Happy Thanksgiving

“For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.” 2 Cor.4:15

Happy Thanksgiving!  I love how Paul puts it so clearly…as we receive grace, our thanksgiving should increase, and as our thanksgiving increases, God is glorified! This is the Good News! God’s grace sent His Son for us all! Thank you for your part in helping us tell about God’s grace to more and more people in Papua New Guinea!

Pray for PNG  These last few months have seen a soar in covid numbers in the Eastern Highlands region, where we live. In response, the authorities issued many restrictions and lockdowns, including a 2pm curfew, and gatherings restricted to 20 or less. (Thankfully the curfew has now eased a bit to 6pm-6am.) Our hearts break for thousands of citizens who are living in fear. Yet, I have heard from many believers who smile at me and say, “God is in control of this and He alone determines my future, no matter what!”

New Roles  Jeremiah is now part of our area leadership team, which means we get to support many more families and their ministries. We are privileged to be able to partner with these teams in many different ways, whether it be logistics, orientation, team relations, church strategy, or any number of other tasks. Lots of meetings, zoom, phone calls, and lots of good Dinangat coffee to help keep all the balls in the air! We covet your prayers for wisdom and grace as we seek to serve these missionaries to the best of our ability, as well as continue the Dinangat translation and church development. With me in my new role as homeschool consultant for our area, I got to go on my first real helicopter ride to help facilitate school testing for a couple of our families. I was so blessed to work with these amazing servants of God among their language group that had only recently heard the Good News of Christ for the first time! What a joy to be among brand new brothers and sisters in Christ!

Quick Trip  Many of you know that I (April) went back to the States for a few weeks just recently. The Lord had chosen to bring home my sweet nephew, Ezra Cross, after 16 years of suffering with severe cerebral palsy and a body disabled from birth. While the circumstances were heartbreaking, I was blessed to be able to spend time with my brother’s family mourning the huge loss of Ezra while rejoicing over his newfound wholeness. Please pray for the Borbe family, Edwin and Liz and Ezra’s 5 siblings. They have a long journey of processing this loss and the many changes in their lives that come with it.

Being back in the States meant I also got to spend time with my kids! Jordan and Sarah are loving the missionary training in Camdenton, MO, and will graduate in 2023. Judah is also doing well at Ethnos360 Bible School in WI. Pray for him as he balances time between classes and homework, driving school bus, ministry as an RA, sports and outreaches. Sleep? What’s that??

Dinangat News  Jeremiah is currently in Dinangat for a couple of weeks with our coworker, Ralf. He is checking different portions of Luke and Matthew. They are also having some big talks with the elders and Bible teachers as well as doing some teaching and of course, discipleship. Please pray for wisdom and strength to accomplish everything they need to in these 2 weeks! Alayna and I will hold down the fort here while he’s gone. She is doing great in 9th grade, very independent and working hard! As with all our kids our prayer is that they would continue to desire HIM first and foremost, for nothing else can satisfy!

Your Help Needed!  When we returned to the field this summer, we were relocated to another of our mission’s centers that is about 20 minutes away from where we were living. This means that we are now separated from our school, store, clinic, business offices and many of our coworkers. We love the center where we are living as its focus is more specifically for our area church plants. There are a couple of mission vehicles that we can rent when we need to, but with all the other families on center, logistically, coordinating trips can be very time consuming, and it’s also very expensive. Knowing that we would now need a vehicle of our own, we began saving last year. What we did not anticipate was that the cost of vehicles has skyrocketed and now our savings will only cover about 25% of the actual cost! So, we have a long way to go! Please pray with us that the Lord would raise funds for us to be able to purchase something if it is His will! And if you would like to give towards this project, click this link. If you have questions, feel free to drop us a note.