Church planting
We
just returned from an amazing trip to Brenham, Texas. Bob, one of our
supporters, not only gathered an astonishing amount of hand tools for
our ministry, but he also spent several days teaching me various
elements of woodworking, joinery, and construction.
I
did my best impersonation of a Bob-Vila-shaped-sponge (that’s not a
thing, is it?), while making box joints by hand,
shaving/drilling/assembling a mortise and tenon platform from a fallen
tree (using a shaving horse and a draw-knife), and employing various
power tools. Blessed? Yes. Definitely.
"Perfect is close enough" when it comes to measuring.
Rynn gave our unfinished platform a good stress test!
Just Showing Off.
We all know God occasionally throws an inside curve ball. Usually, he’s trying to get us to back off the plate, refocus, and wait on the right pitch (I know, I know, an imperfect sports metaphor…but hey, I’ve had too much coffee to resist…). Our solar electric system is designed off a rectangular floor plan I saw in a bush house last summer in Papua New Guinea, but our team recently learned that the Wantakians live in circular houses. The only people with rectangular houses are either foreigners or very rich. We’d like to avoid propagating those stereotypes, so we scrapped the rectangle house-plan.
Dilemma.
What do we replace it with? A round house? We briefly looked into prefab yurts. They were cool, sturdy, and quick to construct, but expensive and devastating in regard to the relationship-building time that normally accompanies the house-building phase of ministry. The people’s round houses typically only last a few years before they have to be rebuilt, so that was out. We needed a middle option.�
Light-bulb.
What if we threw them a curveball by building an octagonal house? Not a rectangle…not round…but round-ish. This seemed to be the perfect middle-ground, but how would we build one? What would the floor-plan look like? How would we make a sealed octagonal roof from corrugated tin?
We all know God occasionally throws an inside curve ball. Usually, he’s trying to get us to back off the plate, refocus, and wait on the right pitch (I know, I know, an imperfect sports metaphor…but hey, I’ve had too much coffee to resist…). Our solar electric system is designed off a rectangular floor plan I saw in a bush house last summer in Papua New Guinea, but our team recently learned that the Wantakians live in circular houses. The only people with rectangular houses are either foreigners or very rich. We’d like to avoid propagating those stereotypes, so we scrapped the rectangle house-plan.
Dilemma.
What do we replace it with? A round house? We briefly looked into prefab yurts. They were cool, sturdy, and quick to construct, but expensive and devastating in regard to the relationship-building time that normally accompanies the house-building phase of ministry. The people’s round houses typically only last a few years before they have to be rebuilt, so that was out. We needed a middle option.�
Light-bulb.
What if we threw them a curveball by building an octagonal house? Not a rectangle…not round…but round-ish. This seemed to be the perfect middle-ground, but how would we build one? What would the floor-plan look like? How would we make a sealed octagonal roof from corrugated tin?
While in Texas, an
architect from our family’s church heard about our dilemma, met with
Lael and me for a few hours, solved our roof problem, and volunteered to
draw up professional plans for our bush house! Again, God constantly
shows us that this task is impossible apart from Him and His provision
through the rest of the Body! So humbling, true, and encouraging!
Some of you have said things like, “I could never do what you and Lael are doing.” Well, we can’t do it on our own either. We’re frail and fearful, but we’re willing to trust in God’s provision. Please pray that we continue to begin every day surrendered to God’s plans for our lives. That’s all any of us can do. Some of His plans are in our comfort-zone; some aren’t. All of His plans are in His comfort-zone.�
May we all continue to pray the most dangerous prayer, “Jesus, I’m willing to go anywhere at anytime to do anything for You. Show me what that looks like.”
Some of you have said things like, “I could never do what you and Lael are doing.” Well, we can’t do it on our own either. We’re frail and fearful, but we’re willing to trust in God’s provision. Please pray that we continue to begin every day surrendered to God’s plans for our lives. That’s all any of us can do. Some of His plans are in our comfort-zone; some aren’t. All of His plans are in His comfort-zone.�
May we all continue to pray the most dangerous prayer, “Jesus, I’m willing to go anywhere at anytime to do anything for You. Show me what that looks like.”
