NTM

This past weekend, we visited an island off the coast of Papua New Guinea. This is the newest tribal work in our region with two missionary families moving in earlier this year. The Biem people (also the name of the island) numbers around 2000 with their unique language and culture. We were very excited to visit this tribe and see tribal church planting in its infancy.

Abby and Kala did amazingly well on the trip. Not too many 3 and 5-year old kids get to ride on a 23-footer out in the open sea and climb on a single-engine plane a few days later (bush orientation).

The Biem language does not have written words (and no bible translation). No missionaries have ever lived among the people on the island before NTM moved in. We spent Saturday visiting different folks on the island and observed their way of life and culture.

This was our first trip out of town since we arrived in PNG a few months ago. We got to see the housing setup for tribal missionaries, the solar system as well as the daily routine of family life in the tribe. The people were very friendly and extended their warmest welcome to us. At the same time, we are reminded of the need to share the gospel with them. Behind every smile is a soul who does not know his or her savior.

One of the core values of New Tribes Mission is the urgency of the task to bring the gospel to the unreached. Spending the weekend on this island reminds us again God’s heart for the nations and why we are here. Please pray for the Biem people and the missionaries in this work (the Buser family and the Depner family). May the Lord finish the good works He has already started!

Oh yeah, on the way back, we ran into a school of dolphins and they swam right next to boat for a good five minutes. We were too awestruck to pick up our camera…

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8th, 2009 at 12:02 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.