Recipe For Return
I’ve spent the past 3 months living in bamboo huts, showering in creeks, eating from nature, and dying to my flesh to discover contentment in the simplicity of tribal life.
There was one day where my team and I arrived at a prison to find all of the inmates gathered together in worship. This was a beautiful picture of the nation of Papua New Guinea; they were worshiping before we got there. God’s hand was there before we got there. The Holy Spirit was moving before we got there. I’m so beyond grateful that He allowed us to come partner with what He’s doing in PNG and receive His heart for the nation.
Papua New Guinea is an island neighboring Australia and Indonesia with over 600 tribes and 800+ languages spoken. A little over 90% of the nation is still living rurally in tribal villages. The Gospel was brought to PNG by German missionaries and a majority of the country would claim to be Christian. However, witchcraft is still heavily practiced and violence, abuse, and addiction is rampant in the villages. Our team was on a mission to awaken the Church there to repentance, truth, and true relationship with the Father.
Currently, the Bible is not translated in the mother tongues of these tribes, so a lot of what they know has been taught to them via word of mouth or passed down from generations. Wycliffe and other organizations are working hard to begin the process of these translations, and my team and I got the honor to visit their base while in PNG, but there is little to no written materials in a majority of these languages to fully learn the tongue. Please intercede for God’s hand not only on the translation process but also for a change in government resulting in opportunities for people to attend school and learn to read.
Throughout the 3 months in PNG, we moved around to different provinces and villages staying in huts and living amongst the people there while both building relationships and hosting daily gatherings speaking on the Word and aspects of true relationship with Him. It was a transition from asking if they know Jesus to asking “how is your relationship with Him?” and reminded me of the urgent call to awaken the Church in America and across the globe to deeper intimacy.
“The land of the unexpected” proved its title and we were humorously humbled daily to lay down any plans, schedules, or expectations. Due to this, I was pleasantly surprised to discover how highly the Church in Papua New Guinea honored respect, structure, and reverence. One thing in particular I’m saddened to have seen the Protestant church lose, especially in America, is reverence and beauty. Where I’ve recently learned the freedom in undignified worship, I never want to lose the respect and reverence the King of the universe is so worthy of. He deserves my bow, my best, and my all.
Papua New Guinea redrew my understanding of Mary with her alabaster jar. PNG is a nation walking in the joy of wasting it all. I can honestly say that I have never met a people group more ecstatic to give despite what they have. My team and I were showered with hand-made bilums (bags), meri blouses (dresses), and fruits upon nearly every interaction. They work hard daily for these things and then are overjoyed when any moment arises to give them away. Generosity and servant-heartedness are concepts that we westerners have to learn and work to apply in our lives, but there, it’s embedded into their core. When Papua New Guineans fall in love with the true living God, they are beautiful examples of Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus with no hesitation to waste it all.
Comfortability was completely stripped from us throughout these few months. There wasn’t a moment where I can recall my stomach not upset, my nails not dirty, or my back not hurting from sleeping on dirt, concrete, bamboo, you name it. But boy was life so much more simple. My body may have been in pain but there was a massive weight that was lifted off my shoulders the moment I stepped into life where no one cared about being successful, trendy, popular, or wealthy. Being in more developed nations, we have the choice for comfort and ease. It’s truly mind-boggling how much that has seeped into our spiritual lives. How often do we choose convenience over risk and sacrifice for the Lord in our everyday lives? Something I’ve been working to ask daily is “Lord, how can I make myself uncomfortable for you today?”
To continue on in the long list of things I’ve learned from this remarkable nation, what has been captivating my heart lately is the endless deeper revelation we can get of our Father. We know He loves us, and we know He’s sovereign over all, but we have a lifetime’s worth of daily gaining a deeper understanding of what that truly means. These past few months have been marked with a deeper revelation of just how big God really is.
There was a day where we were high up in the mountains in a small village watching them perform a dance to a song I grew up listening to. I remember being in complete awe of His immensity and the fact that this was a tiny tribe not many around the world even knows exists, yet here is the Lord’s hand on their lives. The same God who has been with me and watched me grow up in a Phoenix suburb had His eyes on these people out in the PNG jungle terrain, and we worship the same King using the same words; a beautiful glimpse into the Revelation 9 throne room where we will all one day gather around and sing “holy.” It was one of those facets about Him that I’ve known my whole life, yet my human brain cannot fully fathom and therefore found myself in a puddle of awe and captivation over the God I serve.
