Happy Easter from Papua New Guinea!

Weekly Saturday campfire gather – a highlight of our week               

Happy 13^th Birthday Jonathan

             Guesthouse Hospitality team                    

Matching Devine/Devine Junior jersey’s for roller hockey

Naomi and Captain Haddock 

Installing new cupboards in a guesthouse apartment

Old friends came to visit from our days working at Interface together 

Dear Family and Friends,

We are reminded of God’s amazing love for us this Easter week, as we reflect on the last four years here in Papua New Guinea. Through the unimaginable hardships and crisis in the last years, we have seen God’s love guide and direct and encourage us to stay strong remembering the truth of his Sovereignty and His Love, Grace and Mercy for us, our family at home, our co-workers and the people of PNG. When things don’t make sense, we can be encouraged because we know that God understands and He has a good plan.

How is it possible that we are close to the end of our four-year term in Papua New Guinea!? We left Boston, MA for PNG on March 24, 2022… Time has certainly flown by and we have seen God at work in so many ways over the last four years! We are so thankful to be able to be a part of planting churches here in PNG! We get to hear so many stories of how God is working in many ways around PNG and we get to see firsthand how God is working around our support center, while having the privilege of supporting the work here by hosting missionaries in the Guesthouse.  It is amazing to see how God has put together a plan for replacements for us in the guesthouse ministry for our home assignment year. We are very excited that the Nelsons, Cherith and the Gunthers get to be a part of church planting  through the Guesthouse ministry soon.

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being. So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according to this power that is at work within us.”  Ephesians 3:16-20

We are thankful for the inner strength that God’s gives His children for daily life and the love that He has for us that surpasses knowledge. We are amazed that God does more than we can even imagine. We don’t need to make things happen ourselves but He does it and it’s a privilege when we get to be a part of it. We are so thankful for your prayers for us and our team here! As people pray, God works in hearts and minds to bring people closer to Himself. We have seen how discouraging times can make us stronger in our faith as God enables us to see life more from an eternal perspective and encourage us through seeing His love, care and sovereignty. And we are thankful for your prayers for the work in PNG, as God has been doing much in the NTM PNG team.

Please continue to pray for our team here in PNG as there are many people leaving for Home Assignment or finishing up their time in PNG. Pray for more missionaries to come to fill the gaps: teachers, business office personnel, doctors, maintenance personnel, and more church planters. Please pray for Nelsons, Cherith and Gunthers as they wait for Government paperwork to be completed. Pray for a smooth government paperwork process. Dan and Marty Nelson and Cherith (on loan from GFA Missions -Gospel Fellowship Associations) will arrive in May and serve as Guesthouse managers for NTM PNG and supply buyers for GFA until October 2026. We are thankful that Cherith has been serving in PNG for a few years so she knows Pidgin English well so she can help her aunt and uncle (Nelsons) interact with the citizen workers. Matt and Joan Gunther and their daughter Lilith will come in July 2026 and participate in the Equipping training, learn pidgin and go through an orientation to NTM PNG. In October as they finish up the orientation, the Nelsons and Cherith will train them to manage the guesthouse until we return in July 2027. Pray for speedy paperwork. Pray for them as they get ready to come and finish up things at home. Pray for Lilith Gunther as she comes to PNG for her 12^th grade year. Lots of transitions!

In the next two months before we fly out on June 9th, we will be training our replacements, sorting, packing, cleaning and getting our house ready for the Nelsons and Cherith to stay in our house. Pray for wisdom and time management as we train Dan and Marty Nelson as well as Cherith to run the guesthouse during this busy guesthouse season of graduation and departures. Also, pray for smooth travel as we go home via Germany to see many friends from our Interface days and former co-workers. We are excited to see many of the Interface Interns that were there for a year at a time. It will be neat to see where God has placed them all. So far, we have heard that there are a few guys serving as missionaries with Ethnos360 in different countries. We will fly into Boston on June 22 and enjoy 2-3 weeks with my parents and setting into North American life, reinstating our bank cards, scheduling medical appointments, etc. Although Jacob will need to leave early, to be in Canada in order to keep his residency. He needs to reside in Canada every five years for a 6-month period. And five years is up on July 6th, hard to imagine! But first we will enjoy celebrating USA Independence day together with my parents! After this we will be through Chicago, IL for the World Tang Soo Do championship. Jonathan and Jacob are excited to participate and represent the Goroka Tang Soo Do Club, the only one in Papua New Guinea! And then on to Ethnos Canada headquarters in ON for a few weeks before making our way over to Nova Scotia to settle in before Jonathan starts 8^th grade and Naomi starts 4^th grade. We appreciate your prayers for all of the transitions our family will experience in the new few months.

