Chosen to proclaim His praise
Missionary Robyn Green, an NTM associate, teaches math and science to proclaim praise to God. Her favorite verse is 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen generation … His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
Robyn, a teacher of missionary children, currently is in her third year of teaching high school math and science as well as elementary school science. She plans to return next year for a fourth year of teaching. “After that,” Robyn says, “I don’t know what God’s plan is for me, but I do know that I mean it when I call Papua New Guinea ‘home.’”
Robyn has a heart for missions that was cultivated and nurtured all her life. She traveled a lot as a child and their family supported overseas missions. As a teen, she went to Brazil and Mexico on mission projects and even then, Robyn says she felt that missions “were a part of God’s bigger plan and my God-given passion.”
In college, God expanded her horizons through being involved in various outreach ministries. In one ministry Robyn “came to better understand the mission to reach the unreached and I first heard about NTM.”
Meantime, Robyn graduated and began to teach and attend grad school, “all the time not really knowing how education fit into tribal missions.” During those years, Robyn had the opportunity to lead several mission projects to Mexico and was excited to partner financially with several missionaries.
“I was restless,” Robyn expresses, “but I had a peace and confidence that where I was—was God-ordained.”
During this time, she branched into district administration and “learned a whole new skill set,” Robyn shares. God continued to grow her for His glory, “both professionally and relationally.”
Through budget changes in the school district where she worked, Robyn began to pursue more intently her long-held interest in overseas missions. “I researched several organizations and their needs and I came back to NTM,” she shares. “Their emphasis on church planting among unreached people groups aligned with the passion that God had given me.”
And Robyn quickly discovered that NTM had a need for missionaries in roles such as teachers and IT professionals and construction specialists.
I asked her what the greatest challenges are to her ministry in Papua New Guinea. Robyn shared open-heartedly, “It is challenging to be so far away from family and friends. I miss being closely connected to them … frequent texts, impromptu lunch dates. … I wish that I could be near my family as they experience the joys and struggles of daily life.”
And, she adds, there are the predictable challenges in teaching, as well.
But Robyn is quick to focus on the rewards and joys of her ministry. She feels deeply blessed to be part of a closely-connected community in the NTM missionary center in Papua New Guinea.
“I have good friends here that share similar passions. We call each other family and take care of each other; God uses these people to love and grow me.”
She has also gained enriching new perspectives on missions. Robyn adds, “I am thankful to get to see the work of tribal missions so closely, and to see the way the church as a whole supports the gospel going to the ends of the earth.”
Robyn has known for a long time that she has been chosen by God to proclaim His praise, just as her favorite verse in 1 Peter describes. Her joy is in living, day by day, the fulfillment of God’s purposes in her life to the end that He is glorified in the spreading of the Good News about hope and redemption in Jesus Christ to the most unreached pockets of the world.
Are you thinking that God may have a place in tribal missions to use your skill sets, too? NTM’s Associate program just may be the perfect ministry for you.