“Josh, grab your machete!” a villager shouted and later resulted in having pig for dinner that night. My time in PNG was one of the wildest experiences of my life to say the least. So much so that I found myself in a state of complete shock and confusion one day over my lack of feeling fulfilled. I remember sitting and looking out into the island tropics and asking the Lord for clarity. “God, I’m in one of the most beautiful places, experiencing the craziest things, and watching people break free of demonic holds and falling in deeper love with you. Why do I have this feeling of emptiness trying to get in the way?” Let me tell you I was distraught. I was angry at the enemy for trying to steal, kill and destroy, but the Lord quickly exposed where my own flesh was getting in the way of holy fulfillment. Had missions become my idol?
One thing I am so confident to declare over Gen Z is we are an “I’ll go anywhere, send me” generation. When Gen Z encounters the Holy Spirit our original design is to give it all up and find Him in the harvest. This is one reason I am so passionate about the Church returning to the foundation of truth and intimacy because when you match that with the Isaiah 6 response, well, ‘maranatha’ baby. I am so overjoyed over my generation’s willingness to say “yes,” but my prayer is that we would also be a generation faithful and content in the small — the everyday, the mundane, the small towns, and the 9-5 jobs if we are asked to. May the Matthew 28 passionate laborer meet the Matthew 25 faithful steward.
I told the Lord that day in Papua New Guinea that I never want to lose my willingness to go anywhere for Him, but that I also never want to lose my contentment and fulfillment in Him alone rather than from doing something big and crazy for Him. I decided that I want to be just as fulfilled if His leading hand guides me next to a monotonous job in small town America as I would be if He leads me to the plains of southeast Asia amidst massive revival. Jesus, find me faithful in the big, and find me faithful in the small. You alone fill my cup, not my assignments.
May we be a generation rising up with the “here I am, send me” response met with the complete joy and contentment in wherever we are sent. There was something so heavenly to the simplicity of tribal life — never seeing a new place, rarely having a different day, but so faithful in the daily tasks set before them and so much willingness to give up everything they’ve worked so hard for as soon as the opportunity arises.
Lord, teach us to have hearts set in the correct posture to complete the Great Commission and see you come back. Lord, teach us to say “yes” and drop everything the moment you ask, but also be so content if you ask us to stay. Lord, teach us how to have both: how to not get stuck in the familiarity when we are meant to take risks and make sacrifices for you, but also how to be faithful in the daily and seemingly mundane tasks. Lord, teach us how to properly mix the loyal steward and the excited laborer. Lord, teach us the recipe for your return.
Abutu bini! Gubusiba!
Prayer requests:
- For Papua New Guinea to walk out their original design and lead the Church in faithful stewardship and an immediate willingness to give up everything the moment an opportunity arises
- For rapid Bible translation and for people to say “yes” to partner with this cause
- For wisdom and revelation to fall upon them to live holy and relational lives with the Lord despite the lack of Bibles in their languages
- For self confidence and boldness to fall upon the villagers to speak against the demonic
- For Salvation Army in Kainantu – for resources, for their gift of the joy of the Lord to be used in their community in an increased measure
- The YWAM base in Lae – for blessings of resources and finances to continue to move mountains in the villages, for strength and increased motivation to do everything unto the Lord, for unity in the base, and for the hearts of those around PNG to be stirred and come join the base
- Melissa, a girl I met in the city, who was seemingly in danger of trafficking and received the Gospel. Pray for her safety, sealed salvation, and healing in family relationships so she can return home
- The children in the Markim Valley village, they are filled with so much light!
- Tribal wars and violence and for the Lord’s peace to surround every village
- Against all witchcraft
- When the parents of children die, they become slaves in their villages, so pray for restoration of the value of these kids lives in the villages
- A governmental change and easier access to education
- For the Church in America to receive: contentment in Him alone, making the choice to be uncomfortable, a return of reverence, deeper revelation of things we already know, and what true generosity and wasting it all looks like
- For Gen Z to match their passion to go with contentment and fulfillment in Him alone
