Category Archives: Shake the Gates Press

Todd’s thoughts on living out Kingdom principles

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Day 17: Worship and the Meaning of Life

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I remember one Sunday morning that was at once confusing and altogether clear. The garamut (a drum made by taking a log, laying it on its side, carving a resonance chamber out of the middle, firing it (to help preserve it), and ritually carving it in the shape of a totem) had already been sounded the third time, indicating that it was time for our church meeting to start. While waiting for attendees to file in, my elderly neighbor approached dressed only in a malo, a sort of g-string fashioned from pounded tree fibers, with a flap hanging in front for modesty. Malos are traditional clothing that men usually only wear during feast times or special celebrations. He was dressed in full regalia. Confused, I asked the question, “Why the malo this morning?” His response was that he was wearing this attire to honor his ancestors–to honor and keep their ways.

His belief system, his worship of local deities and their underlying demands, drove him to forcefully remind his fellow Somau Garia of the ongoing interaction of the recently dead, the need for appeasement of them, and the overwhelming caution not to accept Jesus Christ, lest they offend the local gods.

Our worship defines the parameters of our action, the extent of our risk, the flavor of our character. The extent to which we worship, who we worship, even why we worship will cause us to live, as the Steve Camp song says, “dangerously in the hands of God”, allowing others to think us crazy, allowing others to reject and despise and even attack us. Shaking the gates of hell is risky business in a word devoted to everything but God. There in Uria Village that day, I was reminded that we were ministering in hostile territory, that there were some folks there that felt threatened by the Gospel and that they were willing to risk derision and danger to preserve the object of their worship.

The big question that people of every generation asks is “Why are we here? What is the meaning of life?” What and how we worship reveals our understanding of ultimate meaning. Sometimes folks say that they worship something (God is a good example) yet their behavior says otherwise. This is a folk belief. Watch how a person expends their energy, notice the things they talk much about , watch how they treat others and how they use resources and a picture of their true belief will emerge.

My friend wearing the very uncomfortable attire that Sunday morning believed in the power of the spirits of the place and of the recently dead to the extent that he took an enormous risk to win back the hearts of those who were going over to Jesus. Even though he attended church often, his real belief was based upon traditional tribal religion.

We in the West struggle with the tension between folk religion and true religion as much as an animist. We follow a God who left heaven and put on flesh in order to become both the perfect high priest and the atoning sacrifice for our sins. We follow a God who loves humility and despises pride. God’s character, speech, and action all indicate self-sacrifice for the good of others. Yet, we in the West have been distracted by our super-culture, one which is based on pride, self-aggrandizement, and pursuit of more. Even the character of many of our churches falls very much in line with this folk belief that God rewards those who work harder, get smarter, and are physically healthier than the next person. We resist the concept of “living dangerously in the hands of God.” Our ability to focus on our own “achievements” causes us to lose focus on God derived meaning. I struggle with this tension as much as anyone.

However, I am not excused from surrendering to God’s true character and desire for me, recognizing it for what it is–selfless, self-sacrificing, and reconciliatory–that is, God reconciling the world back to himself. Therefore I am called to live abandoned to God, living dangerously in His hands, risking derision, danger, even death, if need be, to make Him known. I worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus was despised and rejected and killed and yet he lives. He is the object of my worship. That worship is the meaning of my life.

Live Dangerously in the Hands of God
I can worship Him in such a way because I have been given every chance to know his true character because He revealed himself to me (all of us) in his Word. I have access to his Word in my heart language. The Somau Garia do not. What would you do to help insure that they have the same opportunity that we have to know Him by his Word? Click here to join us in prayer, interceding as our High Priest does continually for these people. Click here to add finances to your prayers, contributing to Pioneer Bible Translator’s ability to send us to Papua New Guinea to get the job done.

Thank you for reading, for praying, for wrestling with the tension!

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Day 16: Burdens

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I am the father of five children. I have walked alongside my wife through each those pregnancies, massaging her back, helping with chores, helping her get up off of those unbelievably low slung couches that seem to be in just about every living room I’ve ever sat in. I felt a deep compassion for the limitations that my wife endured while pregnant. Though I was there to care for and help her through the changes, she was carrying the heaviest burden that left nothing in her life untouched.

baby in a bilum

It was always astounding to watch Somau Garia women come and go from the village–leaving the village with a little laundry and a few pots, returning late in the day with quite a different burden. Often, a line of women could be seen traversing the soccer field with multiple layers of string-bags called bilum slung over their heads, filled to capacity. On the bottom, a full load of garden food. On top of that a load of fire wood. On top of that the cleaned cooking pots. On top of that laundered clothing. And on top and outside, a baby, swaying back and forth, rocked to sleep on the long walk home. All of them suspended from the woman’s forehead by the strap of the bilum.