Unto the Nations
Posted by Katie Bowman on Wednesday, May 28th, 2014
“He
is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot
lose.” -Jim Elliot (missionary to the Auca and martyr of the faith)
� 
Check out this first hand account of a team of missionaries who gave of themselves to see the Yembi Yembi people group reached.
� Humbling Provision
Posted by Jack and Lael Crabtree on Monday, May 19th, 2014
Transitioning
to a different country might be complicated, but God has been showing
off lately! We had several huge financial needs, and God completely
crossed them off our list by working through his church! One family
provided 90 percent of the funds we needed for our solar electric
system, and we were able to purchase $12,000 worth of plane tickets for
about $500 through a mixture of air miles! We serve a creative God!�
Thankfully we’re on the last step of our paperwork! Everything made it through the PNG government, and now we just need to send some documents to the embassy here in the States…and wait. This month we’ll be getting everything together and loaded onto the shipping container we’re sharing with the Sanders and Hambrices. Please pray for patience and wisdom as we organize everything and try to go with minimal belongings.
Letters From Wantakia
Our Letters From Wantakia art event went great. Samuel Gray created an incredibly moving image called Reaching the Unreached [see below] for us, and we were able to sell signed prints and t-shirts, while informing friends about our future ministry with the Wantakian people in the central highlands of Papua New Guinea!
Wisconsin!
We’re in Waukesha, Wisconsin saying our last goodbyes to friends from Sprizzo, Brooklife Church, and New Tribes Bible Institute! It’s been an emotional whirlwind, and we’re so thankful for the many great friendships we’ve been blessed with in the frigid north! This is a special thank you to all the Brooklifers who stopped by our table! You guys are awesome, and we’re proud to be part of the church family representing you all in Papua New Guinea!
Shirts!
To order a “For This I Toil” shirt and help us get to the field, click here. Five colors available.
Next Stop: Texas
After a week to catch our breath, we’ll be taking our last big road-trip down to Texas to visit with friends, family, and supporters. This is an extra special trip (and another example of God’s creative provision), because one of our supporters has purchased many of the power and hand tools I’ll need and is going to teach me how to build furniture by hand!
We’re so thankful for the way the church can function together, and so humbled by everyone’s generosity. Thank you all for your prayers and support!�
Thankfully we’re on the last step of our paperwork! Everything made it through the PNG government, and now we just need to send some documents to the embassy here in the States…and wait. This month we’ll be getting everything together and loaded onto the shipping container we’re sharing with the Sanders and Hambrices. Please pray for patience and wisdom as we organize everything and try to go with minimal belongings.
Letters From Wantakia
Our Letters From Wantakia art event went great. Samuel Gray created an incredibly moving image called Reaching the Unreached [see below] for us, and we were able to sell signed prints and t-shirts, while informing friends about our future ministry with the Wantakian people in the central highlands of Papua New Guinea!
"Reaching
the Unreached" by Samuel Gray – Christ stands on a grass airstrip in
Papua New Guinea beckoning us (the birds) to come join him in the field
where laborers are few.
Wisconsin!
We’re in Waukesha, Wisconsin saying our last goodbyes to friends from Sprizzo, Brooklife Church, and New Tribes Bible Institute! It’s been an emotional whirlwind, and we’re so thankful for the many great friendships we’ve been blessed with in the frigid north! This is a special thank you to all the Brooklifers who stopped by our table! You guys are awesome, and we’re proud to be part of the church family representing you all in Papua New Guinea!
We stayed with some amazing friends, and Nora (and Rynn) had a blast playing with Kojo!
Shirts!
To order a “For This I Toil” shirt and help us get to the field, click here. Five colors available.
Next Stop: Texas
After a week to catch our breath, we’ll be taking our last big road-trip down to Texas to visit with friends, family, and supporters. This is an extra special trip (and another example of God’s creative provision), because one of our supporters has purchased many of the power and hand tools I’ll need and is going to teach me how to build furniture by hand!
