How could it take that long?!?

“When did all of this happen?” asked the old man, who had just heard for the first time ever the entire story of redemption found in the Bible. He was speaking to a missionary who had come to his people and learned his language in order to be able to tell him story of Christ.

“Was it about five years ago?” the old man asked. “Is that when Jesus died so that I could become a friend of God?”

“Why do you think it was five years ago?” asked the missionary.

“You came hear about four years ago, so I thought it must have happened a little time before that, since you had to travel to come to us,” replied the old man, his face shining with incredible joy because of the hope he had for the first time in his life.

“No, it wasn’t five years ago,” the missionary replied, with tears in his eyes. “This happened over two thousand years ago.”

The old man, who had lived all of his life surrounded by hopelessness and living in fear of vengeful, angry spirits, looked at the missionary with complete shock.

“Two thousand years?!?” he asked, with sadness and disbelief.

How could it have taken two thousand years for him and his people to hear this story? If so many people know it, why did no one come to tell them sooner, so that his parents, his grandparents, his ancestors could have had this same hope? 

                                                                   

This is a true story. In fact, earlier this week, the missionary in this story stood in front of my class here at the missionary training center, and told it to us. And I tried to think of what my reply would have been if I had been standing in front of that old man. There really isn’t an excuse or a reason that is sufficient to explain why it would take so long for him and his people to hear it.

Or why there are still over 2,000 other ethnic people groups who are still waiting…

That story reminds me of the many reasons I’m so thankful to be here, training to go to one of those remaining people groups who are waiting to hear of Christ. It is a privilege and a joy to train and prepare under the teaching of missionaries who already have already done this work, and can share their life experiences and wisdom with me. These past two months, I’ve taken classes with a variety of focuses, including chronological Bible teaching, teamwork and relationships, and health/medical training for on the mission field. 

I've had the opportunity to practice my newly acquired suturing skills! (So far, only fowl patients...no humans.)  

I've also learned to give shots and vaccinations, although in this picture, I'm the test subject for one of my classmates.

God has been teaching me so much, through the teaching, during my time studying the Word, and also through my interactions with the staff and students here. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for me! It has been such a smooth transition, and I know that God has answered your prayers for me as I moved to Canada and adjusted to a very new schedule, a new country, a new church family, and a new community here on campus.

I'm praising God for...

1. His work in my heart through the truth of His Word, revealing areas that I need to surrender to Him.

2. Increased faith: I certainly haven’t arrived, but God is continuing to remind me over and over about His sovereignty and goodness in every circumstance.

3. Encouraging new relationships: God has been so good to give me both wonderful encouraging friends here in Canada who encourage me in my walk with Christ, as well as some opportunities to purposefully develop relationships for the purpose of discipleship and sharing the gospel. I don’t have room to share all of the stories in this update, but if you’d be encouraged by hearing a few of the specific ways God has worked out the connections and ministry opportunities, send me an email and I’ll share some of them with you.

4. The 14 households and 5 churches who God has called to partner with me financially so far, bringing my current support level to 32%. Many more people are faithfully praying for me, and I value that support more than I can say!

Please pray for...

1. Understanding and retention of the information in my classes
2. Opportunities to witness and share truth here in my new community

Click HERE to see a summary of who I am and what I'm doing.

Click HERE to find out more about financial partnership.

Click HERE to download a pdf bulletin insert of this update.

Hello from Canada!

Guess what? I'm in Canada!! Okay, so I guess I spoiled that with my blog post title. I'm so thankful to be able to say that I've successfully arrived on campus at the New Tribes Mission missionary training center in Durham, Ontario. For the next 16 months, this is where I'll train and prepare take the gospel, make disciples, and help plant a church among people who not only haven't heard the gospel, but have never had access to it in their language!

I arrived at the NTM training center on Monday, August 22 at 8 pm. The immigration and visa process at the Canadian border took a little bit longer than I had hoped but praise God, there were no problems and I even had a cheerful immigration officer who processed my paperwork. :) I had the blessing of caravanning from Ohio to Ontario with some dear friends and a fellow student (more about that and other recent blessings in my upcoming post).

