Celebrating our first year in Papua New Guinea

It is almost unbelievable to us that we have served in PNG for over a year now. That landmark did not come without 12 months of joys, trials, laughter, and tears, but isn’t that always true when we look back on another year of life? We have learned so much about the culture of PNG; immersing ourselves first academically, but then heart and soul as we have gotten to know and love the people here. I have poured myself into my students and seen how God is growing and shaping them into the people He desires them to become. 

My junior high school students brainstormed and pondered how a box of toothpicks, a roll of tape and some cardboard could possibly become a model earthquake- resistant house, and they saw the plans they sketched on paper come to fruition in 3-D before their eyes. So, too, have I seen God working in and molding them in the last 8 months.  

Make no mistake, God has been working in and shaping me as well. It was not my plan to have two minor surgeries to remove a carcinoma from my face, but God is faithful and I am thankfully now skin cancer free. Several other viruses and minor injuries aside, I have been blessed this year beyond description and thank God for allowing me to serve these special kids at UISSC. He has drawn me closer to himself and to Scott this past year in more ways than I could’ve dreamed, using circumstances I never would’ve imagined. 

How has God been working in your life this past year, and have you thanked Him for the good as well as the difficult lessons you have learned? -Kathy