Tuesday, August 20, 2019
Settling in Stateside...
We’ve been blessed to settle in to the mission house (pictured below) at Dover Baptist Church, where we are serving as Missionaries in Residence during this 9-month home assignment. Thankfully, the normal “re-entry” stresses of returning “home” have been minimal, as we’ve been surrounded by brothers and sisters in Christ who have helped ease our transition stateside. Over the last month, we’ve had opportunities to speak at Dover Baptist and The Church at Spruce Creek, attend a baby dedication and baptism at Be Free Church, visit with a lot of partners and friends, get some rest, and even host another missionary who is seeking to return to Papua New Guinea. Next, we’ll travel to St. Louis, where we’ll pick up a vehicle from Righteous Rides, a ministry that specializes in providing long term rentals to missionaries on home assignment- thank you to all of you who prayed and helped financially to make this possible. Afterward, we’ll travel through OH, PA and NC to visit with partners, friends and family before returning to New Hampshire. We
intend to spend autumn in NH with trips to visit partners and friends in the Northeast. While we miss PNG, our friends and our work in Ukarumpa, we are so thankful for this time in the US and we look forward to getting to see as many of you as possible. Lukim yu (see you, in Tok Pisin)!
A Mountaintop Experience...
Reuniting with friends and family is always the highlight of our return to the US. It is difficult to be away from people we care about so much, for so long, but we still believe serving in PNG is where the LORD wants us to be, doing what He has called us to do. But while we are here, we’ve been blessed with some genuine mountaintop experiences, like experiencing Soulfest, a 3-day concert and spiritual renewal, and spending time with good friends, for which we are very grateful!
Prayer Points...
Papua New Guinea (PNG): Pray for resolution and peace in the conflict in the Aiyura valley.
Bible translation: Pray for a new project manager to serve the Oro Cluster Translation team, and for the health of the previous manager.
Our roles in PNG: Pray for the missionaries and PNG citizens who are serving in Scott and Kathy’s roles.
PNG training: Pray for the upcoming Biblical Exegesis course for PNG translators and pastors in September.
God’s provision: Praise for a good transition back to the US! Thank you to all of you who have helped us with housing, vehicles and even gift cards for groceries. We appreciate it more than we can express in words!
God’s provision: Praise for a good transition back to the US! Thank you to all of you who have helped us with housing, vehicles and even gift cards for groceries. We appreciate it more than we can express in words!
We are back in the U.S.A.!
July 2019
… We are so grateful for all of you who have been praying for our transition back to the US. We arrived in Dover, NH on July 7th and have been slowly reacclimatizing to the Eastern time zone and extended daylight hours of summer in New England. It has been wonderful to see our church family and we will be moving into the church mission house in a week or so, as we begin our home assignment as Missionaries in Residence at Dover Baptist Church (DBC). We have already had some wonderful opportunities to serve by helping another missionary family to move, and by being a part of the Vacation Bible School (VBS) story time, looking at Moses and the Israelites during their exodus from Egypt and helping kids to understand that even when life is unfair or scary, God is still good, and is with us and for us. That is an equally great reminder to us, and we have seen Him work and felt His presence with us throughout this time of transition. We will be here in Dover for a month before we begin traveling and we’d love to meet with you to share more in person. Please call or e-mail to get in touch with us and we really look forward to seeing you soon!
… We are so grateful for all of you who have been praying for our transition back to the US. We arrived in Dover, NH on July 7th and have been slowly reacclimatizing to the Eastern time zone and extended daylight hours of summer in New England. It has been wonderful to see our church family and we will be moving into the church mission house in a week or so, as we begin our home assignment as Missionaries in Residence at Dover Baptist Church (DBC). We have already had some wonderful opportunities to serve by helping another missionary family to move, and by being a part of the Vacation Bible School (VBS) story time, looking at Moses and the Israelites during their exodus from Egypt and helping kids to understand that even when life is unfair or scary, God is still good, and is with us and for us. That is an equally great reminder to us, and we have seen Him work and felt His presence with us throughout this time of transition. We will be here in Dover for a month before we begin traveling and we’d love to meet with you to share more in person. Please call or e-mail to get in touch with us and we really look forward to seeing you soon!
Above: Kathy serving at the
“Roar” VBS at DBC. Going
from dissecting toads to
talking about plagues of frogs
seemed somehow natural!
A brief wombat encounter...
July 2019
… We were blessed to spend a few days recuperating in Brisbane, Australia during our transit back to the US, and enjoyed meeting many marsupials, including a wombat, one of Kathy’s personal favorites. We also met with other missionary friends we rarely see and it was a healthy way for us to reconnect with developed world culture and rest a little before resuming our journey to the US. And it is always a privilege to interact with such adorable examples of God’s creation!
… We were blessed to spend a few days recuperating in Brisbane, Australia during our transit back to the US, and enjoyed meeting many marsupials, including a wombat, one of Kathy’s personal favorites. We also met with other missionary friends we rarely see and it was a healthy way for us to reconnect with developed world culture and rest a little before resuming our journey to the US. And it is always a privilege to interact with such adorable examples of God’s creation!
Preparing for Home Assignment...
May 2019
… We are grateful once again for all of you who have so faithfully partnered with our Wycliffe ministry, both financially and in prayer, while we have been serving here in Papua New Guinea for these last three years. We have seen God working in miraculous ways, and are thankful for our up-coming 9 month home assignment, when we will be able to travel and visit with many of you and share about what we have seen and experienced. We will return to New Hampshire on July 7 and will be in the US until late March, and we plan to travel down the East Coast from Maine to Florida this autumn. We will also be serving as missionaries-in-residence at Dover Baptist Church in Dover, NH. Please continue to pray for all of our preparations to return to the US, for us to hand off all aspects of our jobs here in Ukarumpa well, and for us as we say goodbye to the many wonderful people here who have become our family in our new home away from home. Looking forward to seeing you soon!
… We are grateful once again for all of you who have so faithfully partnered with our Wycliffe ministry, both financially and in prayer, while we have been serving here in Papua New Guinea for these last three years. We have seen God working in miraculous ways, and are thankful for our up-coming 9 month home assignment, when we will be able to travel and visit with many of you and share about what we have seen and experienced. We will return to New Hampshire on July 7 and will be in the US until late March, and we plan to travel down the East Coast from Maine to Florida this autumn. We will also be serving as missionaries-in-residence at Dover Baptist Church in Dover, NH. Please continue to pray for all of our preparations to return to the US, for us to hand off all aspects of our jobs here in Ukarumpa well, and for us as we say goodbye to the many wonderful people here who have become our family in our new home away from home. Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Above: A sign of God’s
blessing, promises and
provision in a lovely
double rainbow, right over
the high school quad!
Toads, rats and final exams...
May 2019
… It is the end of the school year here at Ukarumpa International School. That means dissections in Biology class, finishing a term of electricity and magnetism in Grade 8, and preparing final exams. The book of James 5:11 reminds us, “ Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” I don’t know if that exhortation will calm my students before their final exam, but it should encourage us all to persevere in whatever test the Lord has for us!
… It is the end of the school year here at Ukarumpa International School. That means dissections in Biology class, finishing a term of electricity and magnetism in Grade 8, and preparing final exams. The book of James 5:11 reminds us, “ Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” I don’t know if that exhortation will calm my students before their final exam, but it should encourage us all to persevere in whatever test the Lord has for us!
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