Our church is privileged to support New Tribes Missionaries Aaron and Lori Luse who serve a remote tribe in Papua New Guinea. I've only met them on a couple occasions, but I have been abundantly blessed each time. The following is reprinted with permission from their latest newsletter - an open letter from Aaron to Lori. This is truly a marriage that honors the Lord. I guarantee you will be blessed. Get out your tissue! Thank you, Aaron, for sharing your heart, your family, and your ministry with all of us.
Hi, It's her birthday today! My wife is 35. I won't be
taking her out for a fancy birthday dinner though. I won't be giving her
a gift. In fact, I won't even get to see her. Thousands of miles
stretch between us while I am at meetings this week in Thailand for church
planting and she is back in Papua New Guinea with our girls. Without a
phone and the unfortunate incident of my computer hard drive failing, I was so
excited just to be able to send her an email saying, "Happy
Birthday."
Customarily gifts are given to the one having the birthday, but
if I could talk to her today I would thank her for the gift she has given to
me. She has given her life for a far greater purpose. She has spent
what some people call "the prime of her life" in a village far away
from the 'American dream'. Her desires and dreams right now are not for a
big home, a new car, or fancy clothes, but rather to develop an advanced
literacy course for the Patpatar so the can become better readers in order to
more fully understand God's Word. Her mornings are not spent in front of
the mirror trying to hold back time in her appearance, but is preparing
breakfast from scratch, planning out schooling for 3 different grade levels for
the day, figuring what other areas she can be involved in ministry, and taking
care of a baby that won't sleep late.
There are no malls, no nights out on the town, no microwaves or
dishwashers. There are however, continual battles with humidity, mold,
allergies and infections. Yet her purpose is not the physical, the
economical, or the social. Her purpose is the eternal. She is my
partner who has sacrificed for a greater purpose to see the Patpatar church
grow and become equipped.
I miss you Lori. I wish I could be with you today
and celebrate your birthday with you. I wish I could give you a gift to
show my love and appreciation for you. But I want to tell you thank you
for the model you have been to me, to the Patpatar, and to people all over the
world of what a woman who gives herself to God can accomplish for Him.
You are a gift! Happy Birthday, I love you!
Aaron
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