Broken Legs and Upcoming Ministry Changes…

Thank you all for your prayers for Naomi and Jacob as their broken legs heal! Jacob can now work full time, as long as he doesn’t do too much strenuous work. He still has pain towards the end of a work week but the physical therapist said it would take a whole year to feel back to his normal self again. We took Naomi’s cast off on Feb 21^st and she is healing well too. She continues to have pain on and off and weakness towards the end of busy days. But overall she loves to run and play and have fun. She is back to her normal self!

Soon after we returned from Goroka, where Naomi’s broken leg was casted, we received an email from NTM-PNG leadership asking if we would consider the Guesthouse Managers Ministry at the NTM Centre in Goroka, in the Highlands. We lived in one of the Guesthouse flats while Jacob saw the doctor and Physical therapist during his initial recovery from his broken leg and surgery for just over two months. During that time we realized how important this ministry is to all the missionaries here in PNG. (And four months later Beth and the kids stayed in a Guesthouse flat again for 10 days when Naomi broke her leg.)We were quite surprised to have this opportunity but after praying and talking to many trusted friends, family and supporting churches, we feel that God is leading us to move to Goroka to manage the Guesthouse.  This was a very hard decision for us, as we feel very at home here, after living here 6 years. This is where both our babies grew up into toddlers! And this is the only home they know. We also love how our ministry here gives us contact with so many missionaries in the jungle and we feel like we have a front row seat to the work God is doing here in the Sepik.

For NTM’s work here in PNG, a Guesthouse is a big need. It is less of a front row seat to the day to day evangelistic work of the mission and more of a support role. We would start working at the Guesthouse in August of this year. At the Guesthouse, we would help out missionaries with many things: housing and meals for those going through a medical evacuation (like Jacobs), getting away for a much needed rest, awaiting a flight or out to see the doctor or dentist . The guest house has even been given the honor of accommodating the US ambassador to PNG. It is an exciting role with lots of responsibility. The couple that was running the Guesthouse is retiring and there was no one to fill the role. NTM was on the verge of having to close the Guesthouse. This would have been a big setback to New Tribes Mission and we are honored to have been given this opportunity. We have not committed to it long term yet, but we are committed to managing the Guesthouse from August 2019 until April 2020, which is when we are due to head home for home assignment. We both feel the pressure and wonder how God will enable us to make this transition. We are happy to help out in this role for this time period! And after a couple months we will decide if we can handle this long term (when we come back from home assignment) , or if we should come back here to the Sepik. It seems very intimidating and exciting and we would appreciate your prayers. It will be great to see how God works in this situation.

Beth will be jumping back into a cooking role, although on a much lower scale. She cooked at Interface for many years. She won’t be cooking for 50-100 people like at Interface but instead a full Guesthouse might be 10-15 people. And every day varies as people come and go. There are also a few national ladies who help cook and clean at the guesthouse, which is a huge help! Jacob will be helping out as people come and go, welcoming people, sometimes picking people up from the airport and of course doing maintenance on all the guestrooms, kitchen, etc. He will also help out on the Centre maintenance team with various projects. We are both looking forward to this change in ministry, although we are quite sad to leave our life here. Jonathan will get to go to Numonohi Christian Academy and join other 1^st graders in a classroom setting! Because of Jonathan’s love for people we feel that he will thrive in a school setting with other children his age. We are very thankful for this school! Naomi will get to hang out with mom and dad for a while, but she also loves people so we know she will make lots of friends at the Guesthouse.

Praises!

• Jacob’s leg and Naomi’s leg are healing very well!
• A encouraging Sepik Conference last week!
• Talking and hearing stories of all the Sepik missionaries that were gathered together for conference, and so thankful that so many are back from medical leaves at home!
• Jones family is back from their extended medical leave due to Chris’s Achilles Tendon transplant surgery.
• The Meyer family’s house has been built in Kaje!
• Opportunity to fill in at the Guesthouse at the NTM Centre in Goroka starting in August.
• Naomi, is now 2 years old, she is healthy still no side effects from her NCM condition!
• A God who sent His Son to die for our sins and rose him up so that we could have daily life abundantly and REST in Him!
• God’s continued provision for our needs moment by moment!

Prayer requests:

• The Meyer family as they start to learn the language and culture.
• Jacob and Naomi’s legs – for complete healing.
• Our Annual trip to Brisbane, April 25-May 14, for Naomi’s medical checkup for NCM. Pray that the MRI and Naomi’s other doctor’s appointments would go well.
• Provision of funds for airfare and accommodations, as we are unsure if our new insurance will cover accommodations.
• That we would remember that God holds everything together including us! And He is working all around us!
• Peace about our move to the Guesthouse in Goroka.
• Rest in God as we enjoy being parents of two children!
• God would continue to raise up more missionaries to come to the Sepik and bring the Gospel to those who have never heard it their own heart language.
• More laborers to minister to the Bena people.
• David Lee and Heti (Bena believer) continue to teach the Bena, where David and Wendy Lee used to live, pray for more Bena brothers and sisters in Christ!

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