North of Australia and just south of the equator lies one of the most unique destinations on earth. Linguistically, culturally, and geographically it lies worlds apart from what many of us are familiar with. It is the home of 839 different languages, with 300 of these yet to receive the written Word of God. It is the most rural of all nations with a mere 13% of the population living in urban centers. It has the most varied and least documented species of plants and animals in existence. In fact the world’s deadliest bird, the Cassowary, that boasts dagger-like claws over 4 inches in length has been known to attack humans.
Little was known about this group of people to the outside world until the 18th century when Portuguese and Spanish explorers began to arrive. Missionaries soon followed around mid-century and brought the Gospel to the people. Due to the cultural and geographical difficulties that missionary work still continues to this day.
My interest in this little island nation began with a meeting I had with a former missionary while still in high school. Doug Schaible, a theology teacher at Ethnos 360 Bible Institute (where I was to later attend), came over to my house one day for dinner. We had a wonderful meal together with both of our families and it was then that he asked me the question, “Where do you want to serve as a missionary?”
I answered, “I’m not sure. Anywhere the Lord will send me.”
He said, “May I suggest Papua New Guinea.”
“Why there?”
“Because there is a great need and Papua New Guinea is very open to missionaries coming to them. Besides, they make the perfect training ground for new missionaries.”
He would then go on to describe how new missionaries are young and zealous, but they haven’t yet had the experience, the humility, and the maturity needed in more dangerous areas like Iraq or Korea. According to Mr. Schaible, they haven’t been “rocked around enough yet by the Lord to know that they are nothing. Papua New Guinea is a good starting ground.”
“Well,” I thought, “I guess I am going to Papua New Guinea.”
It was at Ethnos 360 Bible Institute, where I would later attend classes, that my desire to serve in PNG began to really grow. It was during this time that I learned about Finisterre Vision – a missionary organization that is focused on church planting mainly among the tribes living in Papua New Guinea’s Finisterre mountain range.
The people of PNG are very open to missionaries and the tribes have requested help. An example is given below, where the tribal leaders have sent a letter to the mission asking for them to bring “God’s Talk” to their village. The request was given by the Yot tribal leaders, written in Melanesian Pidgin.
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The translation reads:
Community leaders give the OK. We’re asking the mission agency if there is a way to send a group to come to Yot. If you do that, we leaders will be very happy to work along with them to bring this work program to a start.
The people of the Yot tribe requested missionaries to: 1) come and learn their culture, 2) learn the language of “Tok” (their heart language), and 3) to translate the Bible into their own language.
Bibles and churches are still needed in MANY places around the globe. PNG is just one of them. I hope to serve God there as long as He has me in that country.
