Tyler and Emily in PNG

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Eph 6:16

The month of January has been a tough month for me and I am glad to see February on the calendar in a few short days. You remember the 14 of January my apartment/flat was broken into. Well, the devil is still hard at work and still attacking me. The next week (I did not have courage to write this last week), my cousin wrote me an email stating there was a fire in Alaska.

Before I moved to PNG, I moved out of my one bedroom apartment and my cousin graciously allowed me to store many of my belongings in his basement. I moved many of my earthly treasures to his place and stored other items in my small trailer at another location. Friday the 13th, I got an email stating the house my cousin was living at had a 3am fire. The fire started in the basement and consumed everything there. The fire did not destroy the house but caused much smoke damage to the two story building. The newspaper story said the floor was hot and nail heads were showing through the carpeted floor.

It is hard for me to put words to my frustration and sadness. I cannot recall all items I placed there for safe keeping but do remember I had a twin mattress, desktop computer, and majority of my clothes. I do anticipate returning to Alaska later this year. At that time, I will have a final count of items lost.

Apart of me says I should not go back and count it all as lost. I should just stay in Papua New Guinea where my life exists now. Why go home to a life that once was? The good news is I still have many people there that love me and a small trailer with some treasures still left. I pray as my trailer which is probably buried under 6’ of snow that there is no major water leak causing mold.

As I review the month of January, I am aware that I am under spiritual warfare. I am being attacked by the ‘flaming arrows’ but I stand in the victory of Jesus Christ. I thank you for your prayers after the break in and now I plead again for your petitions. We serve a mighty God and a loving God who is gracious and a forgiving Savior.

Prayer Requests:
Protection again the evil one
Settling into a new house
Settling into a new community and surroundings
Emily who has left for furlough
Airfare and good flight schedules for my return in a few months

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Eph 6:12

One year ago today I stepped out of the Air Niugini plane onto the soil of Papua New Guinea. Today marks my one year anniversary of ministry with Pioneer Bible Translators in Papua New Guinea.

Today also marks moving day. I moved out of my apartment/flat into another house. A God given opportunity presented itself and He opened the door for me and for the future years ahead. I will not go into too much detail at this time but the house and location is a significant upgrade that the previous one bedroom apartment I have been staying in for the past 8 months.

Last week, the membership of the branch held its annual general meeting (AGM). All week we discussed hot topics, made decisions, and heard many reports including team ministry reports from all missionaries. It was a long week but I believe somewhat productive. This year will be different for the branch as many missionaries are returning home for furlough, including myself.

As you have heard, I am officially the Administrator of IT for the branch. Following the meeting and for the weeks ahead, I will be seeing fit that my ‘new’ office is to my liking. It will be a big task to sort through the various odds and ends that were left by the previous administrator.

I am stilling moving forward from my recent break-in and theft of electronic equipment from my apartment. I am grateful for the many prayers and hedge of protection that has been around me. Last week, I heard more bad news from Alaska as well. I am trying to move forward and not dwell on things that I cannot change or influence. The ‘deceiver and destroyer’ has been trying to discourage me and knock me off track but I press forward with Christ at my side.

Thank you for praying and please continue praying for me. I enjoy the ministry that God has put in front of me here in PNG. My I aim remains the same, to bring honor to Him in all I do.

A typical Saturday turns out to be anything far from ordinary. A day planned to spend time with friends out of town ends with an unexpected phone call. A phone call from a fellow missionary stating my flat/apartment has been broken into. As I arrived back to my home, indeed I found that a person broke in through three security doors. The person used a 1/2” piece of rebar to pry and force entry through these security doors. Once inside my home, they took any and all electronics that they could find. Including three laptops, GPS unit, camera, speakers, MP3 player, mobile phone, along with a pair of sneakers and a water pump/filter. The police were notified and came to the scene of the crime to document and interview.

