In Training: August 2011

At AFM's Summer Institute of Frontier Missions, we have learned that God wants to completely bond us with the Ama people so we can be His message to them. In order to bond with our people, we must first let go of what feels familiar and immerse ourselves in their lives. Research in missions suggests several ideas we are considering.
First, missionaries need to be willing to live with a local family. In some cases, missionaries simply arrive and begin asking the people they meet if they know a family who would host them. Others arrange to stay with a local family for a time. In either case immersion in the lives of their people allows a much deeper and more intimate understanding.
Second, missionaries need to limit personal belongings to about 30 lbs. per person. An adult Ama may have only twenty possessions, so 30 lbs. of belongings seems like incredible amount of wealth. We must be careful not to let our belongings become a barrier.
Third, missionaries should use common modes of transportation. Along the upper stretches of the Sepik River, this will happen naturally since dugout canoes and walking are the only means of transportation.
Finally, missionaries need to learn language in the context of relationships that they develop and maintain. This approach not only produces fluency but also builds a large number of close friendships into which the seeds of the Gospel can be sown.
In all of this, our example is Christ, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.” Please pray that we, like Christ, will not cling to our old culture but will instead communicate God’s love to our new culture in a way the people can understand.—John Lello

In Training: July 2011

As we headed to yet another donor appointment, I felt I was beginning to understand a bit of what our people in Papua New Guinea experience as semi-nomadic hunter-gathers. Ok, I wasn’t hunting or gathering food in the jungle, but I was beginning to feel semi-nomadic. Since joining AFM, we have traveled many miles encouraging people to get involved in missions. But this Sabbath, we witnessed missions at work.
A little girl, about seven years old, attended Sabbath School for the first time. She was bright and had many questions. During prayer time, she requested prayer for her sick daddy who smoked. “I know that if I can find a Bible and sneak it under his pillow at night, he will get better,” she said. What a beautiful example of a little child trying to understand the power of God. In Sabbath School, we had the opportunity to share the love of Jesus with her, and she was so eager to learn. With the Lord’s help, she might possibly be the next little missionary in that town.
I look forward to the opportunity to teach the Ama children about Jesus’ love. What a blessing it will be when the Ama children begin sharing their songs and memory verses with their parents and family members.
If you have always wanted to be a missionary, this is your chance. You may not be able to travel to other lands personally, but you can join us and experience the joy of little hearts turning to Jesus. Your prayers and monthly support will help us reach Ama children. —Pam Lello

In Training: June 2011

When I was a child, my parents began working as literature evangelists to support our family and pay for my father’s education at Princeton Theological Seminary. My mother usually returned from canvassing after my sister and I went to bed, but on some nights Dad allowed us to stay up and wait for her.
The three of us would stand in front of the glass doors that led onto the veranda of our second-story apartment and watch the headlights of the cars that turned onto our road, hoping each one was Mom.
To pass time, we guessed how many cars would turn onto our road before Mom arrived. As the number of cars approached our guess, we watched with increasing interest, exclaiming, “Hey, those look like Mom’s headlights!” When Mom finally arrived, everyone would run to meet her shouting, “Mom’s home! Mom’s home!”
Why is it so important that we believe passionately in the nearness of Christ’s return? First, the nearness of His coming and the uncertainty of its exact day and hour motivate us to watch expectantly. Also, the great work that remains to be done forces us to pray for the impossible. Jesus said, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.”
If you, like Christ, are touched by the unreached masses of our time, pray the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth a host of laborers to the peoples of remote lands, hostile cultures and closed countries. Pray for the impossible and unlock the power of God.—John Lello

In Training: Will You?

Will You?

Not that long ago, a dear brother in Christ testified powerfully to me of his belief and joy in the nearness of Christ’s second coming. In the midst of our study of Daniel and Revelation and current events, he enthusiastically exclaimed, “He’s coming! He’s coming soon! I can’t wait!”
My brother’s joy was positively infectious, and I couldn’t help but join him in praise. But afterward I wondered about my own experience. Did I really believe in the nearness of Jesus’ coming like my friend does? The question drove me to the scriptures, and this is my testimony.
Yes, I really do believe in Jesus’ soon return! History is populated with accounts of precisely fulfilled prophecies all progressing inexorably toward one final event, the only major prophecy yet to be fulfilled.
In addition, Matthew 24:5-7 predicts spiritual deceptions, wars, rumors of war and natural disasters increasing in frequency and intensity as the pain of a women giving birth. These things have always existed, but never have they flashed across the headlines with such rapidity and severity.
Finally, the outpouring of the latter rain promised in James 5:7-8 is beginning to fall. In small churches and large centers of worship, prayer meetings are packed, people are experiencing revival and hundreds are dedicating themselves to the completion of the Gospel Commission. God is pouring out His Spirit upon His church.
Yet one question remains: will you and I receive His Spirit? Will we experience revival and reformation? Will we swell the number of those who will speed this last warning to the ends of the world? We can if we will. Jesus’ message to His church today is, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20).—John Lello

