“If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed, but skill will bring success.” -Ecc.10:10
The story is told of a man who was chopping down a tree. He had been working at it for six hours, when another man came upon him. The man observed, “if you sharpened the ax, that would go much faster. You could be done within the hour.” “I don’t have time to sharpen the ax!” the man replied, and went on chopping for three more hours.
This is part 2 of our 3-part series about the purposes of our home assignment. Purpose number one was to “not kill the horse.” Purpose number two of this home assignment is to “sharpen the ax.” This home assignment will be a bit unique because during it, Matt is going to be a full-time student. When God began to lead us into support ministry here in PNG, we began to ask Him how we could best serve other missionaries and enable them to continue serving in their tribes. A need that we kept seeing and God was laying on our hearts was the need many missionaries have for counseling. There are a lot of hard situations missionaries deal with, and they are often in need of counseling, but have to leave the field to get it. We thought, how incredible would it be if there were a counselor right here in PNG that could meet with them. Because of this, Matt has decided to take online classes with Liberty University to pursue his degree in counseling.
So, we are taking some time to grow in our skills and be better equipped to fulfill our roles of supporting other missionaries when we return to PNG. We are taking some time out to sharpen the ax.
Until then, we are continuing to serve in our roles here. Karissa continues to teach junior high English and is happy that on Monday all of her students will return to in-person learning. Matt is still hard at work on the Crisis Management Team, which has gotten crazy again as Covid cases continue to rise in PNG. He is also working hard as housing coordinator to figure out where the many missionaries who are returning soon will live. Ty continues to finish out second grade, and Wyck does preschool and speech therapy at home.
Till all know,
Matt, Karissa, Ty, and Wyck
Praise God:
– All students return for in-person learning on Monday
– We bought our tickets to return to the U.S.
– Karissa has been feeling good lately as far as her headaches and teeth troubles
– Missionaries continue to return to PNG
Please Pray:
– For God’s protection on Papua New Guinea as Covid cases rise
– For wisdom and strength for Matt and the CMT as they make decisions
– For more teachers to come to serve in PNG
– For us to finish well this last month
What are we supporting? This month’s tribal focus: Pray for the Ngain people. Missionary Jim Tanner writes, “In 2018 we first went to take a look at the place and the people were often drunk from a home brew called Yava and they would fight and cut each other and scream at each other and do other bad things in that community. When we first observed the people, we thought it would be really hard to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those people. But two men from that community, Laurens and Tony, went to another village in 2018 and heard the Firm Foundation lessons being taught to unbelievers there. They clearly understood the Gospel of Jesus Christ and believed… In the Ngain language many people have not received eternal life in Jesus yet. They have seen the changes in the believers and want the lessons to be taught to them also. But at this time there are no workers to help them.” Pray for continued growth and joy for new believers, and pray that God would send more missionaries to help reach the Ngain people.