Papua New Guinea Reflection

Marriage is such a wonderful thing. It really is. In this instance I’m thankful for my husband because I was having a hard time processing our time in Papua New Guinea and he has helped greatly. Knowing that I process things better when I can write them out, my husband gave me some prompting questions to get the ball rolling as we reflect on our time in Papua New Guinea. Below is only a brief look into our time, but it’s important for us to share all the same:

What expectations did you have going into this trip? In what ways were your expectations met, surpassed, and/or unmet/lacking? 

Going into this trip I expected to grow closer as a family, to gain an appreciation for the people of PNG, and to hear clearly from the Lord about our family's next steps in missions. My expectations were delightfully surpassed in our growth as a family both relationally and spiritually. We learned to work better as a team and grew in praying and reading the Word together. We didn't hear as specifically from the Lord about our next steps as I had hoped, yet I did gain a perspective shift and attitude change in giving up my own ideas and agendas in missions and recognizing how beautifully God is already at work. This has propelled me to seek Him about how I can be a part of the work going on PNG - through prayer, serving those who are leading, giving, etc.

What is one memory/story that was most impactful? 

My most impactful memory was something that happened while we were in Yonki. I had become fearful thinking about the future and its uncertainty and wondering what God might want me and us as a family to do - what if He asked us to live in PNG? I found myself in that moment completely and utterly unwilling to do so and my head was a mess of confusion. Prompted by my husband, I prayed a simple prayer - "Lord, I'm not willing, but I want to be. Please make me willing to do whatever You ask." That morning we headed to church and the sermon was about growing in maturity in our faith and trusting God in the unknowns. The sermon and all the worship songs were in pidgin and there was a lot I couldn't understand, but I caught enough to see that God was speaking to me through the pastor's words. In addition, I felt His presence so strongly while listening to the worship songs and was overwhelmed by the beauty of this local church that was locally led! After church we had the privilege of having lunch with the pastor, our host in Yonki, and a family from Ukraine who helped plant the church (whom we had met when they were in Kona for a brief season). It was one of the sweetest times of fellowship of our entire trip. All throughout that day I could feel God reminding me that He was always with me and that He wouldn't ask me to do something alone - there would always be other believers and people of peace wherever He leads. That day I also gained an even greater appreciation for the people of PNG, the beauty of their voices, languages, skin color, way of life. 

What were you most surprised about? 

I was most surprised how at home I felt no matter where we went in PNG and how easy I found it to adapt to life there. I didn't even mind regularly using pit toilets and bucket showers!

What are you still praying/wondering about as it relates to your time in PNG?

When will we visit PNG again, what will we do there?! How do we serve PNG and work toward God's plans & purposes there when we are not physically present there?