We’re so thankful for the way the church can function together, and so humbled by everyone’s generosity. Thank you all for your prayers and support!�
Building More Than Just a House
Posted by Coleton and Shawna Williams on Thursday, May 8th, 2014
As
we are starting to think about going into a village, there are a lot of
plans we have to make when it comes to house building. Things like
buying lumber in town at three times the cost, or cutting and milling
all of our wood taking three times as long. The possibility of using all
bush materials and living with the bugs, or buying plywood and being
bug free, and how much of our own goods do we want to bring in or how
simply do we want to live.
There are a lot of factors that go into making these decisions. One of them being relationship building, what kind of example are we making for the people that will one day be the church, and how much are we feeding into their cargo cult mentality that believes white people have the spiritual secrets to getting more cargo from the spirits. There is also the cost factor.
With there being no roads into the locations that we go into, we have to pay the $1000 per hour for the helicopter to transport of the materials we will need for our house. Things like our solar panels and wiring are a necessity, but many of the other things we can live without. So the question is, what do we NEED to be effective in this church plant, and what are the things that we can really live without? This means that we are letting go of many of the niceties that we may have in town or America so that we can better reach these people with the gospel.
This is a big task and it takes a lot of people to get us where we need to be. First it takes people like you, praying and giving so that we can make the wise decisions of what we need to buy. There are also people who help us buy the materials in town, people that will help us mill the wood we need, a helicopter pilot that transports all of the materials to our location, and missionaries and people from the village that come out and help us build our homes.
So what stage are we at right now? Right now we are in the first stage, finding people like you who are willing to diligently pray and generously give to this cause. As of right now, we have all of the solar panels, batteries and things for wiring our house. So now we need your help over these next few months to help raise the funds we need to build this house.
There are a lot of factors that go into making these decisions. One of them being relationship building, what kind of example are we making for the people that will one day be the church, and how much are we feeding into their cargo cult mentality that believes white people have the spiritual secrets to getting more cargo from the spirits. There is also the cost factor.
With there being no roads into the locations that we go into, we have to pay the $1000 per hour for the helicopter to transport of the materials we will need for our house. Things like our solar panels and wiring are a necessity, but many of the other things we can live without. So the question is, what do we NEED to be effective in this church plant, and what are the things that we can really live without? This means that we are letting go of many of the niceties that we may have in town or America so that we can better reach these people with the gospel.
This is a big task and it takes a lot of people to get us where we need to be. First it takes people like you, praying and giving so that we can make the wise decisions of what we need to buy. There are also people who help us buy the materials in town, people that will help us mill the wood we need, a helicopter pilot that transports all of the materials to our location, and missionaries and people from the village that come out and help us build our homes.
So what stage are we at right now? Right now we are in the first stage, finding people like you who are willing to diligently pray and generously give to this cause. As of right now, we have all of the solar panels, batteries and things for wiring our house. So now we need your help over these next few months to help raise the funds we need to build this house.
Life is a Highway (or a poor excuse for one)
Posted by Coleton and Shawna Williams on Saturday, April 5th, 2014
When
you think of a highway, you probably think of a nice paved road, high
speed limits and multiple lanes of traffic that can take you to all of
your destinations with ease−but that is not the case here in PNG. I have
done the trip from Goroka to Madang province twice this month, which is
a 7 ½ hour drive on what they call the “highway”. You drive several
hours of up and down mountains on a road that barely fits two cars and
no shoulder, you are stop-and-go because of the huge gaping holes in the
road that you can lose a small child in, and you are dodging missing
pieces of the road from mountain slides. Then you are on the flat part
of the road where it feels slightly more “normal” until you are dodging
yet again more ginormous potholes. Then you get to what the call the
“finnastair mountains”. Now you are going up and down more mountains
that have 20% grade or more (all of the nice potholes included), missing
chunks of road, the nice washboard feel from what is now a dirt road
that has been rained on everyday, and sheer drop-offs with no railings
to make it all the more safe. Then you finally drop down into the coast,
with the beautiful coconut trees, jungle vegetation and smoldering heat
to reach your destination, Madang province.
