Families Transformed by the Gospel in Papua

Suzanne Pearson • Jun 16, 2022

How do we impart biblical truth while also respecting important cultural traditions? As we follow Jesus’ command to “go into all the world,” how do we make sure we don’t “go” like a steamroller? This is perhaps one of the greatest challenges of cross-cultural ministry, especially when it comes to something as central to a society as its concept of “family.”

God’s heart for marriage and family is seen throughout Scripture . For traditionally Judeo-Christian cultures, a loving and nurturing family dynamic is easily understood. But what about in cultures where family relationships look very different? How can we as the Church foster Gospel transformation without imposing standards that may be more “western” than “biblical?”

And even more importantly, how can each family transformed by the Gospel spread that transformation to others in their own culture?

Balancing Culture with Truth

When long-time TEAM workers Walter and Diane Kennedy traveled to Papua nearly 40 years ago, this was the challenge that lay before them. The couple answered the call to raise their own family in Minyambou, a village in the interior region of Papua, Indonesia . Building on the existing work of TEAM missionaries Dick and Char Griffith and Doug and Julie Miller, the Kennedys established a small Bible school among the Hatam people. The school, often called “SAM” (due to its acronym in Indonesian), allowed new believers to stay together as families while learning.

Many of the Hatam people were already drawn to the Gospel. Christian men were being trained as pastors, and their wives learned the Bible from Diane and the other wives of western missionaries. But as the Hatam couples arrived at SAM, Diane and Walter could quickly see that family dynamics would be challenging. Traditional Hatam marriages are arranged, and there was little warmth or communication between husbands and wives. Most men viewed their wives as the keepers of the garden and the bearers of their children but not much more. Women believed they had no lasting value or purpose. Children experienced a lack of discipline and had little to no relationship with their fathers until adolescence.

Walter, Diane and their co-workers prayed for the Hatam people to grasp God’s design for marriage and family. If only they could learn how joyful their lives could be if the love of Christ and the Word of God inhabited their families! Yet the Kennedys knew this would be a slow and gradual process. They knew the importance of respecting the Hatam traditions and letting the Holy Spirit take the lead.

God’s Heart for the Family Takes Root

Over time, the Lord began opening the eyes of Hatam believers to the abundant life they could experience in their families. Marice is from one of those Hatam families. After growing up observing the Griffiths’ loving family, Marice came to know the Lord as a young adult. Today she is one of the top leaders in the Hatam church and the Indonesian Mission Board. She recalls how God changed families in a profound way in those early days.

“When we all began to get the Bible training and to read Scripture, [the Hatam people] realized how important both man and woman are in God’s eyes,” Marice remembers. “The men began to treat their wives in a different way, with a kindness that had not been in their communities before. The family unit was stronger because now they were working together and they were kind to each other, realizing what Christ had done.”

Still, the Kennedys were careful to leave some Hatam traditions alone. “There are still cultural things that we won’t touch,” Diane explains. “Like in the church or any kind of meeting, the men sit on the one side, the women on the other. But you’d see more families coming together [to informal gatherings].”

A Guidebook to Family Life

One of the most effective ways that the Kennedys found to impart biblical family values to the Hatam people came from a Hatam student. The young man asked for something he could share with families to help them navigate difficult situations. From that idea, the Family Life Book became a labor of love for Walter. Diane recalls the first printing of the books, now over 20 years ago. “Walter just said, ‘let me take a look at what the Bible says, let’s lay that out [in the Hatam language]. We’ll give cultural concepts of how that works into their life – what is biblical and what is cultural?’”

That same student took the book and shared it continuously with churches and villages. Then in 2018, Walter updated the Family Life book to include new topics such as technology. Walter says the book is invaluable in presenting biblical concepts in such a way that doesn’t attack the culture but rather poses the suggestion to “try a different way.”

Marice recalls how the Hatam people saw the benefits of this “different way.”

“[Women] remembered how their mothers and fathers had treated each other, but they witnessed the difference now in their own marriages. We realized what our moms and dads were going through not knowing Christ and how that was different for us and different in our marriages as well.”

Through the Family Life Book, Hatam believers learn to love their families as Jesus does.

Training up the Children

The work of the Griffiths, Millers, and Kennedys were the first seeds planted among the Hatam. But as new generations came along, so did a legacy of faith.

Resina is a remarkable Hatam woman and a leader in intracultural missions in the Hatam church. Resina’s parents came to know the Lord before she was born, and she grew up hearing about Jesus. When she was about 20 years old, she came to SAM for the literacy program as well as to learn more about the Bible. She trusted Christ and since then she and her husband have faithfully served Him in ministry as well as in parenting.

“I just knew how important it was for my children to understand about Jesus at a very young age, and so that was always my intent,” says Resina. “So as the children came along…it’s been very important for them to be involved in learning God’s Word, and for me to be the one that is teaching them.”