The burdens most of us carry don’t show so much as these. The only signs of our burdens are a telling look of tiredness in the eyes, a slump of the shoulders and a defeated stride in our walk. Perhaps it shows in a sigh behind a closed door or a desperate prayer uttered in the middle of the night. In our times of desperation, defeat, and troubled hearts, we have a place to go to bring light into our darkness, strength to our sagging spirits, boldness to our eyes: the Word of God (and prayer, of course). Most of us have the Word of God in the language of our heart, in several versions, translated for different groups of people (like children, new readers, highly educated, literal, free . . .). We can pick up our Bible in the watches of the night and find truth to correct our false perceptions. We can pick up our Bibles and find hope. We can also find passages like Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” We can lay our burdens upon the One who carried our burdens, our sins, our troubles, our transgressions, our punishment. We can find rest from the burdens.

What of those who do not have the Word in their heart language? What do they do with those hidden burdens that are much harder to see? Where do they go in the watches of the night? At noonday? What do they do to find respite and refreshment? Can we help them?

Lift the Burden!
I strongly encourage you to make a difference in the future of an entire people in this regard. You can make a difference. You can shake the gates of Hell in doing so! First, you can pray. To pray with specificity and impact, I encourage you to join the prayer team. Click here to drop us an email letting us know of your intention to partner with us in prayer. You can add financial resources to your prayers by clicking here, which will take you to our Donate page. Your partnership with Pioneer Bible Translators will enable them to send us out to Papua New Guinea to directly intervene in this situation by translating the New Testament into the Somau Garia language.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

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Day 15: Hungry and Waiting

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The “old” gardens were nearing the end of their food bearing. I had noticed a general fidgetiness in Uria Village and I was beginning to get the picture. While there was plenty to eat, there was little of the main Somau Garia staple, taro, left in the gardens and folks were eating other things. All the same, people complained about being “hungry” and ready for the new gardens to be ready to eat from. I wondered what to expect next . . .

taro leaf

One afternoon my friend, Wilip, sauntered up to our house. He looked pleased with himself and clearly had something he wanted to tell me. Stepping close to me, grinning, he shared, “The taro is almost ready. I think we are going to feast next week. We’ll let you know.” The tenuous waiting began. The fidgeting increased.

Every day thereafter clan leaders would head off into the bush to their garden plots, checking the taro, no doubt salivating at the prospect of pulling the new crop of taro and holding perhaps their biggest feast of the year–the Taro Feast.

As I stood back and watched the activity day after day, I couldn’t help but think of a greater hunger that many of these people felt, but as yet were unable to articulate. Life is dangerous in a culture where you not only must deal with the living but also the recently dead, the totem spirits, and the gods that are believed to inhabit and rule the area. It’s tricky business keeping it all in balance. There is an underlying hunger (even cultural theme) that revolves around safety and security–whether that is food, spiritual steadiness, or peace in relationships.

Garia boy holds Book of Mark

The next generation of the Garia holding the Word of God in their hands.

One of the primary elements dealing with security is access to the Word–the ability to pick up a Bible in a language that speaks to the heart and drink in the promises, the encouragement, the correction, the exhortation, the teaching, the example, the Life that is revealed there. Easter of 2007 we dedicated and distributed the Gospel According to Mark in the Somau Garia language. One down, twenty-six to go.

 

Secure the Future!
You can play a major role in a secure future for an entire people. You can join the prayer team, crying out to God on behalf of these people, made in God’s image, precious to Him, by clicking here. You can join the provision team, adding financial resources to your prayers by clicking here. Your partnership with Pioneer Bible Translators through your prayers and gifts can help get our family back on the field in Papua New Guinea, translating the Somau Garia New Testament, giving the Somau Garia opportunity to respond to the Good News.

Blessings, Friends!

 

 

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Day 14: What Will Today Bring?

