Flying Back to the Sepik!

Thank you for praying as we dove into a new ministry here at the Guesthouse at the NTM PNG Home Office. We have enjoyed it! It has been so neat to see how God has put so many things into place for us in this ministry. We are excited to say that we feel God leading us back here to the Guesthouse after our Home Assignment in 2020-2021!

Tomorrow, we will return to the Sepik for two weeks to visit our friends and pack up our home in order to ship everything here to Goroka. Since there are no UHauls or even roads that go from the Sepik to Goroka, we will crate our belongings, put them on a ship and then hire a truck to make the trek into the mountains to Goroka. Please pray for this process as we sort, pack, take apart furniture and fit our belongings into a few crates like a massive puzzle. We are thankful Jacob likes puzzles! And we are thankful that Stanley, Jacob’s dad, is here with us!! Pray for smooth travel for our things as PNG can be a bit unpredictable.

Packing up your possessions is always a tricky process. We don’t want to ship things we don’t need, but in a country where random store items can be suddenly out of stock, you also want to make sure you have everything you need. A missionary staying at our guest house brought recordings of a gospel presentation he had made and they will be given out in a remote tribe where he works. In this tribe, going to a large gathering is a difficult concept to get across culturally. So, to get around this problem, the missionaries decided to provide people with recorded messages that presented biblical truth so they could listen to them in their homes or by themselves in a garden. This has been a great way to get around the cultural barriers, but it also has lots of challenges. He can only get into the tribe a few times a year and was mentioning how all the things he owns and spends money on has to be very carefully decided. Does this possession help him? What does it communicate to his supporters? To his tribal people? What clothing and equipment should he take into the tribe.  Landing in a helicopter with a lot of electronic gadgets in a people group that still cook over a fire can create some very real problems, jealousy and confusion. And ultimately, like this missionary, we all have to trust God for wisdom in the things we own. So thank you for your prayers as we try to have wisdom in what we need and what we don’t need in this country.

Thank you for your prayers, God continues to work in so many ways! And we are thankful that we get to be a part of it!

Praises!

• Stanley Devine, Jacob’s dad is here visiting and helping with projects!
• Jacob’s leg continues to get workouts especially while playing roller hockey!
• Very good transition to the Guesthouse ministry!
• Jonathan LOVES school at the Christian School here in Goroka!
• Naomi is adjusting to new friends and daily life helping/playing in the guesthouse.
• 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:

• Jacob’s leg– for complete healing. After seeing the Physical Therapist here in Goroka, Jacob found out his leg is at 65% strength.
• Flying to the Sepik tomorrow… for packing, sorting and shipping our belongings.
• Provision of funds for our move to Goroka.
• That we would remember that God holds everything together including us! And He is working all around us!
• Continued peace about our move to the Guesthouse and wisdom for our new ministry.
• Rest in God as we enjoy being parents!
• God would continue to raise up more missionaries to come to the PNG 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 continues to teach the Bena, where David and Wendy Lee used to live, pray for more Bena brothers and sisters in Christ!

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement!