Instead of sending out an update with news from PNG (a new tribal church has been born!!!) or exciting stories of the kid’s first Christmas concert (we celebrated tonight!!!), we are writing to let you know that Andrea’s mom, Diana (Donna) Annunziata, passed into the presence of her Savior on Thursday, December 12. After meeting with our leadership here, talking with family, and praying constantly, we decided that it would be best if all 4 of us travel back to the States for this time.
So, we depart tomorrow (Sunday for us) with the plans of Paul and the kids returning to PNG just after the New Year so they will be ready for the next school semester. Andrea will remain in the States and help settle her mom’s estate. We have never had to purchase tickets so quickly, and getting tickets from PNG to the States is never easy. Thankfully, the Lord provided easy routes (really, when you are flying so far for so long NOTHING is easy) with good layovers. And Andrea’s ticket actually cost less than normal. Praise the Lord!! We are planning on being in Maryland by Tuesday morning.
The cost for 3 round-trip tickets and 1 one-way ticket at this time of the year was not exciting……close to $12,000! Obviously, we were not anticipating this type of expense right now. We do have some emergency savings and are thankful that our credit cards have high limits!
So here are a few prayer points that we would like to share with you:
- Comfort for Andrea and the family as we grieve the loss of Grammy
- Good health – we are prone to get sick when we travel back to the States, especially when we do it in winter!!!!
- Good transitions – this is going to be a whirlwind trip and jet lag is hard on us, especially the older 2 of the Wilsons. 😊
- Finances – As mentioned above, we are trusting the Lord to provide the extra funds. If you would like to help contribute towards this expense, please drop us an email. You can give online at www.ethnos360.org/give or by sending a check made out to our organization at:
- Ethnos360
- 312 W 1st St
- Sanford, FL 32771.
- (Attach a note that it is for Paul and Andrea Wilson).
The memorial service, a celebration of Diana Annunziata’s life, will be held at South Potomac Church in White Plains, Maryland, on Saturday, December 21, from 2:00-4:00pm. For those who would like to show their love in a tangible way, donations can be made in Diana Annunziata’s name to the American Diabetes Association in lieu of flowers.
We wish we had more time to share some of the many ways the Lord has already gone before and arranged things for us. Our friends and co-workers here in PNG have been such a blessing in helping us leave in such a short time. Our friends from our home church, South Potomac Church, have been our hands and feet helping tremendously during this time. What an amazing picture of the body of Christ!
Love,
Paul, Andrea, Phoebe, and Joshua
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