It has been a while since we explained again why we are in Papua New Guinea (or PNG). Before Ben was born, God placed the idea in our heads about being overseas missionaries. But here is a little back-story:
Caleb lived for 4 years here in PNG when he was a boy….his parents served as missionaries with the same organization we are serving with. That being said, Caleb learned at a very early age, he did NOT want to be a missionary. He decided in high school that he was going to get a well-paying job, live in America and never have to ask anyone for anything.
I grew up having never known an overseas missionary personally until I met my husband and his family. You might think I was one of those girls who sat around reading biographies about all the great missionaries from before. Nope. Not me. I was into Care Bears, She-Ra and Fraggle Rock. Does anyone remember Zoobily Zoo? Thought never crossed my mind.
Needless to say, God had a different plan for our lives. Through the Holy Spirit’s nudging, friends and mentors questions and our churches messages, we realized that we were at a place in our lives where we could literally pick up and make this change. We saw that there was a great need in PNG that Caleb had the skills to meet.
I wrote this back in 2009 when we were planning to move to PNG:
“I feel like sometimes we take it for granted that we have always had the Bible. ‘Try to imagine the United States without the Bible. Our Declaration of Independence alludes to it; our laws are built on its ethics; the Bible permeates our literature from Shakespeare to Robert Frost. Yet that tradition remains unavailable to millions.’ Staggering totals of over 6800 languages are known to exist in the world today.
Approximately 340 million people still do not have access to God’s word in a language that they clearly understand. Believing that time is short and that these people have waited long enough, our organization has adopted Vision 2025. The goal is that translation work will be started in each of the nearly 2000 languages which still need it by the year 2025. It’s a huge task and many people are needed doing a variety of jobs.”
Bible translators need support. Sure, they could translate the Bible all on their own, but it would take so much time. A translation project takes anywhere from 10-20 years to complete. And, that is WITH all the help translators are currently receiving. There is a center here in PNG which makes it possible for translators to do what they do. We have doctors and nurses, accountants, managers, computer technicians, mechanics, pilots, airplane mechanics, teachers and more. It is essentially a small town committed to supporting the work of Bible translation that is going on in PNG. We also support other missions that are here in the country.
Caleb has helped in the role of security. We are in a third world country and there are issues with crime here just like everywhere else in the world. Here is what someone recently wrote about his role:
“I am truly and deeply grateful that God called Caleb to PNG to work full-time as our head of security. The significant changes and improvements made to the security protocols have been an enormous benefit to the community. Previously men would come and go, sitting in the office for just a few weeks at a time, taking much of that time just to figure out what was going on, and offering our national contacts almost no continuity. (I can say that with some insight and without any ill feelings as my husband was one of them!)
Caleb’s presence has also given confidence to our friends who live outside the fence, knowing there is someone they can partner with in their efforts to scale down the criminal activity coming from their villages. The Papua New Guineans I have spoken with have great respect for him and appreciate the time and access he gives them. He has changed the way security is done in the area by networking in a culturally appropriate, respectful and gratifying way with the local police force and Valley neighbors and by being proactive in a very complex situation.
Adrienne’s attitude has been amazing to me. I have never once heard her complain. She exudes confidence in Caleb’s work and encourages others to not express fear through her great sense of humor. Caleb’s sense of humor, too, has probably allowed him to work longer and with more intensity than most men would be able to do!
The Valley security situation reached a critical point days after Caleb’s arrival and is now, six months later, the best I have ever experienced in our 5+ years as members of the PNG Branch. God has used Caleb to accomplish His righteous purposes, not just for our own good but also for the good of our PNG neighbors.”
A mentor/supporter recently e-mailed me with the following statement:
"…'too many Christians live as if the purpose of their lives is to arrive safely to the time of their death’. One of the things God has been teaching us the last several years is that we are all part of his ‘big story’ of redeeming the world from sin and we need to partner with Him in that effort as opposed to falling into the trap of our own ‘little story’ and thinking our life is about us.”
I really like how he worded this: “we are all part of his ‘big story’ of redeeming the world from sin”. That means that even though we are the ones who are physically here in PNG, we are not here alone. God has brought a team of committed financial and prayer partners to us to support us as we go. These people are living risky lives, too. They are giving up some of the comforts of money and time to engage in the ministry that is going on thousands of miles away from them.
I would challenge you to live a risky life. Francis Chan has this really popular YouTube video about taking risks….you should check it out. Hopefully this link works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA_uwWPE6lQ
(If not, just Google Francis Chan and balance beam.)
Let me know what you think....
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