Matt and Karissa Long
  • Home
  • About
  • Give
  • Photos
  • Subscribe
  • Contact


What Did You Say?!

April 26, 2026 by Matt and Karissa Long

APRIL 25, 2026

“I haven’t seen you for a long time, so now I don’t like you.” “This afternoon, I threw my baby on the ground.” “In America we watch a sport where people kill each other on a field.”

Those are all things I mistakenly communicated when I was first learning Tok Pisin.

One of our values in NTM PNG (New Tribes Mission, Papua New Guinea)  is clear communication. We have a God who communicates with us. As Hebrews 1:1-2a says, “Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son.” Therefore our missionaries seek to communicate clearly by teaching in people’s heart language, and teaching through the Bible chronologically.

In our work in member care, a lot of what we do is try to help people communicate clearly. So many misunderstandings and hurts come from poor communication. However, different personalities, different cultures, different perspectives, and different experiences all contribute to a lack of clear communication. Sometimes our fears, busyness, hurt, or pride keep us from even trying to communicate.

We experienced the importance of this lately personally. The past few months we were really struggling with some things, and realized we needed to talk about it with the individuals involved. We had some meetings with them, and left with encouragement and clarity. Just through communication, God worked to totally turn around a situation. Currently we are working with some people who are having some conflict. Our hope is that through communication they can come to a point of reconciliation. Over the past few months, we have sat in on many meetings between individuals in order to help facilitate understanding and good communication, and it has been helpful to the parties involved. The main part of what we do though, is just talking with people, listening to their hurt, encouraging them, and letting them know that they are seen and loved.

Throughout history, God has bent over backwards to communicate with His people, because through communication, love is displayed. So, a lot of our ministry is “talking,” but I would never say it’s “just talking.” Please pray for us as we seek to help people communicate, and through this work display the love of God.

Till all know,
Matt, Karissa, Ty, and Wyck

WHAT ARE WE SUPPORTING? THIS MONTH’S TRIBAL FOCUS: Pray for the Mamusi team
The Hughes and Pav families have been preparing to go into this new location for a long time. In fact, the first posts for their houses were put in the ground in 2022, but obstacle after obstacle has prevented them from being able to move in. The Hughes’ house is now completed, and they are in the process of building the Pav’s house. This is the team I was working on making meals for last month, because this building time is a stressful and intense time. Pray for rest and hope for the team, and pray that God would be preparing the Mamusi people to be hearing His Word for the first time.

NCA students at a special event

Please Pray:
– for reconciliation between people we are working with
– for good communication in meetings
– for wisdom in some upcoming ministry decisions
– for our boys as three of their good friends are leaving soon


A house being built in Mamusi

Praise God:
– Our home church sent some money to help pay for Matt’s conference trip
– for good clarity brought in our meetings
– the meals we sent in for the bush build have been a huge blessing to that team
– people have been reaching out to us asking for help (this is an answer to prayer because if we know about needs, we can help!)

Filed Under: Uncategorized

More Posts:

« Open Tabs

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • About
  • Blog
  • Home
  • Give
  • Photos
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

Disclaimer: This personal ministry website is provided by Ethnos360 as a courtesy to its members. Ethnos360 makes no warranty regarding the accuracy of the information on these pages. Opinions expressed are provided by members in good faith, but are entirely those of the member and do not necessarily represent policy, doctrinal position, or opinions of Ethnos360. If you encounter information that you consider questionable, please e-mail the Ethnos360 web team.

Matt and Karissa Long

© Copyright 2026 Ethnos360. All rights reserved.

Log In

  • 