As Australian Lutheran Mick Hauser reflects on his time in Papua New Guinea (PNG), many things fill his thoughts. He is married to Milka and they have a son, Kelly. And, while lecturing at the Martin Luther Seminary in Lae, Mick is also studying a doctorate part-time and preparing for ordination as a pastor. Life […]

As Australian Lutheran Mick Hauser reflects on his time in Papua New Guinea (PNG), many things fill his thoughts. He is married to Milka and they have a son, Kelly. And, while lecturing at the Martin Luther Seminary in Lae, Mick is also studying a doctorate part-time and preparing for ordination as a pastor. Life is busy.

‘My wife is here’, Mick replies when asked what he most loves about living in PNG. ‘And that means that I have started to put roots here, which is what I love most. Also, the people here can be incredibly difficult, but they are also incredibly loveable.’

Reflecting on the impact of COVID-19, he sees God at work in the people through the way they come to terms with death and how they confront suffering. ‘Their faith in the face of those things is incredible’, he says. ‘People have so little but smile often and are thankful for all the Lord has given them. They are eternal optimists, and this is based upon a God they know loves them and is gracious toward them.’

Mick’s doctoral thesis is focused on the world of the occult. He is being confronted by the spiritual realm in PNG and this has pushed him to rely on his baptism and the protection it offers those marked by the name of Christ. And at that name, all other powers fold their knee. To trust in that and to teach that, he says, ‘You have to live it’.

Mick says he never wanted to become a pastor but has ‘appreciated the blessing of speaking the gospel to people’, as God has led him on an unexpected journey.

‘It’s about discovery with God’s word and preaching and teaching God’s word’, he says. ‘In order to preach and teach it, God acts upon us first as we become that vessel. I like that it was changing me and somewhere along the way, God said, “Now it’s time to speak my word to somebody else”. It is an honour to be called into that position.’

Mick also wants to say ‘G’day’ to people in Australia. He misses Australia and during the past six months of planning an extended visit, including for his ordination, he has realised what blessings he has, but also what he has given up to serve as part of God’s mission in PNG.

However, he also knows that no matter where God has placed us or led us on earth, we’re all only visitors or, at best, temporary residents. ‘As people of God, we are aliens in the fallen world’, he says. ‘We don’t necessarily need to get too comfortable in one place. We belong in our heavenly home.’

This story was also published in the November 2021 edition of Border Crossings, the magazine of LCA International Mission.

If you would like to consider the opportunity to donate to Mick Hauser, who is serving as a lecturer at Martin Luther Seminary in Papua New Guinea, you are invited to go to https://lcamission.org.au/donations/index.php/png.html and select ‘Mick Hauser (Missionary) – PNG’ from the list of projects.

For more information about Mick Hauser, go to https://www.lcamission.org.au/about-us/who-we-are/countries/papua-new-guinea/papua-new-guinea-mick-hauser/