God continues to equip us for the work He has called us to do…

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” -Proverbs 27:17 (ESV) 

As Christians, it is important to support and spur one another on in our walk with Christ. This is especially poignant for those whose work is necessary, but always in the background. Risk management doesn’t readily come to mind when most people think about overseas missions. Yet, taking reasonable steps to protect missionaries and especially children is not only a legal duty of care for mission organizations, but an ethical and moral responsibility as well.  Last month, our mission sent Scott to the 20th annual Child Safety Protection Network (CSPN) conference and program management training in Penang, Malaysia. Thankfully, the event took place during a school break, allowing Kathy to come as well. Despite a few travel hiccups, including food poisoning and jellyfish stings, the trip was quite positive. Kathy was able to get some needed rest and developed some new ideas for her classes after visiting a couple of local nature parks. Scott was blessed to meet with people from various mission organizations and Christian schools to exchange ideas and to support one another in Child Safety roles that often feel stressful and isolated. Proverbs 27:17 tells us that we should sharpen one another in our work and in our walk with Christ. This is true no matter where we are or what role we have in advancing the gospel.

Praise for Easter Sunrise service…

Our favorite church service of the year is Easter sunrise, when we celebrate the resurrected Christ Jesus at dawn. Our Savior did not remain in the tomb - He is risen! We carried stones to the foot of one cross to represent the weight of our sin. But the Good News is, we can leave that sin at the cross because of what Jesus has accomplished on our behalf. The flowers are a lovely representation of life from death, and we are eternally grateful that we get to experience that joy and new life every day, as Jesus works in our lives through the power of His Holy Spirit. May the joy of Easter be with you throughout the year and let spring flowers remind you - He is risen!

Prayer Points:

 • Papua New Guinea (PNG): Pray for PNG leaders and for PNG as a nation to continue to trust God and seek His will.

• Bible translation: Praise for the biennial Conference and 70th anniversary SIL celebrations; they were encouraging to attendees and glorifying to God.

• Our roles in PNG: Pray for a good finish to Term 4 at UIS and praise for completing all of our accreditation meetings. We are accredited for another six years! Pray for wisdom and discernment for Scott and the SIL Global Child Safety team.

• PNG missionaries: Pray for families of graduating seniors, who will be preparing for significant transitions at the end of Term 4.

• God’s provision: We pray for you always and thank you for your faithful partnership with our Wycliffe ministry. Thank you for enabling us to continue serving faithfully in PNG.

70 years of God’s faithfulness…

“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3: 22-23 (NIV)

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) work in Bible translation in Papua New Guinea. Established in Ukarumpa in 1956, it has served as the main center of operations for SIL’s work in PNG, serving over 400 remote language communities around the country. We are part of an ongoing team of thousands of missionaries who have come to live and serve here over those 70 years. As members of Wycliffe Bible Translators, we are seconded to SIL when we are in PNG, and SIL obtains our work permits and visas, enabling us to serve. SIL works with many different ministries, bringing together people from Wycliffe Canada, UK, Australia, the Netherlands, and other organizations. JAARS, SIL Global and Wycliffe USA were all founded by the same man, William Cameron Townsend, with the vision of bringing the Bible to every language on earth and seeing it transform lives and communities. Those partnerships continue, with JAARS now running aviation operations here in PNG. It is humbling to see what has been accomplished and what still needs to be done, but we trust in the LORD to complete the good work He began here so many years ago. Pray that we would remain faithful in our service, doing our parts to see the Good News of Jesus Christ continue to reach the ends of the earth. Thank you for your love and support of this amazing work!

Praise for another birthday…

Scott will celebrate his 58th trip around the sun on March 8th! He exemplifies what a lifelong learner looks like: he is always willing to try new things, from taking on his role as Child Safety Director to serving the Ukarumpa fire department as a volunteer firefighter. He continues to go deeper in his faith and study of God’s Word, and is working on his Master’s degree in Theological Studies with Nations University. He also regularly challenges Kathy to games of Scrabble and often wins. :-) She is frequently encouraged to try new things because of his example, and considers herself blessed to have such a wonderful husband and best friend.

Prayer Points:

• Papua New Guinea (PNG): Pray for PNG leaders and for PNG as a nation to continue to trust God and seek His will.

• Bible translation: Pray for the biennial Interact conference for Language Programs and Services on March 10-13 to be encouraging and insightful for each attendee.

• Our roles in PNG: Pray for a good finish to Term 3 at UIS and for our March 9-13 accreditation team meetings. Pray for wisdom and discernment for Scott and the SIL Global Child Safety team.

• PNG missionaries: Pray for new families who are completing their orientation training and will be living in remote villages for the next two weeks. Pray for the SIL biennial Conference in Ukarumpa to be glorifying to God.

• God’s provision: We pray for you always and thank you for your faithful partnership with our Wycliffe ministry as you enable us to continue serving faithfully.

God’s blessing on you in this New Year…

Photo credit: Lynda Wick

“Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Galatians 6:10 (NIV)

We pray that you each had a blessed Christmas and New Year with family and friends. Hopefully, you enjoyed fellowship (and cookies!) and fun. It is one of the challenges of being overseas during the holidays, knowing that family is far away. We are grateful for the technology to video chat with loved ones and stay in touch. We are also thankful for the family of brothers and sisters in Christ that we have right here in Ukarumpa. The holidays provide wonderful opportunities to share meals and games, birthdays and breakfasts, laughter and worship of Jesus Christ our Savior. All of the departments in Ukarumpa shut down for the two weeks around Christmas and New Year’s, to allow our PNG colleagues to return to their home regions. It is a healthy opportunity for rest and reflection for all of us as we go into 2026. Now, our departments have reopened, school is about to begin again, and life will return to its normal routines. Many families are returning from their home assignments, just in time for their students to start Semester 2. It is a great blessing to the community to have so many people return to resume their needed roles. Please pray their transitions back go smoothly, and for each of us to be refreshed and ready to continue to serve the LORD. It is such an honor and privilege to serve alongside so many faithful and servant-hearted people. We appreciate your prayers that God would continue to receive all the glory this year!