Our Church Planting Timeline
Bible and Missions Training
Years 1-4
Our first two years of training were spent at the Ethnos360 Bible Institute where we were taught systematic theology and God’s Word chronologically.
The second two years were spent at the Ethnos360 Missionary Training Center where we got hands on cross-cultural training, learned about different missions methodologies, and were taught how we will learn a culture and unwritten language.
Develop a Partnership Team
Year 5
Following our training we moved into a season of raising a ministry partnership team. This team of believers will support our ministry through prayer, encouragement, and financial support.
These next stages are fluid and often coincide with one another.
The stages and years may change based on the ministry needs at the time.
National Orientation
Year 6
We arrived on the field of PNG May 21, 2021. We moved to an Ethnos360 missions base where we began our field orientation. We learned the national culture, national language (Tok Pisin, commonly known as Melanesian Pidgin), and practical church planting tools. We also sought out survey trips into different tribes to discern which people group the Lord would have us serve among and who our coworkers will be.
Tribal Allocation
Year 7
We will strategically begin moving into the village of an unreached people group with our coworkers. The men will go into the tribe for a few weeks at a time to cut and mill lumber and then build our houses. Once we have a place to live, our family and our coworkers’ families will all move in to begin learning the tribal culture and language.
Learn Tribal Culture and Language
Year 8
Our goal as a team is for us all to reach full proficiency in the language and culture so that all members of the team will be able to minister to the people. This is not an easy task and will take diligent study and continued dependence upon the Lord!
(WE ARE HERE!)
Literacy, Translation, and Curriculum Development
Year 12
Most people groups in Papua New Guinea are still illiterate. We will first need to create an alphabet based on their tribal language. Next we will begin teaching the tribal people how to read and write their own language so that they can one day read God’s Word for themselves. We will also begin translating the first few books of the Bible and developing our chronological Bible lessons.
Chronological Bible Teaching
Year 13
All our preparation has been building to this moment: the beginning of the formal Bible teaching and hopefully the establishment of an indigenous church as we present the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to them for the very first time!
Discipleship
Year 15
The new believers who have just put their faith in Jesus are beginning to understand their life in Christ. Our task now becomes the discipleship of these new believers. It starts by showing them the security they have in Christ and teaching through the book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament.
Appoint Leaders
Year 18
Here we begin to appoint bible teachers, deacons, and elders who will function as a team to care for the church and address the cultural issues they will face. The elders will be responsible for the continued teaching of God’s Word, oversight of the body, and local outreach. Our goal is to see a self-sustaining, mature indigenous church.
Completed Bible Translation
Year 20
Each verse is carefully translated and checked by our missionary team with the oversight of the tribal people and experienced translation consultants. Once we have completed portions of Scripture, they will be presented through our Bible lessons and given to the people so that they can read it for themselves. Our goal is to completely translate the New Testament along with key Old Testament passages.
Outreach
Outreach is based upon the leading of the local Church. Our role as church planters is to guide and assist them in the reaching of their people.