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There is a reason that people like reading authors like Clive Cussler or Tom Clancy. The reader can vicariously experience an adventure through the medium of the page without leaving the comfort of their recliner, beach chair, or favorite nook. The stories (fortunately) show us only the highlights of the adventure and don’t waste endless pages talking about how many times the main character took a potty break or waited in line or clipped their toenails. The reader gets only the details that carry the story forward and the rest is left out.

Missionary stories are much the same and, I think, that is one of the reasons that missionary life seems so exciting or so attractive to the Christian reader. Biographies, newsletters, blogs, sometimes even personally scribbled letters share the highlights and spare the reader the humdrum details of daily life.

It is the humdrum details, though, help the reader understand the missionary better, gain a clearer picture of what is involved in “the going” aspect of the Great Commission, and might even give the reader a whole new dimension of understanding and clarity in prayer. What does a day in the life of a Bible translator look like in Uria Village, Papua New Guinea?

It is often pointed out that Jesus went out early in the morning to pray, before it was light. Not always, but often, our village days started when the sky was starting to blush in the east, with Bible study and prayer. Missionaries don’t do this because they are so much deeper spiritually than others. They do it for survival. Out in Uria Village there is no Christian radio piping preaching, encouragement, and uplifting praise music into the house. We usually just hear the sound of the bamboo growing (you can hear it grow after a hard rain), the raucous call of the friar bird, or the clack, clack, clack of someone chopping dry firewood with a dull machete.

Uria house

After a bit, I would usually head down to pull-start the small generator and plug in the water pump. Our two main tanks sit on the ground and water must be pumped up to the roof so that we can have running water in the house. Angela would start preparing breakfast and getting the kids up and around. If we had it, she’d cook oatmeal or rice, I’d percolate coffee on the stove top. Sometimes it was pancakes or scrambled eggs. While eating breakfast we talked with the support staff in Madang on the 2-way radio, reporting in and doing business (supply or food orders, logistics, and one morning a week a devotion together).

Uria Workshop01a

At work together away from Uria Village in Madang, the Provincial Capital

At that point, depending on what was on the agenda, I’d head the 50 feet or so to the translation office (our original house) to meet with my Somau Garia co-workers to work on training, translation, or other stuff. If they were not scheduled to be working with me, I’d usually retreat to my home-office to study and prepare for coming sessions. However . . . 

The Bible translator is also the local carpenter, plumber, electrician, Head Master, civil engineer (sort of), ambulance driver, advisor,  first-aid giver, preacher, and teacher. Thus, any “emergency” can take the agenda and toss it right out the window–and often does. Common agenda breakers: medical runs to Walium, the aid station about 15 miles south and east of Uria or to Madang, about 40 miles away; repairs on the house; building of coffins when someone has died and needs immediate burial; first aid; prayer for the sick or dying; road repairs to our four-wheel drive trek; repairs to any number maintenance on the house or mission station. Other occasional interruptions: hikes to distant villages to train or teach or preach or mobilize or for funerals. Some of our greatest adventures have happened off the agenda at 2 a.m. I’ll leave those stories for other posts.

At mid-day we would all break for an hour or so. I’d join my family for a simple lunch, the guys would eat a light lunch and refresh themselves. A few of the afternoons a week, if they men were not in Uria to work on translation, I’d do maintenance or yard work. The mission station requires a lot of maintenance as we average about 190 inches of rain each year. When it’s not raining the equatorial sun takes its toll.

Taro feast, 2003

Angela and girls visit with Garia ladies, 2003.

Angela and kids of course worked on school during the day and the kinds of chores that none of us escape–laundry, cooking every meal from scratch, house work, etc. Angela spent time in the afternoon with local ladies and their children–being Jesus and being a good friend.

Dinner prep usually started around four, dinner at five or five-thirty. The evening was for baths, and reading together (we read out loud to the kids stories like The Chronicles of Narnia and The Lord of the Rings and of course the Bible) and sleeping. Sometimes there would be evening events, but not usually.

Sound pretty droll? In these moments, these daily regularities, Jesus showed up–in a kind word, in the text we were working on, in an exhortation, a laugh, always a living, breathing presence in us working through us. The adventurous stuff? Icing on the cake.

Opportunity Abounds!
You have an opportunity to be part of the daily presence of Jesus amidst the Somau Garia people and part of the adventure, too. You can join the provision team by clicking here to visit our Donate page. You can join the prayer team by clicking here to drop us an email to let us know of your commitment to pray with us.

Thank you, friends. A bit of good news–today a family joined the provision team and a family joined the prayer team. PTL!

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Day 13: He Tabernacled In Our Midst

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John chapter one uncovers, in just a few verses, the character of God, the purpose of Jesus’ coming, and even lays out what the gift that he is offering those of us who believe. I always pause and savor verse 14 when reading this passage: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The idiom for dwelt among us in Greek is that he tabernacled among us, i.e., he pitched his tent in our midst. Significant to him pitching his tabernacle is the relationship that the Exodus Jews had with the tabernacle. When the Israelites were wandering, the Tabernacle was always in the center of their camp with the twelve tribes arrayed around it. The place where God chose to dwell among the Israelites was in the center where it could not be missed. His presence was unmistakable as his glory was either visibly present or absent.

The Tabernacle in the Wilderness

The Tabernacle in the Wilderness

Imagine Jesus, in the flesh, in our midst: God in human form, living, breathing, speaking, listening, healing, hungering, being tempted, praying, crying out to the heavenly father, showing us the Father’s glory, the glory of the One and Only.

Think of the text in Hebrews 3:1 which challenges us: “Fix your thoughts on Jesus . . .” I remind myself regularly that Jesus is encamped right in the center of my life, his glory shining, illuminating every dark, shadowy corner of my heart, not allowing darkness to dwell there. Much better to gaze at His glory than to shut my eyes to Him and stumble in the dark.

Living the missionary life is very like Jesus pitching his tabernacle in the midst of the Israelites when he came to earth. We go, in obedience to and love for Jesus, and make our dwelling in the midst of people needing the Word of God in the language that their hearts speak. Our intention, however imperfectly it is carried out, is to be a picture of Jesus alive and working, offering grace and truth and–significantly–light and life. Morning, noon, night, when it is convenient, when it is not, we seek to breathe out the life of Jesus upon all who will receive him. We seek to make Him known, to be vessels of his glory and character to those who do not have access.

What is it worth to you to have the light shining from the tabernacle that Jesus has pitched in your heart? How valuable is it to you to have His Word in your heart language? Together, fixing our eyes on Jesus, we have a collective opportunity to invest in the future of an entire people, providing them with access to the Word of God in the language that speaks to their hearts. Would you join us in this great adventure?

The Great Adventure
If you like to join the provision team by becoming a monthly financial partner or a special projects financial partner, click here to visit our Donate page. If you like to join the Prayer team, click here to drop us an email to let us know of your desire to pray with us.

I’m praying today that the glory and majesty of Jesus will shine through you, in your family, your neighborhood, your city, your country, even to the ends of the earth. I’m praying that even as you go about your daily business, His grace and truth will be your daily bread, even the bread you offer to those around you.

May the Lord make his face shine upon you and give you peace. Blessings!

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Day 11: Proverbs 31 and the Art of Groceries

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It was rainy season, the sky was a slate of swollen, black clouds just waiting to spew forth their rain and make our four-wheel drive trek impassable. We had been driving for the last few hours down the Ramu Highway, a saturated mixture of clay, gravel, pavement, potholes, and the occasional landslide through the mountains. We did not relish the thought of turning back toward town when we were so close to home.

Uria Trek Damage Near Water

“Lord, hold the rain back just a little while longer.” We inched up the 23% (this is not a typo) grade of the last mountain before turning onto our trek into Uria Village. All four tires were gripping the trek as we slogged over the first hill and began to skirt Somau. A few places along the way we had to power out of pig-wallow enhanced ruts. The final bog was a joyous mudfest, slogging mud from the hood to the rear of our Patrol as we finally pulled onto the soccer field that serves as sometimes helicopter pad and soccer field and our front yard.

Friends gathered around and I climbed on top of the car to begin handing cargo down from the cargo basket mounted on top. After the last box was carried up the stairs of our house, the sky opened and dumped six inches of rain in about forty minutes or so. “Thank you, Jesus, for your kindness.”

This was one of scores of trips just like it, necessary to keep our mission station supplied with goods, enabling us to live away from the urban center.

