God’s Faithfulness

I smiled to myself as our MAF airplane passed over the now familiar and yet still ruggedly beautiful mountains of the renowned Baliem Valley. I praised God for its wild beauty and the privilege of living and working in this historic area of missions. And then, I praised God for his faithfulness, because a year and a half earlier I was scared to death to move to Wamena. In fact, it was a huge step of faith for me to answer God’s call and move to this remote town in the Papuan highlands with my husband and two boys. I’d lived in Indonesia before, but never in an interior post. I’d always been on the coast in a bigger town where there were…well, options.

In moving to Wamena, I hadn’t really been assured that there were many options of things to do with my family or places to go and visit. No ocean, no swimming pool, not even many restaurants. I guess looking back, it’s no wonder I was nervous. What Southern California girl wouldn’t be? And the way it came about, I had to make the decision to move without ever having been there.

But it was so obvious that’s what God wanted for us. I had two choices: trust Him and say yes, or give in to the fear and say no. I am SO thankful that He gave me the strength and courage to obey Him. That’s why I was smiling to myself as we departed Wamena for a summer furlough. I was surprised by how much I actually LIKE living there. I even felt sad to leave. Wow. Isn’t God amazing? It just blows my mind. Looking back, I now think about what I would have missed out on had I not been obedient to His calling. He is so faithful.