Resina’s efforts were not in vain, as her adult daughter Tamarina is a living testimony of her mother’s discipleship. Tamarina now teaches children in the Hatam church. “Because I had godly parents that made sure I went to Sunday school, I wanted that for the kids that I saw that were in our village,” says Tamarina. “I had godly parents that really cared about me and made sure that my spiritual growth was maturing and developing. I [wanted to do] that for these kids.”

Tamarina sees the importance of training up the next generation. “The future is the kids. And so that’s why we’re putting our time and energy into these kids, because they are the future leaders.”

Tamarina and her mother Resina share a special bond with Diane as her sisters in Christ.

Papuan Leadership in Missions

Today the Papuan believers represent a beautiful example of a thriving global Church . No longer are western missionaries at the helm as in the early days when biblical truth was a foreign concept. Walter and Diane’s role has shifted to one of providing resources and encouragement. This is evident as the Lord raises up godly men in Papua to serve as pastors and evangelists as well as in other aspects of the ministry. For instance, when the Griffiths retired, it was Hatam believers who took over the work they had started of translating the full Bible into Hatam . A Hatam leader was also tasked with taking on the literacy program and has faithfully continued in that task for decades.

Diane shares that the passing the baton of women’s ministry to Papuan women happened organically. She smiles as she recalls, “One would come up to me and say, ‘I would like to be the one that trains the younger girls [for the] women’s programs. And then another said, ‘I would like to do a class with widows in the area.’”

Where once Diane was speaking in front of 1,300 women all at once, she now helps her Hatam sisters find materials and resources to use as they go far and wide to teach others in smaller groups. “The women just took [the materials] into their own villages, and wow! They keep me busy! They’re like ‘you got anything else?’”

The Missions Board Looks Ahead

Walter’s face lights up as he talks about the future of the church in Papua, with a strong missions board steering the ship. The board is made up of all national Papuan leaders, most of them Hatam. Marice is one of them. These leaders are effective in reaching even the most remote villages in Indonesia with the Gospel because their lives and cultures are so similar. (See how Papuan church leaders are impacting their nation in this video .)

With Walter and Diane’s encouragement, the Hatam people have taken up the mantle of leadership and now carry the Gospel message to other Papuan tribes.

The Future

As Marice looks back on the past 40+ years, there is a full-circle ministry moment. “When the Griffiths and the Millers came, they lived with us and they loved us. They felt that it was important for us to hear about God and they raised their families with us,” she recalls. “Then when Kennedys came and they stayed as well, we saw what they had for us to learn, and then we learned how to love each other. We learned about Jesus. They just loved us for who we were and shared with us the Truth.”

Diane knows that Marice, Resina, and many others like them will carry the ministry on as she and Walter support them along the way. Diane sends them, equipped and encouraged, saying, “Now you keep on with the teaching that you’ve been given.”

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Loving Like Jesus Cross-Culturally (Part 1)