You might find what happens at the other end of the food chain equally interesting, though. Here in Florida I can go to Wal-Mart or Costco or Sam’s Club and get pretty much everything I need under one roof–from socks to steaks to stereos. Shopping in Madang is different. It is more . . . diversified. There is the butcher for meat, the grocery stores for other foods and sundries, the hardware stores for hardware type stuff, the auto stores for spare parts (if you can get them), the department store for anything from guitars to refrigerators to generators. There is the province’s largest organic outdoor vegetable market where people from Madang and neighboring provinces come to sell produce. There are what we just called the Chinese shops which sell a combination of a lot of things. There are also a few stationary shops. We have to visit virtually all of these places when we shop for supplies. I’m sure I’ve left many out.

Madang Produce Market

Madang Produce Market

Having purchased all this stuff, we head back to the Pioneer Bible Translators office where there is a room dedicated to buying and shipping stuff. Here we repackage all of it, including boxing, taping, labeling, sizing, sometimes weighing (if we are using an aircraft) the cargo for transport. All meat has to be frozen solid and flat so that it will stack into the small freezers that LP Gas refrigerators have. If we are driving our 4 x 4 we have to decide how to pack it in or even if we will have enough room. Are you exhausted yet? This kind of buying and packing can take a week or two to accomplish . . .

Shopping in Madang

Shopping in Madang

On the village side, everything is then repackaged again to protect against humidity, rats, and six-legged pests.

Who is in charge of all the buying and preparing? Let’s just say that a certain energetic woman of noble character considers this one of her spiritual gifts (as do many others whom she has helped). What do I say about her?

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. . . Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.’ ” Proverbs 31:25;28-29

Join Today!
We are asking God for 40 new provision team members, 40 special projects donors, and 40 new prayer partners this month. Would you like to join us as we get the Word out in the daily grind? If you’d like to partner with us financially, click here to visit our Donate page. If you’d like to partner with us in prayer, click here to drop us an email.

Your partnership is deeply appreciated!

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Day 10: Obedient Children and the Incarnation

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One of the village realities we could almost always count on during our early years in Uria Village in Papua New Guinea was our neighbor walking to the edge of her “camp” and calling her children, at the top of her lungs, to come home. We could also almost always count on those kids to run the other direction and disappear into the bush. As one mother there once said, “Our children never do anything we tell them to do.”

Uria kids coloring under the house

When we moved to Uria in 1997, we wanted to imitate Jesus in all things, so that in some measure our friends would see what it is to follow Jesus. We watched them to learn their language and culture, they watched us to learn what we were like and, hopefully, see Jesus’ life in us.

Sometimes, their observations of us were surprising. One day I went out to talk with a neighbor who was getting on in years. His back hurt a lot and as a result, he was up and down a lot in the night.”Did you get up after midnight and use the toilet?” “Yes,” I replied. “Did you walk down the hallway of your house with your flashlight and then walk back to the other end again?” “Yes, why do you ask?” “Just curious. I heard and saw it all.” Yikes! They were watching us!

Another time one of the village mamas was sitting in the grass, talking with Angela. “When we call for our kids to come home, they never come. We call until we are hoarse and they do whatever they want. When you call your kids, they come the first time.” Hmmm . . . We trained our children to first-time obedience because we wanted to have an enjoyable life with them, to teach them respect (and of course obedience) and to teach them to obey the Lord the first time. I don’t guess it really crossed our minds that our friends would inadvertently see Jesus in it. “Why do they listen to you?” they asked.

The big word used to succinctly describe Jesus’ coming is incarnation, which can be translated from Latin as in the flesh. You will find the concept described in detail in John 1:1-14. At Christmas, we hear the story of Jesus being born of a virgin and being laid in a feed box in a cave. Angels sang praises that broke through time and space and spilled into our world. Kings and wise men worshiped the baby. Prophets were consoled. Shepherds were awestruck. Herod schemed. From the day of his birth, Jesus was surrounded by onlookers, curious spectators, penitent worshipers, men and women and children awed and astounded at his manner of life and the words that flowed from his mouth.

When we tried to live like Jesus in Uria Village, there were plenty of onlookers, curious spectators, and those who would follow Jesus watching us. Yet even as they watched us, that watching could only yield so much fruit in their lives. The Somau Garia had no amount of Scripture in the language that speaks most dearly to them. Our example was imperfect and subject to our understanding of Scripture and our ability to consistently live out our understanding. They need for us to live Jesus-honoring lives to be sure. More importantly, though, they need access to the Word of God in the language that speaks to their heart. They need it to penetrate, convict, and transform.