Why did I do this, twice? To help a fellow coworker build his house on the Volcanic Island of Manam! It was a great experience of learning how to wire up solar panels, plumb in toilets and sinks and learn just some of what it looks like to have a house built in the middle of nowhere. In three weeks, with three different groups of men and women the house is finished and the missionaries can now start the process of learning language and culture to bring the gospel to this people group! It’s a pretty amazing feet and can only be done with the help of the Lord!
Good News
We are excited to be thinking that in the next several months, we can be in the same process that our friends in Manam are in! Yes we have some good news! A man approached us a few weeks ago and told us of a people group that has been begging for the gospel to be brought to them. They have seen the changes in the people group that the missionaries are in and they want this in their lives too. This church wants to help reach these people but they are a totally different language than them and they know they don’t have the resources to move six hours up the mountain and be able to provide them with the Bible in their language. That’s where we come in. We have the opportunity to partner up with this church and go into this new people group to help bring the Word of God into their language. Please be praying for us as we are looking into this people group that the Lord would direct our steps and if this His plan, that He’d make it clear to us.
�
Prayer requests
-please pray for us and the leadership as we work towards going to this people group
-pray for our coworkers as they head home next month to have their baby. Pray that it would be a smooth delivery with no complications and that they could get back to PNG ASAP
-pray for us as we wait, that we would be content in what the Lord has for us here and now
-pray as we start to make purchases for our tribal house, that God would continue to provide the big funds needed
Why did I do this, twice? To help a fellow coworker build his house on the Volcanic Island of Manam! It was a great experience of learning how to wire up solar panels, plumb in toilets and sinks and learn just some of what it looks like to have a house built in the middle of nowhere. In three weeks, with three different groups of men and women the house is finished and the missionaries can now start the process of learning language and culture to bring the gospel to this people group! It’s a pretty amazing feet and can only be done with the help of the Lord!
Good News
We are excited to be thinking that in the next several months, we can be in the same process that our friends in Manam are in! Yes we have some good news! A man approached us a few weeks ago and told us of a people group that has been begging for the gospel to be brought to them. They have seen the changes in the people group that the missionaries are in and they want this in their lives too. This church wants to help reach these people but they are a totally different language than them and they know they don’t have the resources to move six hours up the mountain and be able to provide them with the Bible in their language. That’s where we come in. We have the opportunity to partner up with this church and go into this new people group to help bring the Word of God into their language. Please be praying for us as we are looking into this people group that the Lord would direct our steps and if this His plan, that He’d make it clear to us.
�
Prayer requests
-please pray for us and the leadership as we work towards going to this people group
-pray for our coworkers as they head home next month to have their baby. Pray that it would be a smooth delivery with no complications and that they could get back to PNG ASAP
-pray for us as we wait, that we would be content in what the Lord has for us here and now
-pray as we start to make purchases for our tribal house, that God would continue to provide the big funds needed
becoming amdu… will you give me a gift?
Posted by Bryan and Martha Conard on Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014
Over
the past couple weeks it has been AMAZING to be able to FaceTime with
Benjamin and Missy and the kids several times! It had been about a year
since we’ve had any form of communication besides e-mail. What a treat
to see their faces, hear the voices, and laugh along to the tune of
their giggles.
Hearing Benjamin talk about the intensity of the challenge to learn the Amdu language and culture has been sobering. They are climbing well, but the mountain is high. The language is key, like having a water source. But learning culture is to language what a bucket is at your water source. Learning Amdu culture is enabling Benjamin and Missy and their team to express life, and ultimately the Gospel, in a useful and meaningful way. Please keep praying for them.
Here is some recent news from them…
“We’re planning for a language check sometime in late May to determine how we have progressed in the language since our check last October. But language learning is only half of the investment that we are making with our time. We are also busy learning as much as we can about the Amdu culture too. Culture and Language Acquisition has been very challenging but we are encouraged with the progress the Lord is helping us to make. Thank you so much for praying for us.
