After serving in PNG for 4 years, God gifted me a PNG wife, Milka, and ten months later, a son, Kelly Maik. M & M & M. That’s my little family’s moniker, Mick & Milka & (Kelly) Maik. Together we are serving and learning to serve at Martin Luther Seminary in Lae, Papua New Guinea.

For much of my working life I have served in Lutheran schools. During this time I felt called to do further theological study—but without knowing why. My great adventure into studying theology started to take shape when I was in Sabah, Malaysia, volunteering with LCA International Mission. After that, God’s will gradually unfolded for me as I followed his call to study theology. I am now teaching at Martin Luther Seminary in Lae, Papua New Guinea.

Over many decades, Lutheran missionaries faithfully prepared the soil and planted the gospel in this country, and it flourished. There are now 1.5 million Lutherans in PNG, but, like everywhere else in the world, the gospel needs constant watering and nurturing. Our part in God’s mission is to help to prepare PNG pastors and other leaders to do that work, so that the saving gospel of Jesus Christ can continue to thrive and grow.

‘We also believe, and so we also speak’ (2 Cor 4:13) is a guiding light for me. Just as teaching is the natural extension of learning, servanthood is the natural extension of our Lord’s faithfulness to us. When the psalmist asks, ‘What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?’ (Ps 116:12), my response is to serve the Lord with the gifts he has given me. I am simply a Christian who continues to learn, and is now also married to another country. Together with you who partner with me and LCA International Mission, I am called into fellowship with our brothers and sisters in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea, where I find the cup of salvation overflowing.