Chris and Ingrid Hughes with Jonathan recently finished their time in ‘Bush Orientation’ and they are soon to begin the tricky process of team formation. Not knowing exactly what will happen beyond this point is not easy. They need lots of wisdom to know who they would work well with for the next 15-20 years and also which people group they should work in. Pray that God would make these things clear and that He would be preparing the hearts of those that they will reach with the Gospel.
They are very thankful for the time they had with the Ata Church and for the chance to experience bush living for the first time. Jonathan loved bush life and made lots of friends!
Bush living is about as different as it gets from life back in England. God really used this time to teach them that they need to depend upon Him if their church planting hopes are to become a reality. Sure, they knew this in theory, but being in Ata helped them to see their need for Him in a completely new way. It was a chance to experience a microcosm of tribal missionary life before they dive into a place where there are no believers other than the missionary team itself.
They experienced what it is like to try to do language and culture study when daily life takes so much time, what it is like to be sick when they are miles away from medical help, what it is like to try to parent Jonathan when their neighbours have a totally different approach. In each of these areas, they saw their need to let Christ live through them and provide the strength they need.
However, they also heard story after story of how God has changed the Ata people and how He is still changing them. They listened as Ata people taught the Bible in their own language when 25 years earlier there was no Ata Bible. They were on the receiving end of God working through the Ata church when one of the church elders came to pray with them when they were sick. They saw that although the cost is high, it is worth taking the Gospel to every tribe because of what God will do in the lives of those they reach. It is worth it because Christ is worthy to receive praise from every mouth, in every language.
Pray for the upcoming missionary conference that Chris and Ingrid are helping set up and will attend.
Praise God for helping both Chris and Ingrid to pass their Tok Pisin (trade language) studies.
Pray for peaceful hearts in a time of uncertainties.