Sunday, June 13, 2021

Serving in COVID times...

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father though him.” 

                                                -Colossians 3:17

In addition to his other duties, including successfully teaching a high school Self Defense class, Scott is serving on Ukarumpa’s COVID Response Team. This consists of monitoring developments throughout the country, interpreting government measures and providing advice to our leadership, managers and colleagues. Here is how things are looking right now: The PNG government set forth a number of measures designed to mitigate the impacts of COVID. These measures include social distancing, mask wearing and limits on both inter-provincial and international travel. The measures have had some positive results to date. Papua New Guinea was averaging 300+ new cases per day in March and April, but has now decreased to an average of less than 100 new cases per day. Locally, our Clinic staff have reported a drop in cases as well. Current government statistics indicate that PNG has experienced 15,415 reported cases with 162 deaths nationwide. To put things into perspective, PNG has a total population of approximately 9 million people. Vaccines have also arrived in the country and steps are being taken to vaccinate front line health care workers, pilots, teachers, police and other high risk individuals. Please continue to pray for Papua New Guinea and its government during this pandemic.

Above: Scott debriefing students & actors after the scenario based examination for his self-defense class called "Club Mayhem". 

Another school year is over…

It has been a challenging and stressful year, but we are thankful that God has allowed all of us at Ukarumpa International School to provide in person education, with masks and temperature checks, right to the end of the school year. Our graduates enjoyed modified end-of-year celebrations, like Banquet and Graduation, and will now be flying back to their passport countries or moving on to higher education opportunities here in PNG. Please pray for these students, who finished well under all circumstances!

Prayer Points:

• Papua New Guinea (PNG): Pray for more available COVID vaccinations, here in Ukarumpa and throughout PNG.


• Bible translation: Praise for the Binandere New Testament portions being dedicated in Nindewari this month!


• Our roles in PNG: Praise for school remaining in-person for the entire year! Pray for Scott to have wisdom in his COVID Response Team role.


• PNG missionaries: Pray for peace and good transitions for all of the families leaving PNG this month.


• God’s provision: We are so thankful for God’s grace in allowing us to get our first vaccination; please pray we continue to stay healthy so we can faithfully serve here!