According to the official countdown, we have only eighteen days to go until our estimated departure date for Papua New Guinea. Wow. Even though we are scheduled to depart in a little over two weeks, there are still two hurdles that we are facing to reach our goals for departure.
Waiting on Visas– One of the hurdles we are facing right now, that is actually outside of our control, is that of receiving our visas. About three weeks ago we applied for our entry permits, also known as visas. As you may remember, this semi-complicated paperwork process included background checks, physical examinations and chest x-rays among other things. Once we applied for our entry permits, we were told to wait about three weeks before calling in to check on their status. So that is where we are at. Starting today, we will be periodically checking up on the status of our visas and waiting to buy our tickets until they come in.
Once we have our visas we would like to purchase tickets a couple of weeks out, to give us ample time to say our goodbyes to our friends & family.
Waiting on our visas is just one of the hurdles we are facing. We also would like to see an increase in our recommended monthly support.
Increase in Support– The second of our hurdles to overcome for our departure is seeing an increase in our monthly support pledges. Currently, we have pledges totaling almost 50% of our needs. We would like to leave with our support at 65%.
We currently have all the money we need to purchase our plane tickets, as well as about 25% of our one-time setup costs. Also, next week our home church is having a community garage sale to raise money for this one-time need.
If you’re reading this and are not currently a partner in this ministry, we would like to let you know that you can have a part in seeing changed lives among the unreached peoples of Papua New Guinea. Check out the Our Family page to learn more about our family and passions, our Going page to learn more about what we are doing overseas, and the Give page to learn more about how you can have a part.
We would love to call you our partners in ministry!
Please Pray With Us
We have a lot to pray about these days. We are asking ourselves questions like,
- “What if our visas don’t come in on time?”
- “What if our visas come in but we haven’t reached our support level goals?”
- “Will we try to leave with what we have?”
Please pray with us about the decisions we have in the next few weeks, and pray that the joy of our departure would not be diminished by fear or worry about these hurdles we are facing. Also, please pray that we would continue to get the last details wrapped up.
Thanks for your interest and for your continued prayer support!