From Planting to Watering. | Lourens and Marie Laureti

Hi friends

Thanks for being part of the journey God has put us on. Your prayers and support are making a huge impact on eternity!

Please read this newsletter, sharing how a shift is taking place in our ministry, but more so in the church in Papua New Guinea.

A QUICK HISTORY

Between 2007 and 2018, we worked among the Mengen people group. We and our co-workers, learned their language, developed and taught literacy, taught from Genesis to Christ to see the church born, and then taught and discipled the church through the New Testament, to where it’s today. At the same time, we completed the New Testament translation, and saw the church reach out to two new locations. We now have our co-workers working with the Mengen church, and a national elder from the Maleu church working in Soi, and assisting the outreach in Bologo.
While all the above was happening, a group of elders from different churches in our region noticed that even though there are many churches planted in different language groups, without missionary presence, there are still allot of major needs for shepherding and discipleship, and that they are too dependent on missionaries and NTM for help. Furthermore, there was not allot of fellowship and unity amongst these churches.

Me, together with these leaders in New Britain and similarly in New Ireland started to take a look at what the Bible teaches the church should be and should look like and started to visit all the churches in New Britain, and showed how Gods Word shows that we are one church, with one father and one goal to be Holy as He is.
Over a period of three years they visited churches and shared these truths. And slowly but surely this team has grown into a large team with representatives coming from most churches planted in New Britain.
My role as church planter has now shifted into being a co-worker together with the believers and leaders from the Mengen church and the other churches planted in language groups on our islands.

THE NEXT STEP

Now that all the churches are having a common goal and wanting to work together in growing towards maturity, we can start addressing in the needs the churches have identified over the years.
It will not be New Tribes Mission addressing these needs, or missionaries, but would be the elders and churches of New Britain and New Ireland. As they look to the Lord, and as they are in fellowship with each other, drawing from the gifts that God has given His church.
The leaders have identified three areas of needs, spiritual, ministry and practical needs.

– Spiritual needs – For example some churches struggle with syncretism, legalism, carnality, disunity etc.

– Ministry needs – Churches need help with leadership development, Bible study methods and lesson development, discipling marriages, families and youth etc.

– Practical needs – One example would be churches need to evaluate the current schooling situation in PNG with their kids needing to go to urban areas for school and having to go to schools belonging to other non-evangelical missions.

All these above-mentioned needs, have been identified by the churches and many feel they are not equipped to address it themselves. Therefore, we now have a national leadership team, that are working in close fellowship with the churches, in finding ways to address these needs.

HAPPENING RIGHT NOW

– We just completed another two-week trip, visiting Ivanga, Aria, Lusi, Anem and Maleu churches. We traveled with a large team and could encourage the churches on what Gods Goal is for them, to be image bearers of God, united in one body and working together to seeing His kingdom come. Altogether we had 35 teaching sessions, not including meetings with leadership in each church.

– We hosted a weeklong workshop on studying Gods Word and developing teaching material. This information will now be developed more by the leadership team and then all the churches in New Britain will be equipped to study Gods Word themselves and develop teaching material rather than depend on lessons provided by missionaries.

– We are developing a course on Biblical leadership. This course will be a study from Gods Word, on how leaders are identified, trained and commissioned. And also the work of elders and deacons.

– We are praying about having some of the core leaders in New Britain come and live semi fulltime with us, with the purpose to focus on this one task of traveling between churches, to help evaluate and assist. And also to help develop and present the workshops we need to present.

We are praying about giving some additional training to national missionaries that are being send out from their churches into other language groups. Many have been equipped well by their local churches, but they express the need for some additional help. So, the leadership team are working on developing some modules that would assist these families. We are hoping to teach these modules to a couple of families next year. This is still in a very young stage, so be praying for us!

Thank you for your part in this huge process of seeing the Gods Church planted and developing in Papua New Guinea.

Your prayers and financial support and making a tangible difference in life’s and communities. Would you consider supporting us financially?

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