While we are in Nova Scotia, we look forward to being able to share about PNG and our ministry at the guesthouse. If you would like us to share at your church, bible study, small group, or just get together to visit, just let us know! We will be in Nova Scotia until the end of the year. Then we will move to MA, USA for Jan – June 2027 before returning to PNG. We wanted to also ask you to pray that we would be able to go to a Missionary Debriefing retreat while we are on Home Assignment. Ethnos360 Member Care has recommended that missionaries attend a family debrief retreat during home assignment in order to be able to process and heal from the hard of our term. If you are interested in giving funds directly to this retreat, please let us know.

Praises!

• Lamogai Bible and Hewa New Testament will be dedicated this June after many years of work!
• Dr Sam Kang and his family will arrive in August as career missionaries! So thankful to have a medical doctor coming to work at our clinic! As our doctor is retiring after over 30  years of service.
• Jacob has the opportunity to work on many projects around the guesthouse: retaining wall and renovation of a kitchen.
• Jonathan and Naomi are doing well and finished their third term of 3^rd and 7^th grade!
• Jonathan is doing well in his online Math class!
• Our new neighbors, Julie and Steffan Pyle, long time friends!
• Steffan and Julie have passed their final pidgin language evaluation and Steffan has passed his PNG helicopter check ride!
• Opportunity to visit the old Interface campus and our friends with Julie, 30 years after being hut mates
• Provision for housing and a car while we are on home assignment!
• We have 60% of the funds for our tickets to return to North American for our home assignment.
• Dan and Marty Nelson and their niece Cherith Hamilton are coming to train in the guesthouse ministry in May! They will take over our guesthouse ministry until October 2026.
• Dan Nelson’s PNG work permit has been granted!
• Matt and Joan Gunther and their daughter Lilith are coming to step into the guesthouse ministry from October until we return in July 2027!
• Weekly Saturday night campfires when guests/friends gather to hang out.
• A God who loves us so much He continues to guide us in our steps day by day and moment by moment.
• Because we are God’s children we have abundant daily life and REST in Him.
• God’s continued provision for our needs moment by moment!

 Prayer requests: 

• We need Teachers, Doctors, Mechanics, Finance office personnel, Maintenance Management (long term)!
• Citizen carpenters will keep learning and building confidence in their work.
• The workshop’s joinery tools will continue to work and we have wisdom to maintain them. Also that the shop will continue to function well and safely.
• Missionaries to manage and train in the Maintenance departments around the field.
• Wisdom as we train our replacements and pack up for our Home Assignment. 
• Wisdom and ability for Beth to balance and wrap up all the different aspects of ministries that she is involved in… Guesthouse, school and community councils.
• Nelsons, Cherith and the Gunther family as they fill out paperwork, pack up their homes for a while and get ready to come to PNG.
• PNG work permits and entry permits for Marty Nelson and the Gunther family.
• Finances to go from 85% to 100% supported… we are in need about $1160/month which is about 20 people giving $60 or 10 people giving $120 a month.
• Finances for the other 40% of the airfare to the US/Canada for our Home Assignment, flying June 9, 2026.
• That we would remember that God holds everything together including us! And He is working all around us.
• Opportunity to attend a Missionary Debriefing retreat
• Nate, good friend, wisdom in decision for the next chapter of his life.
• Wisdom and Love as we teach our children how to walk with God daily.
• 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.