We made the trip again to another part of PNG (and another NTM support center) where the other two families on our team are living.  We will be here until the beginning of April and we are trying to make the most of the time we have together.  We are making good progress, but at times the magnitude of all that has to be talked through and done before we can move into a tribe is overwhelming!

Plenty of teams have broken up and the tribal church was negatively affected because of a lack of communication on the topics that we are discussing.  It’s not a waste of time to build a good foundation for our team!

Your prayers for us are greatly appreciated!  Satan does not want us heading into his territory and we can feel the heat of battle already.

Here are a few recent photos so you remember what we look like!

Our Family - March 2012

Happy 7th Birthday, Titus!

Caleb by the coast

The Allen Boys

Our Team - From left to right - Allens, Parrys and Hattons

We are very joyful, thankful and praising the Lord that He has recently answered that prayer!!!  We know many of you were praying for us specifically over the past several weeks as the Hatton and Parry families traveled to our center in the Madang region for more concentrated meetings to determine if our families should form a team together.  Thank you very much!  We had many full days of spending lots of time together as families, eating meals together and having important discussions on topics that often tend to cause problems on teams.   In general, we enjoyed time to just get to know each other better.   By the end of the 9 days, we were all confident that the Lord was leading us to work together!  Please praise the Lord with us for His direction!

Please continue to pray for us as we move ahead as a team.  What’s next?  Since we live in different  parts of PNG, the next major hurdle is figuring out a time and place when we can get together again to talk about team strategy and make plans for moving into a tribe.  The big decision that we need to make is regarding the tribal group in which to locate!!  The needs that remain in this country are great and we need the Lord’s wisdom as we narrow down the choices.  We’ll keep you updated as things progress.

January 2012 newsletter-web

God's Word in the Gende language

The picture here doesn’t mean much to the vast majority of people in the world.  But for a small group of people in the Gende tribe tucked away in the rugged mountains of PNG,  it means the world – it is a portion of God’s Word in their language!   One of those Gende people is a young woman named Agnes.

Many of you have been praying for Agnes (read this earlier post for more on Agnes), whom we go to visit in prison.  Thank you so much!!  We asked you to pray for her salvation so we wanted to give you an update about our last visit with her.

Usually when we go to visit Agnes, we are given 30 minutes with her and then the warden tells us that our time is up and we have to go.   Since our time usually seems to go very fast, on our most recent visit we got right to talking about the Bible lessons and Scripture that we had given her last time to study.  (Without any explanation, this time the warden gave us almost an hour with Agnes!)  Now just in case you are unfamiliar with the typical New Tribes method, here’s a short explanation.  After years of working with animistic tribal people, it has been proven again and again that in order for these people to truly understand the message of the Gospel they have to be given the proper foundation starting in Genesis. Without an understanding of God, sin, substitution and many other key doctrines found in the Old Testament, they will very easily just add Jesus to their list of “spirits” that they need to appease.  So, the lessons and corresponding Scripture that the missionaries in the Gende tribe gave us to pass on to Agnes is just that – foundational teaching starting in Genesis and leading up to Christ.  For the last several weeks, Agnes has been reading and studying these lessons.

Here’s another little side note to help you understand a bit more about the culture here.  It is very common in PNG for people to say what they think you want them to say in order to please you.  That’s not too hard to believe since appeasing the spirit world is at the core of their worldview.  We have also heard that prisoners are encouraged to “repent” and change their ways while in prison.  And if a person thinks that saying the “right thing” will bring them some benefit, they will not hesitate to do so.

So, these things are in the back of our minds as we sit and talk with Agnes.  We also know that only the Lord truly knows her heart.  But, from our most recent conversation with Agnes, we believe that she does understand salvation and has been taken from the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of Light.  Praise the Lord!! But will you please continue to pray for Agnes?  Prison is a tough and lonely place.  Please pray that she will grow in her new faith and be a light to those around her.  And please pray for us as we continue to go visit her and take her more Bible lessons and Scripture in her language.

Would Agnes have studied God’s Word like this if she had not been sent to prison?  We don’t know the answer to that.  Maybe prison was exactly the place she needed to be in order for God to get her attention.  And we’re thankful that the Lord has allowed our family to have a part in Agnes hearing and understanding the Good News of salvation.

