The sun was hot on my back, but the breeze from the speed of the dugout canoe moving up the Ramu River was cool as it blew against my sweat-dampened T-shirt. At that moment I felt a touch of what I can only think of as a sort of reverse déjà vu - not the feeling that I had been here before, but rather the feeling "I can't believe we're really here!" It was not to be the last time I had that feeling.
I can't really say that being a missionary had been a life-long dream of mine. It seems like Chris probably thought about it a at younger age than I did, but then I didn't become a Christian until 13 years of age, so I really wasn't exposed to the idea before then. But Chris' mother was a very strong Christian lady, and Chris remembers having missionaries in her home from the time she was small, and perhaps dreaming of the places they talked about. So for Chris the thought of being a missionary goes back to her childhood. For me, the seed was planted in my teenage years as I met various missionaries, heard them speak, and watched my home congregation in Casper, Wyoming, send families off to serve in Brazil or South Africa or wherever. But for both Chris and I, the seed that was planted so many years ago would take many years to ripen.
While we both had some thoughts of being missionaries even before college, it was always something that was away in the future. It was something we were open to doing, but it never seemed that the right opportunity presented itself for missions, whereas other opportunities did come our way. I had opportunities for preaching ministry which seemed to be God's leading for that time. Then in 1977 I was given the opportunity to teach at Platte Valley Bible College in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. This really appealed to me, so Chris and I and our two boys moved from Missouri to Nebraska to begin what would be a ministry of more than 20 years. While there we added a daughter to our family, and began moving closer to the mission field. One of my students during those first years at PVBC was David Parrish, a young man from my hometown of Casper, Wyoming. After Dave graduated from college, he went to Dallas to study linguistics so that he could go to Papua New Guinea and do Bible translation with Pioneer Bible Translators. That was the first time I had ever heard of PBT.
When Dave and Alice Parrish went to Papua New Guinea after they were done with linguistics school, Chris and I followed their work with great interest. After Dave and Alice had come back to the US after their first term of service in PNG I had several opportunities to visit with them and learn more about PBT. Then in 1985 I was approached about becoming a member of the board of directors of PBT. I then found out that Barton McElroy, who had been one of my professors at Ozark Bible College, was president of PBT. I remember thinking that they must want some geographical diversity on the board or something, because I didn't see what I really had to offer as a board member. But I felt honored to be asked, so Chris and I decided that it would be good to give it a try. I think a lot of my reasons were somewhat selfish — I just wanted to be able to be associated with PBT and meet the translators and workers overseas.
Then in 1993 an opportunity came up that was really going to be a turning point for our family. Each year PBT likes to send a board member to visit the field in order to really get a more immediate and personal awareness of the conditions of the field, and the needs and issues faced by our missionaries. So when I was given the opportunity to take the board member trip, I told Chris that I wanted to do it, but that I wanted her to go with me, even if it would cost us a fair bit. Well, Chris not only wanted to go, she also wanted to take all three of our kids! I didn't see how we could afford it, but I agreed that it would be great if we could pull it off. So we made our plans, and with the help of our home church and many others, we were able to take our whole family for five weeks to see what it was like to work with PBT in PNG. Needless to say, it was a life-changing experience.
From that time on, I think the idea was always there that we might go to PNG. Our kids were still in high school, so it didn't seem possible to go for a few years, but we were definitely thinking about making that move. Then as things developed, the need came up for someone from PBT to work as BTA advisor, and that seemed to be a job I could do. So after Sarah graduated from high school as was settled into college, Chris and I resigned from our jobs and headed to Dallas to get the training we would need to do what we could in PNG.
As I look back, it is interesting to see the various threads that were woven together to make this cord of our life. When I was in high school, there was this really strange, dynamic man who had outrageous dreams of what could be done on the mission field, and he really made an impact on my life. He was Al Hamilton, founder of PBT. Then in college I had several missions courses, and a linguistics course with a former missionary to the Philippines. That was Barton McElroy, former president of PBT. Then at PVBC one year I taught cultural anthropology and other things to Dave Parrish, former translator with PBT who now works in the home office in Dallas. But in all of this I see the leading of God, preparing us with the various experiences and training in our lives so that we would be ready at this time to be in Papua New Guinea. We can only look forward with eager anticipation to what God will do with us now, and we serve Him here.
Birthdays:
- David - July 22
- Christina - November 18
Wedding Anniversary:
- December 21