How Do You...?

How do you gather information about an area you’re interesting in bringing the Gospel to when you’re spending 9-10 hours a day prepping and teaching Math and Physics?

Well, if you’re Nate, you send your partner (Mason) and a friend named Joey, a new orientee learning culture and language here in Papua New Guinea. Nate would have loved to go on this information-finding trip but realized he’d better save his “time off from class” for an official survey which, Lord willing, will take place sometime this fall. We want to share Joey’s letter with you and share our excitement with you over what may develop as we look to reach this people group!

The short version (for those of you who prefer bullet points):

• Mason and Joey traveled as far as they could via truck into the mountain range we’re interested in finding out more about.
• They met about 100 speakers of the language we’ve tentatively targeted. These men were very interested to hear that we will potentially be visiting them later this year.

Things to pray for with us:

• God’s provision and direction for all the details in planning more information-gathering trips in this people group.
• Balance in our home, our work and ministry, parenting and marriage.
• That we would walk with God step by step – submitting ourselves to His Word and trusting in Him!

Thank you…we appreciate each one of you lifting us up before the Father. We wouldn’t be here without you.
Elizabeth for the family

Here is Joey's Letter:

Hey Everyone, This last week has been absolutely amazing for me (Joey). I had the opportunity to go on an adventure into the mountains of Papua New Guinea. Mason, a fellow missionary here at the base, has been praying (along with his team) about a certain people group tucked deep in the Adelbert mountain range. I was able to follow along with him as we investigated the logistics for a possible survey trip into this area.

The town of Madang acts as a PMV (Public Motor Vehicle) hub taking folks all over the countryside. So, with day-packs strapped on our backs we asked around town to find the PMV that would take us to our destination. We found the right PMV named Lasmoni, then jumped in the back along with some men who were from the foothills of the Adelbert mountain range. They packed a considerable amount of supplies for their village in the truck since it would be some time before they would come back to town

We finally got moving around 5:30 that evening, and after getting a bit of fuel and some snacks for the road, we were off. The road hugged the coast for a better part of 2 1/2 hours, and though this PNG "interstate" looks about like a Tennessee country road, that didn't stop our driver from moving along at about 100 kilometers per hour (or around 65 mph).

Around 8 that night, we turned off the main road onto what barely qualified (in my mind) as a trail and started our ascent into the foothills. The road was rough and mostly uphill, and by 8:30 the PMV had gone as far as it could possibly go. The people loaded most of the supplies into bilums (jungle-material bags) and placed the larger items on their head. With a light rain on our backs, Mason and I joined them in the dark trek up the mountain. After 30 minutes of an unrelenting uphill climb, we reached our base village called Savon. We all cooled down with some water and conversation, then Mason and I bedded down into the humble house of the local aid-post worker named Ugi and prepared for an early morning probe of the trail which curled deeper into the mountains.

The next morning came too abruptly, but with water in hand and the sun just peeking over the mountains, Mason and I headed up the ascent in order to inspect the condition of the trail. The climb was considerably harder than the night before, and I was only able to hike for about an hour until my legs and lungs cried "mercy"! (Fast food makes one slow!) And unless Mason was up for carrying me back, I figured it was best to quit while I still had some energy. So we strolled back down the mountain, stopping to talk to more locals to learn about what lay ahead for any would-be survey team equipped for a trek deeper into the bush. From what Mason learned, he estimated the walk to be about a 2-3 day journey for any team wanting to get into the survey area!

Unknown to us, the last part of our journey would be the best! It was quite dark as we rolled up our mats around 5 the next morning, said our thanks-yous and good-byes, and headed down the mountain to where the PMV would take us home. We arrived early and were quite surprised to see nearly 100 people in temporary leaf shelters with cooking fires around the PMV stop. We climbed up a small rise to sit down with them, and Mason asked what village they were from. Would you believe that they were all from the very language group we had been wanting to survey!! I couldn't believe it. I could only sit there awestruck as Mason talked with these people for nearly an hour as we waited for the PMV. He learned that they were sending some of their people to town to, among other things, buy and sell at the local markets. Mason was able to confirm much of what he had learned from others, and talked to them about the possibility of coming. They were quite excited at the prospect of that! Please pray for Mason, the rest of his team, and regional leadership as they pray through making formal contact with the people.

It was good to get back to my comfortable bed and see Lauren and Ellia again. And the girls did great for their first time alone in PNG. But you know... I couldn't shake the fact that we were able to make contact with folks from this people group who may someday soon hear the Gospel preached for the first time in their own language. The Lord is good! In Christ,
Joey