{"id":295,"date":"2013-02-13T04:22:02","date_gmt":"2013-02-13T10:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/josh-simmons\/?p=295"},"modified":"2013-02-15T01:32:31","modified_gmt":"2013-02-15T07:32:31","slug":"perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/josh-simmons\/2013\/02\/13\/perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"
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View from our room at the Resort<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wow, its been a long time since I posted last.\u00a0 I’m truly sorry for the delay, but in my defense things have been hopping around here.\u00a0 So many things have happened in the past 12 months that I think a brief year end review is in order.\u00a0 As you all know, we will have been here in PNG one year as of February 23rd… I can hardly believe it.\u00a0 The Lord has been so good to us this year in so many ways.\u00a0 We hit the ground running last February by starting NCLA (National Culture and Language Acquisition) which we planned on taking us between 6 to 9 months… it ended up being 9 months.\u00a0 There’s one good reason I’m a Tech Specialist and not a Translator.\u00a0 Melanesian Pidgin is one of the easiest languages in the world to learn and it still took me awhile ;-).\u00a0 However, Melody and I did finish and we moved on into the Tech Services ministry with two other terrific couples, Bill and Lynette Cottam (Aussies) and Kevin and Renae Kellenberger.\u00a0 Right away I had the opportunity to exercise my skills on a trip to a bush location to help build a missionary house.\u00a0 Actually, it was more like exercising my back, arms, legs and some muscles which until that moment I wasn’t aware I had as we trekked through the New Guinea bush to cut down mammoth Cedar trees to slab into lumber which would eventually be turned into John and Jesse George’s new home. From my perspective, this was a great opportunity to get in the trenches with the missionaries in the bush and see just how hard and grueling the job is of living cut off from civilization, but most of all, I was able to grasp how our God orchestrates events and allows the body of Christ to hold each other up and encourage each other when we find ourselves out of energy, time, patience, intellect, or love and at the end of our rope, kinda holdin’ each other together.<\/p>\n

The next trip would be into another bush location where Kyle Pederson, a great new friend of mine and I would set the posts and lay the foundations for Chris and Maggie Hostetter’s new bush home.\u00a0 This took us about a week and I was able to polish my chainsawing, hammer and chisel, and hand sawing skills.\u00a0 Thanks to my good friend in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan Norm Chenier for teaching me the art of measuring, leveling and squaring, I did pretty well and the hopefully the Hostetter’s can lay in their beds at night without rolling out.\u00a0 I would go there again to install the Solar Electric, water, plumbing and sewage systems with my Co-worker Bill Cottam and several other great guys who did most of the finish work. From my perspective, it was lots of fun, lots of work and but most of all a great opportunity to encourage the Hostetters.<\/p>\n

Let’s see what else, Oh, we spent Christmas at the Beach!\u00a0 Yeah it was weird I cannot lie, but it was fun and we made some great family memories.\u00a0 We traveled to a small beach community on New Guinea’s north coast where NTM has a guest house facility.\u00a0 I know what you’re thinking, yeah the Simmons’ are really suffering for the Lord… ON the BEACH!?\u00a0 Hey, we’re entitled to some R&R too aren’t we?\u00a0 ;-).\u00a0 It was a great time, until Melody and Sarah came down with the dreaded Dengue Fever, or as some call it “Bone Break Fever” because you feel like all your joints, back and neck are breaking!\u00a0 Yeah, it was awful!\u00a0 However, one nice thing was that there was a great Aussie Doc in town who was able to diagnose the illness right away and assured us that it wasn’t a serious or life threatening illness, even though it sure looked and felt like one from Mel and Sarah’s perspective.\u00a0 So, we spent the last several days of our break taking it easy and getting plenty of rest.\u00a0\u00a0 All in all it was still a great Christmas.\u00a0 We even got to Skype with both of our families, thanks Lord.\u00a0 From my perspective, this was a trip where we were able to relax, recharge and refocus and above all allow God to carry us for awhile when we really needed it.<\/p>\n

My next excursion into the bush would be to the home of Jim and Judy Burdett who have been in PNG ministering and translating for many years and have recently gained some new partners, Gerolf and Mailise Wuest from Germany.\u00a0 While there, our Co-workers Bill Cottam, Kevin Kellenberger and Joe Colyn finished off painting the inside of their home, building cupboards and closets, Installing a Solar electric system and back-up generator, re-located the Burdetts existing generator and installed a chimney for the wood heater. From my perspective this trip was a terrific opportunity to really get to know and understand the daily struggles our bush missionaries go through, from family issue back home, to issues with the land owners whose land your house is currently sitting on.\u00a0 I also gained some valuable perspective of how each of us depends upon one another to be able to stay here and do this work.<\/p>\n

