Remember Who Does the Measuring

Summer Zimmer, Communication Manager
Papua New Guinea: May 2019

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As a task oriented person, I have a running to do list. Things I would like to be able to cross off (or in my case erase off my whiteboard.) But every week it seems like I cross 2 off and add 4 new ones. It was that way at home, but here it seems even more so. I'm often wondering where the time goes, both work time and personal time.

Recently I was visiting with one of our church-planting missionaries who was out of "the bush" in the guesthouse and she asked what I had done that day. I said something about not getting much done, because I'd helped with jump rope twice that day (see slide show) and then there was market and then I took a walk with a friend. . . and she said well, you have to remember who does the measuring . . .

She explained, "When we were in the bush and a lot of non-translation things came up, BJ told his dad that he didn’t get much done today. So his dad said 'Just remember who does the measuring' So now we say that a lot. When our schedule doesn’t work out the way we had planned we have to 'remember the One who does the measuring!'”

And since then I've been trying to remember that. It brings a whole new perspective. Time is meant to be invested, and while there are lots of things I do need to be able to complete and take care of and make progress in, people are the ultimate investment.

Any moment I spend encouraging someone, helping them get better (in the case of jump rope), listening to, praying for, or serving-- that is time well spent, even if I can't cross it off a to do list. Pray that I can remember in every day "Who does the measuring of time" and ask Him how I should spend it. Pray that He will multiply my time when necessary, so I can get done what he determines I need to.

I was reading recently about how keeping the Sabbath required trust. The Israelites had to trust the Lord to provide what they needed to survive when they took a day of rest.

I have a long way to go in trusting Him to provide the time I need to get everything He wants me to accomplish done. He knows every distraction, every opportunity, every delay, and yet He allowed it. Can I trust Him to provide just enough time to get what he wants me to do done, to accomplish His desires?

What's coming up next . . .

A lot of the support staff who live here at the Center will be headed home at the end of May for the summer. So I hear this place is a ghost town. I am almost finished with creating a Power Point template for them to be able to use on their home assignment with the stats of our ministry in PNG and pointers on how to share what God is doing here. For the next supporter/church newsletter (you can sign up here), I'd like to focus on Home Assignment and how to support your missionary well. I'm starting a video this week on our need for more support workers in maintenance and am doing some research and scavenging of footage for some upcoming video projects in July. I've been able to meet with several of my coworkers here, and those here for awhile from the tribe, to help them learn how to use different tools and give them tips on how to keep in touch with their supporters better. Please pray for guidance in all of these projects, that I would be able to truly provide something that will in the end help the Gospel be spread through PNG by bringing more laborers and encouraging those already here.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support in this work as I come alongside missionaries and those who send them and help them connect in carrying out the Great Commission together.

Click on the photos above to view more photos from my last few weeks.

Pei Tribal Update
The Pei people of the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea have never heard a clear Gospel presentation in their heart language of Pefiyahe. In 2012 a team set out to learn the culture and language in order to establish a firm foundation for this language group of 200 people. Justin and Lauren Reese, Chris and Evie Jones and Candace Swift spent 5 years with the people seeking to understand their worldview and underlying beliefs in addition to the language. They also held literacy classes to teach the people to read in their own language. They were very close to teaching through Creation to Christ and presenting the Gospel toward the end of 2017, when the unthinkable happened. So close to starting a church, there was a medical crisis and the Jones family had to be evacuated. After 21 months of not knowing if they would ever be able to return to the Pei people and their teammates, they were able to return to Papua New Guinea in March. They are planning on heading back into Pei at the beginning of May. Please be praying for their team’s return: for God’s wisdom and provision when it comes to repairing their houses, for the tribal language to be remembered quickly, and for God’s guidance in carrying out the translation and teaching. Pray especially for the hearts of the Pei people, that the journey that Chris and Evie have been on to return to them will contribute to softened hearts.

Nurses play a vital role on the church planting team by providing for the health care needs of missionaries locally and in remote locations. Nurses also impact the local community by caring for the medical needs of many local citizen workers. See job description here.

Praises
For the opportunity to go to Wewak last month and get to know people there and spend time with Chris and Evie Jones before they went back to the bush with the Pei.

For my relationship with my work meri and language helper, Elina. She's a friend to me and makes me feel like I've come a long way in language.

One of my requests last month was about a video project I felt ill-equipped to handle. The Lord provided someone from New Zealand to help! Please pray for our time creating this video together that we would work well together, July 1-5.

I've been really blessed by time getting to know people in the different areas and here at the support center where I live. God has given me fun times with different groups.

Praise for clarity in what I am here to focus on and progress in the different projects I started in the beginning.

Praise that my connection with the WCC Missions Celebration went well and I was able to talk to several people through Skype.

For being able to help with the jumprope class and for the recent earthquake not doing damage.

Prayer Requests
Pray for some co-workers of mine in the ICT Department. They're PNG Citizens and they started here the same time that I did. Their living situations is difficult and their children are often sick.

Pray for Drew and Bobbi Scholl and their family as they prepare to come here and invest in people considering missions. I'm glad I'll get to see them!

Many people leave here over the summer to go back to their home countries. Pray for that time for them, but also that I will not be lonely here with so many gone. Those that graduate in a few weeks also have to return to countries that do not feel like home to them and learn how to be an adult on their own as their families often return here after a few months or a year. Pray for that transition for them.

Pray for wisdom in a prayer initiative I want to start for the summer. I'd like to help people focus on prayer for our team and encourage them to come together to do that.

Pray for opportunity to speak to groups of missionaries before they reach the field by Skyping in or speaking to some at orientations and Interface.

Pray that in all I do, I am able to mobilize and engage the Church in glorifying the name of the Lord as they walk alongside the missionaries here.

More stories of what God is doing can be found by following Ethnos360 on social media.

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My mailing address is:
Summer Zimmer C/O New Tribes Mission
PO Box 1079 Goroka, EHP 441 Papua New Guinea

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