My s10 pick-up truck was packed to the brim with all of my stuff, including a desk and recliner, so having extra hands to unload was a huge blessing as well!

The past few days I have been settling in, meeting staff, getting to know the campus, setting up my apartment, and completing other tasks like opening a Canadian bank account and running to Wal-Mart for some food essentials....oh, and learning to watch my speed in kilometers and tell the temperature in Celsius (Let's just say that the metric system was covered way too long ago in school!).

I'll be rooming with another female student for the entire program, and we both are overjoyed at the amount of space we have in our apartment. It was a great surprise! Some of you have asked if I'll be living in rustic, primitive conditions! Well, I'm guessing the pictures of my apartment below answer that question for you.

However, the jungle living part of the training will come later next summer, so stay tuned! (Click here for a sneak preview of the type of stove/oven I'll be building and cooking on during that part of the training).

The rest of this week, students will continue to arrive each day. What a unique and exciting opportunity to get to spend the next 16 months training, bonding, and growing with a group of  12 individuals who have a shared passion for the glory of God among all people groups, and a calling to be a part of taking the gospel to the unreached people groups in the remotest parts of the world!

I'm so ready to start this training! On Monday, we will begin orientation, and the following week we begin our classes. This semester, my classes include focuses on cross cultural learning and communication, mission field healthcare, team dynamics, and how to teach the Bible chronologically. I get to learn from individuals who have all been on the mission field for years serving on church planting teams, so their experience, insight, and wisdom will be invaluable! Every day, I'm amazed and humbled that God has led me to be involved in this work. What a joy and privilege!

Please Pray for:
1. Monthly financial partners (I'm currently at 29.5% of my total support)
2. Wisdom and guidance as I choose a church within the next month
3. Understanding, knowledge retention, and a teachable heart as I begin the training
4. God's work in the hearts of the unreached people group with whom I'll live in the future

Note: I'd love to hear from you! If you want to send a letter or package to me while I'm in Canada, here's my mailing address:
Autumn Arp
313363 Hwy 6 S
Box 707
Durham, ON N0G 1R0
Canada

Click HERE to see a summary of who I am and what I'm doing.

Click HERE to find out more about financial partnership.

Click HERE to download a pdf bulletin insert of this update.

The One Month Countdown!

One month from today, I will be leaving the country! Wow, it's hard to believe that last sentence is true! Lord willing, I will be moving to Canada on August 22 and beginning my training at the New Tribe Missionary Training Center in Durham, Ontario. This training will provide and sharpen the knowledge and skills that I need to serve with a church-planting team among an unreached people group.

Me, Craig & Sara Noyes, Paul & Ellen Swenson: Lord willing, these are the teammates with whom I'll work!

During the 16 months I spend at the NTM center, I'll be taking classes like:
        - Semantics and Translation
        - Culture and Language Acquisition Techniques
        - Global Ministry Perspectives
        - Literacy and Teaching Techniques
        - Animism and Folk Religions
        - Phonetics, Phonemics and Grammar
        - Worldviews and Church planting
        - Trekking Essentials and Round Wood Construction....and more!

With all of this ahead, I'm getting ready for a month of big transitions. This Sunday is the last one I will spend with my home church family for quite some time. This week, I will work my last day at the pregnancy center where I've loved serving for the past 1 1/2 years, so for the first time in my adult life, I won't have a paycheck coming from a job (That's faith-building!). I'm packing up my belongings and preparing to leave my apartment and my sister/roommate. I'll be honest, at times there are some bittersweet emotions that go along with these things; but in each step, I'm so confident in God's leading and I can't wait to see how He continues to provide as I continue preparing for the amazing privilege of being involved in this work.

This past month has been busy and exciting, as I've been traveling to speak in churches and meeting one-to-one with individuals to present the work God has called me to do. One of July’s highlights was having the chance to present at the CGBCI National Conference with both the Noyes and Swenson families, the dedicated people with whom I plan to serve, Lord willing.

Prayer together after our team presentation at Conference.

