Friday, April 4, 2014

The Gospel - PNG Style



The national flag of Papua New Guinea, as it turns out, is an excellent way to share the Gospel. Many of the missionaries in PNG use the colors of the flag, much like the colorful beaded bracelet used elsewhere in the World, to explain the story of Jesus. 

Apparently, the PNG flag is a very popular logo, and is found almost everywhere - shirts, hats, bags, etc. 


Here are the simple steps:

1.  GOLDEN is the color of the Bird of Paradise (national bird) on the flag. Paradise is another name for heaven, and heaven has streets of gold. God loves us so much that He sent His son Jesus, who died for us so we too can go to heaven (John 3:16). 

2.  We can't get to heaven on our own because of the sin (BLACK) in our lives. Sin has separated us from God, and because of sin we all deserve eternal death (Romans 3:23, 6:23). 

3.  But Jesus died on the cross for our sins (Romans 5:8). The WHITE stars of the Southern cross on the flag remind us of Jesus' cross, and the 5th star reminds us of the spear that pierced Jesus's side. 

4.  We can't get to Heaven (Bird of Paradise) without going through the blood (RED) of Jesus, which washes the black sin from our lives, so we are clean like the white stars. Jesus is ready and able to forgive us all (1 John 1:9).

...now I just need to learn to say this in Pigin! :-)