Maliyali Survey #2--Tomorrow!

We have a big prayer request for you!

Remember how Nathan and our partner David went to do a survey of the Maliyali people group?  (I blogged about it here).  Well, we have been praying SO MUCH about all of this (and so have all of you!), and talking to each other, and talking to leadership...so much thought has gone into this.  Our team is excited about the possibility of moving to Maliyali to plant a church!  Praise God, because this is a BIG decision!  However, it's not 100% set in stone.  We have one more step before it's final, and this step is happening TOMORROW.

Tomorrow (our time, so actually Wednesday night your time)...Nathan and David will be traveling back to Maliyali, along with our NTM leadership (his name is Greg Greenlaw--an awesome leader!  He has already been there and done the church planting thing, in another tribe along with his wife Heidi!).  Also, they will stop in Yifki (another tribe, see this blog post if you forget) and pick up Jonathan Kopf (missionary in Yifki) and Faimpat (a strong believer in Yifki).  Lol!  How's that for a ton of info for you to sort in your minds?? 

Anyway, these five guys will fly to a bush airstrip and then hike the 10 hours to get to Maliyali.  The purpose of this trip?  Well, it's pretty big!  Here are some of the purposes of the trip:

1.  To reconnect with the people.  It's been about two months since our guys were last in there.

2.  They will have a big meeting, where they will remind the people of the four things that New Tribes does:  Learn their language, teach them to read and write their language, teach them God's Word, and translate God's Word into their language.  These are the only four things we say we will do.  (note:  many times, tribes want missionaries because they hope we will bring them stuff, or cargo.  We need to dispel that now, to make sure they aren't having false expectations.  Sure, we will probably bring some things that will benefit the Maliyali people, but that isn't the MAIN reason we are going there.  I hope that makes sense!)

3.  To make sure they are still wanting missionaries, as well as:  

• Are they willing to give us land to build on?  
• Trees.  We will need many trees to build our houses, and many times the trees are tied to different clans or sometimes spirits...so we need to ask them about getting trees to build our houses.
• Are they willing to help us build our houses?

4.  In addition to asking the people these things, our guys will be scouting the area to see check out the ideal location to build our houses, as well as a helicopter landing area, etc.

5.  Greg, our boss, has an important role.  He will be very clear with the people, that if we do move into their tribe, it will be their job to take care of us.  Such as, helping us learn their language, as well as protecting us from trouble, etc.  He will even have a contract for them to sign (in the national language).

6.  Hopefully, we will make a decision!  If everything goes well, our guys will most likely be telling the Maliyali people that we want to come and live with them!  This is huge.  It's what we've been training for, for the last five years!  And finally, we're here.  It feels unreal!

We hope you are all excited about this, too, because we absolutely wouldn't be able to do this without you!  Your prayers and support are making this possible.  Would you please continue to pray, and specifically pray for this trip tomorrow?   The guys will be gone from December 1-5.  We will let you know how it goes!  

Here is David and Nathan on the last Maliyali survey.  They make a great team!  We only wish Chad (our third partner) could be with them.  We can't wait for Chad and Martha to join us!

Just for fun, here are Nathan and David during our missionary training in Missouri.  Back in the beginning, before we ever even partnered up together.  Slaughtering chickens together then...who knew they would be hiking the mountains of PNG together someday?  

This is the kind of land our guys will be hiking across (for ten hours!).  Please pray for that hike, too!

Here are the guys from the last survey, so you can put some faces to the names.  On the left is Jonathan Kopf, the missionary from Yifki.  The guy in the hat is Greg, our area leader.  Then Nathan and David.  Faimpat is missing from this picture, so I'll be sure to post one of him next week :) 

Sweet Maliyali people.  They have been asking for missionaries for SIX years! 

Thank you for your prayers!  We appreciate you all so much!