It Started with One Village and Spread
After the Film
Other mission boards told Mark Zook he wasn’t cut out to be a missionary. But he went to Papua New Guinea as part of a team with NTM, and established a church among the Mouk people. That story is told in the classic missions film, Ee-Taow! Their work among the Mouk people is still bearing fruit today.
Why the Story Goes On
Mark presented a series of Bible lessons that allowed the Mouk people to see God’s plan unfolding. And the message wasn’t simply about salvation. As important as salvation is, that’s only the beginning. The series of Bible lessons that NTM missionaries use lay a foundation for disciples — for people who will become followers of Christ and lead others to Him.
That began early, with the new Mouk believers reaching out to neighboring villages. And it continues now.
Lusi and Anem and Kove
Mark’s son Rick, along with Rick’s wife, Anji, minister in the neighboring Lusi people group. They prepared materials to help Mouk teachers learn how to learn the Lusi culture and language as they assist in ministry to the Lusi people. Rick and Anji began a monthly class to pass on those principles.
“After a couple of weeks,” Rick wrote, “Selu showed up. He is a Mouk elder who wanted to learn Anem, a neighboring language which is completely unrelated to Mouk. He wanted to know if we could make one of those language learning booklets for him.”
They did, then made two more so others could learn Anem, and more recently, made more for people who want to minister to the Kove people. The Mouks’ circle of ministry is expanding. The class that began with three students expanded to 15 Mouk missionaries. Pray that the Mouk outreaches to the Lusi, Anem and Kove people bear much fruit.
The fruit of discipleship looks very much like a banana plant, Rick and Anji wrote in a recent blog post.