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Showing posts from August, 2018

Deep Roots

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Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,  whose trust is the Lord.   He is like a tree planted by water,  that sends out its roots by the stream, And does not fear when heat comes, For its leaves remain green, And is not anxious in the year of drought, For it does not cease to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8 This passage speaks of bearing fruit In ups and downs 'cause of its roots They’re deep, they’ve dug down to the soil That cannot be disturbed or spoiled It offers life from underneath Regardless of the sun and heat I’m challenged thinking on this truth Because I have neglected roots In leaving for the mission field I forfeited 'familiar' yield  Transplanted 'cross the ocean wide I’ve been surprised at what’s inside My heart seems frail at best sometimes Because my roots need to abide In soil rich....the Words of God Not settle for the greenish sod If trials ceased I would not grow Because they make me crave

Learning Tok Pisin

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We have been struggling a bit with learning language....not so much with the difficulty of it but more the time management needed to learn it well.  We have been doing an independent study method with some helpers, however the needs around us are plenty and our study time quickly gets pushed to the back burner.  We know this has not been beneficial for our learning, but we were unsure how to do it differently.....so we have been praying that God would help us with the changes we need.  Well God did just that....in His perfect timing He opened a door for us to take part in the Ethnos 360 new missionaries orientation in their culture and language course.  This is a like minded mission that has a much larger presence in PNG.  It means that we take a 30 minute morning drive to attend class at a different site and then come back around lunch time three mornings a week.  This allows us the the separation from our busy world at home and puts us into a classroom setting.  It’s an accelerated

Trip to Simbai

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This last week I (Brian) had the opportunity to visit a team member and the ministry that takes place in Simbai, PNG.  This place is only accessible by air as all road that have been created have been washed away by landslides.   I was able to start the jouney a day later than planned as we continue to learn we live in the land of the unexpected and flexibility is key. I was able to go with Pastor Jack who is the President of Goroka Baptist Bible College (GBBC).  We wanted to look at the current ministry and assess future ministry needs. The landscape of this country is truly breathtaking!  Even through the thick jungle canopy the signs of smoke coming up from cook fires are everywhere.  I have often heard PNG has the most unreached people groups in the world for the Gospel......I understand much better now that it's not only the 800+ languages but the isolating terrain. This is the view coming into the Simbai airport....just a grass runway. We were able to stay in some mission hou

Fighting Entitlement

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I wish I could say that this post wasn’t about me.  I would really rather focus on my children as they were what triggered the thought and realization at all.  However, that would be unfair to them and unreal to those of you who will read this. Tonight at the dinner table, I battled with my children about eating their food.  There was nothing wrong with the food that was placed before them.  They just didn’t WANT it.  Ugh.  Entitlement.  They felt entitled to what they wanted rather than what they were given.  It’s dry season here in Gororka, Papua New Guinea.  There are families all around us and friends we know who don’t have food because it hasn’t rained on their gardens.  Not to mention, they don’t have drinking water because again, it hasn’t rained.  My children don’t realize the privilege it is to have food at all. Now, me?  My entitlement battle was different.  I felt entitled to grateful children.  After all, my children had a mother and dad who were eating the SAME food.