Wishing you a blessed Easter!

Our favorite tradition in Ukarumpa is placing flowers on the cross at the Easter sunrise service. It is a beautiful metaphor of the hope we have of life after death, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross and His resurrection. This Easter, I think about the disciples in hiding, afraid, isolated and in grief before they saw the resurrected Jesus. And then, what an explosion of hope and joy! May we all experience that same hope and joy today, even in the midst of difficult circumstances. He is risen, alleluia!

Praying for you all during this time of uncertainty…

We are reminded once again that our plans and God’s plans do not always look the same. However, we choose to trust in His timing, and to be grateful for this extended stay in the US. We have been so blessed by so many of you, as you have reached out to encourage us and supply our needs (like the incredible gift baskets from dear friends, pictured below); these are some of the amazing ways we see Him at work around us. We can all choose kindness and encouragement over fear and anxiety, and trust in the One who does know what the future holds. Please know that we are praying for you all right now, for good health and God’s provision for all of your needs. Contact us by e-mail if you have more specific prayer requests or ways we can be a blessing to you; we’d love to Skype or chat with you, too. We hold tightly to God’s promises and were reminded in Philippians 4:4-7, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Praying His peace for you today!

Prayer Points:

• Papua New Guinea (PNG): Pray for good health and the prevention of the coronavirus infection and spread in PNG.

• Bible translation: Praise for the successful dedication of the Nali New Testament on Manus!

• Our roles in PNG: Pray for those filling our roles until our return to the field.

• PNG missionaries: Pray for everyone in Ukarumpa, as they stay home during the pandemic.

• God’s provision: Praise God for His provision; for our financial partners with our Wycliffe ministry, our family and friends for supplies during our quarantine, a car to drive, and for our church for a place to stay until we can fly back to PNG. We love you all! ❤

Delayed Due to Border Closings...

1 Thessalonians 1: 2-3 “We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We know many of you have been praying for us and we wanted to give you an update regarding our return to Papua New Guinea, which was scheduled for Monday, March 23. We just learned that Papua New Guinea and Australia are taking steps to close their borders to international travelers. These border closures will occur before our scheduled arrival in country. We will therefore be delayed in returning to Papua New Guinea until the borders reopen, which will likely coincide with the pandemic's abatement.

Earlier in the week, Wycliffe USA told their international staff to stay in the U.S. unless they were deemed an exception by the mission leadership in the country of service. Scott's position was likely such an exception, and we had counted the cost of returning and were ready and willing to do so, but before we could get that worked out we learned of the impending border closure.

Our contingency plan is to drop off our rental vehicle in St. Louis and return to NH until we can return to Papua New Guinea.

While we are disappointed in the turn of events, we believe that actions of the Papua New Guinean and Australian governments, as well as our own mission, are wise.

Please be in prayer for all those impacted by this pandemic. We are praying for all of you as well.

In Christ,

Scott & Kathy

Thank you for your prayers and partnership!

We are always learning to trust in the LORD more and more, especially since joining Wycliffe as faith supported missionaries six years ago. He never ceases to amaze us with His provision, through His people, so that we can continue to serve where He has called us in Papua New Guinea. Thank you for all of you who have been faithfully praying, and for all of you who have financially partnered with our Wycliffe ministry. We have received pledges for 100% of our budget and have been cleared to purchase plane tickets to return to PNG! We are so grateful for the many blessings we have received while we have been in the US: the opportunity to live in the mission house at Dover Baptist, to serve as missionaries in residence at our home church, and to share about our ministry and what God is doing in PNG with several churches, youth groups and small groups. Most of all, we have appreciated the gift of spending time with friends and family- you have encouraged and refreshed us, giving us renewed energy and enthusiasm to return to PNG. We have said farewell to NH and are in the process of traveling to NC to complete our medical checks and send out our sea freight shipment to PNG. We will then finish visiting family and friends and return to St. Louis, MO, to return our rental vehicle. God willing, we will fly back to PNG on March 23rd and we appreciate your prayers for our safe travels and transition back to the mission field!

Photo Credit: Gabby Martin

Spice of Life...

They say that variety is the spice of  life. We certainly look for ways to try different things, like taking an Indian cooking class so we can share some fun new recipes with our friends in PNG. Change can be overwhelming and exhausting, though, so please continue to pray for our upcoming transition back to the field. We are excited to return to Ukarumpa and continue to support Bible translation, but leaving always comes with a lot of challenging goodbyes to friends and family here in the USA.

Prayer Points...

• Papua New Guinea (PNG): Pray for peace and spiritual revival in the Aiyura Valley.

• Bible translation: Pray for the dedication of 50% of the Nali New Testament on Manus island on March 19th.

• Our roles in PNG: Pray for us as we prepare to return to PNG and resume our roles.

• PNG training: Pray for the translators taking the upcoming HebrewTraining course starting on March 4th.

• God’s provision: Praise God for His provision through our financial partners for our Wycliffe ministry. Thank you all for enabling us to continue to serve in the ministries God has called us to in Papua New Guinea!