June 2021
We’ve got so much news to bring your way that we are making this update a little bit like the headlines of all the latest news with links to short videos that tell more of the story. Scroll down for those stories, but before we get to those news stories, we wanted to give a brief update about Patpatar Tribe.
Last month I (Aaron) got to go back to the village for another visit. The church in the mountain village continues to be a great encouragement to me. Despite social antagonism, they continue to grow in number and in spiritual maturity. The pastor of the church was one of the first Patpatar men that I discipled down on the coast. His family has endured incredible things to see the literacy program established, new evening Bible classes in the classroom built from jungle material, bi-weekly church meetings, and a whole lot of informal discipleship mixed into it all.
The church on the coast is further along in its spiritual growth and larger in number, but the leaders there are dealing with some complacency in the church. The plateau has me concerned and they also recognize the need to see a rekindling of their first love for Christ. I was able to meet with key families in the church to pray, strategize, and refocus on what really matters.
Now on to our other news:
The family has lived in five different places in Papua New Guinea in the last three years. The commitment to ministry in Patpatar has continued though other roles and responsibilities have been added and changed. See this video to get a brief glimpse of where the last nine months have been spent in the true mountains of PNG.
She can’t remember the city that she is headed to, but Briella is excited to go back to America and can’t be fooled that you can get there in a car. This “on-the-spot interview” gives you an inside look from a 9-year old MK’s perspective.
Kylee pauses in her outdoor time to tell about these unrelated “Co…” topics. COVID measures get easier in PNG, but getting to PNG is not getting easier. One of dad’s other jobs is doing consultancy for church planting teams, helping in the areas of language, consulting, and church planting. See if you can see the active volcano behind him in the boat in the video.
To be back in session we need teachers, but it looks like the remaining staff will be able to hold it together this next year to continue the incredible education opportunity that has been given to our four girls and countless other missionary kids. The sports field in the video looks pretty normal, but I’m guessing the sports you play at your school are not the same.
This is a bonus story about a missionary couple to PNG since before the country’s independence who were honored for 52 years of service with “Highlands Singing.” Think you could lip-sync to this song?
One of Lori’s part-time jobs has been working for Church Development Printing. Literacy, Bible lessons, and translated portions of God’s Word are being created, printed, and distributed throughout the country. If you pause the video at 0:17 you’ll see the words “Kool Room”—it’s not what you think, but there are enough other words on the page you could probably figure it out.
A grown-up missionary kid from the jungle suits up in scrubs at the mission clinic for her work-study during her senior year. Sierra tells her plans for the future and a big need for the mission clinic if it has a future.
It’s been over three years since we left American soil as a family to head back to Papua New Guinea and two years since we’ve seen Avalon. We are excited to be headed back to the States to reconnect with you—our family, friends, and supporting churches. We’d love to connect and tell you even more about what God is doing in Patpatar and in Papua New Guinea and how we’ve been able to be a part. For those in the Southeast corner of the country look for coming news of our possible travels to your area.
That’s a bit of our news because of the Good News!
Aaron, Lori, Sierra, Kylee, and Briella
