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| TUESDAY, July 23, 2024 |
| “they have devoted themselves to the service of the Lord’s people…For they refreshed my spirit and yours also.” -1 Cor. 16:15b&18a |
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| I was recently reading this passage that talked about the household of Stephanas and how they deserve recognition for pouring their lives out to refresh God’s people. I was so encouraged because that is our focus! |
| Why was I recently belting out Bon Jovi’s “Living’ on a Prayer” in my kitchen with my sister-in-law? Well, because singing is something that I love, but sadly am not very good at. So, rather than performing for crowds, I perform for my toaster and my cringing kids. Sometimes I wonder why God doesn’t automatically give us talents for the same things that we enjoy. On the other hand, recently I’ve been thinking about how wonderful it is that God has us in a position of doing something we love in order to help something we are passionate about. I’ve always said that what I am most passionate about is evangelism (reaching the lost), but that what I could do all day every day is discipleship (encouraging the Lord’s people). Well, our current roles are doing discipleship (caring for other missionaries) in order to help the work of evangelism (helping missionaries to reach unreached peoples)! So, while we are on home assignment, we will have two main focuses. The first is Matt finishing up his counseling degree so that when we get back to PNG, he can better help missionaries to thrive, and therefore stay on the field and reach unreached tribes. Our second focus is meeting with people and sharing the need for what we are doing, so that we can add people to our team of people supporting us through prayer and finances. (If you are interested in meeting with us and joining our team, let us know!) Why do we think that a counseling degree will help? Well, imagine that in one moment, everything about your life changed- your home, your culture, your language, your food, your financial situation, your job, your hobbies, your church, your friends, your support system, and your proximity to family. Next, imagine that you were working in a ministry job that you deeply cared about, but encountered difficulties, spiritual struggles, and conflict with your coworkers. On top of that, you recently witnessed a traumatic event and are no longer feeling safe in your home. Now, you might think that this is an exaggeration, but it is the very real experience of many missionaries. Becoming a missionary involves change in almost every major area of life, which is stressful in and of itself, but add to that the anxiety that comes from living in a less safe environment and the struggles that full time ministry involves, and the difficulties can seem almost insurmountable. Added onto all of that is the fact that missionaries are far from their support systems. During our time on the field, we have seen missionaries leave because of mental health struggles, substance abuse, sin, conflict with coworkers, and family issues. We believe that a lot of these issues could have been prevented or remedied if the missionary had the opportunity to deal with things while they were still small. Do we think that counseling is the answer for everything? No. However, we do see it as a huge gap in missionary care and something that could be hugely beneficial in helping our members not only to stay on the field, but to thrive spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. Jesus came that we “may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10b). We believe that caring for the Lord’s people means caring for them holistically, not being content with missionaries just barely getting by, limping along mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, until they finally have to leave. So, even though I won’t be calling up Simon Cowell anytime soon, I’ll be praising the Lord that He has us doing something we love in pursuit of something we’re passionate about, and we’re confident that He’s passionate about too. Till all know, Matt, Karissa, Ty, and Wyck |
| Please Pray: -For Matt as he starts his final class and counseling internship next month -For Karissa as she prepares to homeschool Ty and Wyck -For us to spend our time well and balance our priorities -That we can meet with people and share clearly about our ministry and what God is doing in PNG -For us with lots of upcoming dental and medical appointments Praise God: -We have enjoyed lots of good time with family since being back -For safe travels to Missouri and Iowa -We have enjoyed getting plugged back in to our home church -We have already had two friends from PNG visit us -Ty has not had any issues with his asthma since being back   Our family enjoying a trip to Minnehaha Falls Wyck enjoying a little, er, big, slice of America  What are we supporting? This month’s tribal focus: Pray for the Dinangat church. The Dinangat church is making disciples who are making disciples! They are now on their 4th outreach, as a result of a wind storm. Because many believer’s houses were damaged, they decided to move to another place that was not as susceptible to wind, and as a result of interacting with these believers, the people living in that area asked if they could hear this gospel message! Pray that the people in this village would understand and respond to God’s message of salvation. Pray also for another village in the area that believers would like to do an outreach in, but they are not currently open to it. |