It's happened, or happening. A few weeks ago our visas finally came through!
In case you missed the story, here it it...
Some of you may be aware that we will shortly be moving to the Highlands region of Papua New Guinea in a voluntary position for the Christian Leaders’ Training College. We hope to share a little more about this before we leave in early June. In the meantime, below is some background.
The Weekend
Early in December 2012, we had a weekend of ‘ducks lining up’. A “random” conversation with a previously unknown acquaintance led to a job description finding its way into our hands which led to a lot more conversations. By the end of the weekend, we wondered if we were being called to a Bible college in Papua New Guinea, called the Christian Leaders’ Training College (CLTC).
The Week in PNG
In January 2013 we visited PNG for just over a week. It was a week of intensity and challenge. Marcus was asked to apply for the position of Chief Financial Officer, to work alongside the college’s leadership team and guide the college’s finance team. We got home back to our boys, and wrestled intensely with whether we were willing to move them into the environment we had spent time in. Ultimately we couldn’t see any room for manoeuvre. God was clearly calling us to PNG regardless of the costs to our comfortable lives.
PNG is a place of contrasts. It is beautiful yet the filthiest place we have ever visited. The people are friendly, yet in the Highlands (where CLTC is situated), they are reknown for being quick to erupt, displaying volatile and aggressive tendencies. Natural resources, including oil, gas and gold deposits, are being mined, yet the poverty is everywhere. In many ways the people are relatively untouched, yet they have been ravaged by what has been introduced since their discovery by the ‘developed’ world.
CLTC is something of an oasis in the middle of this storm and a light in the dark. For nearly fifty years, it has been a place where people have come to be developed into the next generation of Christian leaders. The college’s educational activities are 70% self-funded by various business activities which at various times have included poultry activities (laying hens, meat chickens and day old chickens), rice, cattle and a transport business.
The Wait
Having accepted the college’s offer in mid-February 2013, we began the epic wait for visas. In February 2014, Marcus received his visa, then in April 2014, Ingrid, Sebastian and Solomon received their visas. It doesn’t seem so bad writing that now, but it was a very difficult 14 months!
The Why?
Why do we want to up-sticks and move to a developing country to work for 2+ years for no wage? Given the loud call we received, “why not?” is probably a more relevant question. When God calls you, you go.
During our visit to PNG we were confronted with or advised of various situations of the kind we’re not usually exposed to in semi-rural New Zealand. We really wrestled over whether we should take our children into such a volatile country but the Holy Spirit was undeniably speaking to us through Bible readings, sermons and songs. Ultimately, we realised that God is sovereign and we needed to trust the care of the boys to Him. We can’t imagine what life would look like if we had said no to God, out of fear.
We are certainly excited about the opportunity to be part of this ministry though, which has such a powerful impact on PNG and the wider region of Melanesia (students come not only from PNG but the Solomon Islands and Vanuata too, also other parts of the Pacific including Tonga and Samoa). We have always wondered if our occupations were transferable to the overseas mission field. This appointment proves that God can use anyone in any occupation, even an accountant.
The How?
If you are interested in supporting us, we would love you to journey with us and the boys over the next couple of years. We have never felt so reliant on God as during our visit to CLTC last year. The environment there meant that we barely took a step without praying over the situation first and while that’s the way it should be, it was a great comfort to know that friends and family were praying for us too. We would be really grateful to know that people were praying for us over these next two years also.
Speaking of comfort...while we have faced many challenges over the past 17 months, one of the challenge that makes us both most uncomfortable is having to raise financial support. No one likes talking money, even an accountant and his wife, especially when you are asking people for theirs! While God has blessed us financially and we have endeavoured to be good stewards of the resources he has given us, we are nowhere near able to fund our living costs in PNG. A wise sage told us that when people invest financially into a place and people, they actually join in the mission and they become part of the ministry...perhaps that makes the thought of supporting us financially more appealing...maybe not?!
Finally, another way you could support us is to visit us. PNG is not so far away - a couple of 3+ hour flights from Auckland to Port Moresby via Brisbane, then a connecting flight to the Highlands. We will be the only “expatriate” young family on campus so while there will be other young families and other expatriates, we will be relatively isolated compared to the abundance of friends and family we have at Hope. We see a whole heap of ways that people at Hope can bless the business and educational activities at CLTC through short-term visits, although we’re aware that there are “dependency” issues if this is not carefully managed. We will have a better idea of how to avoid this after we’ve spent some time there.
