We watched a video series by Andy Stanley about “Why Worry.” He emphasized that no one can increase their life expectancy by worry and asked who has in fact decreased their life expectancy by worrying. He stated that the things to which we are most devoted are the things about which we worry. These are bidirectional, emotional reactions to each other. We should shift our devotion to the kingdom of God. We can face uncertainty and not worry if we have faith and trust that God will take care of us. We should not worry about the things we cannot change and work on the things we can change. Once we have done all we can do today, we should trust God with our tomorrow.
Another family from my pre-field orientation class last November in Florida has arrived in PNG. They are will be at our Interface Center where people considering tribal missions can come for a six- week program which introduces them to mission life in the bush. There are formal classes and field trips to tribes if the opportunity and time allows. They live in basic “modern” huts but no indoor plumbing – although it is a very controlled environment inside a locked fence. For people who are interested in tribal missions but can’t come to PNG, Wayumi is a NTM center in central Pennsylvania with a simulated tribal experience.
Some students stay after the Interface program to intern at some of our departments here at Lapilo. We have two students in the clinic currently. Justine is in physician assistant school and the Abigail plans to become a nurse. We also had a pre-med student, James, come for a month and a temporary nurse, Mandy, from Alaska come for three weeks. Mandy was covering while our only nurse was on break. She lives in the Arctic Circle – what a difference in climate! She was working for a hospital owned by the local corporation. (They have corporations rather than reservations in Alaska.) When she returns, she will be changing from hospital nurse to public health nurse and travel to the villages. There are no roads so all her travel will be by plane. She showed me some pictures of their winter and summer seasons. Absolutely beautiful! I would love to visit her someday – in the summertime – and see some of their villages.
I did have the wonderful opportunity to see some of NTM’s works in other areas during these weeks. Dr. Bud, James, Mandy, and I went to see our regional Madang headquarters which is on the northern coast of PNG. They provide services to the missionaries who serve in the tribes of that region plus they have a guest house where the missionaries can stay should they need to come out of the tribe. Others can stay there as well. The senior class from the school here at the field headquarters just spent a week there.
We were able to visit a national Baptist church in Madang. The sermon was in pidgin and some songs were in pidgin and some in English. The ones in English were from a hymnal. The pidgin songs were actually hymns we sing in the US that had been translated to pidgin. It was fun to sing those. Most of the pidgin songs in the highlands where I live are ones that the people here have written and they are not written down so I have a hard time following.
One of the highlights was seeing the magnificent Pacific Ocean. A boat took us to Pig Island where some people dove while others, including myself, snorkeled. There was a beautiful coral reef with a wide variety of vibrant colors. The fish were equally amazing. I thought I was looking into an aquarium. I saw clown fish, angel fish, blue fish, yellow fish, all colors of fish. I did not see any dolphins, sharks, or barracudas. There were lots of sea lice (the larval form of jelly fish) which get under your clothes and sting you. I got several bites but they were more of a nuisance that painful. The divers saw a sunken boat. I saw a tire and a sink.
The boat then took us to a second stop where the snorkeling was not quite as good but I still really enjoyed it. The divers saw a sunken WWII bomber plane and James sat in the pilot’s seat. He thought that was pretty cool! James is part Japanese and both of his grandfathers fought in the war on opposing sides. His Japanese grandmother was already living in the US during the war (before she met his Japanese grandfather) and she was placed an internment camp.
My second visit to see some of NTM’s work was to travel the Simbari tribe higher up in the mountains. It was about a 30 minute flight and I went with Mandy and Lori (one of the missionaries in that tribe) for a very quick tour. We went on a Wednesday morning and I had to be back in the clinic that afternoon. It really helped to place perspective on NTM’s purpose of being here in PNG. There are about 100 people that live in the village where Lori is and there are about 5,000 in the Simbari tribe. About 1/3 of her village are believers. There is another religion in the village and the peer pressure not to follow in the grace of Christ is great. While the other people had stone-cold faces and hard stares, the believers’ eyes and faces were full of joy. The other villagers are now hearing the testimony of the believers and prayerfully they will soon believe as well.
Lori had been in the US for a couple of months and this was her first time back in the tribe. They were so excited to see her and one very elderly lady was upset that Lori was leaving again after a couple of hours. Lori will go back to stay on Monday but, since she is single, she does not stay in the tribe too long without the married couple who are also missionaries in the same village. The couple had also been in the US and will return to the tribe on Friday. The villagers understand the missionary husband (David) is Lori’s “watch papa.”
Lori was so excited to find out that while the missionaries were out of the tribe, the believers started two literacy schools with a total of 27 students. They teach the people to read in their tok ples using the translated Bibles and other stories, some of which Lori has written. One of the national believers is now traveling to his home village to share God’s Word. I saw the hut where they hold one of the literacy classes and church services. David has discipled some of the national believers and they rotate speaking on Sundays. The walls were lined with pictures from the Bible in chronological order from creation to crucifixion. They use these in their teaching. Lori and her tribal co-worker just completed the translation of Romans and they will now start Ephesians. The people were so excited to learn from Romans that God forgives and forgets our sins through the grace of Christ’s sacrifice for us!
The elderly ladies were wearing grass skirts and the other people wore western class. Most of the ladies had a cape hanging from their head that is made from bark. They work it to make it pliable and then use it as a blanket, something to sit on, to handle hot pans, etc. I hope to visit some other NTM works and perhaps stay longer next time.
I started a Bible study this past week with some of the ladies here at the center on the book of Ruth. I am very excited about studying this book and getting to better know some of the ladies. I will start another language learning class on Monday. I will be taking it with Murray and Paula (another family that was in my pre-field orientation class). We will be given some tools to use in learning and then go into the villages across the road from the center to “story” with the locals.
"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6: 24-34
Shirley Falls - Connecting You to Tribal Missions in Papua New Guinea
