Aaron and Lori Luse Among the Patpatar in Papua New Guinea Resurrection
Our first believers’ baptism.
Today, Good Friday, we celebrated the death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior. It was extra exciting because we had our first believers’ baptism. We met together at about 9:00 this morning and most stayed until about 4:00 in the afternoon. The first hour we sang, prayed, and I taught about the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Then as a group of believers we all went down to the beach by a small bay in the ocean. The group of Patpatar people already sitting and relaxing on the beach were a bit startled by us coming, but
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Parrots
Sierra playing “parrot dress-up” with the local flora.
Parrots! You know the colorful, mimicking birds, that everyone who sees it in the pet store asks if it wants a cracker. The intelligent pet, the picture of paradise, the parrot. Well, opinions do differ. For instance, most of the Patpatar would describe them as annoying to the ear, a nuisance to the garden, but a delicacy to the menu, with the perk of beautiful feathers for the head dress.
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Tags: Discipleship, Ministry, Parrot, Sierra
Madonna
Madonna being adopted into the clan by Tika with a traditional necklace.
Many of you are familiar with our teammates directly involved in the Patpatar work: Butch and Tammy Kunzer and their family (who are currently in the States) and Madonna Yates. We had met Madonna, an Australia lady, during our orientation to Papua New Guinea. She was teaching in the school for missionary children. She later returned to Australia for more training and then returned to PNG and joined our team nearly 2 years ago. We never realized when she joined
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Tags: Partners
“I don’t want to be a part”
Avalon sandwiched between two twin girls.
Here at our place the kids play and feel secure.
“I want to say a thank you to God.” One of the Patpatar Christians told me as we sat in the hut and the darkness of night began to hide our faces. He continued, “If I hadn’t heard the foundation (the teaching of God’s Word from the beginning) and if the true good news wasn’t clear to me, I would have gone inside this fight that is happening.”
Earlier we had been talking about the on-going mini-war between two of the clans in the village. On New Year’s Day three men were badly cut up and injured when machetes were used to try to settle a dispute. Contrary to being settled, it has only reignited the old feelings of animosity and revenge. Last week the revenge was taken out on an unsuspecting woman who was cut up with a machete and left bleeding on the road simply because she was a member of the other clan. Now women are afraid to go to the garden and kids are afraid to walk alone on the road. Then when a leader in the village, the man’s brother to whom I was talking, tried to intervene, he was threatened and chased away with machetes.
The young believer and I continued to talk. He explained, “When they made the action to cut my brother, that is when I would have got my machete and gone inside this fight. But now I don’t want to be a part. They answer with machetes and fights and killing, but it is not the real answer. They are being deceived and don’t know the real source of these wars. They have become like Saul, who went to kill and arrest people thinking he was doing God’s work, but they don’t know they are doing Satan’s work instead. It is good if the leaders and government will help this fight to stop, but the only real answer is that they know the truth inside the talk of God.”
As this man who has been changed by the power of God walked away and disappeared into the darkness I rejoiced in what God had done. To not do what the clan expects, to not react the way that tradition demands, is a big step. I pray the testimony will speak loudly as well. I pray that this believer and others will be able to have the opportunity to share the “real answer.” I pray also for all those being affected and living in fear because of this on-going fight.
Thanks for rejoicing with me and joining me in these prayers.
Aaron
Aaron, Lori, Avalon, Sierra, and Kylee Luse
Missionaries with New Tribes Mission
In the Patpatar tribe in Papua New Guinea
“Tale of Two Weeks”
New Guinea News 16 December 2009
Tale of Two Weeks
Aaron and the Patpatar men in a session at the workshop.
Warnings, false accusations, being yelled at, a break-in and theft…and all that the week of Thanksgiving. By the end of the week we were wondering what new difficulty would greet us the next day. But it was not just our family that was facing the problems, it was also the Patpatar believers.
For a while now, we have been studying through the book of Acts with the young Patpatar believers. The spread of the Gospel, the start of the church, and the work of the Holy Spirit are a few of the important topics we have been covering. One of the biggest surprises for the Patpatar was the persecution and hardships the early church experienced. Many of the apostles and those most dedicated to God’s work endured ridicule, ostracizing, beating, and even death. This truth in Scripture soon manifested itself in reality to the Patpatar church. Many of those professing faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross have been talked about, excluded, taken advantage of, and even threatened. Though mild compared to the persecution the first church experienced the believers here can relate. It seemed to culminate the week of Thanksgiving toward us. Though all of the events were not related, and though we never felt in danger, and though the break-in was at our partner’s house who is currently in the States, we do believe that the Enemy and enemies of the true gospel would do whatever they can to discourage and hinder God’s work among the Patpatar people.
We were encouraged with many of the believers who realize what is happening and like the early church are standing firm in their faith. We met together in the midst of this time and had a wonderful time of prayer and praise to our God and Savior. There are those however, who due to the persecution have faded to the background to avoid being a target. There are also issues and accusations that have to be dealt with before the village council that we would request your prayers for wisdom on how to respond and react.
