“A New Normal” is a multi-part story of how I came to be
a Missionary to Papua New Guinea.
"Why are you doing this?"
I was being sincere when I asked the question; it was not an off-hand
remark, or a reactionary comment. I wanted to know why an established pastor
with a supportive congregation would agree to become an overseas missionary.
From my perspective, he was in an ideal situation: He had completed his long
studies, received a divine call to serve as a pastor of a small-ish
congregation in a small-ish town, and after many years of service was
well-received by his parishioners.
To be honest, part of my reasoning was selfish. I could not imagine leaving a
congregation because that was where I wanted
to be. I had moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana
to attend the seminary and be a pastor, but I never ended up going. Now here
was someone who had done all that and was leaving it behind. It made more sense
that he should stay and someone else should go. I was genuinely perplexed and
intrigued, therefore, when I asked the question.
We were at a backyard barbecue/pool party a few days after
he announced he was going to be a missionary in Papua New Guinea (I admit I had
to look at a map to find it—the big island North of Australia). We sat watching
the kids play in the pool while he explained.
He told me that, about a generation ago, there had been a
sizable missionary presence in Papua New Guinea (PNG).
But the current pastors were not receiving anything close to an education and
the pastors who were trained were getting
old and dying off. And while our denomination in the United States has two
seminaries, the single one they had in PNG
was barely functioning, if at all. It was his calling, his mission, to restore
their seminary and train young men to carry on the work of spreading the
Gospel.
Now there was a
good reason. After hearing this, a curious thing happened. No, it was not what
you are thinking. I was not immediately overcome with missionary zeal—I did not rush off to
the Office of International Missions and announce my desire to serve…that’s not
it at all. What did happen was a re-aligning of my priorities and an
examination of my own concerns.
No longer did leaving an established congregation seem
strange or ridiculous, if why you were going was to equip other men to serve as
pastors, in a place where their numbers were dwindling. And all of the temporal
inconveniences and dangers diminished in their intensity when compared to the
eternal danger of being without a trained pastor to preach the Word and
administer the Sacraments.
That’s why he was doing it. They need to hear about Jesus
Christ and Him crucified for the forgiveness of their sins. That was the
mission. That IS the mission.
In the next installment of "A New Normal" I meet another PNG missionary...
p.s. The pastor/missionary in this installment is none other than the
Rev. Jeffrey Horn, himself. See more about him and his family here,
Horn family
