Interface: More than just an experience
"Tribal missions honestly scared me. The thought wasn’t even on my radar. ... I was altogether naïve and ignorant about it and the need," wrote one participant of New Tribes Mission's Interface program.
Despite admitting her fears, this woman left her comfort zone and flew halfway around the world to Papua New Guinea to participate in New Tribes Mission’s Interface program.
Stepping Outside One's Comfort Zone
Interface is a six-week, college-level missions course taught by experienced missionaries. It is more than just classes to fill people with head-knowledge. Participants get to try firsthand to learn another language, experience "village exposure" on a near daily basis, and even take a side trip to join missionaries on location in a remote tribal village.
Perspectives Are Changed
"Before coming to Interface I thought I knew what tribal evangelism was all about,” wrote one Interface team member. “I knew people were dying without ever hearing the Gospel and there was a degree of urgency to reach the lost tribal people. But it wasn’t until after I was here that I started realizing how important it is for people to go into the world and reach tribal people for Christ."
Another wrote: "My perspective on missions is permanently altered."
That's because Interface is more than just a class. It's more than an experience. Interface is a tool God has used to change people's perspectives.
Lives Are Redirected
Interface has also redirected the course of people's lives.
“God used the experience [of Interface] to whet our appetites and show us, most importantly, that if we step out in faith, He will sustain us in all He has for us!” wrote missionaries Geoff and Shannon Husa. “Our experience of Interface … was a decisive turning point for us and was a huge part of what led us here to serve in Papua New Guinea.”
Pray that more lives would be impacted for missions through the Interface program.
Prayer points
- Pray as final preparations are being made for our 2014 Interface program. Pray for the staff, from those doing the maintenance and cooking, to those involved in the teaching itself. Pray that God would use each of them to make a difference in the lives of the participants.
- “Pray for this summer’s [Interface] team as they leave the 14th of June. Pray for uneventful travels, and that all of the baggage will get there, including the first printing of 130 Bagwido Bibles that they will be carrying over for the Bagwido missionary team and church,” writes Janie Miles, Interface Administrator.
- Pray that the Lord would move in the hearts of believers to partner financially with a few of the Interface students who still lack funds for the trip. God is able!
- Pray for this summer’s Interface team, that they will have open hearts and minds as they sit under the teaching of experienced tribal missionaries. Pray they will also adapt well and stay healthy, alert and focused.
- Pray for the course of lives to be significantly challenged through the Interface experience. Pray that others, like Geoff and Shannon Husa, will find Interface to be a turning point in their lives, one that leads them into full-time missionary service.