That week was followed by a much different week. Though the timing seemed terrible, I think that God knew we needed to be away from the situation. Our family along with two of the Patpatar believers left for a workshop about curriculum development. There we met with missionaries and tribal believers from about 10 different tribes throughout the islands of Papua New Guinea. Besides the benefit of the workshop it was great for the Patpatar men to interact with their brothers in Christ that they had never met but had been praying for them and was encouraging for our family to be with missionaries who could relate to what we were going through. Following the workshop our family went on a “getaway” and got some much needed rest, relaxation, restaurants, and shopping J.
Now we are back in the tribe and have quickly faced again the realities of village life. The people have been cleaning up the villages and repairing houses after a big flood over the weekend and today I attended the funerals of an elderly woman and a baby. Tomorrow we face the village council. We praise God for what He is doing here, what the church is learning, the ministry He has allowed us to be a part of, and the times of rest we have had. Thank you for keeping the Patpatar in your prayers and for being a part of our ministry.
The family relaxing with a koala bear.
ALL for Him,
Aaron
Aaron, Lori, Avalon, Sierra, and Kylee Luse
Missionaries to the Patpatar people of Papua New Guinea
With New Tribes Mission
PatPatar Praise
New Guinea News 21 August 2009
Patpatar Praise
Buruno is nearly blind but still praises his Savior.
Tahut sakit God ta no num harmarsai.
U ga tule Jisas ma ga maat u tagu
Ma ga kul bakut ira nugu magingin sakena.
Pai ta ira nugu gingilaan.
Pai ta ira nugu bilbilai.
Ma pai tiga linge mah be iau ni gil ie.
Ma pai tiga linge mah be nu gil.
Jisas at ga gil bakut ie
Ing ga maat u tagu
Ma ing ga tut hut balin.
One of the Patpatar believers timidly strummed the guitar and sang the song above that he had written. When he finished he told me that he didn’t know if it was good or not, but wanted to try to express what he believes in praise to God. About a week before I had suggested to the group of believers that they should begin writing songs of praise to God that we could sing as a group. His was the first. This is what it means:
Thank you so much God for your mercy.
You sent Jesus to die for me
And to pay for all of my sins.
It is not because of my works.
It is not because of my goodness.
It is nothing that I have done.
It is nothing that we have done.
Jesus, Himself has done it all
When He died for me
And when He rose again.
We now have over a dozen songs that the Patpatar church sings to praise God for who He is and what He has done. One of the most recent songs was added by a believer who walks further than almost anybody else to attend the teaching. The amazing thing is, he is nearly blind. Here is a translation of the song he wrote:
I will praise my Savior because he has bought me back.
I was fenced in by death in the midst of darkness.
But now I see clearly the grace and mercy of the Savior.
Thank you so much for your great blessing.
Isaiah 42:12 says, “Let them give glory to the Lord and proclaim his praise in the islands.” It has been a privilege to be a part of the ‘choir’ here in the islands of Papua New Guinea. Thank you for your prayers and contributions that make this all possible, and thank you God for YOUR great work You’ve done here in the Paptatar people!
For His glory,
Aaron and Lori
PS – For the last few months we have had email difficulties via our radio. For the time being we are unable to send or receive email in the tribe. I am in town today on a supply run, so am able to send out this update.
Aaron, Lori, Avalon, Sierra, and Kylee Luse
Missionaries with New Tribes Mission
Among the Patpatar in Papua New Guinea
“Within the Borders”
New Guinea News 7 November 2009
Within the Borders
Lori doing literacy work with the Patpatar
Last time we wrote to all of you out there, we told you about the work that was being done beyond the borders. We thought that it may be good to let you know about the work within the borders as well. We do have a day to day ministry among the Patpatar people here. It is the main reason that we are here!
We meet 4 mornings a week to teach God’s Word to the two churches in the two villages. Currently Aaron is teaching through Acts with several new believers. It is exciting to see their eyes opened to the truths presented in the Bible. Aaron also spends between 6-8 hours a day in the office. At times it may be more, but this is the average. During this time, he is writing Bible lessons, correcting Bible lessons and discipling the men that come to help him. His day to day also includes teaching his two oldest girls Arithmetic in school. So, as you can tell, Aaron has his hands full with plenty to do.
Aaron has asked me to write this e-mail to give you a picture of the life of a missionary wife and mother within the border of the Patpatar Tribe. I have the responsibility to support Aaron in the ministry. I enjoy going to the teaching sessions in the villages two mornings a week. During these times I try to be sure to connect with the women and disciple them, as well as find out what is going on in their lives. If the need arises, I may help take care of some children so that the other mothers can listen to the Bible teaching more effectively.
My other part in ministry right now is that of curriculum development for the Patpatar literacy program. It is taking longer than usual because of my other responsibilities, but I’m so excited to have this opportunity. It’s actually something I never planned on doing, but I am really enjoying it! I usually get to this tasks on the days that I do not go to the teaching, since teaching usually takes at least 3 hours out of my day.