I’m praising God that my financial support is currently at 26.3% and continuing to increase! What a blessing it has been to have more families and churches choose to get involved and invest in the work God is going to do in Papua New Guinea! Would you please pray that God will continue to increase my support percentage, and consider if you might be called to answer that prayer by giving. If you have questions about partnering with me financially, check out this information and feel free to contact me!

Please Pray:
1. For God to raise up more financial partners who will pledge to give monthly or annually
2. For my spiritual growth and walk with God to be consistent throughout all of the transitions
3. For God's guidance in choosing a church in Canada where I can get involved and serve
4. For my future teammates and the people group among whom we will serve one day, that God will begin even now to prepare their hearts for the truth of the gospel


Click HERE to see a summary of who I am and what I'm doing.

Click HERE to find out more about financial partnership.

Click HERE to download a pdf bulletin insert of this update. 

Roller coasters and Missions

Despite growing up 20 minutes from the roller coaster capital of the world, I didn't ride one until I was 19 years old. Of course, if you've waited that long, might as well go for the tallest and fastest in the world, right? After ending the 4 minute ride, my poor brother and sister-in-law had to all but carry me to "safety" as I hyperventilated and fought back tears. Let's just say it was NOT love at first sight!! (Thanks for nothing, Millenium Force!!) I vowed never to ride a coaster again, but finally decided to try one equipped with shoulder straps that pulled tight against me. I loved it and to this day, I will only ride (or at least only enjoy) the coasters with the harness that goes over my shoulders, allowing me to feel secure throughout the ride.

So what does that have to do with what I've been up to this month? Well, to be honest, this has been a bit of a rollercoaster month, with ups and downs, blessings and trials, great joy and some tears. Some of these were ministry related and others were personal, as I walked with friends through some really heartbreaking things, then rejoiced in some provisions and amazing answers to prayer. What a blessing that God is holding me, providing the security I need to be calm regardless of the circumstances! Honestly, sometimes the falls, the turns, the twists can get my stomach in knots and my mind so focused on "finding an out" or holding on 'til the end that I miss what God is doing in the middle.

As I think ahead to all that missions work in a third world country among an unreached people group will include, I'm pretty sure there will be more figurative ups and downs than I can count (probably a lot of literal ups and downs too, since we'll most likely have to travel by helicopter/plane everywhere we go). :-)

Life will always bring pressures...but how I respond to those pressures determines whether I end up being stressed or if I grow in endurance and maturity. (James 1:5). Pray for me that I'll continue to grow in this area, and respond in faith and trust to both the ups and the downs that are ahead. 

(This seems like a good point to insert this video which shows the ups and downs of the landscape of PNG from the wing of an NTM pilot. The first airstrip shown (Simbari) was the village where a dear friend and fellow missionary worked for many years.)

                                   -----------------------What I'm doing now-------------------
Thank you to everyone who is praying for me and supporting me! God is continuing to provide and exceed my expectations as I have the opportunity to present and speak at churches. It is more exciting than I can describe to share with a congregation who doesn't realize that there are still so many ethnic people groups unreached by the gospel. Seeing the Holy Spirit grip their hearts with the reality of the need is humbling and so encouraging! I'll continue to be busy with presentations and support raising over the next two months. Then, on August 22, I will be moving to Ontario, Canada to begin training at Emanate, a missionary training center operated by New Tribes Missions. Time is flying by!


Praises
1. I'm currently at 17% of my total support.
2. There have been tender responses from the individuals in the churches where I've been presenting as they recognize the need of the unreached people groups.
3. Encouragement from God's Word when I need it most.

Prayer Requests
1. For my support level to be at 30% before I leave in August for the Emanate Missionary Training Center in Canada. (I'm praying for individuals and churches to partner with me financially). 
2. For God to use my up-coming presentations to give people a burden for the need of unreached people groups.
3. For humility and spiritual growth in my life.

Click HERE to see a summary of who I am and what I'm doing.

Click HERE to find out more about financial partnership.

Click HERE to download a pdf bulletin insert of this update.