If you follow Jesus, you already have much of what is needed to provide access to the Word of God in their heart language. First, you have time. All of us have 24 hours per day, graciously given to us by our Father. You have the Holy Spirit living within you. Put the two together and you find a tremendous capacity for prayer. Most of us in the West also have resources that exceed our basic needs. All of these gifts can be employed to historically change an entire people.

Change History!
If you’d like to partner with Pioneer Bible Translators in getting my family and I back to Papua New Guinea to finish the task of translating the New Testament into Somau Garia, you have a few basic options. First, join the provision team by clicking here and committing to financially partner either on a monthly basis (we are seeking 40 new partners before the beginning of 2014) or for special needs (special gifts to help with special projects like airfare or set up costs). Second, join the prayer team (we are seeking 40 new prayer partners by the beginning of 2014) by clicking here to commit to pray with us on a regular basis for published needs.

Thank you for your kindness in responding to these tremendous opportunities!

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Day 9: Finding Rest in the Daily Toil

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The notion that a rooster crows when the sun comes up is largely rubbish. All the roosters I’ve ever shared real estate with are early risers that take some perverse pleasure in crowing at 3 a.m. under my house (which is on poles). The more I became accustomed to living in Uria Village, though, I realized that the insomniatic chicken was really awakened by some of our village neighbors, up and around, stirring the fire, making an early breakfast for their children, some of whom might walk two or three hours to school (and back again at the end of the day). When their kids would head off to school, they would head out for their mountainside gardens, which also might be a few hours’ walk away. The Somau Garia are mostly subsistence farmers and they must work or they will not eat. Period.

There is another toil that my friends labor under. Though I will write in more depth about it in coming posts, I will say here that my friends labor under the weight of a worldview that keeps them bound to appeasing ancestral spirits, animistic rituals, and consensus in society. This labor is exhausting to the soul and only adds to the heaviness of life. It adds a fatalism and desperation that cannot be removed short of divine intervention.

Jesus spoke to this kind of toil: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.

Aruamu Child Sleeping in a Meeting

How can any of us come to Jesus for rest without having access to his word in a language that makes sense to us, that speaks to our hearts? How can we begin to know or love or follow him if we cannot know objective truth as it is proclaimed in the Scriptures? Pray for the Somau Garia translation committee and for the Owen family, too, that God will see fit to bring us all together around the task of Bible translation–that we might, together in Christ, finish the translation of the Somau Garia New Testament. Pray for divine intervention for all of us involved in this process. Pray for the Owen family, involved in building a prayer and provision team to partner with Pioneer Bible Translators in sending them out to get the job done. Pray for rest for all of our souls. We are in desperate need of Jesus’ yoke, touch, and power. Pray . . .

Join the Prayer and Provision Team!
During the remainder of 2013, we are asking God for 40 new provision team members to financially partner with us monthly, for 40 provision team members to contribute to special projects, and for 40 new prayer team members to join us. For those of you feeling called to join the provision team, click here to visit the Donate page. For those feeling called to join the prayer team, click here to drop us an email letting us of your commitment.

Rest well, today. Allow the Lord to wash over you and to heal and restore you. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may the Lord make his face shine upon you and give you peace.

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Day 8: Black Friday: The Future for Bibleless People

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I was sitting at the wheel of our Nissan Patrol one afternoon preparing to take a sick friend the 40 miles to a hospital situated several miles outside of the provincial capital, Madang. He was a young husband and the father of two toddlers. He had been sick for some time with what appeared to be tuberculosis. Just as I turned in my seat to see whether or not he was ready to get going, something odd happened. The club-footed shaman named Peter hobbled up to the back of the Patrol and, leaning in, he blew a handful of grayish powder in my friends face. He started wailing and speaking some sort of incantation over him. A few guys who were standing at the back of the vehicle grabbed Peter and took him aside, warning him to control himself–or else. They slammed the rear doors shut, I pushed in the clutch and put the 4 x 4 in reverse, turning around. Peter was still shouting at the vehicle as we rolled away. Three days later, the young daddy died.