In the home, I have two children I am home schooling as well as a toddler. They all keep me hopping! I now have a 4th grader, and a 1st grader, and I try to find activities to keep Kylee busy and learning. Home schooling takes us about 4 hours a day, and may be split up between other tasks of the day. Speaking of kids and homeschooling, Avalon is now 9, and is an avid reader, enjoys climbing trees and being out playing with the Patpatar children. She is becoming better at speaking the national trade language, as well as throwing in some Patpatar language here and there. She is becoming more and more aware all the time of her need to spend time in the Bible, and seek God. Sierra is 6 and getting better at reading all the time. She is a very sweet spirited girl who loves Jesus. She is a little more quiet and reserved at first, but once you get to know her she becomes tons of fun. Right now she is very much into animals especially cats and kittens. Kylee is 2 ½ and is learning to be a big girl in many ways. She likes figuring things out and loves to be part of whatever it is the family is doing. She loves to be read too, and loves to learn and be a big helper. Kylee is still young, and still needs Jesus, so please pray for her when you think of her. We are so blessed to have three girls who love what we do and love being here despite missing their family back home.
Other things I find to do are: I hold down the fort when Dad is away on his “beyond the border” trips, and besides cooking 3 meals a day every day for the family, I cook 2-4 times a week at lunch time for the people that come to help us with various tasks such as yard work, Bible lessons, or house work. Other than that, it is raising children, caring for the family, housework, relationship building witht eh Patpatar ladies, correspondence, paperwork, and sometimes assignments to help the team. No one day is completely like another within the borders. Thank you for your prayers and encouragement that keep us going!!
Within the Borders,
Lori
Aaron, Lori, Avalon, Sierra, and Kylee Luse
Missionaries among the Patpatar people
In Papua New Guinea with New Tribes Mission
Chance to pray more…Quick Update
I know many of you have been praying for the meeting here in Patpatar this morning and wanted to know how it went. Thank you for that…we need the prayers. However, instead of being at the meeting, I was going throughout the village trying to find the leaders to update them. This morning early one of the men
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The Tale of This Week
Christmas with the believers (notice the heavy winter coats?)
From the bits of news we get from the States, it sounds as if it has been a cold start to the new year. Here, in the other hemisphere we can’t get cool enough. But despite the heat we had a good time as a family for Christmas in the tribe and had some missionary friends from another tribe visit us for New Years. In this ‘New Guinea News’ I would like to bring a couple of prayer requests to you all.
Recently I read something from some missionaries who worked in Africa starting back in 1948. It said, “America’s great theme is independence – ‘I can be what I want – I can do what I want.’ Such is not the case in other cultures. You are what your tribe is – you do what your tribe does. Otherwise you are not really a part of the tribe.” The same can be said of the Patpatar. In addition much of who the tribe is and what they do is based on the leaders of that tribe. That is where things can get difficult.
There are not many of them, in fact it is primarily just one man who is against the continuation of God’s Word being taught here, but right now he is the predominant leader for the village. Oddly enough he has only recently returned to the village after being away for years, but he is set against us and our work here. In the last New Guinea News we let you know about this situation and that the group of accusers failed to show up at the meeting. Since then more questions and accusations have been launched and a new meeting date has been set. The meeting is Thursday morning the 14th (Wednesday evening in the States). Since he is the leader in the village and since it is culturally inappropriate to disagree with him this has put the believers in a difficult situation. Some of them will be at the meeting, but to stand up and speak for the truth will be alienating them even further from the tribe that is their life. Already, three of them have come to me and said that they will need God’s strength because theirs is not enough.
Please pray for us in this situation. Please pray for the believers. Please pray that instead of this hindering God’s work here it will only strengthen it.
In addition to that, another believer has come to me and asked that as a body of believers here in Patpatar that we pray for his neck. I would like to have you join us in that. Bles has had the side of his neck swell up several times recently. It causes a lot of pain and he cannot move his head very well. The first time it eventually subsided. The second time he was sent to a small hospital where they did a surgery. It subsided again, but now a month later it is swelling again. I don’t know what it is, and the doctor’s report he received was not very informational, but we can pray. As you can imagine this has been a very trying time for this young believer, an early testing of his faith.
The final prayer request is for our partner Madonna who will be coming back to PNG on Friday. We are excited to have her back and pray that she has a safe journey here and can settle in well.
Thanks for fighting the battles with us as our partners in prayer,
Aaron
Aaron, Lori, Avalon, Sierra, and Kylee Luse
Missionaries in the Patpatar tribe
With New Tribes Mission
Quick Update
Wanted to send a quick email to update all of you concerning the last New Guinea News and the prayer requests I had given. The day of our meeting with the village council came up. We waited at the meeting place not knowing what to expect. Three of the believers came to be with us. We all sat and waited and waited and waited. The accusers never showed up. Thank you for your prayers.
We don’t know if another day will be set or not. We don’t know why the accusers did not come. But we do believe it is an answer to prayer and thank you for the emails of encouragement you sent.
Aaron and Lori