The last bush location we traveled to was to the home of Andrew and Kathy Goud who also have been minstering and doing translation in their location for 10+ years.\u00a0 While there, Kevin and I completely disassembling and reconfiguring their Solar electric system to run more efficiently, repaired his generator, serviced his tractor\/mower (for mowing the airstrip), installed a new screen filter on his spring fed water source up on the mountain, and last but not least repaired a log bridge they use to cross a river on their four wheeler, a first for me.\u00a0 I don’t remember bridge building and repair in my training, must have missed that day.\u00a0 From my perspective this trip really pounded home to me how much of a blessing the Tech Services ministry is for those slugging it out day after day in the bush.\u00a0 Some days I know they’re pounding their heads against the wall when their fridge isn’t working or their generator just gave up the ghost and they have a pile of translation work, or unfinished bible lessons waiting for them on their desk and they just wish someone else could deal with the fridge and genny so they could just focus on what they really want to be doing.<\/p>\n

On a more serious note, I was also called upon about a month ago to perform CPR on a 3 year old boy who was found floating in a water hole close to his home.\u00a0 The boy Oxi, had wandered from his home in search of his mother and slipped into a water hole which was over his head.\u00a0 His parents not knowing what to do when they discovered him, did the first thing they could think of, bring him to the missionaries.\u00a0 Their home was a 10 minute run from our location.\u00a0 When they arrived, our leadership called my shop and asked if I new CPR, which I did because of my days as a rescue swimmer in the service.\u00a0 I immediately rushed to the boy’s side and noticed that someone had already attempted CPR on him, but didn’t know what they were doing and had filled his abdomen with air and then had pushed on it instead of his chest which forced the contents of his stomach up into his mouth and nose.\u00a0 After clearing his airway and checking for a pulse, I began CPR.\u00a0 Ben Hansen, another missionary on center pulled up with the truck and we jumped in the back with the child and his parents and sped to the Haus Sik (Hospital), all the while performing CPR.\u00a0 As we pulled into the haus sik we rushed in carrying the little boy and put him on a gurney.\u00a0 The nurse came in looked him over and said, its too late, he’s dead.\u00a0 At that moment, Oxi’s parents threw themselves onto the floor and began sobbing hysterically with the knowledge that their son was gone.\u00a0 It was a very emotional experience for me as well, as I watched these two parents scream for their little boy to come back to them. \u00a0 This was the first time I’d ever witnessed death up close.\u00a0 It was even harder because the victim was so young.\u00a0 The only thing I could think of was how important it is for these people to hear the truth of the gospel.\u00a0 Life is so fragile and can be gone in an instant.\u00a0 Here in New Guinea this kind of thing happens every day.\u00a0 Situations that wouldn’t necessarily be life threatening to us in the States or other developed countries are here in PNG.\u00a0 I learned one thing from this experience, you never know what’s going to happen from one day to the next.\u00a0 One day I was out repairing Solar panels, the next day I was holding the body of a lifeless three year old boy.\u00a0 It definitely gives one perspective on the fragility of life, and what in life is important.\u00a0 Only the Lord can prepare us adequately for what we’re to face tomorrow or next week… but will we allow Him?\u00a0 Will we give up our dreams for our life for God’s dream for our life, which is so much richer?<\/p>\n

Melody and I have been here for almost one year, thanks to God and those friends, family and churches who have continued to faithfully support us.\u00a0 In that year, God has allowed us to learn a new language, support and encourage our bush missionaries through Tech Services, and build lasting relationships with the PNG people who we work and live with, experience urgency of getting the gospel out, and above all, He’s allowed us PERSPECTIVE!<\/p>\n

Thanks to all of you who have prayed for us this year, given sacrificially and sent us notes of encouragement through email, letters and FB.\u00a0 We couldn’t be here unless you allowed the Lord to use you in our lives.\u00a0 We love you and hope to hear from you sometime, don’t be afraid to write, email or fb us.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And above all, Praise God from whom all blessings flow…\u00a0 Until next time…<\/p>\n

Lukim yu behain,<\/p>\n

The Simmons<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wow, its been a long time since I posted last.\u00a0 I’m truly sorry for the delay, but in my defense things have been hopping around here.\u00a0 So many things have happened in the past 12 months that I think a brief year end review is in order.\u00a0 As you all know, we will have been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":543,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-295","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-ministry","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/josh-simmons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/josh-simmons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/josh-simmons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/josh-simmons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/543"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/josh-simmons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/josh-simmons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/josh-simmons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/josh-simmons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/josh-simmons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}