KONOMALA

This is about to get real.

It’s not just theory. It’s not just talk.

There are 2000 language groups who are still without access to the truth.
We’re about to start a conversation one of those language groups and watch what God does! 

(5 hours down that road, the Konomala are still living with no access to the truth)

Before arriving in PNG, we got an email from a mission leader. He had just met with elders from two churches in the New Ireland Province: the Patpatar and Siar. During that meeting the elders expressed a strong desire to see a church planting team take God’s word to the Konomala people for the first time.

The Siar & Patpatar churches are both on the west coast of the island. They realized that realistically it would be nearly impossible to reach the Konomala (on the east coast) anytime within the next 10-20 years. So they asked us to come join.

That meeting was almost two years ago.
Now in 3 days we’ll be having our first conversations with the Konomala people!

We’re going on a comprehensive survey that will consist of visiting a number of key villages on the east coast, meeting with the leaders of those villages, and spending as much time as needed in order to connect with people in the community.

The goal
We want to intentionally connect with key areas & people to communicate what we are wanting to come do and why. We will really be trusting the Lord for wisdom and discernment in these initial and very important conversations & decisions. Then if God clears the way, we’re trusting Him that one of the villages will invite us to come live among them and bring them His truth.

The first step
Luke, myself (Seth), and a mission leader will meet with all of the elders of the 5 churches on New Ireland. We’ll all be talking through the survey and praying about it together before we leave the next day.  We are excited to come in and work side by side with the churches in this region, so we’re very purposefully conducting this survey with the church elders at the forefront (not the white missionaries). We want to come into Konomala as PART of what God is doing … not as the “faces” of it.

Then on July 5th (July 4th in America), us three along with 3 Siar elders and 1 Patpatar elder will be driving through the Konomala villages and connecting with people. We’re anticipating spending about 4 days visiting as many villages as we can.

After the survey, all of us (with the other New Ireland church elders) will meet together, debrief the trip, and discuss other issues as a group of men caring for the church.

Up until this point God has really laid out the red carpet for our two families. We’re waiting to see how He works on this survey and in the months ahead.
We might be close to shaking hands with future elders of Jesus’ church! We might be meeting future brothers & sisters in Christ!

Satan is not excited about the church growing together and God’s image bearers being restored.
The fight is real.

 

Please Pray

That God will continue preparing the hearts of the people in Konomala.
That He will be creating a desire in their hearts to understand His truth.

That He will give wisdom and discernment to the New Ireland elders and our team. 

That the logistics of the survey would not become a hinderance … that all the elders will be able to come in time for the meetings etc., that the road will be drive-able, that the right people will be present in the villages that we visit, that the truck runs well, that we all remain healthy

That we will be able to communicate in a way that is clear, honest, and unified as a group of elders. 

That our perspectives stay big and our desires aim at His.