The good news is no one was harmed or injured. Plus the Lord was looking after me as my personal and work laptop was not at my home but at the office. The person also did not steal either of my two external hard drives which store all my personal information and data. Thus I did not lose any critical data or information. All three laptops were not mission critical. Their primary purpose was home entertainment (movie watching or music playing) plus emergency backup to my main laptop.

I am actively working with the local authorities. I provided a detail list of items stolen and the values of those items. I am far from holding my breath on the chance of recovering any stolen items.

The biggest distraction to me has been personal violation of my home. I feel disturbed, interrupted, and simply violated. The trust or sense of security I had in my little apartment is now gone. I personally feel safe but none of my possessions I feel is safe while I am absent from the home.

Please pray for me as I struggle emotional. Pray for security and safety while I reside at my home. Pray that I may rest well at night. Pray that God will convict those who broke in and stole from me. Pray that the local police will be active in searching for those who have committed this crime.

As I have been mediating and praying over the past few days the scripture God brought to my heart is that of Jars of Clay in 2 Corinthians 4.

⁸ We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. ⁹ We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.

¹¹ Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies.

¹⁸ So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
2 Corinthians 4 (NLT)

I may be knocked down however I am not destroyed. Yes, trouble is lurking on all sides. However, Paul challenges us to fix our eyes on things that cannot be seen. Not to fix our eyes on earthly material possessions but things that are stored in heaven where moth nor rust will destroy. Thus these things we cannot see will last forever.

So here we are year 2012. 2011 has come and gone and was it a year to remember. (If you are a blog follower of mine, you can view my 2011 Year in Review for more detail.) As I reflected on the past year, I give honor and glory to God for blessing me and holding me close to Him. During the past year, I have done many things in which I never dreamed I would do. Only through God all things were made possible (Matt 19:26). Now with the new year upon us, I glare into the future and see a bright future and many great things to come. With the official notice of my role and long term future with PBT, I am excited to see how God will use me to build His kingdom here in Papua New Guinea. I am reminded that I must continue to ‘Trust and Obey’ as the popular hymn title states.

With the new year comes resolutions, goals, and new beginnings, I like to focus my energy on how I can grow and become closer to God in my relationship with Him. In a recent e-devotion, I captured this which I believe gives me a good focus for 2012:

Consider that we’re on a journey, through Jesus, to become like the heavenly Father, where we become one with his heart, one with his mind, and one with his other-centered focus. We are called to become Christ-like, and when we resemble Jesus, we resemble the Father (John 10:30).

During the holiday season it became known to me that Christmas and any other known holiday is just not the same on the mission field. Being stripped of your comforts and traditions lessens the joy and steals the attitude of being like Christ.

Please join with me in prayer for the annual general meeting, pray for my attitude that it may represent Christ, and pray for my patience and irritability when dealing cross-culturally. Continue to pray for health, safety, and security on the mission field. Pray that God will cast satan out of my life and out of my way.

To read the full January Newsletter: click here

How can I sum up 2011? Well, let me try to capture and highlight each month of the past year.

January – I left the frigid, arctic cold of Alaska on the 21st. I remember packing up my apartment and finding my water had froze, I guess there was no better time to leave Alaska than then. I arrived to Papua New Guinea on the 23rd and was greeted warmly at the airport. My weary eyes were heavy and ready for rest. After the branch annual meeting, I was off to Pacific Orientation Course (POC) for 14 weeks to learn culture and language.

February/March – POC is located on top of an overlooking vista of the Bismarck Sea (Pacific Ocean). I remember waking to numerous South Pacific sunrises. During POC we went on a three day hike, swam 1 mile in the ocean, and continued language acquisition in preparation for five weeks of village living.

April – This month was challenging and satisfying. I learned so much from my local wasfamili (watch family) and the customs of the land. I enjoyed the simple life style yet satisfied lives they lived. This relational culture is friendly and caring. Sleeping in a tradition village house under my mosquito net was something I never imagined doing.

