For the past 7 years our family has been heading in the direction of church planting among unreached tribal people. We completed 2 years of Bible school, then 2½ more years of specialized missions training. After that we spent almost 2 years sharing this burden with churches and individuals as we saw the Lord raise our needed support. Throughout this time, we were sharing (with many of you!) that our goal was to live in a tribe in Papua New Guinea, learn the language and culture of the people and eventually translate and teach them the Truth of God’s Word. However, we had never actually experienced living and working in a tribe!! We were just walking by faith down the path which God seemed to be leading us.
Well, we are thankful to share with you that our time of Bush Orientation really confirmed for us that tribal church planting is what the Lord has for our family! We know there are plenty of challenges and hard times ahead. But we truly loved our time in the tribe and it really motivated and energized us for what is to come.
So, what is next for our family? Well, now that we are back in our home on the mission center, our first goal is to finish up our Pidgin and culture study. We have to complete some projects as well as have our final oral evaluation. It didn’t work out for us to have one while in the tribe and we’re not sure when it will be. The other major thing ahead of us is determining where and with whom the Lord wants us to work. There are many options for us to consider and we really need to the Lord’s wisdom and guidance as we make some very major decisions. Will you please pray for us during this time? It is exciting to have many options before us, yet also a bit unsettling and overwhelming as we evaluate which path would be best to take. We keep reminding ourselves that the Lord has led us clearly up until this point and we know He will continue to do so now! We will patiently wait on Him.
Keep watching for new photos and posts about our time in the tribe!