Chris and Sarah Cooke Connecting You to Tribal Missions in Papua New Guinea Super Christian Dropouts
Hello Friends!
We just want to start by shouting out how good God has been to us! The Creator of everything, the King of Kings, came down to this speck of a speck called Earth, was humiliated, mocked, beaten, and crucified so that we could choose life with Him. As if that weren’t enough, He gave us peace and a purpose, four precious little girls, a great family, and the amazing family of God lifting us up everywhere we go . We’ve watched Him move so many mountains this past year. The way He brought us to the ministry He has called us to in Papua New Guinea and the way He has perfectly prepared us over the years for it; the profitable sale of our home in a rotten economy; a place to live while we are support raising; needs met by unexpected people at the most unexpected times; and He even threw in an amazing family vacation just because He can! Too many miracles to count.
Yet after all of this, we found ourselves staring up the mountain of building our financial support team and thinking it impossible. And that’s when God brought us to Numbers and hit us upside the head. Of course, this just happened to be where we were at in our devotions this week. LOVE how God does that! His Word is alive! Long story short, after God brought powerful plagues on Egypt and rescued the Isrealites (with Egyptians basically throwing wealth at them as they left); after God parted the Red Sea and they walked across it on dry ground; after he rained manna from heaven to feed them, they complained about not having the right type of food! And worse yet, when God tells Moses He’s going to give them what they asked for, Moses doesn’t think He can do it! How can you not read that and get irritated! “You morons! HE PARTED THE RED SEA right in front of you!!!” And then it hit. **SLAM**. We didn’t think He was able to join a few hearts for one purpose or to put a few paper bills in our piggy bank to complete the work He started.
As I am writing this, we JUST NOW received an email from a fellow missionary God has led to support us! I can’t even begin to tell you how unworthy we are of His love and care. There was more I was going to write but I can’t see very well past the tears pouring down my face! LOL! I’ll give you his email address and you can thank him for making this shorter;) But I think you get where this was going.
Maybe we should keep this stuff to ourselves more and let those of you who don’t know us very well think we are “Super Christians”. Unfortunately, we mess things up too much for that. Anything good that we appear to do or have, can only be Him. We just had to proclaim how good God has been to us and how sufficient He is. And His timing is perfect and sometimes downright humorous:) The God who brought the Isrealites out of slavery and into the land of milk and honey is the same God leading us. He is more than able and ever faithful.
Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement. They mean the world to us.
Love in Christ,
Chris & Sarah
Lucy meeting Cinderella ~ April 2012
Cutting through the Fluff:)
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Hello Friends!
What a week! Many changes have come about and we are constantly having to reorient ourselves to “real life” or as Chris calls it, “cuttng through the fluff.” While in college, we both had to write several papers for different courses we were taking. As any good student knows, completing these papers consisted of 10% meaningful, relevant examples and facts and 90% page-filling, space-hogging “fluff”. We were really good at the fluff:) Unfortunately, Satan is too. He’s really great at filling our lives with fluff. Not necessarily bad fluff either; our house, our friends, our dreams, our jobs, our stuff . . . good things! But when our thoughts, time, money, and energy are consumed with all of this, can we even see through all of it to God or His plan for our lives? Does the eternally relevant only hold 10% of our lives? This is real life: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” ~Matthew 6:19-21 “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 We had quite a week of cutting through the fluff. Through it all, we saw the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! As you know, He has called us to Papua New Guinea to share the Gospel. But Satan flaunted alot of “stuff” in our faces this week. We sold our home and either sold or gave away most of our belongings. For those familiar with us, you know that this would not happen without much kicking, screaming, and nail marks dragging on the ground. But that’s the mind-blowing part about it. There was no such thing. No sorrow. No regrets or struggles. Just an amazing peace. Contentment. A peace and contentment that eluded us most of the years we were surrounded by said fluff, by the way! God is doing amazing things in our lives and we are excited to walk with Him through these changes! Thank you for your continued prayer and support!
