

A "Deaf Frog" Culture

We had a great time this past Saturday with one of our close friends from Cambodia. We decided to spend the afternoon at the zoo and it was great to enjoy God’s spectacular creativity as we looked at the animals together. While we enjoyed the zoo, we also caught up with the ministry that God is doing in Cambodia. Our friend told how even though there are so many difficulties inherent in their ministry, the team in Cambodia just continues on, trusting God. He shared the following story which illustrates the point:

There were a group of frogs who decided to climb to the top of the Tower of Pisa. They were little frogs, and the steps were high and many. As they hopped up the tower, some of the frogs started to grumble and complain. “We can’t do this!” “It’s too hard.” “Why do we keep trying?” One frog finally just quite: “I can’t climb this tower, why did I ever think I could?” Another stopped soon after, and then another. Finally there was only one frog left hopping bravely up the tower steps. Finally he reached the top, tired but content. He enjoyed the view for a while and then hopped down again. When he got to the bottom and joined the other frogs that had gathered to wait for him, they all exclaimed and congratulated him. One of the other frogs spoke up and asked: “How did you keep going when the rest of us decided it was too hard?” It was then that everyone realized the little frog who had succeeded was deaf, and could not hear anyone’s praise... or all the grumbling and complaining they had done earlier!

Our friends in Cambodia have decided to become like the deaf frog and ignore all those who are telling them that it cannot be done. Sadly in ministry there are often more people within an organization that are discouraging than there are encouraging. One of our key concepts that we try to share with others through our training is the importance of encouraging each other. But still, the norm is perhaps too often the other way. The finance department tells us there are no funds. The regional office tells us that we don’t have the ability to do what we want to do. The human resource department tells us that we cannot ask so much from our team mates. The fund raisers tell us that they cannot raise funds for that type of project. So many discouraging words...

One of the new projects that our friend was so excited about is called Stories of the Potter! Targeted towards non-literate listeners, Stories of the Potter will begin airing in August. This 30-minute series will tell Bible stories from a uniquely Cambodian perspective, and is especially designed to speak to the worldview of the Cambodians. Pastor Barnabas Mom, who is one of the best story-tellers in Southeast Asia, will present the Potter’s stories. A very exciting part of this program is that each story will include a brand-new song developed especially for that story. One of our friend’s co-workers writes a synopsis of the story and gives it to his brother, who then composes the new song. This combination of story and song is hoped to further instill the story and its meaning into the heart and mind of the listener. In Cambodia, as a potter sits at his wheel, he often tells stories to those sitting around. Our friends in Cambodia share their burden with us: “As Stories of the Potter airs, it is our prayer that THE Potter will break hardened hearts and remake them into His image. “