Vision Driven Ministry- The Why
One of the goals I’ve had for a while, is to start working with missionaries who have decided to come to PNG, as they raise support. We call it Ministry Partnership Development (MPD). In preparation for that, I’m watching through the class they offer at the Ethnos360 Training Center on MPD. They encourage the students to start with the “Why.” Why are you going to Papua New Guinea as a missionary?
I imagine there are lots of layers to “why” for each of us. My personal “why” has always been to mobilize people in caring for missionaries and in going themselves. But why might it be important to care for missionaries? One reason is, it isn’t easy to be separated from those who have sent you- your family, friends, church; it can be very isolating. Our missionaries come here and live among people who don’t know them on a deep level, and many live among people who don’t even speak the same heart language they do, and our church planters live among people who don’t share their culture or worldview. But then you add in the effect that transition has on us, as we make new friends who start getting to know us on a deeper level, and then leave.
While being removed from those closest to you is hard, add in the fact that we have an enemy that doesn’t want us to succeed in this work and will seek to make us ineffective in any way that he can.
Those two factors alone make us very needy for prayer and encouragement and the affirmation that we’re not alone, that we’re still seen and known. It’s important to have people reminding us of truth and to have people behind us even when it’s hard. So, mobilizing people in caring for missionaries is my personal “why,” and these are some of the ways I attempt to carry it out . . .
I develop communication resources that our missionaries can share with their churches and supporters to bring greater understanding and connection to what we do here. These videos and articles about what NTM PNG does and how God is working, are also shared with sending organizations around the world that work together as Global Partners.
This video is about how we disciple young believers in our new church planting locations by having relationships with them. That’s why it’s so important that our church planters live on location with the people they’re teaching.
I equip our support missionaries who live on centers to care for our missionaries who live in the bush by managing a Prayer Map, sending out flight dates for birthdays, reminding our team of ways to encourage those in the bush, and facilitating a Member Care Prayer Team.
I also facilitate a prayer call of ladies from around the world who are either currently serving or used to serve in Papua New Guinea.
Through a Missionary Care Discussion Group that lasts 5 weeks I work directly with churches who have sent missionaries to work in PNG. We discuss different aspects of missionary care based on scripture, like shepherding, prayer, enabling missionaries to report back, sending out, welcoming back and building relationships.
I also participate directly in missionary care through Ladies’ Debriefing Retreats, praying with ladies from tribal locations when they visit, offering Ladies’ Dinners at my house and consistently reaching out to many of the ladies we have serving in tribal locations.
Since being back, I’ve been able to host a game night and a few ladies’ dinners and our ladies’ Bible Study.
I want to see our missionaries cared for, and I also work to recruit laborers to join us here, so that roles will be filled and people will be less likely to burn out. I create/maintain brochures and promo packs, distribute information to sending organizations and create recruitment videos.
I’m also currently the contact person in PNG for the next Encounter, short term trip in Dec/January. The hope for this trip is that participants would come and see what church planting is all about and the needs we have in education, medical, IT, business and management and would want to come back and serve alongside us.
I had a graphic designer here with me three years ago, and she designed many brilliant things. Now it’s my job to maintain those things. I just updated this map of the language groups of PNG.
All the blue locations are people groups we are not currently working in. The brown ones are people groups we are ready to have missionaries move toward, when we have enough missionaries to go. The pale beige are people groups where we have seen a national church planted. The two shades of orange are where we currently have missionaries working, sometimes in partnership with believers from a neighboring people group. There’s still a lot of work yet to be done!
And that brings me to another layer of “why” Papua New Guinea specifically. There are over 800 tribal languages in Papua New Guinea and many are still asking for God’s Word to be taught to them. The ultimate “why” is that God is worthy of worship from every tribe, tongue and nation. And for every language group to be able to worship Him, they need to hear of Him and the good news of what he has done to enable them to be in relationship with Him, free of the bondage and fear that characterizes the animism that many currently believe.
There’s been a drought in Papua New Guinea, which seems to be extending the dry season later into the year. While that’s very difficult for our neighboring communities and the remote people throughout the country who rely on their gardens for food, it has resulted in some beautiful skies. Please pray for rain!
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