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Until they’ve all heard, |
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*Praise be to God for His joy and peace to our family during this time!Tags: New Tribes Mission, NTM
Over the hills and through the cornfields . . . to Cornerstone Baptist in Ida we go!!
Great day in the house of the Lord! This morning we worshipped with the incredibly welcoming and pleasant family of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Ida, MI. Their generousity and responsiveness quickly soothed our newbie jitters and encouraged our hearts. The girls were doted on all morning and came out of junior church chattering about their classes and begging to attend the upcoming children’s events. Fortunately, we live close by to oblige their requests:) We were blessed with a few familiar faces in the crowd and met several new ones we hope to know better soon! We are still in awe watching God’s work being “played out” before us. He called us to what seemed an impossible task and gave us the faith to trust Him. He is doing the impossible! Praise be to our King for all that He is! He is worthy!!!
Tags: New Tribes Mission, NTM
Revved Up and Ready to Go!
Celebrating Chris' 30th Birthday while @ PFO
Thank you for taking the time to keep up with our ministry! We returned from our Pre-Field Orientation(PFO)at NTM last week and want to share with you all that God has done. First of all, “Thank You!” for praying for us. We have no doubt that our many blessings last week can be attributed to God answering your prayers. Some also gave financially to support this orientation time and we are so grateful that you would choose to partner with us in this ministry. We were especially encouraged and humbled by the generous gift given by Parkview Baptist Church of Livonia, MI (Chris’ childhood home church). Their enthusiasm (despite watching Chris go from a stubborn little boy, to a rebellious teenager, to an apathetic young adult {Sarah too!}) is overwhelming. They MUST believe in the power of Jesus Christ to change lives! AMEN!
Our time at New Tribes was invaluable. So much to take in and learn! The prayer time, fellowship, and support of the staff and the 15 other missionaries was uplifting beyond belief. It’s amazing how God knit ourhearts so quickly! We left so motivated to get to Papua New Guinea and get started on the work God has called us to. Maybe all of the Cars 2 talk around here by the girls has messed with our brains but we are ready to race! If we had our visas and plane tickets, we’d be out of here tomorrow! The first-hand stories of the tribal people from staff who were all in tribal locations for many years was . . . WOW! God is doing amazing things!!! We can’t wait to share it all with you soon, hopefully in person!
PRAISES
* A “recharged battery” after PFO 
*4 healthy kids after weeks of Strep throat!
PRAYER REQUESTS
*We are working on getting our passports, visas, and work permits. This will
be quite expensive, time consuming, and probably a bit stressful:)
*We will be meeting with individuals and churches to invite them to partner
with us financially to reach the lost in Papua New Guinea. Pray for wisdom
and guidance for us and that God would prepare the hearts of those He wishes
to be a part of this team.
THANKS AGAIN!
Oops!!! Important Correction to our Newsletter!
Hello Friends!
Apparently, our newsletter created some confusion as to whether or not our children will be going with us to Papua New Guinea. YES, they will be! In our letter, we requested prayer for the girls while we are away for 10 days in June for Pre-Field Orientation. They will be staying with family & friends for a little over a week while Mom & Dad are training for this ministry. Our children will be with us all 4 years in Papua New Guinea and are super excited about it!
We apologize for the confusion and appreciate the concern it caused.
Expanding the Reach,
Chris & Sarah Cooke
chris_cooke@ntm.org
ntm.org/chris_cooke
Pre-Field Ministry Updates! So much to do!!!
Things are changing fast around here and we wanted to update you on the exciting things God is doing in our lives. He has been so good to us! As you may know, we have partnered with New Tribes Mission to expand the reach of the gospel in Papua New Guinea. Chris will be serving as a nurse in NTM’s Medical Clinic located in the highlands. Our first term with NTM will be for 4 years. Our goal is to arrive in Papua New Guinea in June 2012. As you can imagine, there is much to be done!
