Cathy Teaching Nicole How to Fish PNG Style
“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” –Francis of Assisi
“…And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” –Col. 3:17
The bible has a lot to say about “word and deed”, sometimes it refers to one as good and the other not as good or sometimes it couples them together to make an emphasis. There are some who believe you never need to speak the Gospel but just live it out, and people will come to Christ…that would be the pendulum swinging too far in one direction. These thoughts give the context to the story we are about to share. Last week Nicole received an exciting phone call, one of our dear friends (from Madang, PNG) got saved! Please rejoice with us! Her name is Cathy, and she has an immediate desire to train up her 5 kids “in nurture and admonition of the Lord”. She does not want to gossip or get angry anymore but rather live out her Christian life by following and obeying the Lord. Cathy was such a great help to us in Madang, not just someone who helped us learn language and culture, but a friend who we literally had an amazing last meal with in Madang (with two iPhone flashlights for light). Nicole spent a lot of time with her, I (Seth) would always provide times for them to get together and try to play with the kids so that they could get good time talking and sharing life with one another.
Cathy called us last week and told us how she got saved. She told us what she was thinking, “I must get saved now, I must follow God and obey Him”. Our Pastor in Madang (Japheth, a national) preached a message on how Christians should look different and remember who they were before Christ and how they are to live differently afterwards. Cathy heard this message and realized she couldn’t think of a clear line of demarcation of when her spiritual life began. Japheth’s mom, Anna (a godly woman, who Nicole and I talked and prayed with many times regarding Cathy’s salvation) sat her down and talked things through with her (in Tok Pisin-her heart language) to make sure of her decision. Shortly thereafter, we all gained a new sister in Christ! Cathy thanked us; she said that God used Japheth’s preaching, Anna’s counsel, and our testimony to bring her to Christ. She said that we would always talk about God and how great He is and how He changed our lives but couldn’t think of when God changed her life.
This is so encouraging to us! We never thought we would be able to help someone come to the Father until we “learned” the language fully, but God in His grace and mercy allowed this time to bless us and motivate us to press on. We share this story not to our account, but to God and yours! We want to say thank you to all of our supporters and to those who are behind us, this is fruit to your account!
Cathy is just one of the millions here in PNG who need Jesus. Many cults have come and even some “good evangelical missions” as well, but they did not take the time to sit down, learn the language, and then stay to be a testimony and a road to show them how to live in Christ. There is a great veneer of Christianity here in PNG, there have been a lot of good intentions from many missionary agencies, but salvation comes by God alone. You cannot add liturgy, works, a list of “do’s” or “don’ts”, or anything else! Jesus is enough; He is the only way to heaven. He has given us this great commission to not only preach His message, not to only live like He lived, but also to help others understand who they are without Christ and grow them into mature, replicating, God-worshippers.
“…let us not love with word…but in deed…” –1 John 3:18
“For I will not dare speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the gentiles obedient, by word and deed.” –Romans 15:18
Stoking The Fires 