It takes a team
A visit from a church team from Alaska helped the Dinangat visualize something they’d heard about.
A work team recently came from ChangePoint of Anchorage, Alaska, one of the sending churches of Eric and Casey Zimmerman, to do some construction and help in other ways at the NTM Aviation facility in Goroka. During their visit, they made a 45-minute flight to visit the Dinangat church, deep in the mountains of Papua New Guinea.
And while Eric and the team members were in awe at the fact that the Dinangat believers were hearing Ephesians 6 in their language for the first time ever, it was something that seemed very simple that caught the attention of the Dinangats.
“The Dinangat church leaders asked … if a few from the team would share their testimonies,” Eric wrote. “The work team leader went up to introduce the team as a whole before they spoke individually. With one of the tribal missionaries translating, he explained how ChangePoint was a church far to the north, and how they sent Casey and me … to help bring God’s Word to the people, and that I am one of the mechanics that keep the airplanes flying.
“And when he said this, the entire crowd began clapping their hands and there were a few cheers. I didn’t understand why at the moment.”
Later, when Eric shared, he tried to ensure that the Dinangat believers understood that just as ChangePoint had sent him and his family, “the Dinangat church was doing the exact same thing by sending their own team of Bible teachers on an outreach to one of their neighboring villages to bring God’s Word to them,” Eric wrote.
When one of the Dinangat Bible teachers shared later, Eric and the team began to realize what an impact their simple statements had. “We’ve heard about the greater body of Christ, but … now we are reminded that there are others who are our brothers and sisters in Christ,” the teacher said.
One of the missionaries to the Dinangat people explained to the team that the applause and cheering came because the believers realized that Eric is one of the people who have made it possible for missionaries to bring God’s Word to them, and ChangePoint made it possible for Eric to do that.
“They realized that it takes a team to make it possible for missionaries to live in Dinangat, all the way back to a sending church in Alaska,” Eric wrote. “Without mechanics and pilots and other support workers, and without their supporting churches, the missionary families in Dinangat would have to leave.
“They saw the big picture of Body function and were blown away by it.”