What? More Schooling?

As a freshman in college I asked God to use my life – with a notable exception. I had no interest in becoming a missionary. But God had different plans. Two and a half years later I had an insatiable desire for missions and began searching for information.

I found Interface on the Internet and called the number. A kind voice on the phone answered all my questions. He asked me if I was really serious about a trip like this, since it wasn’t your typical short-term trip. You spend five weeks learning about what it takes to be a tribal missionary – by actually doing the hard work yourself. I assured him I was serious. He called me back in a couple of days and said my tickets were purchased and the plane left in one month. I didn’t recall committing that seriously! But the Lord must have known what it would take to get me out the door.

I arrived in Papua New Guinea and soon learned about the organization called New Tribes Mission. I was impressed with their focus. It wasn’t on numbers of baptisms and conversions, but rather on getting to know the people and how they were receiving the Word of God. Were they understanding the Gospel message?  Were new believers equipped to grow and study the Word of God on their own?  Was the Word of God available to them in a language they could understand?

I was sold. Back home, I finished my last six months of college, walked across the stage, received my diploma, shook hands with the Dean, and went home to pack my stuff for the NTM Bible Institute.

I was not at all thrilled about having to do more years of schooling. The last 16 didn’t seem all that beneficial and were almost “inefficient” in my opinion. So during the first week at Bible school, I asked if there was any way to fast track through the classes … finish in a few months rather than a couple years. Nope, that was not an option. Now, I thank God it wasn’t.

The first six months at Bible school were a bit … well, everything. Scary, disappointing, encouraging and joyful. At times, I felt I was surrounded by stoics. Where were the jubilant worship sessions?  Where were the all-night prayer vigils? The focus was just on … studying the Bible. I guess I thought the focus was supposed to be on feeling God move and work, almost expecting something mystic to happen.

Something else happened instead. For the first time in my life, God’s Word began to come alive for me. It demystified and became something concrete that I could understand. I found the answers to my questions. God’s will for my life was clearly laid out in the pages. His work and His leading had been there the whole time. When I moved on to missionary training, I wished I could go back and do the whole two years of Bible school again (I still do).

The missionary training was great, but I didn’t realize how great until we got to Papua New Guinea. Now I see the reason for the interpersonal relationship classes. There are lots of them here to deal with! The worldview class was incredible and also taught for a reason. I’m actually listening to the recorded worldview sessions over again right now. It helps snap things into focus – why the people do what they do, why so many seem to readily accept the Gospel message but never bear much fruit, why they want me to tell them stories all the time, and how these informal stories play a role in their understanding Truth in the formal Bible teaching. All of this information has been incredibly helpful.

So, here we are – using the valuable skills we learned. My wife and I are learning the national language as we stay at the missionary center and are picking up the culture as we venture out and spend time with the people. We have some very close friends from the village nearby. It’s hard to imagine ever getting fully integrated into the culture here. Our backgrounds are different, our skin is different, and our circumstances are different. But nevertheless, we are sharing life with those around us. Listening to their stories, sharing our own … discovering how God is leading and guiding and moving His church here in Papua New Guinea.