As Light Pierces Darkness

We've been in the country of Papua New Guinea (PNG) for almost four weeks now. We stepped right off the plane and into the Pacific Orientation Course. This course prepares us for ministry in PNG by laying a good foundation of language and culture, as well as giving us skills for living in the jungle. After this foundation of language and culture is laid, we will continue building our skills until we are fluent.

One of the themes that we have picked up on during our training here is the darkness of the PNG culture. It is a culture that is steeped in the worship of demons and spirits. We have had the opportunity to hear about spiritual warfare in PNG from several seasoned missionaries, as well as a local pastor and his family. Their stories showed a bit of the battle that goes on here as light pierces darkness. It also showed the great faith of these people as they served the Lord.

As we have listened to these people share their stories, I remembered back to a time when I was sitting on a porch back home with a large group of people. I had been sharing about the ministry that is going on in PNG, and we had also been chatting about the Center for Pioneer Church Planting in South Texas. One of the ladies made that comment that she would never visit To Every Tribe's home base in South Texas. She didn't want to be anywhere near any sort of demonic influence, and so she wanted to stay away from a ministry that was involved in front-line missions. Although this lady's comment still amuses me, there is in fact a real darkness that we must take into consideration when we begin this sort of ministry.

Yet as we consider the darkness in Papua New Guinea, we must never lose sight of the fact that our God is much, much more powerful than any demon that we could encounter here. We are not to walk in fear, for we have the Lord on our side! As we heard the stories of spiritual warfare from the experienced people here, we have been strengthened and encouraged by their faith. The power of darkness is real, but the power of God is immensely more powerful.

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.” Psalm 20:7 NIV