Bart, Luke and Titus helping to push the plane back into the hangar after a recent flight

Okay, now on to the details.  Papua New Guinea is a country about the size of California with over 800 different language groups.  Because of the rugged terrain, many of these people groups are very isolated and the only way for missionaries to effectively reach them is by helicopter or small airplane.  The tribal people here who are still unreached with the Gospel are hard to reach because they are in hard-to-reach places!!  Because of the ministry of New Tribes Aviation, what would take days of hiking to reach a tribe can be accomplished in a few hours or less.  These missionaries are truly a blessing to so many and they are vitally important to the continued spread of the Gospel here in Papua New Guinea.

But, they need help!!!!!!  Right now the need for pilots and mechanics is critical.  For more information, please follow this link – New Tribes Mission Aviation.

Would you please join us in praying for more laborers? Besides pilots and mechanics there are needs for teachers, church planters, supply buyers, builders, dentists, doctors, nurses, business managers and the list could go on – all are needed to help in the task of reaching tribal people who are still lost in their sin and without hope apart from Christ.  If you know anyone who might be interested in serving the Lord here, even for a year or two, would you please share these needs with them? Link to PNG Needs List

Here are a few photos from a recent trip we took – flying over a part of PNG where we had never been.

Volcano on Manam Island

The Sepik River

Passing the time while flying over jungle and mountains

Agnes

We go to visit Agnes, a young woman who is serving a 12 year sentence for a pretty serious crime.  We don’t know if she is guilty or if she is just taking the blame for someone else.  Agnes is from a tribal group where an NTM couple has been working for years.  These missionaries asked if we would be willing to take Agnes the Bible lessons in her tribal language for her to read and study.  These are the same lessons that the missionaries used to present the Gospel to her tribe several years ago.

No one else in the prison speaks her tribal language so when we first gave her the lessons and she was able to read her language again, it was a very special time! She told us on our next visit that the book (containing the Bible lessons and verses in her language) was now her best friend!  We don’t know how many times she has read through the lessons – probably lots.  This next time we go we will also be taking her the complete books of Genesis, Exodus and Mark that the missionaries have translated.

Now, of course, we don’t speak Agnes’ tribal language, but we are able to communicate with her in Pidgin.  So, Agnes reads the lessons on her own and then when we visit her, we talk to her about what she has read.  We only have about 30 minutes with her each time we go.

That we know of, we are the only visitors she ever has.  It is a really neat opportunity for us and for our kids to be able to be a blessing and encouragement to Agnes.  All of us really look forward to our prison days!  Luke and Titus enjoy the long walk from the prison entrance – down a big hill, back up another hill and then on to the actual fenced-in women’s prison area.  While we sit and talk with Agnes, they either play and talk together or make up a game with whatever they find lying around.  Caleb just smiles and tries to grab the books!  Of course, all the ladies in the prison love to see and touch the white baby!  Having never been in prison, I can only imagine what it must be like to be separated for that long from your spouse and children.  Our arrival usually brings a smile to lots of faces.

Reading the Bible lessons

Will you please be praying for our family as we spend time with Agnes?  Pray that we would be able to clearly communicate with her as we talk with her about the lessons and Scripture that she has been reading and studying.  And please pray for Agnes -that she would have good understanding of what she is reading and that she would believe it!  Please pray that Agnes will trust in Christ alone for her salvation!

Introducing Caleb to PNG

Mumu and singsing in a nearby village

Thanks for looking at our photos!

As we approached our most recent meetings with the team, we were asking the Lord (among other things) to give us encouragement and peace about moving ahead. He did exactly the opposite.  Without going into a lot of detail, in the days following our first meeting, the Lord was showing us that His answer was “no”.  We then began praying that the Lord would confirm that this was His will by having the other two couples come to us thinking the same thing. When we met again, we were all in agreement that it would not be wise to move ahead with us joining this team!

So, on one hand, we are disappointed that we will have to wait longer to get into a tribal work, but on the other hand, we are rejoicing for yet more evidence that our Father hears and answers when we cry out to Him for wisdom and direction. We may not know right now what tribe He wants us to work in, but we know that if the Lord said “no” to this opportunity, then He must have something better in store for us.   And in the meantime, the Lord is using us here on our NTM center to help support those missionaries who are already working in tribal locations.

