On the Road Again!

The first month of 2020 has come and gone already and here we are in the middle of February.  We just left Boise, Idaho on the 24th. It was hard to leave our son, Brian and our grandsons, Andrew and Ethan, but we are so blessed and thankful for this time we’ve had with them. Additionally, we’ve had our daughter, Heather with us since Christmas. We’ve had lots of fun making memories and bonding.

We will be on the road for 3 ½ months.  Our traveling will take us all through much of the US to visit and reconnect with family, friends and churches that we haven’t seen in five years. Thousands of miles of driving but so worth it. Please pray for safety, that we would be a blessing to those that we visit with.

Heather came home December 23 from Papua New Guinea. Though her health was improving, the consensus was that she should come home, rest, get medical help, and then finish getting her counseling accreditation. They all agree that is where her gift lies.  Ethnos360 has given her some options at Sanford so that she can stay in the mission to get her support and continue with her insurance coverage.  Sunday she is flew to Sanford to meet with the folk at Ethnos360 Homes to see if she is a good fit to help out there.  She could also be studying while there and hopefully get the medical help that she still needs. After 5 days in Sanford, she will fly to Louisville to meet with her home church and sort through her things stored there.  Folk at her church feel like her going to Sanford is a great option.  Appreciate prayer for wisdom and direction for her.

Please pray about Heather’s need for a reliable car.  She still has two college loans that need paid off.  Would you please pray for provision to take care of these two items? God has already provided to help with the medical expenses for her deductible.

Our youngest grandson, Gideon James, celebrated his first birthday February 4th. How we wish we could have been with him and his proud parents for the occasion. Their plans are to now go to Thailand in July.  We are excited that we will see them again when we get back to California in June.

Judy flew to Orlando Jan 10-15 to see her parents.  On the way back from dropping her off for her return flight home,Tom and Corinne were in an accident which totaled their car. But thankfully they were not hurt, nor was the person in the other vehicle.  Is it time to give up driving or they need God’s provision of another vehicle, God knows. Judy’s father, Tom Palmer, had to have surgery to remove a cancerous bleeding tumor in his colon at the location of his last colon cancer 5 years ago. After 15 days in the hospital he is now home and getting stronger.

Ilai (Eli) is holding his own. He has been faithfully attending AA, reading his Bible. I so pray for a good Godly mentor for him. He desires to go to a good church but none right where he can get to them.  He has a part time job, but he could use something better.  He has some financial needs from his past that need to be taken care of.  He is feeling overwhelmed at times with facing his past and owning up to it.  We see a great change.  He is at times afraid that he will fall again.  Please pray for strength and for his continued growth in the Lord.

The proof reading of the Dom New Testament for the next printing is progressing howbeit slower than we would like. Jim is reading through Acts at this time. With traveling, it will be much harder to get to it.   It’s a tedious process but an honor to do so.

Our coworkers, Gerolf and Mailis Wuest (sons, Richard and Christian) are back in PNG and soon to transition to the Dom from our field office where they have been since their return to the field. Please pray for them as they move back to the village and settle in once again. It has been over a year since we were altogether as a team and at least another eight months until we join them in PNG.

As far as we know, the Dom guys are teaching. The women teachers have had some issues.  Would appreciate prayer that they would be humble and teach anyway.  An up and coming Bible teacher at Kakua got some strange illness and passed away. Kapia Joseph had been mentoring him.  One of those things that is hard to understand, but we trust in God’s all knowing.

Looking forward to reconnecting with many of you as we continue our travels around the United States. Thank you so much for praying.