by Charity Salchert Hello again! Last year Joelle wrote about me leaving for a year to volunteer as a nurse. Here is my follow-up story!
Over the past 14 months, I have had the privilege of volunteering with New Tribes Mission (NTM) in the beautiful country of Papua New Guinea.
NTM seeks to plant mature churches amongst unreached people groups.
Unreached people are those who have not heard the life-changing truth about Jesus Christ and do not have the Bible in their own language. Bringing the Gospel to unreached people is near to my heart because Jesus has saved me from my sins and I want everyone to know about the freedom we can have in Him.
When I was growing up, I sought to be special to people. I grew up in a large family and so sometimes I felt like I wasn’t significant and that I was easy to overlook. This affected my view of God. I thought that God didn’t see me as special and didn’t see or care about my sin. I learned the truth later, that God did see my sin, that it separated me from Him, but that He had made a way for me to be saved through His Son, Jesus Christ.
I know that the millions of people in Papua New Guinea who do not know the truth about Jesus, feel how I used to feel. Insignificant, forgotten, and frustrated at their own sin and the consequences of sin in the world. I want them to know that God has made a way for their sins to be forgiven (Romans 5:8) and that He has not forgotten them (John 3:16).
The way that I was able to help be a part of sharing this truth in Papua New Guinea was by serving as a nurse in NTM’s medical clinic. God used my practical skills as a nurse to provide healthcare to the missionaries in church planting locations and the support missionaries and national employees on the NTM support base.
The medical clinic that I work in provides resources and great medical care that helps to keep missionaries in the country serving God in their different roles. It has been a life-changing, challenging, and joy-filled year. I especially loved being able to go into some of the church planting locations and talking with my brothers and sisters in Christ from these different tribes.
I also loved serving with my teammates at the missionary center. It is a close community and I have made so many sweet friendships. My time here is coming to a close but my heart is forever changed and my eyes opened to the needs around the world for the Gospel, especially in Papua New Guinea.
NTM-Papua New Guinea is currently looking for teachers, those in IT, management, and construction skills, and especially medical doctors.
If you want to hear more about what daily life can look like living in Papua New Guinea, you can contact me at charitysalchert@gmail.com. Or go to https://ethnos360.org/go/find-opportunities to see where you could be involved!