 Supporting Tribal Church Planting in Papua New Guinea |
| “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” -Romans 8:28 When I was eight years old, what I really wanted for Christmas was a Playskool dollhouse. I just knew that my grandma was going to get it for me. She was the best gift giver, and she always got me the thing that I really wanted. So, Christmas finally came, and she passed out the presents. She placed in my hands a very small box. As I waited for my turn to open it, I was confused and disappointed. It didn’t look like what I wanted. And yet, I knew my grandma. She loved me, and she only gave me good gifts. So even though I didn’t understand, I knew the giver, so I just knew that somehow it was going to be good. My turn finally came, and when I opened the box, inside was a note that said, “Go look in the closet.” I ran to the closet, swung open the door, and there it was- the Playskool dollhouse! Sometimes there is something that we really want from God. We ask him for it, and wait for it, and what we have instead doesn’t look like what we want. This can leave us disappointed and confused. That’s how we felt when we didn’t get to be tribal church planters. We asked God for it, we worked towards it, we waited for it, and the answer was no. However, instead he led us to support tribal church planters through member care. That role has been a gift better than we could imagine. It is a great fit for our giftings and our passions. We always said that what we were most passionate about was evangelism (reaching the lost for Jesus) but what we enjoyed most- what we could do all day every day- was discipleship (investing in and encouraging other believers). God gave us a role where we could further the cause of evangelism through doing discipleship. If something in your life doesn’t look like what you want, I want to remind you that God only gives good gifts to His children. Trust the giver. It might not look like it right now, but just wait- God is going to use it for good. Merry Christmas! Till all know, Matt, Karissa, Ty, and Wyck |
 We celebrated Matt’s birthday by throwing axes Praise God:- He continues to provide for our needs – We are looking forward to some family time as Matt has a break from school – Wyck is making good progress with his speech and voice therapy – We are nearing the end of a lot of our medical appointments – Karissa got to speak at a ladies’ event about waiting on God, and it seems like God really used it in people’s lives  Someone shared this after the women’s event  The boys cut down our Christmas tree Please pray: – That God would lead more people to join our support team – That people we love would walk closely with Jesus, and that we can know how to encourage them – For wisdom in how to balance our time – That we can be a witness to our neighbors – For a hard situation in PNG that Matt is trying to help with from afar |
What are we supporting? This month’s tribal focus: Pray for missionaries trying to move in to a new location (Mian), trying to trust that God’s gifts are good. Missionary Jezekial Van Der Decker writes,”As we approached the rapids yet again in the dug-out motor canoe, all of us jumped into the river and began pushing the canoe up the shallow, yet swift rapids. This was the 16th time we had to jump out and push… the river will sadly NOT be a feasible route to transport the bulk of our building materials.In light of that, the timeline for us to build our houses will be pushed back until later next year. This has felt like a major set-back in some ways, yet we are trusting that the Lord is in this, that He is good, that He cares even more than we do that these Mian people come to know Christ, and that He is directing our steps.” Jezekiel Van Der Decker, Mian |