A few weeks later, as I was trying to verbally unpack what had happened with one of the men who taught me language and culture, I became angry and disgusted at the whole affair. The young husband had been to town some months earlier to see a doctor. The doctor had diagnosed tuberculosis and prescribed appropriate medication–which happens to be a certain kind of antibiotic that must be taken for several months. When the local shaman found out what had happened, he upbraided this young man for taking “white man’s medicine” and told him to throw it away, that his real problem was that he had offended ancestral spirits. The Somau Garia view of the world is much more likely to see troubles as having spiritual roots than physical ones. My friend threw the medicine away. He started follow the prescribed rituals given him by Peter. It cost him his life.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, writes the Psalmist (119:105). Peter’s worldview was one that lacked the light of God’s word. His worldview would overshadow physical realities, making all spiritual. (In the West, we overshadow all spiritual realities with physical ones, making the opposite error.) His heart was darkened by an ignorance of the light of God’s word and was not only personally deceived, he led all astray who would follow his direction.

I wish I could tell you that he was the only one. He was not. He was only one of five shamans that lived in a village of 240 people at that time. That’s about one shaman for every fifty people. It is vitally important that the 4,000 people who speak the Somau Garia language have the opportunity to have God’s word, his lamp, in the language that speaks to their heart.

When Jesus began his ministry, he moved to Capernaum, fulfilling a prophecy from Isaiah, “Galilee of the Gentiles–a people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned. From that time, Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ ” (Matt. 4:16-17)

Many Somau Garia people live in the shadow of death, dwelling in the darkness of those who would lead them astray into demonic practices and fear. Will they have the opportunity to know the light of life? Will they have the opportunity to have a lamp for their feet and a light for their path? Will they have the opportunity to step out of the shadows into the light?

You Can Make a Difference!
You can make a difference by partnering with PBT in sending us to Papua New Guinea to finish the New Testament in the Somau Garia language. If you’d like to join the provision team by partnering financially either on a monthly basis or for special projects, click here to visit our Donate page. If you’d like to join the prayer team, click here to send us an email to let us know of your intention to pray with us. This will give us the opportunity to keep you informed by email as prayer needs are published.

Thank you, friends, for your ongoing prayers and support.

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Day 7: Giving Thanks in Trial and Tribulation

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It is impossible to know at any given moment how our trials are affecting either us or those who surround us as witnesses of God’s handiwork in our lives. During the first several months that we lived in Uria Village back in 1997, things started going haywire. I had gone from being in the best shape of my adult life to almost no ability to function. I slept 12 to 16 hours a day, was sick all the time, and couldn’t think straight. Angela was pregnant with our daughter, having to care for two little boys (3 years and 18 months, respectively) as well as me. Her heart began to sink under the weight of it all.

Garia Crowd compressed

240 of our closest neighbors were watching the drama unfold. As my health deteriorated and Angela’s soul began to anguish, our friends reached out to us. One evening, one of our closest friends warned us not to worry if we heard unusual noises near the house the next morning. As dawn broke we heard the sound of scores of shuffling feet and the murmurs of dozens of people. Every once in a while we’d hear the words “Papa God” (Father God) or “Bikpela” (Lord) float on the surface of the prayers. Around and around our house they marched, praying, asking God to intervene in our troubles. God had used our trials and tribulation to draw these people to prayer, to desperation for Him to do something extraordinary, to call upon Him for help. In reflection, we are very thankful that the Father would use our difficulties to grow the faith of those to whom we went. In the wake of those prayers came a diagnosis for me (hypothyroidism) and relief for Angela. During all the doctor visits, it was strongly suggested by the doctors that we give birth to our daughter in Australia. We went away for a few months and recovered, enjoyed the holidays, and welcomed our daughter into our family.

two men praying

I’ve been wondering lately whether or not the season we are in is not also meant for the good of others. Even as some of the Somau Garia people responded to a call to pray for us in our most desperate hour, I think God is calling believers to encircle the challenge and trial of building a prayer and provision team, to come alongside in those days when resources are short and needs are big, when our energy is spent and more must take place before we can return to Papua New Guinea. I think God is calling believers to encircle the Somau Garia people in prayer, prayer for God’s protection and provision of the people who have both waited and worked for a few decades now toward the goal of getting the New Testament into their heart language. I think that God is calling believers to encircle the whole team that a history altering transformation might take place among the Somau Garia people, that their gifts and energies might be poured out so that Jesus’ name might be known across all of northern New Guinea, perhaps far beyond the borders of PNG to the uttermost parts.

Join us!
I’m praying that as you read this you might be cut to the quick and decide to join the team. If you’d like to join the provision team, click here to see how your donations can get the Word out to the Somau Garia people. If you’d like to join the prayer team, click here to drop us an email letting us know of your desire to pray with us through this great adventure.

Happy Thanksgiving!