| SATURDAY March 30, 2024 |
| “I grew up in a little town. Used to sing in the old church house. There in the pew where I used to hide. Learned the story bout the man who died. Well I was sure I heard that He got back up. But as we broke the bread and drank the cup. Seemed the faces told another tale. They were as dry as the bread was stale. Did I miss something? Was I not supposed to cry? Did they hear the preacher, “Jesus is alive”? If this is true, this changes everything. If this is real, I’ve got to tell the world.” – Matt Papa |
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| “And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.” – 1 Cor. 15:17-19 |
| I remember reading once that third generation believers are the most at risk for walking away from their faith. Why? I think it’s because they are at risk of forgetting how incredible the gospel is; they take it for granted. My parents were both the first believers in their families, and they definitely conveyed to me their excitement about the gospel- Jesus died for us! There is nothing we must do, other than believe that He fully paid for our sins, taking the punishment we deserved. My greatest prayer is that Ty and Wyck will never take their faith for granted, but always passionately love Jesus. In chapel a couple of weeks ago, a teacher shared how he wants to pass on this excitement for Jesus to his kids. As part of his talk, he showed the short movie “Ee-Taow.” The link for it is below, and I highly encourage you to take a minute to watch it. It tells the story of the Mouk people coming to faith in Jesus after hearing the gospel from some New Tribes missionaries in the 80’s. Not only does it do a good job explaining the method we use of teaching the Bible chronologically, but it shows the extreme joy the Mouk people had at hearing the gospel. I cry every time I watch it because it reminds me of how amazing it is that Jesus died for me, and it makes me want to tell everyone about Him. Jesus really did die for us, and He really did rise from the dead, and that changes everything. As you celebrate Easter with your family this year, may you not forget how incredible the gospel is, and how amazing it is that we who have trusted in Him will spend eternity in heaven with Christ. Thank you for praying for us and supporting us as we work to help all the people in PNG to hear the Easter story. He is risen indeed! This month brought some changes for us in our ministry. Because the person who usually is Personnel Director returned, he stepped back into that role. Therefore Matt will remain a “Director at Large” and we are stepping back into the field-wide Member Care role. Related to this, later this month Matt will be heading to a conference that involves leaders from all of Ethnos360’s global partners, people who work with Ethnos360 in various countries around the world. The focus of this year’s conference is member care, so Matt is going both to learn from others, and to share the conflict resolution plan that he developed for NTM PNG. Pray that it is a beneficial time for all involved, and for Karissa and the boys while he is away. Pray also that God will provide a good couple to step into this role while we are on home assignment, as it is an important role and dear to our hearts. Till all know, Matt, Karissa, Ty, and Wyck |
| Please Pray: -Continue to pray for the fuel situation here; praise God that NTM has been able to get some fuel stocked up -For us as we work on packing up and preparing to return on home assignment. There is so much to do! -That we can do a good job in our ministry roles and finish out the year well -That God will help Matt to get accepted soon into a counseling internship for this fall Praise God: -Karissa was involved in organizing a time of encouragement for missionaries here, and it went well -Matt went on a trip to the Islands region of PNG to help with a difficult situation, and was able to be a help to people there -Things went well for Karissa and the boys as he was away -God has been at work even through difficult situations   I came across this photo recently of us at the airport moving to PNG in 2017. God has been so faithful to us these past 7 years!  What are we supporting? This month’s tribal focus: Pray for the Anem work. Ee-Taow tells the incredible story of the Mouk people coming to Christ. Now, 40 years later, there are some Mouk missionaries, partnered with some New Tribes missionaries, Josiah and Rachel Van Der Decker, working to reach the Anem people group! It is incredible to see how God is using His people to make disciples who make disciples. Pray for their team, for unity, endurance, and encouragement, and pray that God would be at work through their ministry, bringing many people to Him. Watch Ee-Taow here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjRTBQcf-uc |