He goes before me

It has been a busy month with lots of traveling, speaking at churches, and meeting wonderful new friends! One of the best things God has shown me this month is that He is always going before me, arranging things that are so far beyond my powers of planning or organization that I can only shake my head in wonder and say thank you! He is truly growing my faith throughout this support-raising process, and I'm amazed and thankful! Here are just a few examples of how God went before me this month:

        - After showing one of the New Tribes videos at a church, when I walked back to the front of the church to continue my talk, I was struck to realize that the majority of people were visibly in tears! Those emotions represented a realization of the need of the unreached people groups in the world; later, I found out many of these people had never realized there were still people groups so isolated that they have never had access to the gospel! This church’s reaction had nothing to do with me, and everything to do with the work of the Holy Spirit! I can’t describe to you the blessing it is to see other believers become aware of the incredible need of the unreached world!

        - A local pastor whose church has never been involved in foreign missions has been praying for God to  bring along a local missionary that the church could adopt as family and support financially. Through my sister who works at a hardware store and started a spiritual conversation, God allowed our paths to cross, and his church has decided that God has called them to partner with me financially in a big way!

      - After contacting a dear friend about meeting with her and her husband to discuss the work I’ll be doing, she informed me God had already laid it on their hearts that they were going to be involved in some way. She then apologized to me that she hadn’t been praying about it as faithfully as she should so that she could have approached me about it rather than having me ask her! Let’s just say that was an easy apology to accept! :)

      - A pastor told me that he didn’t want to waste my time by having me present at his church, since it was small and his congregation probably wouldn’t be able to support me and might not be very interested in what I was doing. I asked if I could still meet with him to share about my work, and then he could make a final decision about whether or not to have me in to talk to the church. When I arrived for our meeting, he told me God had figuratively hit him over the head at the service two days before, when a lady in his congregation came up and started telling him about a single lady missionary to Papua New Guinea who she used to support through New Tribes Mission. The congregation member shared what a blessing it had been to her and how much she’d like to hear more from missionaries like that. Isn’t God good?!?

Thank you so much to everyone who is encouraging me, praying for me, and giving to enable me to do this work! I hope these instances remind you (and me) that God is answering prayers and continuing to open doors to accomplish His will!

Prayer Requests:
- Please pray for monthly financial partners
- Pray for wisdom as I begin preparations for moving to Canada for the next stage of training
- Pray that the Holy Spirit will work through the presentations I continue to give at churches


Click HERE to see a summary of who I am and what I'm doing.

Click HERE to find out more about financial partnership.

Click HERE to download a pdf bulletin insert of this update.

A Task Unfinished

I had planned to write an entirely different post today, but it’s going to wait until another week, because there is a song that has continued to play in my head and resound in my heart the past two weeks, and I want to share it with you.

I’ve begun to speak in churches, presenting the work that God has called me to do, and while part of the goal is certainly to see God raise up financial partners, I would be even more grateful if He chooses to use my testimony in some way to challenge another person to go to the unreached!

God has used many different things over the course of my life to direct my heart toward missions: the testimonies of missionaries who came and spoke at my church; books about missionaries like Jim and Elizabeth Elliot, John and Betty Stam, Amy Carmichael, Gladys Alward, David Livingston, William Carey, and many others; and yes, He definitely used music as well!

In the 1920's, the persecution threat against Christians in China was extremely high; as a result many missionaries were hesitant to commit to bring the gospel to a place where their lives could be in danger. With a heart that was broken for these unreached people, Frank Houghton, a China Inland Mission worker penned these words:

Facing a task unfinished, that drives us to our knees.
A need that, undiminished, rebukes our slothful ease.
We, who rejoice to know Thee, renew before Thy throne,
the solemn pledge we owe Thee to go and make Thee known.

Nearly 100 years later, this task is still unfinished.

I’m going to be honest, I haven’t made it through this song yet without crying, because God continues to impress on me the reality of the darkness and hopelessness that so many people are facing, who are literally begging for someone to tell them about Jesus, but have no access to the gospel in their language!