In Training: April 2011

Being Salt

There is perhaps no pain like that of parents who first realize their newborn child suffers from a life threatening or debilitating birth defect. This experience is all too common among the people of the upper Sepik River. The leading cause of their tragic birth defects is a lack of iodine in the diets of expectant mothers. This results in mentally retarded and physically deformed children.

One solution to this problem is to introduce iodized salt into the diets of potential and expectant mothers. This simple substance we take for granted provides the traces of iodine that are crucial to the development of healthy babies. It can even prove to be the difference between life and death.

When Jesus said, “Ye are the salt of the earth,” He was calling us to make a difference, to be His love to a hurting world and to live His righteousness in the midst of sin. When we allow Him to live in us, we, like salt, prevent corruption, add flavor, promote health and even give life.

God also grieves for His deformed children, and He is calling you and me to be salt in their lives. Why not let God sprinkle you into someone’s life? Please pray that He will make my family and me His salt to the Ama. —John Lello

In Training: March 2011

Grace Begins

Since November 2009, our family has been inviting people to help us reach the Ama for Jesus. Now, by God’s grace, we earnestly hope to attend training this summer and launch soon after that. God has provided for us in every difficulty and, in doing so, has laid up for us a supply of faith and courage. Like us, if you sometimes find yourself financially, physically, emotionally or spiritually depleted, don’t lose hope. We are finding that when our strength runs out, God’s grace can begin.

Recently, God allowed us to experience in a small way a few of the difficulties that will impact our family in the mission field. After selling our home, we moved into a smaller building consisting of a main room, small office and very small bathroom. We began to understand what it will be like to live in close quarters. At about the same time, we went from two vehicles to one, leaving my wife and children at home with little opportunity to get out of the house and feeling a bit isolated.

Over time, these conditions, combined with additional pressures placed on our time and finances by our responsibilities as missionaries in training, began to take their toll in the form of frustration, shorter tempers and generally strained relationships. We knew we needed forgiveness and healing but seemed unable to find it.

Lying in bed one night after a contentious evening, I prayed, “God, if we can’t even love each other, how are we going to show Your love to the Ama people? Please help us love one another.” The next morning, God woke me up early and poured out a blessing of repentance, forgiveness and love that flowed out to my wife and family. He worked on Pam’s heart, too, and together we began the healing process.

We thank God for granting us a small preview of the difficulties we will face in the mission field and the way they exposed our weakness. We pray we will remember that when our strength runs out, God’s grace can begin. —John Lello

In Training: February 2011

Hello, my name is Abby. I’m nine, and my sister Alissa is seven. We live in Kentucky, way out in the country. We love dolls, horses and our three kitties, Love, Snowball and Mrs. White. Our mom and dad homeschool us. We enjoy learning to read and doing math. In the summer, we like to swim in the creek with our floaties and build forts in the woods.

Two years ago, my family and I went to Guyana. My dad dug a water line for the people of Purima and held meetings to tell them about Jesus. They were overjoyed to have water near their houses. Everyone pitched in and did the work. Every day after school, crowds of children swarmed the worksite and played with us.

One day as the kids gathered around us, my mother had a bright idea. She suggested we play Duck, Duck, Goose. Since they didn’t have ducks in their village, we played Chicken, Chicken, Rooster. When one of the smallest girls in the group got tagged to be the rooster, she couldn’t run fast enough to catch the girl who tagged her, and every time she tagged a new rooster, they tagged her before she got back to her spot. So the next time she tagged someone, mother picked her up, ran around the circle and plopped her down in the open spot.

I hope we can go to Papua New Guinea and show love to the people there just like we did to that little girl. If you would like to help me spread the Gospel to people far away in Papua New Guinea, please pray and ask God how He would like you to help us. —Abby Lello