Long-term ministry goals

Making the decision to live in another country is not something anyone does lightly. That move is accompanied by a significant amount of paperwork, financial consideration, and organizational stress. We're always living in at least two places at once; ask us where any of our material possessions are at any given time, and it'll take a while to get an answer. We live with the constant possibility that any of a number of situations could call us away from Papua New Guinea—and we're thankful that good health for us and our family has allowed us to stay thus far. We don't have the luxury of “the unexamined life”—we always need to have some idea where we're headed and how we'll get there (even realizing that so much of that can change as we go along). To that end we have—in our minds, at least, if not on paper—running lists of goals: goals for parenting, professional development, research, teaching. And because we're usually in Papua New Guinea for 3-year terms, we tend to think of our future in 3-4-year blocks. Someone asked us recently about our long-term ministry goals. What do we want to see happening through and around us with the Papua New Guinean Christians with whom we work? A question like that can probably be answered in 10 words or 10,000, but nothing in between. We'll think out an answer here.

Our general ministry motivations for living in Papua New Guinea remain close to what we went there with ten years ago. We believe that all Christians should agree with these words from Dallas Willard: “In service we engage our goods and strength in the active promotion of the good of others and the causes of God in our world” (The Spirit of the Disciplines, p. 182). We also affirm John Piper's adaptation of a line from the Westminster Shorter Catechism, that “the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever." Wherever we are in the world, we would seek to be a means of bringing ourselves and all people in line with that joy-filled state of existence. In short, we would see Papua New Guineans freed to understand and celebrate their faith in Jesus Christ. As Piper writes (Let the Nations Be Glad! The Supremacy of God in Missions, p. 17):

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.

Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions. It’s the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white hot enjoyment of God’s glory. The goal of missions is the gladness of the peoples in the greatness of God. “The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!” (Ps. 97:1). “Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise thee! Let the nations be glad and sing for joy!” (Ps. 67:3-4).

But worship is also the fuel of missions. Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can’t commend what you don’t cherish. Missionaries will never call out, “Let the nations be glad!” who cannot say from the heart, “I rejoice in the Lord. . . . I will be glad and exult in thee, I will sing praise to thy name, O Most High” (Ps. 104:34, 9:2). Missions begins and ends in worship.

Many Papua New Guineans already claim to be followers of Jesus, but what we often find missing is this passion for worship. People have questions about this faith they've adopted, questions that, if only they could find answers, they could be at peace and relax in the enjoyment of life with Christ.

Our ministry goals, specific to the roles that we've been invited to do in Papua New Guinea, follow this basic motivation and support the fundamental activities—Bible translation, literacy, community development—of our organization, Wycliffe Bible Translators.

For me: teaching at Ukarumpa International School, Secondary Campus

• Research conducted last year by the principal of Ukarumpa International School Secondary Campus showed that the school is one of the most significant factors enabling Bible translators with school-aged children to stay in Papua New Guinea and continue their work. This unique school is staffed by volunteer teachers like me. We are not paid salaries by the school; we are supported through the donations of churches and individuals in our sending countries. This keeps the school affordable for missionaries and others in the country, freeing the parents to focus on the work they came to do.

• I'm happy to be able to teach these kids, and treasures the opportunity to be a part of the kids' lives, as a friend and mentor. This is so much more than teaching as just a “day job.” I especially enjoy being encouraged to teach my subject areas (literature & composition) from a Christian worldview, as Ukarumpa International School is a distinctively Christian school, with the goal of not only providing students with a strong academic background, but helping them to come to know Christ, grow in their faith, and become lights to the world as they return to their home countries upon graduation.

For Neil: working with local musicians and church leaders

• We believe that the Bible is the primary authority in the life of the Christian. Without it, how could anyone find the truth? This motivates Wycliffe Bible Translators to translate the Bible into all the languages of the world. But research has shown that the Bible, even in one's first language, is more readily used and understood when it engages a broad range of cultural domains within a community. In an oral-learning society, words on a page do not have the power that they might in other countries. Songs, drama, dancing, artwork—these and other systems of artistic expression allow people to interact with scripture in meaningful ways.

• With that in mind, then, Neil wants to continue working with Papua New Guinean musicians to create new songs and performance spaces to worship God. He is particularly interested in songs that tell the story of Christians and Christianity in Papua New Guinea, that the truth of the Bible may come alive through the testimony of real-life experiences.

• Cultural revitalization. All over Papua New Guinea, cultural traditions are weakening and dying. Some of this, honestly, is due to choices that some earlier missionaries made regarding traditional life. Sometimes Papua New Guinean Christians were told that they needed to give up some of their traditional culture in order to please God. But much of the cultural loss that is happening today is also due to the power of Westernization. Attracted by the image of Western music and performance, people too quickly give up their own distinctive cultural performances, believing that they're not worth very much on the global stage. Neil would affirm that those traditions are worth a lot, not only in relation to the world's traditions as a whole, but also in the eyes of God, who delights in cultural variety. Neil would love to see the church embrace Papua New Guinean expressive arts, celebrating and understanding God through this beautiful diversity of worship.

• This vision is bigger than just something that one outsider decided to bring to Papua New Guinea. Neil couldn't do all that might be done even if he worked 24-hour days. So he plans to engage in further training of Papua New Guineans to take on the jobs that he has been doing. Much of his work does not require a Ph.D., and some of his work would be far more effective if done by a Papua New Guinean rather than an outsider. Over the next few years, Neil will be working with other colleagues in Papua New Guinea to develop training courses that would equip Papua New Guineans to undertake teaching, documentation, recording, and analysis work in music throughout the country.

We're glad not to be alone in these ministry goals. We are encouraged by colleagues doing similar work in other places, and we are lifted up by your prayers and correspondence as you journey with us.