Thank you again for praying with us regarding this decision. We are humbled, encouraged and blessed to have such a great support team who faithfully prays for us and the work the Lord is doing here in Papua New Guinea. Please rejoice with us that the Lord has answered and also continue to pray with us as we seek the Lord and take steps toward finding a team and tribe in which to work. Proverbs 3:5-6 says “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” The Lord has been faithful to direct our path up until now. We know He will continue to show us what He has in store for us!

Well, we are in a waiting phase right now.  For any that are new to reading this blog and as a recap for the rest of you, here’s a short history of the past few years for our family.

- Two years of Bible school
- Two years of missions training
- One semester of linguistics training
- Almost 2 years of raising support
- Arrived here in PNG in December 2009
- Completed orientation and learned the national language (Melanesian Pidgin)
- Went back to the U.S. to have our 3rd son Caleb
- Returned to PNG in May 2011

Throughout this time, we have had the goal of being tribal church planters.  And that remains our goal. However, at this time we don’t know what tribal group we will be working in or who we might have as co-workers.

If you have been reading our updates or following the  articles that we have posted on here, you know that we are in the process of evaluating the newest tribal work in our region.  We have been talking with the two families that are currently working there (they are in the early stages of learning language).  We even took a trip out to California when Caleb was just a few weeks old so we could meet with the team (both families were on furlough then) and talk about us joining this work.  Everyone wants to be sure that moving ahead with us joining the team is a good decision – for us and for the team.  Working through this process just takes time.

So, that’s where we are right now – waiting!!  Currently one family is on furlough in the U.S. and the other family is in the tribe.  The earliest time we can all meet together again is at the beginning of August.

Will you please pray for our family as we wait on the Lord for His direction and guidance? And in the mean time we are keeping busy serving on our NTM center that supports all the tribal missionaries in our region.  We are also working on planning our tribal house and ordering equipment such as solar panels, batteries, etc. that we need to ship over from the States.  We long to get to work in a tribe but until the Lord opens that door, we want to faithfully serve Him where He has us right now.

1. Our prescription at Walmart wasn’t ready because of some issue with the insurance.
2. Walmart didn’t have the right size zip ties that we needed so we had to make a stop at AutoZone too.
3. We stopped for lunch at a McDonald’s on the way.  In an effort to save time, we got our food to-go.  Bart asked for a burger with ketchup only for Luke.  It wasn’t until they got in the car that they found that Luke had gotten a bun with ketchup only – not even a burger!!!
4. It was about this time that Bart discovered his credit card was missing.  Did it fall out somewhere, did someone steal it…?  The last time he remembered having it was at the pharmacy in Walmart.  A call there confirmed that they did have it.  Thankfully it was not the credit card that we use in PNG!
5. We missed a turn getting back on the highway because the route number of the road we wanted had been changed.  We would have appreciated a sign that said something like – “this road was formerly…”
6. Once we got on the right road, we had to sit in traffic for a while due to bridge construction.
7. Finally at the airport, we were getting checked in and the lady helping us kept taking breaks to help everyone else in line too.  Good for those people, not so good for us as the time for our departure was getting  closer and closer.
8. Going through security, we had to have one of our bags rescanned several times.  Turned out that our shiny package of baby wipes was raising some concern until they figured out what it was.

So, our morning was kind of hectic and nerve-wracking.  We said our rushed, teary goodbyes and had our gate in view when we heard an announcement over the loud speaker – “United passenger Bart Allen – please report to Gate C51”!  We were the last ones to board the plane!!!  But we made it!!

And as I write this, we have made it as far as Cairns, Australia.  We are enjoying a few days here before we head to PNG.  After a really hectic last few weeks in the States and almost 24 hours of flying, we are feeling refreshed now and ready to get back to PNG.

We haven’t put many pictures on here or on Facebook recently so we’re including some below.

Luke and Titus with their Awana Sparks awards

The 3 brothers! We finally had a nice spring day so we could take a picture outside!

The boys by their tree at the farm

At the airport - our friends the Rices came along with Grandpa and Grandma to see us off

Caleb chilling out at our hotel in Australia

A highlight of our trip to the zoo - seeing lots of kangaroos!