By Megan Lunsford • 23 Apr, 2024

When seeking to serve cross-culturally with an authentic love for others, there’s no better example for us than Jesus. If we sat around a table and threw out the question, “How do we love like Jesus?” I think we would have several commonalities as we respond. For example, Jesus loved all people right where they were. He loved those who were deemed the least, those hardest to love, or those who were His enemies. These are all beautiful realities of the heart of Jesus. When we step into relationships, it can be easier to take on the warmer, more gracious gestures of Jesus’ love, especially in cross-cultural relationships. Think about it––when doing life with those who look and act differently than us, we are already out of our comfort zones and would rather keep things as simple and familiar as possible. But there are other facets of Jesus’ heart we often overlook that can transform us and others even more into His likeness. Jesus is love because God is love. Everything Jesus did was out of love; it’s the mere definition of who He is. As followers of Jesus, He calls us to the same: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John:7-12) Every display of love we offer to others is an opportunity for them to encounter the ultimate love of the Father. That’s a pretty big deal! In this article, we’ll look at three expressions of Jesus’ love that we tend to overlook when engaging others cross-culturally. (Next month, we’ll look at three more.) 1. Jesus loved sacrificially. Everywhere Jesus went, crowds followed Him. We even see times in Scripture where Jesus had plans to step away for time alone but those who were hurting found Him and He had compassion on them and stayed with them. Can you imagine rarely having any time to yourself but, instead, constantly being surrounded by crowds of people wanting help from you? Jesus loved sacrificially. He welcomed all who came to Him with love and compassion, never turning anyone away. “When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36) In the same way, we can make room in our lives for Jesus to bring sacrificial interruptions which, in His eyes, are orchestrated encounters to transfer His love to others. It can be tempting to be so “on mission” that we are full steam ahead and find ourselves frustrated when the Holy Spirit sends an interruption into our path that we feel we don’t have time for. Or, perhaps, we have scheduled a meet-up but it’s the norm in another culture to be 30 minutes or an hour late. We anxiously think through how it will affect whatever we have planned next. While it’s normal to feel a little stressed, what if the very "interruption” standing in front of you was really a divine appointment sent by God? Or what if that person running late experiences how peaceful and gracious you are in adapting to their culture and therefore, they can encounter a beautiful display of Jesus’ love? To truly represent Christ, we should remain ready and willing for each assignment the Lord sends into our path, no matter the cost or how much we will have to re-route our day. He is always a hundred steps ahead and will work all things for His glory and our good. 2. Jesus loved by discerning each situation well. Think about how many situations Jesus had to respond to on a daily basis. We read in Scripture that there were lines of people waiting to be healed by Him, talk to Him, hear His teachings, or simply touch the hem of His robe. Jesus was fully dependent on His Father to discern each situation before addressing it. “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19) Another temptation we can have when in a relationship with those God has sent us to is to think we already know the solution or what God wants to do before we’ve even asked Him. We believe we are full of knowledge, so we just pull from the bank we have stored within and go with it. However, when we access what is familiar to us as our default, we risk missing out on a God-given solution that might truly be the key to unlocking whatever challenge is in front of us. What does this look like when interacting with others? We can simply ask, “God, what is on Your heart for the person standing in front of me?” Then we listen and respond as He speaks. When we make it a daily habit to pause and hear God’s heart for each situation before responding, we are guaranteed to be effective in loving those around us. He knows the heart of every person that will cross our paths. Imagine how impactful we can be if we first lean on His wisdom and discernment before moving forward. 3. Jesus loved by speaking truth. Most of us are familiar with the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. If we are honest, this conversation makes us a bit nervous as none of us would be comfortable with Jesus calling out intimate details of our lives that we would prefer to hide. But Jesus went further than just airing her dirty laundry. He offered her the hope of the Gospel and a relationship with Him - a divine fulfillment that could never be found in an earthly relationship. Jesus modeled a powerful example of loving others well cross-culturally. He took the low place and spoke truth, truly out of love––speaking to her heart from His. Like Jesus, our goal in sharing the truths about Him and His Word is to bring hope and satisfaction through Him alone. When we speak truth from Scripture, we are calling others higher into all God has for them. The tricky part here is we should avoid speaking truth if it isn’t first fueled by compassion. If it merely comes from a place of judgment, condemnation, or self-righteousness, it will fall flat 100% of the time. But if it truly comes from love, you are likely to not only win a heart back to the Father but, like the story of the Samaritan woman, even an entire village! If you see someone living outside of God’s best for their lives, ask God to show you your heart before engaging theirs. Once your heart is properly postured, you can speak truth out of an overflow of God’s love and trust Him for a transformation in their lives.

Hospitality, Help, and the Hope of the Gospel

By Suzanne Pearson • 16 Apr, 2024

TEAM Canada provides warm welcome and trusted friendships for diaspora populations living far from their native countries. As TEAM Canada workers Peter and Ruth (names changed) drive from their home to a nearby community center, they pass numerous apartment buildings and townhouses. Most of the families who live there are immigrants. They’ve left their countries of origin due to political unrest, trauma, and other difficulties. They’ve left family, friends, homes, jobs, and personal wealth behind. They search for peace, justice for the oppressed, and rest from fear and weariness. And as they adjust to a new country and a new language, they are often very isolated from others around them. “The sad reality is most immigrants are never even invited inside a Canadian home,” says Ruth. Peter and Ruth and their team try to change that reality. For the last nine years, the team, which includes workers from partner organizations as well as volunteers, has held English classes at the community center. Three days a week, over 60 students from more than 20 countries come together to learn English as well as to fellowship together and receive practical help in assimilating to a new normal. Meeting Needs and Building Trust That practical help may come in the form of procuring furniture, clothes, or dishes for newcomers, assistance with creating a resume and finding a job, or teaching people how to navigate Canadian laws and the medical system. As these tangible needs are met, relationships are built. “We invite them into our homes for meals and games,” Ruth shares. “We take them on hiking trips, picnics, outings, and out for coffee.” This is particularly important in this type of ministry because most immigrants come to Canada from cultures that value hospitality. Conversely, Canadians do not typically prioritize hospitality and consequently many newcomers feel lonely and isolated. Inviting folks to various gatherings and outings allows the team to spend extended time hearing people’s stories, struggles, hopes, and dreams. When she speaks about building friendships, Ruth’s heart for the people she serves is evident. “Hearing their stories, it’s easy to love them, and many have become close friends,” Ruth says. “We recognize the value of steady one-on-one relationships.”