David stretched his legs. They were sore, very sore. He felt as if he had spent several days cutting fence posts with his axe and carrying them on his shoulder to his new garden site. However, as vital as his garden was to his and his family’s lives as a subsistence farmer in the bush of Papua New Guinea, he knew his labors over the past ten days of grueling trekking were far more important—eternally important. David was laboring to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to scattered villages inaccessible except by foot, and most importantly, ignorant of the true message of salvation. David was trailblazing for the Lord.
What is pioneer missions?
Discussion of pioneer mission work usually requires some definition. For instance, is pioneering work related to remote location and primitive conditions? Or should the definition revolve around people who have never heard of Christ? Or both? To capture a meaning which has spiritual significance and is therefore scriptural in its emphasis, pioneer mission work is reaching a people who are ignorant of Christ or at least ignorant of the true Gospel, though they may have heard of Christ. In some places in the world, the spiritual ignorance and primitive conditions are both present.
In Papua New Guinea, David and others committed to this daunting task face both. A great part of the challenge is physically reaching people who are scattered through rugged mountainous bush where strenuous trekking is the only way to deliver the Light of the Gospel to them. Yet in many countries where contacting the unevangelized is not so physically demanding, there is still a nearly impenetrable barrier of religious or political hostility to the Gospel. This makes the ministry of the Good News a tough slog.
The fact remains that among many of these “unreached” peoples, there are very few workers coming forward to engage in that ministry “slog.” Still the voice of Christ still echoes through the Church: “unto the uttermost parts of the earth.” So why is it that so few are stepping forward to embrace ministry among these darkened souls?
Who does God use as pioneers?
One answer involves a misconception regarding the men and women Christ uses to accomplish evangelization of people in the “tough” places. The flaw in thinking generally revolves around the issue of “what I am able to do” and usually draws inwardly the scope of ministry options to a narrow circle based on one’s natural talents or inclinations.
Frequently when presenting our ministry to the remote areas of PNG, someone will come to me afterward and state, “I could never do that type of work.” Behind this statement may be thoughts of our battles with rats over the years. Or their thoughts may be focused on the lack of infrastructure and the accompanying challenges of everyday life off the grid—traveling on unpaved roads, collecting water and nearly everything else which brings convenience to life.
Some may also be focused on painful partings with friends and family. But whatever the reasons are, these sincere and honest folks view a pioneering or trailblazing ministry as beyond their abilities. Such work looms before them as an impossibility.
Paul's Inspired Description of Who God Uses
Praise the Lord that His Spirit has delivered to us the truth about challenging ministries and the men and women who are “able” to accomplish them. Paul, in dealing with the divisions in the Corinthian church, discusses the men and the ministry there. These believers were gravitating to various men, making their choice central to the work. Paul wrote about his own gospel ministry (see 1 Corinthians 1:17), revealing the truth that his message was viewed by the world as either foolish or a stumbling block. He also described those who generally receive the Gospel as not usually being from the upper echelons of society and academia. But for our discussion, Paul’s inspired description of the ministers is what we need to consider.
In chapter three, verse five, Paul asks, “Who is Apollos? Who is Paul?” The answer? They are ministers—servants! The same word for “servant” is used to describe the people to whom Mary turned at the wedding at Cana and said, “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it” (John 2:5). These servants had no more ability to create wine out of water than they could sprout wings and fly. The ministry at Cana required the supernatural. The servants merely obeyed the Omnipotent One.
“Yes, yes,” we reply, “Gospel ministry is spiritual and requires God to give the increase. But we are talking about environments and circumstances which would be impossible for us to navigate.” The needed answer to this complaint is “I can do all things through Christ.” The Christ of the universe can enable the most unlikely and unsuited believers to accomplish Gospel work. What is necessary is a firm grip on Paul’s Christ through faith, not a troop of marines used to hardship out of a love of roughing it—though there have been some missionaries who have seemed to enjoy hardship.
The Holy Spirit Enables
It is a supernatural enabling which bolsters the spirits and bodies of those servants who will say, “Yes, Lord.” It is the increase-giving God who also gives ability and stamina to endure hardship (with contentment) as good soldiers.
My wife, Janice, is a perfect example of this supernatural work. We have been missionaries in the bush of Papua New Guinea for nearly 25 years. Over these years the village of Aibai has truly become our home. However, when we began in January of 1997 in a village about 45 minutes from our current location, “home” would not have been the word that described our feelings.
Our first house consisted of a dirt floor covered with cheap linoleum, woven bamboo walls, and a tin roof. The size was very cozy, requiring a triple bunk bed for our three boys to be able to fit on their side of the sleeping area. There were no soffits, so that at one point we had a pumpkin vine growing over the top of the wall into the house. I joked with the nationals that we would train the vine so that the pumpkins would grow right over the wood stove for convenience. And what a wood stove! It was a cheap (but expensive) Chinese contraption which had no ability to regulate the temperature. Janice, who had never built a fire in her life, much less cooked on a wood stove, certainly had many learning opportunities. And rats! I usually set five or six traps around the house daily and averaged about two kills nightly with an all-time high of five. There were no screens on the windows, so the Coleman lamps shouted “vacancy” to the flying ants. As the swarm increased, Janice would often be forced to turn off the lamps and wait until morning to proceed with the work.
Through all of this and much more, Janice was buoyed by a supernatural enabling to be truly at peace in this “rough” environment. There were no sighs of “this is terrible and unbearable.” There was only contentment in spite of the fact that Janice is not an outdoors person. She would never have chosen a life of roughing it, but God gave her a supernatural ability to fulfill the impossible commission. The question is not at all, “What am I able to do?” The question is, “What can God enable me to do?” Can I trailblaze with the Gospel? Absolutely!