Our Current Situation
It’s been over 2 years that we’ve been boating the 82 miles from Biem to the mainland in our 23 foot skiff. In that time we’ve had many great trips but also some very terrifying ones. Just last month our small supply boat, with 2 adults and 2 kids on board, was caught several hours from the mainland in a freak storm that came out of nowhere. They tried to turn and run but the single outboard motor stopped working. In the hours that followed they did all they could to stay afloat while waves crashed over the boat. Cargo was thrown overboard to keep from sinking and all the while they worked frantically bailing water out of the boat to keep from going under. Eventually there was a break in the storm and they were able to start the engine again and limp back to the mainland.  We have had other close calls in the past but this was the latest reminder that we need to move ahead in acquiring a larger boat.

Need for a safer boat
Most of you know that for many months now we’ve been praying and researching the possibility of purchasing a larger boat with higher gunwales for family transport. Making this purchase in the US affords us a larger boat selection, allows us to actually test the boat before buying, and gives us more safety options. After several months we’ve landed on something. It’s a 26ft boat with twin engines on the back and built to handle rough water. It’s called a Panga.

The price tag for the boat (and accompanying equipment) is going to be $60,000. From there we’ll have an additional $23,000 expected in shipping costs. That brings the price tag for this to $83,000.  The three families on Biem will shoulder this cost.

Over the years, God has provided for us in our work among the Biem people through those of you who have graciously partnered with us. It is our deep conviction that God wants the Biem people to hear and trust in the name of Jesus for the first time in history!  We are ready to do whatever it takes to see this happen, and have indeed risked all of our lives many times over these last years on the seas. However, we also know that God doesn’t call us to be unwise and take unnecessary risks with the lives of our families.

Because of that, we are certain that God would have us raise the money for this boat. He has supplied abundantly more than we could ever ask, how can we not trust Him to continue to do so? Consequently, we believe that He’ll provide for this boat project through churches and individuals who desire to invest eternally in what God is doing among the Biem People. PLEASE PRAY as we embark upon this Mount Everest of projects. Pray that God would raise up folks and churches who desire to be involved in this investment both financially and in prayer.

Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions regarding the boat, how we made this decision, financial figures, etc…we’d be happy to chat about any of that. Thanks again for the part that so many of you have played in reaching the Biem People with the Gospel. We’re blessed by your involvement and look forward to sharing with you what God does in the weeks ahead.

If anyone is interested in giving to this project, all funds will be directed through New Tribes Mission to a special account called “BIEM MINISTRY ACCOUNT”. Funds should be made out to New Tribes Mission but designated/noted for the “BIEM MINISTRY ACCOUNT”.

First Team Dinner by the Beach

Thomas on the left and Brandon in the middle…he’s a Lakers fan so please pray for team unity.

The Ladies…Petra, Rachel and Gail.

The Biem Kids!

It took us two days to move this big rock…

This is the traditional Biem clothing. They no longer wear them on a daily basis but save them for festivals and special occasions.

The drums are all hand-carved and lizard skin are sewed in.

We have safely returned to BM for a week now. Wayne came back with the boat while Gail and the kids took a ride on the float plane. Kala’s leg infection is completely healed now. We are so grateful for all your prayers and encouragements during this time. We as a family experienced God’s grace and protection through this ordeal. We trust that God brought us to this island and He is able to keep our family on this island for His purpose despite sickness or any other difficulties.

We jumped right back into language and culture study since we came back. Gail hiked up the volcano with some BM ladies this week and she came back aching and exhausted after six hours of straight up and down trekking. The ground near the top of the volcano was quite hot but a big thunderstorm cooled it down. It was a great time of establishing relationships as well as getting a glimpse of BM culture.

You can pray for some upcoming events for our ministry in BM

- In about a month, we will receive our first language evaluation. It is not a test but a tool to see how much progress we have made. We still have a long way to go but we are staying encouraged and making progress. Please pray for a proper perspective in language study. Sometimes language study can feel like an academic exercise. Memorization, mimicry, listening to audio recordings, breaking down grammatical parts…they are repetitive, laborious and sometimes even boring. Please pray that we will not lose sight of the end goal of being able to communicate the gospel clearly in their language.

- We will start building our house in July/August. We have purchased some of the building materials and drawn up a house plan. We’ll be making quite a few runs between the mainland and the island in preparation for this. Please pray that the building project will proceed smoothly and safely.

- Our team have started discussing the possibility of purchasing a bigger boat due to safely concerns over our little banana boat. A more sea worthy vessel will allow us to travel during all seasons and shorten our time on the water. This is still in the brainstorming stage but all three families feel a bigger boat is needed for our ministry in BM. The Depners (on furlough in Germany now) will return in late June and we will be holding a week long team meeting to address many long term ministry plans and needs.

This morning, we attended another funeral here in the village. There have been six deaths already on the island since we moved in three months ago. Every time we hear a funeral wail is a reminder of the urgency of our task. As we witnessed another soul heading into a Christless eternity, our hearts ache with the finality of heaven and hell. It is not something talked about often in our western churches but it is surely felt here on BM every time a person dies.

A few weeks ago, a BM man came to our coworker and asked…”When you guys first came here, you said you will bring God’s talk to us. You have been here for over a year now. When are you going to tell us about God’s talk? All the religious talks here on BM…I know it’s not the whole truth. When are you going to teach us the true foundation of God’s talk?” Please pray for us as we continue to dig into their language and culture in preparation to share the Good News with BM one day.

