The missionary application process

After making the decision in November to pursue formal missionary positions in Kudjip, Papua New Guinea, we were directed to contact the missions department of the Church of the Nazarene. This led to more online interviews and several in-depth application forms. After each step was completed, we would wait to find out if we were approved to move on to the next step. By January, we were invited to complete missionary training with the Nazarene Missions Mobilization team.

During February, Paul and I completed an online course with the Asia-Pacific team. This involved several learning modules, discussion groups with other applicants, researching an unreached people group, creating slideshows and video presentations, organizing prayer meetings, and interviewing someone from a different culture. We learned loads about how to interact with other cultures, what to expect emotionally when moving to a different culture, and gained valuable insights into the other candidates’ experiences.

At the end of the month, I flew to Kansas City to complete an in-person course with the US-Canada team. This was a three-day course filled with lectures, exercises, games, and meals—all designed to teach us about interacting with other cultures. By the end of the course, I felt strongly encouraged about being part of missions. Whether we end up going overseas as full-time missionaries, find ways to support other missionaries, or learn how to be involved with missions in other ways, I am filled with a desire to find our role within God’s Great Commission:

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” -Matthew 28:19-20.

Upon coming home, we were scheduled for a final online interview. At the end of the interview, we were told that the decision would be made by the following Tuesday morning: either we would be approved by Nazarene Missions and could then officially apply for the open positions in Kudjip, or we would not be approved. During this week of waiting, we prayed. A lot. I was fully prepared to hear that God was opening the door wide for Kudjip. I was also prepared to hear that He was closing this door, in which case I would start seeking out full-time employment with the intention of paying off the remainder of our student loan debt as quickly as possible.

In Corrie ten Boom’s Tramp for the Lord: Sequel to “The Hiding Place”, she titles the 14th chapter “Obedience”. I highly recommend you to read this book. I’ll summarize a bit of the chapter and quote my favorite parts. She starts the chapter saying:

“Obedience is easy when you know you are being guided by a God who never makes mistakes.”

She then describes for two pages the difficulties she faced when she was called by God to leave Africa and go to Buenos Aires, Argentina. With practically no encouragement or confirmation from the people around her, she went. Upon arriving, she did not know where she was to stay and was not able to find a taxi to take her. But the Lord came through, as He always does. He sent someone to find her at the airport. He arranged a place for her to stay, and work for her to do while she was there. She noted:

“…I was even busier than I had been any other place on earth.”

She was given the opportunity to visit a ward of polio patients. Most of the patients were in iron lungs. She had never seen them before and she was scared.

“‘Do you wish to talk to some of the patients?’ a kind nurse asked me.
I looked around and said, ‘No, I think I am unable to talk. I just want to go off somewhere and cry.’
Always when I say that I am not able, I get the same answer from the Lord. He says, ‘I know you can’t. I have known it already a long time. I am glad now you know it for yourself for now you can let Me do it.’
‘All right, Lord, You do it,’ I said. And surely the Lord did. I went from one iron lung to another telling the men and women about the Lord Jesus Christ who breathes into each one of us His Holy Spirit.
Then I came to a man on a rocking bed. He had a different kind of polio and instead of being in a lung he was on a bed that rocked up and down. When his head was up he could breathe in. When his head went down he breathed out. The nurse told me he was Jewish.
‘Ah,’ I said, ‘I am happy to meet one of God’s chosen people. My old father, my dear sister, and some others in my family died in concentration camps because we loved the Jews. I, too, was in prison for helping Jews. But tell me, do you know the Jew, Jesus, as your personal Messiah?’
The bed rocked up and down and he shook his head for he could not speak. He had a long tube in his nose and could only move one hand slightly to write tiny notes.
‘Then is it all right if I tell you about Him?’ I asked.
He picked up his stubby pencil and scribbled on a small notebook on the side of his moving bed. ‘I am ready to listen.’
I stayed beside that rocking bed and told my Jewish friend about the great Messiah, the one whom the prophet called, ‘Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace’ (Isaiah 9:6).
I finished speaking and from my bag took a small embroidery. On one side was stitched a beatiful crown. The other side was quite mixed up. ‘When I see you on this bed,’ I said, ‘not speaking, not moving, I think of this embroidery.’ I held up the back side of the embroidery. ‘Your life is like this. See how dark it is. See how the threads are knotted and tangled, mixed up. But when you turn it around then you can see that God is actually weaving a crown for your life. God has a plan for your life and He is working it out in beauty.’
He picked up his pencil and wrote again:
‘Thanks God I am already seeing the beautiful side.’
What a miracle. He understood God did not want him to become a Gentile. Rather he would become a completed Jew. I prayed and thanked the Lord with him. Then it was time to go and Dr. Shepherd once again took me to her beautiful home.
The next day I returned to the polio ward and asked the nurse if I could speak with my Jewish friend.
‘I am sorry,’ she said, ‘but your Jewish friend on the rocking bed is no longer with us. Just five minutes after you left he beckoned me to come to his side. There was a wonderful light shining in his eyes and he wrote on a little paper. ‘For the first time I prayed in Jesus’ name.’ Then he closed his eyes and died.’
‘Then I am not sorry,’ I answered. ‘I am glad. I know he has his own crown of life. Praise God.’
God has a divine pattern for each of His children. Although the threads may seem knotted—as they did when we were sitting outside the airport in Buenos Aires—on the other side is a crown.

Tuesday morning came and went. On Tuesday afternoon, we received an email that they decided to put our “process on hold at this time”. They explained that they wanted more time to discuss our case with the team in Kudjip before deciding. I was not emotionally prepared to wait longer, but it seems the Lord is thorough when we pray for patience. While we were waiting, we thought it wise to start exploring other options. I applied for a position to work for the Christian Medical and Dental Association, located in Tennessee. And then we waited some more.

Three weeks later , we received two emails…within minutes of each other: one for a meeting about the job in Tennessee, and the other for a meeting about Kudjip. So now, while we wait for these meetings, we continue to pray and seek the Lord. Our days are full with schooling, feeding, and parenting our children. To say that spending nearly every minute together and living in a small space has been challenging is an understatement. We’ve been sick more often than in any other place we’ve lived; we’ve had more difficulty sleeping than in any other home; and we’ve been forced to improve our skills in conflict management—mostly with each other. But we will keep waking up each day. We will persevere.

The Lord has provided for us in every way for many years. We only need to trust in Him to continue to guide us, and be obedient when He says to go.

"For no word from God will ever fail.” -Luke 1:37