Jack Housley is a good old boy from Tenessee. Nearly thirty years ago now Jack was working construction they way he had ever since he had been fortunate enough to marry the beautiful Janie, and he got the bulldozer he was operating stuck in the mud. It was the straw that broke the camel's back, and he relented to the calling that he had been feeling for quite some time...Jack was going to take Jesus' command to take the Gospel to all nations seriously...Jack was to be a missionary. Things happened pretty quick after that.
Jack and Jannie applied to New Tribes Mission, were accepted, and headed off for training. Training complete, Jack and his lovely wife headed off for what would be a lifetime of service in Papua New Guinea. Not long into their careers as missionaries, Jack realized that he was far from a gifted linguist. This was quite a blow for Jack. Language learning is among the missionary's most important skills. It would be impossible to present the Gospel to the many tribal peoples with their varied languages or to translate Scripture for them if he could not learn the language himself. This would have been a death sentence for most missionaries...but not for Jack. Instead of calling it quits, he devoted his life to supporting other missionaries, recruiting new missionaries, and leading short term trips into PNG.
Since then Jack has spent the better part of three decades running supplies up remote rivers in long canoes, hiking through the highlands to help build some new missionary's house, hacking through the swamps to repair another broken generator, tending to the sick, giving advise and counsel to the rookie missionaries, and hundreds of other behind the scenes jobs to support the advancing of the Gospel among the many unreached peoples of this island nation of primitive tribal peoples. All the while he raised a strapping family of boys and cared for his sweet Janie.
Jack is known among the missionaries on the island as a real "man's man." You don't have to hang around long before you start hearing stories about Jack. He fought and killed a Maruk (think ostrich with velociraptor claws) with a paddle. He climbed up in trees after snakes. He swam in crocodile infested waters. He's made friends with cannibals. He has weathered all manner of storms and dangers, and lived to tell about it. Yet, if you met Jack, you would be struck by his remarkable wisdom, humility, and down-to-earth attitude. He has done a thankless job, in dangerous circumstances, far from home, and with just basic necessities all because of his love of his Saviour, and I do not doubt that his reward in heaven will be great. While most of his contemporaries here in the States are beggining to plan their retirements, Jack is still in the wilds of Papua New Guinea doing his part, with the help of the Spirit, to push back the darkness. Jack Housley is the best example of a true disciple of Christ that I have yet come across in my young life. He has been a great inspiration for me, and I hope that he will be one for you as well. Whatever you do, do it with humility, with love, with a wild abandon to the Saviour's care, and with a single-minded devotion to the Glory of God. That is what Saint Jack taught me.
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I couldn’t let this go uncommented…
Those who know Mr. Jack Housley and his gentle wife Janie understand that one cannot meet them without developing an endearment. My first impression of the man was that of him being one rough and tough guy (which he is), but his appearance is far from his character which I learned in short order.
As a single young woman traveling in Papua New Guinea, Jack and Janie both made it a point to look after me for which I am forever grateful. It was planned that Jack and Janie would accompany me into a tribe, but their plans got changed and a tinge of fear found me. I had been in other tribes before, but I had never gone in to one by myself before. Besides that this particular tribe had never heard God’s word and I was not sure how they would respond to a blue eyed, blonde white skin. After I flew into Sinow on a bush plane I had to get on a boat and go an hour and a half up river to Wabuku. On the river we saw an alligator that was about 15 feet long and I can’t help but think that Jack must have wrestled one in the past… Despite my uncertainty I was well looked after and I made it out alive.
After my time in the bush I was in for a delightful surprise when we flew into the hanger at Wewak. After a week of being in several different tribes with no real shower there stood Jack waiting to pick me up… I had no idea. Other arrangements were made for me, but Jack and Janie insisted I stay with them. Jack took us out for lunch and allowed Janie and I to do a little shopping. Jack also invited me to watch the sun rise over the ocean, something I had never done but hope to do again. It was a blessing to spend time with them as I came out of the bush.
I hadn’t expected to see them again, but as I did my dishes on my lunch break from the clinic up in the Highlands one day, Jack popped his head in my window and came by for a visit. Since I have left PNG I have received many encouraging emails. In one of them Jack even sent me a flower (a picture of course, but a flower none the less!)
God has blessed Jack and Janie with the gift to encourage, and encourage they do!
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