May – After five weeks of village living, I was glad to be done. I was ready for running water, electricity, and of course my computer with internet. POC was finished and now I was ready for my next chapter of this journey. I started orientation at the office in Madang learning the in’s and out’s of living and working in town. Transition from POC to village living to my flat in town was challenging but again it is life of a missionary.

June – After settling into my new flat and office with PBT, it was time to get to work. The previous IT Administrator left the country, so I was left to my own devices to figure out all these cables, servers, and computers. Not to mention the first week on the job, we had an internal cabling problem which lead to no internet for a few days. Nothing like being thrown into the fire or should I say initiation into the life as a missionary. One good experience was celebrating the Queen’s Birthday with a kayak trip to Krangket Island. Then shortly after starting a relationship with my new found best friend, Emily.

July – The fourth of July was well just another day in PNG. However we did have a BBQ, bobbed for apples and lite sparklers. A few weeks later, I had to go see this place everyone talks about, Ukarumpa. Ukarumpa is the headquarters for SIL and in fact the world’s largest mission station. I wanted to venture up to the Eastern Highlands to visit my friends from POC. A nice four day weekend and a return trip by PMV.

August – Emily and her roommate left for two weeks to teach at a bush Bible college. While they were gone, I built them a book shelf and had it painted and installed by the time they came back to town. One weekend, I expanded my cultural exposure by attending a cultural show in town. Many of the regions of PNG were represented and it was an educational experience to attend.

September – Once again, I found time to escape town and kayak to Krangket Island for a little leisure time. At the end of the month, the branch met for a spiritual retreat at the Madang Lodge. The president of PBT came from Dallas to lead the retreat which was focused on rebuilding taken from Ezra and Nehemiah.

October – You may have thought I was only the IT guy but starting this month I assume another temporary title, Technical Services (or super-maintenance man). For the next three months, I would be filling in for the man who went home for furlough. Learning to share two work loads would be a challenge but it was necessary and I felt I was the one who could handle it.

November – Sharing two work loads is more difficult than I originally thought. I found it hard to divide time and found myself interrupted quite frequently only to be frustrated. As Thanksgiving came closer, we (Emily, her roommate, and I) made plans to go to Ukarumpa to spend the holiday with another missionary family. The cooler climate was welcomed and a bit of rest from two work loads was relaxing.

December – I returned to Madang for one day then I was off to catch a plane to the Western Highlands of PNG, Mt Hagen and the Kudjip, Nazarene mission station. I wanted to return to Kudjip for sometime and finally made it happen. This time my purpose was to help the College of Nursing install network cable for their new computer lab. I helped August run 2000’ of Cat5 cable and was able to visit other Alaskan based missionaries on the station as well. Christmas was blazing hot at 93 degrees but rather low key. A time of fellowship and good eats is something that will always be associated with Christmas.

How do I sum of 2011? God has blessed me far and beyond my imagination. My intent was to come to PNG and serve God through information technology with PBT. I believe I have done far more that just serve through IT. God has used me in many more ways. It is great to be apart of a family that loves God and loves people. Bringing the Word of God to people and language groups is an exciting adventure to be on. And I cannot forget to mention that God even brought a wonderful relationship to my life, which is changing my life each and everyday. Coming to PNG, I was not intending to find such a joyful smile but as I put my trust in God and surrendered to Him, He blessed me far and beyond my imagination. I look forward to the many more blessings that God will pour out in the year 2012.

Happy New Year!

A brief video of my recent flight with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) from Madang to Mt. Hagen with a brief stopover in Simbai, a bush village in rural PNG. Enjoy your inflight video!

This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”. 1 Timothy 1:15

As I reflect on Christmas and why I celebrate Christmas, I think of the manger but I also think of the cross. As Paul wrote to Timothy and to the church, Paul himself declares he was the worst sinner of all. However, the good news of Christmas is Christ came to save you and me. Yes, swallow your pride and accept that we are indeed sinners. I am not ashamed to ask for forgiveness because I do sin. I am not proud to sin but as a human here on Earth, we are sinners by nature. God the Father sent his Son through the Holy Spirit to be born by a virgin, Mary. Immanuel, had a mission, an objective, and a purpose just as you and I have a mission in life. His mission was to save sinners.