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Let us tell you a little about Papua New Guinea and its medical needs. Papua New Guinea(PNG) is located on the island of New Guinea just north of Australia; the western half of the island is Indonesia, the eastern half is Papua New Guinea. The people of PNG are very diverse, speaking over 800 distinct languages and having as many different cultures. With the exception of a few major cities, most of the people (85%) live in small tribal villages isolated from all others because of the extreme, rugged terrain. The medical care in PNG is limited at best. The few hospitals are located in the cities unreachable by most citizens and are of poor quality. The majority of tribal people believe “puri puri” (witchcraft) can both cure and cause disease.
NTM has almost 300 missionary families in Papua New Guinea. Many of these missionary families live in remote tribal locations, engaged in Bible translation and church planting. Due to the inability to obtain safe, quality medical care, NTM has two clinics to serve the medical needs of these missionaries. The focus of these clinics is on preventative care—immunizations, education, and screening—to help keep missionaries healthy to enable them to remain in the areas where they are serving. The clinics also see patients with common medical conditions such as ear infections, cellulitis, and malaria. In addition to visiting the clinic in person, missionaries in tribal locations are able to radio or e-mail the clinics for advice about illnesses. When the need arises, the clinic’s healthcare workers make emergency medical flights into the tribes. They also pack medications and medical supplies to be delivered to the missionaries. The goal is to support the tribal missionaries so that the gospel of Jesus Christ is expanded to all tribes and people. Often, the medical staff is also able to minister to the physical needs of the tribal people, creating yet another avenue to minister to their spiritual needs.
PRE-FIELD MINISTRY
In March, we presented this ministry to our incredible sending church family at Monroe Missionary Baptist Church in Monroe, MI. We were overwhelming blessed by their enthusiastic response! The next step in our ministry preparation is Pre-Field Orientation(PFO) at New Tribes Mission home office in Sanford, FL. We will be leaving at the end of June for a required 10-day “cram session” on NTM, the ministry field in PNG, cultural dynamics, risk management, and several other relevant topics. The cost for flights, conferences, room & board at NTM home office, and car rental while we are at PFO is approximately $1,200. After purchasing our airfare last month, we currently are 35% funded for Pre-Field Orientation. Would you please consider helping us fund this important step in our ministry?
PRAISES & PRAYER REQUESTS
To our great relief, we have found amazing homes for both of our pets! Praise God for His provision in even the smallest details! With that in mind, this summer holds many exciting and changing times for the Cooke household. Of course, the girls are eagerly awaiting the end of the school year and the beginning of summer break. Also, Chris will be turning 30 in July! Please pray with us about these specific upcoming needs:
*The sale of our home and our search for affordable short-term housing
*Building a prayer and financial support team
*Riley, McKenna, Amelia, and Lucy as they stay with family & friends while we are
away at PFO. We are anxious about being separated from them for so long!
*The hundreds of tribes in PNG still waiting for someone to tell them about
“God’s Talk”, as they say.
Thank you for your prayers and encouraging words. We look forward to partnering with you to share the hope of Jesus Christ to the lost in Papua New Guinea!
Let it begin!
We are officially starting our Partnership Development tour!!! This Sunday morning, Chris will be presenting the ministry God has laid on our hearts to our incredible MMBC church family. After that, we would love the opportunity to visit other church families or small study groups to share about our ministry in PNG tribal missions and invite you to partner with us in expanding the reach of the gospel to every tribe! We are setting up travel dates now so please contact us at chris_cooke@ntm.org .
Thank you for stopping by to check on the Cookes!
God Bless,
Chris & Sarah
PS: Don’t forget to check out the photos page! I’ve posted some of my favorites of these dear people:) This little cutie in boots is definitely a keeper!
Keeping Up with the Cooke Family!
Hello Everyone! Welcome to our first-ever blog! We hope to keep you posted on the progress of our pre-field ministry and eventually the ministry in Papua New Guinea. God has sure been at work in our lives in the past several months and things are changing all the time.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
Amen to that! We can make plans (and we’ve made plenty of them!) but His ways are not ours; they’re higher! So here we are along for the ride and we hope you’ll join us.
Please pray for us as we begin to share our ministry with others and build a team of partners to expand the reach of the Gospel to every tribe.
