Calm in the Chaos

We can hardly believe we have been back in Papua New Guinea for over 2 months.  It was a rocky road but we are thankful to see God’s faithfulness.  We are also thankful for your prayers, support and encouragement.  Here is a brief (brief you say?) summary of the last few months:

December 2023 — Our planned departure from Ethnos360 Aviation’s training center in Arizona (where we have lived for the last 18 months) had to be moved up a few days as we got the news that Paul’s mom had fallen and broken her hip.  Good-byes were cut short, co-workers jumped in to help with cleaning, and a few days later we were on the road to Kansas.

January 2024 — Most of this month was spent helping Paul’s parents adjust to life in the nursing home.  His mother was doing daily PT as she recovered from her hip surgery.  While in Kansas we enjoyed spending time at two of our supporting churches and appreciated their prayer-filled send off.  We sure needed it as our travels back to PNG were not the smoothest.  Phoebe was fighting a head cold, Josh hurt his foot at an indoor playground in LAX and Andrea was nursing a sore knee.  Thankfully we had an extend layover in Hong Kong that allowed us some rest before the final 2 flights to PNG.  Thankfully all our flights happened, wheelchairs were available and all our bags eventually made it to our PNG home.  (The kids were secretly hoping that their homeschool material would be lost).

February 2024 — Our first 2 weeks in PNG were spent getting our house set up and being reunited with friends and co-workers.  In the middle of this Josh’s foot got better, Andrea’s knee was (is) slowly getting stronger, but Paul had a run in while playing roller hockey (his favorite form of exercise) and broke a knuckle on his right hand despite wearing gloves and pads.  Since PNG is very short on doctors, it was looking like Paul was going to have to go to Australia to get it either set or have surgery.  Thankfully our wonderful medical clinic was able to line it up for Paul to go to a Nazarene hospital (in PNG) for the setting & casting.  (It worked out amazingly that he was flown there by a co-worker in one of our helicopters… which was a lot easier & safer than the 2+ hour car ride).  After this, Paul returned to work where he has been learning to use his non-dominate hand for everything. Andrea and the kids are back to homeschooling.

March 2024 — While we don’t feel settled we are getting closer every day.  The kids still miss their friends in the States but have been enjoying reconnecting with old friends… and making new ones.  Phoebe’s hip still limits her activity some days but we are thankful that she is moving around more and getting stronger.  Work in the hangar has been keeping Paul busy.  You may have heard that PNG is currently going through a fuel shortage.  Jet fuel is used by our helicopters and Kodiak planes to deliver supplies, provide medical evacuations and get our missionaries in and out of isolated villages.  And diesel fuel is not only used by most vehicles but is also used by our generators to supply power.  With a limited amount of reserve, our mission has been planning for the “what ifs”.  Recently we are starting to see some positive signs of improvement but please pray for a solid resolution to this situation and for the people of PNG who are affected by it.

Praise & Prayer Requests

• Praise: We made it safely back to PNG and with all our luggage!!
• Praise: Thank you for praying for all the “see-you-laters.”  They were not easy.
• Praise: For Paul’s knuckle.  We are thankful that he didn’t have to go to Australia for surgery.  It is still healing but he is out of the cast and doing PT.  Please pray for healing and patience.
• Prayer: For Paul’s mom as she continues to recover from her hip surgery and for their adjustment to life in the nursing home.
• Prayer: For the fuel crisis in PNG.
• Prayer: For us all as we continue to adjust to life in PNG and the lack of laborers.