It might not feel like Christmas in my part of the world, but the reason to celebrate the birth of a Savior has not changed over 2000 plus years. As we share, give, and fellowship this Christmas, pause to read the Christmas story and rejoice with the coming King.

The song lyrics repeat, ‘It’s starting to feel a lot like Christmas…’ well I believed those lyrics until I came to PNG. As the temperature soars to above 90 degrees the Christmas tree and gifts seem to be in conflict. The mood of Christmas seems to take a very different atmosphere in the tropics. Imagine swapping July 4 with Christmas…doing so will help you put your Christmas worldview with mine. Christmas makes me want to have a BBQ on the beach and play volleyball not sit by a fire, drink hot cider, and watch the kids play in the snow.

Don’t get me wrong, the Christmas-eve and Christmas services still take place and gifts will be opened. In fact, this year we are planning both a Christmas eve dinner and a Christmas get together for all expatriates with PBT.

As Christmas does not feel like Christmas, my mind is moving forward and thinking more and more that 2011 is ending and 2012 is coming. I reflect over the past 12 months and stand in awe of what God has done in my life. Just last Christmas I was in Anchorage, Alaska with the temperature below zero and now I find myself 6 degrees south of the Equator in PNG. Wow…what a life change. I will be reflecting more and highlighting my year in review on my next post.

PS – I am starting to wonder if Santa will be wearing all those ridiculous layers of clothes when he stops at my house on Christmas eve…I guess I will have to stay up to find out. But if I stay up and wait for Santa, then he might not come after all. So…maybe I will just eat all his cookies and go to bed early.

Merry Christmas from Papua New Guinea!

I am embarrassed to see my last post was before Thanksgiving on November 22. Wow…I must confess I have been out of the office more than I have been in the office since then. A quick recap, Thanksgiving I spent in Ukarumpa (6 day holiday) back to Madang for one day then caught a plane to Mt. Hagen to visit the Nazarene Hospital station for 7 days then finally back to Madang on Tuesday, December 6. So here we are twelve days until Christmas but who is counting…all that comes to mind is “on the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me twelve drummers drumming…”.

On 29th of Nov I jumped aboard a Cessna 206 flown my mission partners, Mission Aviation Fellowship. Pilot Jason from Alberta, Canada flew me and three others first to Simbai then onward to Mt. Hagen in the Western Highlands. It was my first bush flight with MAF and an exciting opportunity to see the jungles, rivers, and mountains of beautiful Papua New Guinea.

The main reason for this trip to the Nazarene Hospital station was to visit the College of Nursing and help with networking their computer lab. It is a new computer lab with 20 computers with hopes of up to 36 computers. I brought 610 meters or 2000 feet of Cat5 network cable with me to do the job. I worked hand and hand with August who is a Nazarene pastor and supervisor of the computer lab. In fact, August just graduated with this Masters of Religion the Saturday before I arrived.

August and I started by mounting 50mm PVC pipe throughout the room so we could neatly manage all the network cables. Then the arduous process of measuring and using the fish tape to pull all 36 cables started. The ‘measure twice cut once’ line came to mind frequently as I measured over and over again before I cut the cable. After all was said and done I left with only 15 meters or 50 feet out of 2000 feet left to spare. The last step was to correctly wire each individual cable to a RJ-45 network connector.

I taught August how to separate the 4 pairs of twisted wires and correctly orient and crimp the 8 wires into a connector. After 72 completed connectors we tested each cable end for quality and correct orientation. Only three connections needed re-worked with new RJ-45 connections. August was happy and I was happy as well. On Monday before I left town to come back to Madang, we bought 2, 24 port network switches for the computer lab.