“While exploring the culture of the Amdu people we have discovered fascinating things. For example friendships seem best understood through the exchange of gifts. Friendships are established and maintained by a system of give and take – exchange. From the outside looking in it looks like friendship is bought and it feels disingenuous. And when it is turned in our direction we honestly don’t know exactly how to react. �
Just before we left Amdu for our break many of our friends came and made special requests for things. They said that because we were friends we should give them a gift and in turn they would remember us while we were gone and be sad. This didn’t feel like friendship to us, but it forced us to consider more deeply the perspective of the Amdu people.
We want to build deep friendships and be generous but we recognize that we won’t be able to live up to their expectation of exchange. This does not mean that we are at a loss. It simply means that we need to better understand how the Amdu relate to one another. This will help us to decide what cultural practices are appropriate for us to participate in and which ones we should not. Becoming Amdu isn’t a complete abandoning of our own values and culture; it is learning how the Amdu see the world, relating to them as best we can, while recognizing that many changes will come to their understanding of reality when they hear the Gospel.”
Hearing Benjamin talk about the intensity of the challenge to learn the Amdu language and culture has been sobering. They are climbing well, but the mountain is high. The language is key, like having a water source. But learning culture is to language what a bucket is at your water source. Learning Amdu culture is enabling Benjamin and Missy and their team to express life, and ultimately the Gospel, in a useful and meaningful way. Please keep praying for them.
Here is some recent news from them…
“We’re planning for a language check sometime in late May to determine how we have progressed in the language since our check last October. But language learning is only half of the investment that we are making with our time. We are also busy learning as much as we can about the Amdu culture too. Culture and Language Acquisition has been very challenging but we are encouraged with the progress the Lord is helping us to make. Thank you so much for praying for us.
“While exploring the culture of the Amdu people we have discovered fascinating things. For example friendships seem best understood through the exchange of gifts. Friendships are established and maintained by a system of give and take – exchange. From the outside looking in it looks like friendship is bought and it feels disingenuous. And when it is turned in our direction we honestly don’t know exactly how to react. �
Just before we left Amdu for our break many of our friends came and made special requests for things. They said that because we were friends we should give them a gift and in turn they would remember us while we were gone and be sad. This didn’t feel like friendship to us, but it forced us to consider more deeply the perspective of the Amdu people.
We want to build deep friendships and be generous but we recognize that we won’t be able to live up to their expectation of exchange. This does not mean that we are at a loss. It simply means that we need to better understand how the Amdu relate to one another. This will help us to decide what cultural practices are appropriate for us to participate in and which ones we should not. Becoming Amdu isn’t a complete abandoning of our own values and culture; it is learning how the Amdu see the world, relating to them as best we can, while recognizing that many changes will come to their understanding of reality when they hear the Gospel.”
Literacy & Mission Conference in North Cotes, England
Posted by Jerry and Joyce McDaniels on Saturday, March 22nd, 2014
taking in some history in York
literacy class of Colombia
Posted by Jerry and Joyce McDaniels on Monday, March 3rd, 2014
literacy class of Colombia, 2014
but God can!!
Posted by Lance and Laura Ostman on Thursday, February 20th, 2014
looking forward to spending time with these dear people
Laura came down with a bad cold and I thought I had a thorn or something embedded in my foot. So, off to see the doctor… Laura’s cold is just that, a virus, that hopefully will be gone within another week. What I thought was embedded in my foot turned out to be shingles! I guess if there is a “good place” to have shingles it’s in the foot. The doctor prescribed some antiviral medication and after scrapping ourselves up off the floor when the pharmacist told us the price, we made our purchase and so far, praise the Lord, the symptoms have not gotten any worse. I’m thankful that it isn’t painful, just a bit of discomfort.
We postponed our flight into the village twice due to our illnesses and needing rest, but we are preparing to fly tomorrow, Friday! Please continue to pray for us as we settle into “village life” again and as Lance gets to work on the initial checking of 1 & 2 Kings. Ron and Michelle will be going to town to attend to some medical things as well as take a break. Once they are back, we will be working on Joshua.
No, we cannot do this but certainly God can! Matthew 19:26 “…with God all things are possible.” And one of our favorite verses Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Thank you for partnering with us!
Secure in Christ alone,
Lance & Laura
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