It is good to be back in Ukarumpa!

Transitions are challenging, but we are so grateful for how God has provided for our return to PNG, for smooth travels here, and for our housing.  We are unpacked and glad to be serving full time again in our ministry roles. Scott has returned to his position as Security Operations Manager and Kathy is teaching Science for grades 7 and 8, Biology for grade 10, and serving as Science Department head. We appreciate your prayers and your partnership as we dive back in! 

Teaching in "The Land of the Unexpected"

We are glad to be back in “The Land of the Unexpected”, which can be a particularly fun place for a Biology teacher.  Kathy has had the opportunity to check out a big (note the Chapstick for scale) Golden Orb spider brought to school by a student, and she got to visit with a tree kangaroo while in Kainantu, the closest town to Ukarumpa.  What a great place to get to teach science and appreciate the diversity of God’s creation! 

Prayer Points...

• Papua New Guinea: Pray for wisdom, justice, and peace to prevail in the PNG government.

• Bible translation: The Urat New Testament dedication is this weekend; pray that hearts, lives and communities would be transformed by God’s Word.

• Our transition back to PNG: Praise for how God has met our needs for housing and pray for continued health and strength for our ministries here.

• New school term: We began our 2016-2017 school year at Ukarumpa International School on July 20th.  Pray for the students and teachers as we seek to start 

the year well and glorify God.  Pray especially for good health and for our new students starting school at UIS for the first time. 

Praying for transformation in Papua New Guinea…

We were recently reminded of and highly recommend the book, “The Book That Made Your World” by Vishal Mangalwadi, which details the impact of the Bible on western culture. It reminds us of why the disparity is great between PNG and US culture, but also of the hope that resides in the power of the living Word of God to transform hearts, lives, communities and nations. Please pray for redemption and transformation as we help reduce Bible poverty in PNG.

      Above: In Kainantu, a Public Motor Vehicle (PMV)- the main source of public transit

Arrival and First Week

We arrived in Ukarumpa on July 7th.  Friends met us at the airfield and invited us over from lunch and dinner. We've spent the last week getting settled in and are thankful for all of you who prayed us back to Papua New Guinea!

Departure Day!

God has truly blessed and provided for us in ways that we could not have imagined. Today we begin our journey back to the Papua New Guinea, which is sometimes called "The Land of the Unexpected". While we do not fully know what to expect, we take comfort in the fact that nothing surprises God. We look forward to our second term with anticipation. We thank all of you who are praying for us and financially partnering with our Wycliffe Ministry. Will update Facebook when we arrive. Have a great Independence Day and know that you are all in our prayers.

Note: Due to connection issues we moved up our flight arrangements to July 4th.

We Return to Papua New Guinea on July 7th!

We appreciate your continued prayers as we pack, sort, and get ready to fly over three days, a total of 36 hours and 11,000 miles. Our 6 months in the U.S. have been an amazing testimony to God’s love and provision, so we rejoice with our new partnership team as we prepare to return. Thanks to everyone who has blessed us while we’ve been here and helped us prepare to go back! 

Prayer Points:

• Papua New Guinea: Pray for the government leaders and the people of PNG to exercise wisdom, justice, and peace.

• Bible translation: Pray for national and expatriate teams for translation at the training center in Ukarumpa to receive useful tools for their continued work in PNG tribal languages.

• Our travel to PNG: Praise for how God has met our needs for airplane tickets and all of the connecting flights back to Ukarumpa before school begins on July 20th.

•“See you soon”: Pray for us as we say ’goodbye for now’ to friends and family and return to PNG for our next three years of service. Pray we return rested and ready to dive back into our ministry roles! 

Photo Credit: Anders Lund

Portsmouth Christian Academy alumni Gabby Martin and Devin Lund, along with friends and family, blessed us with a Worship Night where we had the opportunity to share about our Wycliffe ministry and spend a beautiful time of worship together. Thanks for the music and fellowship!