They (College of Nursing and Nazarene Hospital station) was very pleased and glad I came to volunteer my time. I had many good compliments from missionaries and national staff that I came to help. I took joy in serving the Kingdom one meter of network cable at a time. These students will now have the opportunity to share and store files and data in a computer lab environment as they seek a Christian education in nursing from the Nazarene Health Ministries.

I will be sharing more pictures and stories from my recent trip to Kudjip and my visit to the Nazarene Mission Station.

This past Sunday I heard a familiar passage of scripture from Matthew 6. Matthew 6 ends with the Jesus telling the disciples, do not worry or be anxious. Do the birds worry about what food they are going to eat? Do they worry about what they will drink?

Jisas i tok moa olsem, “Olsem na mi tokim yupela, yupela i no ken tingting planti long laip bilong yupela na tok, ‘Bai yumi kaikai wanem samting? Bai yumi dring wanem samting?’ Na yupela i no ken tingting planti long bodi bilong yupela na tok, ‘Bai yumi pasim wanem laplap?’ Ating laip em i winim kaikai, na bodi em i winim ol laplap samting.” Matyu 6:25 (Tok Pisin)

Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Matthew 6:25 (ESV)

As I sat on the wooden bench with my mind racing forwarding towards the upcoming holidays, then next year, then coming back to the USA, etc…. I was gently reminded that I am not to be anxious or worry about life. God is in control and I fully trust in Him. God has proven himself over and over again to be faithful and just. The good news is I can still hold to that promise for tomorrow.

As the passage reads on Jesus says, “But seek first the kingdom of God” (Tasol namba wan samting yupela i mas mekim i olsem. Yupela i mas larim God i stap king bilong yupela) v33.

Everyday the challenge is to seek first the kingdom of God. Not to be anxious or fret or worry about the day or even tomorrow but Jesus challenges us to seek first the kingdom of God. Why? Because all these things will be added to you.

I hope you have a blessed and thanks filled Thanksgiving holiday this Thursday.

With the season of Thanksgiving fast approaching, I find myself blessed and still counting the many reasons why I am thankful. The biggest development in my life over the past six months has been a new relationship with a girl from Montana. Her name is Emily Hinebauch. Emily is bright, beautiful, and well a wonderful cook. She knows the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.

She is one of six children and four of them are boys. She has been through the mill when it comes to putting up with brothers always picking on her, though she is the second oldest. Emily is a missionary with PBT and acts as the resident Scripture Use Specialist. She serves on the field as a missionary in many other roles as well. Her humble, servant heart is what shows the most and is one of the key traits that caught my eye early on.

We officially meet at the airport when I flew into the Madang airport. She along with a few other teammates met me at the airport. She not only greeted me with a smile and a hello but with a hot cup of Papua New Guinea coffee. I knew right then that this person whom I have never met had to be special. Just as I, she enjoys a hot cup of Java; black without any additives.

As she was winning my heart by her fine cooking skills and lady charm, I started to win her heart with stories from Alaska. As Emily loves the cold, cool weather along with snow and mountains; my Alaskan adventure stories started to sound very appealing to her. I brought out all the stops and showed her all my Alaskan DVD adventures from kayaking in Prince William Sound to canoeing on the Yukon River. I think Emily was starting to fall in love with Alaska before she was falling in love with me.

It is apparent that God is crafting this relationship together. Neither one of us decided to leave the USA in search of love. It is our hearts desire to serve the Master and His Kingdom first. As we both shared stories, we both found out that we have been praying for many years for the right time and right person to come into our lives. I would never have thought I would have to fly away to some South Pacific jungle nation to find such a beautiful young lady with a heart sold out to God.

On the day I told Emily I wanted to pursue a deeper relationship with her, Emily was speechless and could not utter any other words than…Can we pray? As we prayed, I told Emily the only way this relationship we are beginning will work is if God in in the center of our lives.

It is my pleasure to introduce Emily and that you will please include the both of us in your prayers.

Please join us in prayer as we seek God’s wisdom and discernment in our relationship. Pray for God to ease any anxiety or stress and God to give patience in our growing relationship with one another.