Pictured: The Grace kids on their maiden voyage aboard a newly constructed raft in Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea, Circa 1968.
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
I love thinking back to my early childhood years in Papua New Guinea. We didn’t have much but we had everything. Dad and Mum had taken up the call to serve as missionaries with Wycliffe Bible Translators and in 1960 PNG became a place we called home. Kunai grass huts and kerosene lanterns, boggy bush tracks and WWII ex army Jeeps for transport. It was a wild adventurous environment.
Back in those days, The Grace family lived on ‘emergency’ support. There was never much money in the bank and yet Dad and Mum knew they were right where God wanted them to be. They were there to serve and lived by faith. You couldn’t just buy ‘stuff’ when you needed it, you had to make it from the resources available. In many ways I think that kept our family totally dependent on God’s provision and not on worldly possessions. I remember us wanting to go exploring on the river that surrounded Ukarumpa, so Dad helped us build a boat made of some old truck tyre tubes, rope and bamboo. That primitive raft brought us kids countless hours of fun. It cost nothing, but we felt like it was the best ever!
Real hope does not happen when you have everything you want… real hope is born when you are in need and everything seems uncertain – when the challenges of life seem impossible. That’s when God turns up and proves His goodness and grace to you. Real hope is full of joy and expectation. When your confidence and trust are founded on the eternal promises of God’s word and the hope we have in knowing Jesus. That’s when hope floats. Don’t let the enemy rob you of your hope. The Lord is with you.
Thanks for your prayers and support.
Godspeed.
Steve
