Remote tribal missions
In our last ministry update we looked back at 2019, but we want to share about our plans, hopes and dreams for the coming year.
Looking forward at 2020:
In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)
We have some big dreams for this year in our family! We are trusting the Lord for three big things:
1) A trip south (waaay south) – It has always been our desire to expose our children to other kinds of missions, other cultures, as well as life in third world countries. This summer our family has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do all three – experience remote tribal missions.
The village our family would be staying in.
Naomi’s cousin, Becky Preheim, has been a missionary for 20 years with Ethnos 360 (formerly New Tribes Mission). She and her team recently completed the translation of the New Testament into the Mengen tribal language, a remote tribal group in Papua New Guinea (PNG), the same country Naomi grew up in as a missionary kid (North of Australia). This summer they will be having a dedication service for the new Bible translation.
The Mengen New Testament
We’d be going to the largest island to the east of the big island of Papua New Guinea
We have long supported and prayed for Becky over the years and are excited about this major milestone. Becky will be traveling back to PNG for this celebration, and Naomi and our three kids have the opportunity to accompany Becky to see the fruit of God’s work among the Mengen people. We have been praying for something like this for years and are really excited about this opportunity!
One of the village children reading.
Naomi’s cousin, Becky, and one of the village women holding a copy of the book of Acts.
2) A trip east – Our last trip to the Maritimes and Ontario was our cross-country road trip of 2017. If the Lord supplies, we desire to get back again to reconnect with family, friends, and supporters (as well as keeping some Maritime salt in the kids’ veins) this summer.
3) New bedrooms – Our girls are getting older (currently 13 almost 15), and bigger. The little room they are sharing is pretty tight, with them literally on top of each other with a loft bed. For several years, we have wanted to take an all-purpose room in our basement and break it into a small storage room and two bedrooms. To do that, we need new windows that allow emergency exits, and also walls, doors, heating, etc. The fix-or-replace-broken-things-palooza of 2019 caused it to be delayed another year, but we are really hoping not to put it off for another year yet again.
Other 2020 plans:
- Naomi has been invited to be the speaker at a mother/daughter equestrian camp this summer, and we are exploring having Ellie (who will be 15 then) stay after that as a camp volunteer.
- Ellie getting her learner’s permit to start driving. 😳
- In February our family will also be participating again in an evangelistic retreat weekend featuring the new No Ordinary Story books.
On the ministry end of things, Troy is currently getting budgets ready for the coming year for the various goals we have in GoodSeed. These include translation work and printing materials in various languages, reprints of English materials, ministry travel, moving various creative projects ahead (such as an audiobook and the musical), shipping materials to and setting up distrubution channels in Australia, UK and Europe and all the expenses that go along with seeing these things accomplished.
Doing a budget is essentially an exercise in faith, but the Lord has provided wonderfully for us as a ministry. We have a full warehouse of books, and the finances ready to reprint four more books in the next two months! We know the Lord is more than able to undertake for many more things in 2020.
Truly, while we think our plans for the year are wonderful and exciting, we are looking to see how the Lord leads and guides us.
These are some big dreams. Please pray for us as we make plans, consider our options, and try to save up funds. Please pray for wisdom and provision for these opportunities and our family.
Because of Christ,
Troy & Naomi