Edna Trigg

Total Years of Service with NTM

Edna’s Total Years of Service with NTM was 49. When Edna was 16 years old, she heard 2 NTM single girls, who were heading to Japan as missionaries, speak at her High School, They invited her to come to hear them speak again at a nearby church. That was where she got saved and challenged into missions at the same time. She started her missionary training with NTM in 1951 in Fout Springs, CA. Because of her bookkeeping and office skills, after a very short time she was asked to help at the NTM Headquarters in Chico, CA and was there a couple years. When the NTM Headquarters was moved to Woodworth, WI she served there in the mailroom for another 3 years. However, she knew the Lord wanted her to be a missionary overseas and so in 1959 He answered her prayers and opened the doors for her to head to Papua New Guinea.

“Unbeknown to me, I met my future husband, Chippy (Richard Trigg) when I went through Australia on my way to PNG. He was finishing his missionary training at that time and came to PNG in 1961. Chippy had been in the Royal Navy for 22 years. He got saved at the Naval Christian Fellowship in Hong Kong. When he returned to Australia he heard Harold Jackson from NTM speak and was challenged into missionary service. On the field, we became friends and in 1962 he asked me to marry him. I didn’t say yes until September of 1963 and then we didn’t get married until March of 1964!”

Tell us about your tribal ministry.

Soon after my arrival in PNG, I went to live in the Yagaria tribe. I lived in a little native hut, with no windows. It wasn’t even tall enough for me to stand up completely. Rain leaked in around the center pole to the roof and kept half of my bed damp at times. I was soon joined by another single girl from Australia, named Ruth Parry. The Yagaria people lived in fear of the “spirits of their ancestors”. Therefore they spent much of their time trying to “trick the spirits” in order to do what they wanted. They had no way to earn a living and so lived off what they could grow or glean from the jungle. Soon the government introduced peanuts and coffee to them for cash crops. We learned their language and culture and developed many friendships with the people. One of my jobs was to teach them to read and write their own language.

What things did you see change through the years for the Yagaria people.

Many of the Yagaria people have become believers. They have their own elders and teachers in their own church. They now have the New Testament in their own language and are reaching out teaching other tribes people around them the good news of the Gospel. They no longer practice having intertribal arranged marriages, or kill the second baby if they have twins. They testify happily of their freedom from fear of the ancestral spirits. We could see it daily, as now the children “can play outside among the trees” instead of being afraid of them.

What was your biggest test of faith?

Facing the unknown! It seemed to have crossed my path from so many different angles through the years. First of all I remember as a single, just heading off to another unknown country and then going to live in an unknown tribe. Later I remember struggling to decide if it was God’s will for me to marry Chippy. Yet now I look back and those were the happiest years of my life! Then there were times when we had low financial support and this faced us with many decisions, not always knowing what to do. Probably one of the hardest times for me was when I had to go on without Chippy. He died of congestive heart failure and was buried in the Yagaria tribal area in PNG in 1991. I knew he was in heaven, but it was hard to leave the country and “leave his body there”. Then later it was just as hard to go back without him. But through it all God led me step by step and still is! I say over and over again…”I am SO glad God this is your problem. I can’t fix it and I am trusting you. I continue to remind Him of His promises.”

Advice you would give to new missionaries going to the field.

Ask God for 100% of His grace not 75%! God’s grace was sufficient for me and it will be for you too. If we try doing it ourselves, it will take us out of the work.

Edna came to NTM Homes in 2000 and continues here on retired status. However, she has returned to PNG 4 times, for several months at a time, since then to work on various projects. She has helped to type the Yagaria Chronological Bible Lessons onto the computer so they could be proofed and printed for use by the tribal leaders. She is now helping with the same thing for the Sina Sina Chronological Bible Lessons. She also continues to proof read other tribal works projects that are being printed at our NTM International Headquarters. Edna’s life continues to be used to glorify her Lord and Savior!

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