Where other lords beside Thee hold their unhindered sway
Where forces that defied Thee, defy Thee still today
With none to heed their crying for life, and love, and light
Unnumbered souls are dying and pass into the night

Keith and Kristyn Getty have reworked the melody for this beautiful hymn and added a chorus. I’d encourage you to listen and honestly ask God, "What is my part in bringing to gospel to those who are unreached?" Never rule out that He might be sending you! 

We go to all the world, His kingdom hope unfurled
No other name has power to save but Jesus Christ The Lord 

You might think you are past the point in life where God would send you. I’ve been so challenged by the testimony of Paul and Ellen Swenson, one of the sweet couples I’ll get to serve with in Papua New Guinea, Lord willing. They were in their 30’s, had excellent jobs, clear career paths, five children, a beautiful home, and a stable life with church and family…but they were courageous enough to ask God what part they were supposed to play in His plan to bring the message of redemption to the unreached people group. The answer? They were to go!

We bear the torch that flaming fell from the hands of those
Who gave their lives proclaiming that Jesus died and rose
Ours is the same commission, the same glad message ours
Fired by the same ambition to Thee we yield our powers

O Father who sustained them, O Spirit who inspired
Saviour, whose love constrained them to toil with zeal untired
From cowardice defend us, From lethargy awake!
Forth on Thine errands send us to labour for Thy sake 

We go to all the world, His kingdom hope unfurled
No other name has power to save but Jesus Christ The Lord 

What an incredible privilege you and I have been given to "bear the torch" and carry the light of the gospel!!



"Facing a Task Unfinished"
 
Facing a task unfinished, that drives us to our knees.
A need that, undiminished, rebukes our slothful ease.
We, who rejoice to know Thee, renew before Thy throne,
the solemn pledge we owe Thee to go and make Thee known.

Where other lords beside Thee hold their unhindered sway
Where forces that defied Thee defy Thee still today
With none to heed their crying for life, and love, and light
Unnumbered souls are dying and pass into the night

We go to all the world, with kingdom hope unfurled
No other name has power to save, but Jesus Christ The Lord

We bear the torch that flaming fell from the hands of those
Who gave their lives proclaiming that Jesus died and rose
Ours is the same commission, the same glad message ours
Fired by the same ambition to Thee we yield our powers

O Father who sustained them, O Spirit who inspired
Saviour, whose love constrained them to toil with zeal untired
From cowardice defend us, From lethargy awake!
Forth on Thine errands send us to labour for Thy sake

We go to all the world, His kingdom hope unfurled
No other name has power to save but Jesus Christ The Lord

What's the plan?

Anyone who has known me for a significant amount of time knows that I like plans. Actually, scratch that…I LOVE plans! I love planning for the plan, making the plan, following the plan, and completing the plan. (I’m all for planning trips, budgets, menus, meetings, outfits, social gatherings…you get the idea).

Now before you decide that I need an intervention, let me just say that in the past five years, God has transformed my thinking in regards to my plans. He has taught me so much about releasing them to Him and allowing Him to decide if and when they will come into play.

I fully recognize that my best insights into the future are pitiful compared to God’s sovereign purpose and eternal vision.

That being said, on a practical level, creating a plan is still necessary in order to get moving and accomplish a long-term task. As the saying goes, “it’s much easier to steer a moving car.”

So, with the recognition that God is the one who is steering and He can choose to change any element of this plan that He desires, here is the plan for steps that I will be taking over the next four to five years.

- April 2016-July 2016: Complete final practorium classes; Speak to churches and individuals and build a team of prayer and financial partners who are excited to see God build His church among an people who have yet to even hear of Him; Finish well at my job at the crisis pregnancy center by completing the training for those who will take over serving and counseling with our clients; Prepare to move

- August 2016-December 2017: Move to Ontario, Canada to study at Emanate, a New Tribes Mission missionary training center; Graduate from the program in December 2017

- January 2018-June 2018: Finish raising financial support

- July 2018: Move to Papua New Guinea and begin learning the trade language while living at a training center.

- January 2019: Move into the tribe and join the Noyes and Swenson families as we learn the language and begin the process of making disciples

                                                                                                        

Honestly, sometimes it’s hard to wrap my mind around the idea that less than three years from today, Lord willing, I will be living in the jungle of Papua New Guinea, surrounded by people with whom I can’t yet communicate, and starting the 10-20 year process of planting a church, translating the Bible, and discipling them to maturity in Christ!!

