Tyler and Emily in PNG

Yesterday, Emily and I got the honor to share the ministry of Pioneer Bible Translators at a small rural Lutheran church in Montana. It was a bit awkward to be sharing on Christmas Sunday as missionaries, nonetheless it was an honor. As I sat down on Saturday to figure out how I was going to incorporate Christmas into our presentation of Pioneer Bible Translators and our ministry in Papua New Guinea, I struggled a bit.

Earlier in the week, I was following my daily e-devotion and the message has been about why Jesus came into world. The author explained Christmas is about LOVE. God loved us so much that he sent his Son, John 3:16. The Christmas story is a love story.

When we share I like to read from the Tok Pisin Buk Baibel to give the listeners a small taste of the trade language in Papua New Guinea. I chose to read from Isaiah (Aisaia) 7:14:

Wanpela yangpela meri i gat bel, na bai em i karim wanpela pikinini man na kolim nem bilong en Emanuel.

The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, andwill call him Immanuel.

Immanuel: Hebrew עִמָּנוּאֵל meaning “God is with us” only appears three times in the Bible: Isa 7:14, 8:8 and Matt 1:23. Ever since Adam’s time in the garden, the people of the Old Testament have been looking for the Messiah who would deliver them from suffering. Fast forward to Luke and the story of an amazing woman, the mother of a Savior, and the woman God had favor on…Mary.

Mary was a lucky woman plus blessed and favored by God. However, she was confused, worried, stressed and quite disturbed by this message from an angel. But the Lord had favor on her and she was to carry the Christ child. (Read Luke 1:26-38)

The angel told Mary both about her pregnancy as well as Elizabeth’s then ended with stating, ‘for nothing is impossible with God.’ As missionaries in PNG we witness many impossible things in our eyes everyday but God sees differently as the angel proclaimed here. God was eternal eyes and nothing is impossible with God!

Christmas is about love. God loves you so much that he sent his Son into a world filled with hurt and evil. It is our duty as God’s chosen ambassadors to tell the world the story of Christmas. As Emily and I prepare to return to PNG in the coming weeks, it will be on our hearts to tell the story of Christmas to those who have not heard or read it. It is a great pleasure and joy to be on a team that their call is to put God’s word in their language so one day the people of PNG can read the Christmas story for the first time.

Go tell it on a mountain that Jesus Christ is born!

Mele Kalikimaka / Merry Christmas!