During March we’re focusing on God’s creative solutions. Please click the Prayer tab above to read our strategic prayer request for this month.

By Lori Witham

It is easy to reach for our own solutions to the problems we face. But it is when we ask God to solve them that we have the opportunity to see His brilliant solutions and glorify His name. After all, He is the God of creativity. To start a family that would become the nation of Israel, God used old, barren Sarah. To bring our Savior into the world, He used a virgin girl. Lowly women were the first to announce Jesus’ resurrection, and fishermen started God’s church. It was a man known to be an enemy of the church whom God creatively used to bring Christianity far beyond Israel’s borders to Gentiles, where it then spread throughout the world.

In Papua New Guinea, it also might be easiest for PBT missionaries to follow the methods we’ve previously followed. But those ways might not be best for current situations. God comes up with much better solutions when we first stop and ask Him for guidance.

Many years ago I was assisting the Mborena Kam literacy team to publish vernacular material they had produced for their elementary and preschools. I was expecting the Mborena Kam storybooks, shellbooks, and primer text they had handed to me. But I was pleasantly surprised when Thomas handed me one additional shellbook text in a neighboring language. Thomas explained that the neighbors were watching the work being done for the Mbore school children. So he produced the shellbook in the neighbors’ own language to encourage interest in vernacular material for their schools. God used Thomas to empower his neighbors with an idea of what they could bring to their community’s children so they could read and write in their own language.

Lori works in the Publications Department, serving remotely from the USA as a desktop publishing specialist.