Wilson’s Travels

Greetings from Maryland… where all 4 Wilsons are together and enjoying (so far) some self-imposed isolation.  😊

 

Wilson’s Recap:  After being apart for over 50 days, Andrea was reunited with the family in Papua New Guinea (PNG) late in February.  Thanks for praying… her flights went smoothly with barley a hint of the COVID-19 storm that was beginning to arise.  We spent the next 3 weeks finishing… Paul (and the maintenance team) finished working in the hangar completing a major helicopter maintenance event, the kids finished their 3^rd school term and we all finished packing up our house.  Then we hopped on our planes and came back to the US “just in time.”  Seven airports, six airplanes and three countries, the Lord was our strength and our shield. A few days after leaving PNG the COVID-19 situation became more REAL in our small missionary community.  Many of our co-workers had to quickly decide if they wanted to return to their passport countries. International travel got very, VERY challenging.  We are so thankful that we were already heading back to the States, unrelated to COVID-19.  God did so many amazing things and we feel tremendously blessed to already have these travel plans on the books!

 

Wilson’s Stats:  We are now back in Maryland and self-quarantining.  The kid’s wonderful mission school in PNG, Numonohi Christian Academy (NCA), sent us home with lots of work so we can finish the school year on track.

 

Wilson’s Future:  When we take a moment to reflect, we are amazed at how God has been working in our lives.  We didn’t plan to be back in the States for these next months but we are.  We still have a lot of work to do with finalizing Andrea’s Mom’s estate and helping Andrea’s sister get settled, who was living with and caring for their mom.  We PLAN to head back to PNG in late July in order for the kids to attend school, but we know that these are turbulent times.  We can rest in knowing God will direct and guide us as we go!

 

Papua New Guinea Happenings:  Just days after we left PNG, our leadership in PNG mobilized a Crisis Management Team. This is standard operating procedure to allow our directors and the organization to focus on church development efforts in PNG. Missionaries have been given the freedom to leave PNG and return to their passport country if they choose. The medical staff encouraged those on prescription medicines (like Paul) to depart as regular supply runs for such items have been canceled due to closed borders.  Those remaining in PNG will continue to work to maintain core church development functions. There are many exciting things continuing to happen in PNG. For example, the team in Amdu will be starting their first Creation-to-Christ teaching on March 23rd. Please be lifting them up in prayer.  Please also be praying for the remaining support team. With many folks leaving because of COVID-19 (we most likely would be trying to leave too), the team is being stretched even further!