Ambiguity
A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.
Proverbs 16:9
In our missionary training, we took something called an “ambiguity tolerance test” to see how well we deal with uncertainty. I (Nathan) scored in the lower range on that test. I am a creature of habit and prefer to do things in a systematic way. I appreciate structure, having a schedule, and knowing what is coming.
But ambiguity is inevitable when learning another’s culture and language. This is especially true among animistic cultures who often allow for much more ambiguity than our western culture, which is, by contrast, heavily reliant on science and reason. So it is easy for me to feel out of control when faced with ambiguous tasks.
God, however, is not out of control. But I hate to confess that I haven’t always known what the next step was for us.
Kelsey and I have often felt we were at the end of our rope in this season of raising our financial support for sustainable long-term ministry. But God has been faithfully providing and growing our team. During this time of uncertainty, God led me to simply pray, “God, send the next person.” And the craziest thing has happened: He has. Every time.
I share this with you because I’m just thankful.
I’m thankful for the families that God has led to join our team and for the unexpected friendships we have made.
I’m thankful for God’s perfect timing. He has shown His grace, mercy, and provision at just the right time when we begin to doubt or try and function out of our own control.
I’m thankful for the surprise phone calls, emails or conversations with old friends or total strangers.
I’m thankful for this time we have before we leave to be with our churches, friends, and family.
I’m thankful most of all that God is the one sending and raising our team. We can’t take any of the credit. We just get to be a part of it.
Papua New Guinea’s slogan is “The Land of the Unexpected.” I believe life for our family will always be ambiguous. And while I may never be comfortable with it, I can learn to accept it and trust God practically right now and for whatever comes next.
We are 61% funded as of January 2021. When our family reaches 75% monthly support Ethnos360 gives us the ‘green light’ to begin making more concrete plans for our move to Papua New Guinea such as purchasing our plane tickets. Our hope is to move this summer around the end of July, though many factors affect the exact date.