Privileged to be serving Him with you,

Wayne, Gail, Abby and Kala

Pressing on with Jesus

Wayne, Gail, Abby and Kala

Many of you have been regularly praying for us and we cannot repeat too many times how important and crucial your prayers mean to our family life, our health and our walk with the Lord.

Every time we shared about malaria, skin infections, homesickness and many other difficulties via email, we usually get replies within hours, letting us know that you are interceding for us.  This means so much to us and we are honored and privileged to know that we are constantly being lifted up by so many of you guys.

Now that the Lord has put the Biem people on our hearts, we want to invite you to expand your prayers.  While we desperately need your prayers for health (and please don’t stop), we are also well aware of the fact that we did not come to Papua New Guinea just “to be healthy”.  If anything, we would gladly exchange our health and comfort for the opportunity of a unreached people group to hear the Good News.

Would you start praying specifically for the Biem people?  Since none of the missionaries have finished learning the Biem language, there are not a whole lot we know at this point about their worldviews and deep religious convictions.  Could you guys start praying that there would be a dissatisfaction with their animistic beliefs and that the Holy Spirit would begin working in their hearts in preparation for the Gospel presentation down the road?

Greetings from Papua New Guinea!  Our family has been in PNG for over five months now and it just dawned on us during the holiday season that PNG feels like home now.  As we look back in the last few months, we are absolutely certain that all of your prayers and encouragements made a HUGE impact in our ministry and family life.  We truly treasure this partnership and want to thank you once again for being part of the team.

As we reflect on the name given to Jesus…Emmanuel, God is with us…we are reminded of the unfathomable love of God.  The Maker of heaven and earth put His only son in a dirty manger through a little scared young girl.  33 years later, this baby in the manger became the savior for every nation, tribe and tongue through his death and resurrection.  Amazing, isn’t it?

Yet, most of the animistic tribes in PNA believe exactly the opposite – GOD is NOT with us.  The tribal people believe in many spirits in nature but the concept of an all-powerful Creator God is foreign to most of them.  They often live in fear and bondage, not knowing who and what to put their trust in and in turn resort to appeasing the spirits through various animistic rituals.  Let us continue to labor toward bringing the good news of the Christ Child to all who have never heard.

A few weeks ago, a tribal man came and sat down in front of our house in the bush. This was our conversation.

Man: I am so tired…

Me: Why are you so tired? What did you do?

Man: I spent the whole morning butchering a pig I shot last night. I am really tired now.

Me: Wow, that’s great…how did you shoot it?

Man: I went with my dogs…the dogs surrounded the pig and called for me. I heard their voice, went and shot the pig. Man, I spent the whole morning butchering that thing. I am so tired.

[I am thinking at this point...”hmmm, I wonder why he didn’t bring any meat to us?” Usually the people would bring meat from their hunts (pig, emu, crocodile, bush rat) and sell some to the missionaries.]

Me: You guys must be having a feast today!

Man: I wanted to bring some pig meat to you but all you whiteskins (whoever’s not black in PNG) would put the meat in the ice box. I knew you would put the meat in the ice box. When you do that, my dogs are going to feel cold and they won’t be able to hunt anymore. That’s why I did not bring any meat.

Me: Hmm? What did you say again? Did you mean the pig would feel cold? The pig is dead already! [I am completely lost at this point]

Man: [Laughing hard] No, not the pig. When you put pig in the ice box, my DOGS are going to feel cold and they won’t be able to hunt anymore. See, if I shoot a pig without my dogs, then I would give some of the meat to you. You can put it in the ice box and that won’t be a problem. But if I shoot the pig with my dogs…then we can’t give it to the whiteskins because you guys always put the meat in the ice box.

Me: Ok…[still trying to put my head around this]…well, if you shoot one next time, we would love to get some meat!

We decided to do some cultural investigation about this conversation. I started asking around the village to confirm what he said and many of the man told me, “yup, if I shoot a pig with my dogs, I won’t bring it to the missionaries”. It took a few more conversations in the village to discover the underlying belief amongst the tribal people.

Many of the tribal men use dogs in their hunt. Before the hunt, some of them would perform “magic” (literally: putting wind of the mouth on something) on the tails of the dogs. They believe this practices gives the dogs special power to find and round up pigs in the jungle. They also believe that by putting the pig meat (or whatever they get from their hunts) in the freezer, it kills the “magic”. This is what the man meant when he said the dogs would feel “cold”, meaning the magic is no longer working. In an animistic culture, there are no coincidences…you do not just have a bad day of fishing, some spirits must be angry.  EVERYTHING happens for a reason.

Some of you may have wondered or thought…man, it must be nice to go fishing or hunting all day long! True, I do enjoy putting the hurt and shedding the blood of some wild mammals every once in a while but that’s not the reason why we go to hunts with the tribal people. It is often in trips like this that we discover their worldviews and animistic beliefs. Gaining solid knowledge of their worldviews is essential for missionaries before we can effectively present the gospel of Jesus Christ.

A typical house in the village

A night hunt…Nick shot the bush rat. It’s supposed to be a delicacy but I kindly offered it to him since I am just such a great guy!