(To get a visual understanding of the building blocks of this process, check out this video from NTM.)

In January, I visited the Emanate training center where I'll move in August 2016.

So, this is the plan; I’ve done my best to listen to the wisdom of godly men and women as I’ve worked to create it, and while it is incredibly exciting and overwhelmingly scary to consider, I know it can only come about through the guidance and provision of God. He may choose to rearrange some dates and alter some details; please pray for me that I will be sensitive to His leading and allow Him to do as He pleases with my life.

The Eternal Purpose of God

  “The eternal purpose of God is to call out from every kindred, tongue, people, and nation, a multitude redeemed by the blood of His Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world, over whom He will crown His Son, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, King of kings and Lord of lords forever.
     This is the passion of the heart of God that cannot be quenched, the obsession of His mind that cannot be denied, the vision of His eye that cannot grow dim from eternity past into eternity future, and the destination to which He has committed His omnipotent, immutable, eternal being: a destination He will not abandon.” - Missionary Darrell Champlin

God has an eternal purpose which He is accomplishing. Incredibly, He wants to use you and me in this task! He has assured us that the fields are white unto harvest, and He is calling out laborers to go. I have been called to be part of a team who will go to a new field...a place where no other laborers are working yet to bring in the harvest of souls.


Did you know that there are MILLIONS of people in over 2,000 ethnic groups who have never heard the gospel and have no one who can share it in their language? One of these groups will be the field to which I will go with the rest of the New Fields Team. Our desire is to take the gospel, translate the Bible, and plant a church among these people.


The task is incredible, daunting, overwhelming, even impossible based on our standards! But the passion of the heart of God will not be quenched and His plan will be accomplished! His is the power which will enable us for this work!

About my Work

Hello! I’m Autumn Arp, an insignificant woman with the privilege to participate in God’s eternally significant purpose of redeeming people from every tongue, tribe, and nation!

There are currently MILLIONS of people who have never heard the amazing truth of the Gospel and have no access to it in their language! God has called me to do more than pray for these people…I get to go and help take the gospel to them!

Over the past several years as I began purposefully preparing for missions work, I’ve completed the equivalent of 40 hours of seminary classes to meet the requirements of New Tribes Mission, the organization which will help train and prepare me to reach unreached people groups with the gospel. I will begin training at the New Tribes Emanate training program in Durham, Ontario, Canada in Fall 2016.

Lord willing, I will complete this training in 2018, finish raising support, and move to Papua New Guinea to serve with two other families on our team, the New Fields team.

The vision for the team is to bring the Gospel and the Word of God to a people who have no access to them, plant a church among them, nurture the church to maturity, and see them go on to plant other churches.

Simply put, we will be PLANTING A CHURCH IN THE JUNGLE.

Our job is to:

1. Learn the Language

2. Create a written form of the language

3. Teach the people to read and write in their own language

4. Translate the Bible into their language

5. Teach through the Bible chronologically in their language

6. Train native literacy workers, pastors, and church leaders

7. Help them repeat the process of church planting so they can reach and teach their own people.

As you can probably tell, I believe that hearing God's message of redemption in the native tongue is essential to understanding. Can you imagine trying to learn another language just so you can read the Word of God? My team and I will be learning another language so that someone else can read the Word of God.

From the time we enter the tribe until the time we leave we expect this work to take around 15 years. This is a huge undertaking and from my perspective, it seems impossible! However, God’s eternal purpose will never be impossible because it is accomplished by His unlimited power!!

Isn’t incredible that He wants to use you and me as a part of His purpose?!?

Would you be willing to pray and consider if God is calling you to partner with me in pray and financial support to accomplish this vision?

I am sent out by the Grace Brethren Chapel of Gibsonburg, Ohio. www.gbchapel.org

I am planning to train and work with New Tribes Mission. www.ntm.org

Thank you for reading this and praying about your part in taking the gospel to the remotest parts of the world!

Reaching New Fields,

Autumn Arp