Learning and Jousting!

Last week we were in two different places:

I (Clare) was in Pennsylvania at the Heartstream Resources Member Care Course.  Andrew, Levi, Heidi and Eowyn stayed in North Carolina and enjoyed a day trip to the North Carolina Renaissance Festival.

The week of training was immensely helpful in preparing me to continue as a pastoral care facilitator in Papua New Guinea.  All that I learnt will help me to be a better support to those in challenging situations, whether through listening, asking useful questions, or helping people work through conflict.  I'm keen to get back to this role in January.

At the Autoshop, staff are eagerly awaiting Andrew's return.  In a recent letter Andrew's manager, James Ernandes, described Andrew as 'irreplaceable in his role'.  He shared how Andrew helps the other Autoshop staff better understand the local culture, and how the staff have been helped many times by his commitment to grace, understanding and patience. 

James added, 'And he is one of our best mechanics to boot. We depend heavily on Andrews knowledge base of motorcycles and small engines'.  To read the whole letter, click here.

We are so encouraged to see how the Lord continues to bring in financial partners in a whole variety of ways.  We still need $825/£650 per month in regular support in order to meet our Wycliffe ministry budget for the next three years.  If you are planning to start giving financially or would like to change your current commitment in any way, we'd be very grateful if you could let us know; this will help us reach the point of being released by Wycliffe to travel to back to Papua New Guinea.

It is amazing, as we meet people on our travels, to discover how many of you are praying for us regularly.  We are most grateful.

Avocado Trees and Changed Lives

In our garden in Papua New Guinea are two avocado trees:

They don't bear fruit too often, but we enjoy huge amounts of avocado when they do.  Even more exciting is when the work of Bible translation bears fruit.  It's been thrilling recently to read about lives that have been changed following encounters with the Jesus Video Bike that Andrew has worked on frequently.

We are not directly involved in the translating itself; but just as a tree's trunk supports its branches, we are supporting translation and literacy work by using our practical skills.

The part of the tree that can't be seen is the roots.  We know though that the tree couldn't survive without the roots.  I'm reminded of those who are faithfully partnering with us through prayer and finances from their home countries.  The gifts of prayer and finances go largely unseen, but are vital; without the financial and prayer support of people around the world, there would be no Bible translation work in Papua New Guinea.  

We're so glad to be able to catch up in person this year with many individuals and churches who are supporting our work in Papua New Guinea.  We're excited that we have several new opportunities to share about this work and let others know how they can be involved. 

This month's prayer points:
*We praise God for opportunities to speak to others about our work in Papua New Guinea.  
*We praise God for a successful medical check-up for Eowyn in March this year.  The consultant saw very little change since our last visit, which is a good thing.  We can wait two years before returning for a follow-up visit.

*We pray that God would be strengthening our 'roots' by enlarging our team of financial and prayer partners.

Many thanks,

Andrew, Clare, Levi, Heidi and Eowyn Koens

Video of us, plus Financial and Drought Update

We put a video together to show you what we do here in Papua New Guinea:

We would appreciate prayer regarding our financial situation.  It has become clear lately that our income has dropped to around only 90% of our needs.  The Wycliffe UK Personnel team are concerned for us and have recently been in touch and advised us to bring this to the attention of our supporters.  If you would like more information about this please let us know or visit our website.

We know many of you are concerned with us regarding the drought here.  This unusually dry period is expected to peak between now and December.  Please continue to pray for the people of Papua New Guinea at this time.