{"id":505,"date":"2022-08-28T03:49:22","date_gmt":"2022-08-28T08:49:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/?p=505"},"modified":"2022-08-28T03:49:24","modified_gmt":"2022-08-28T08:49:24","slug":"thanks-but","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/2022\/08\/28\/thanks-but\/","title":{"rendered":"Thanks, but…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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“Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. \u00a0He named it Ebenezer (which means ‘the stone of help’), for he said, ‘Up to this point the LORD has helped us!'” – 1 Sam.7:12

Why did God have the Israelites set up standing stones?\u00a0\u00a0Surely they would remember the great thing He had done and never doubt Him again!\u00a0\u00a0And yet, it\u2019s funny- I forget time and time again what God has done for me and worry about the next thing, as if He is not able to come through for me.

God provided a headache medicine that worked for me, and I praised Him.\u00a0\u00a0But then I worried, \u201cIs the doctor going to prescribe a year\u2019s worth for me to take to PNG?\u00a0\u00a0Is the pharmacy going to fill it?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0He did, and they did, and I thanked God, but then I worried, \u201cHow am I going to afford this?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0And then God led someone to donate the money that I needed for it.\u00a0\u00a0I thanked God, but then I worried, \u201cAm I going to get stopped at customs and not be able to bring all this medicine with me?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0But God gave us travel mercies and no one even asked me about it.

God has come through for us time and time again, and I wish that I would stop doubting Him.\u00a0\u00a0However, I know that I trust Him more than I did yesterday, and Lord willing, I\u2019ll trust Him more tomorrow.

Thank you for all of your prayers for us as we travelled back to PNG.\u00a0\u00a0He abundantly answered them.\u00a0\u00a0The first TSA agent who checked in our bags was a believer, and was gracious to us as we had a couple of slightly overweight bags (whoops!). \u00a0Then, all of our flights arrived on time, and all of our luggage arrived with us too (which has NOT been happening consistently for people here). \u00a0Someone even said, when I mentioned it to them, “Wow! \u00a0Who was praying for YOU?!” \u00a0The travels basically went as well as they could have, and the boys handled everything swimmingly.

I apologize for not writing an update sooner. \u00a0Once we got back, we hit the ground running and really haven’t slowed down. \u00a0We spent the first week trying to unpack our suitcases, unpack the necessary things from storage, and shoving everything else into a shed until we could deal with it. \u00a0Then, we dove in to preparing for school, which started August 8. \u00a0This is the least amount of time I (Karissa) have had to prepare for teaching, so I have felt like I’m just treading water trying to stay one step ahead of my students. \u00a0Matt also dove headfirst into his member care role, planning for orientation for new missionaries, planning Bible studies, and meeting with people in our (still undecorated!) home. \u00a0Thankfully Ty and Wyck are loving school and doing well!

Please continue to pray for us as we try to adjust, teach well, and care for other missionaries well. \u00a0We are so thankful we\u00a0get to serve in these ways, and we are confident that “Up to this point the LORD has helped us!”

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


Praise God:
– Our adjustment back to PNG is going well!
– Wyck has made lots of new friends!
– Although he was nervous to start, Wyck has been enjoying school!
– We feel like reconnecting with people has been going really well
Please Pray:
– that Karissa will be able to start feeling more on top of things for her teaching
– for Matt as he has started a new online class, and it has been difficult
– that our family can find rest and balance in our new schedules
– for the Mibu church, who continue to face trials<\/td><\/tr>
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What are we supporting? \u00a0This month’s tribal update: \u00a0Pray for the Maliyali people. \u00a0They will start hearing “Phase 1” teaching TOMORROW! \u00a0Phase 1 teaching means starting to go through the Bible teaching, from creation to Christ, for the first time! \u00a0Pray that people will come, that they will have open hearts, and that they will understand God’s Word well. \u00a0Pray for the missionaries, for wisdom, endurance, courage, and grace as they begin the teaching. \u00a0There is a Maliyali man who has been helping with translation, so he has heard bits and pieces of God’s Word. \u00a0Emily Rimestad shared his reaction to knowing he will soon hear the rest of the story. \u00a0“We have been living with our hands bound, and our eyes blindfolded. \u00a0For so long we have been sitting in the corner of the house not being able to see anything that is true. \u00a0But I can see a little, my eyes are beginning to open and for the first time I am telling myself, I can see, I see there is truth and I am hearing it for the very first time.”<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. \u00a0He named it Ebenezer (which means ‘the stone of help’), for he said, ‘Up to this point the LORD has helped us!’” – 1 Sam.7:12 Why did God have the Israelites set up standing stones?\u00a0\u00a0Surely they would remember the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1074,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-505","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1074"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}