We are so Thankful

This week we'll be driving to Florida to celebrate Thanksgiving with Andrew's parents.

There is so much to be thankful for!

*We are thankful that the Kasua People of Papua New Guinea (PNG) now have access to the New Testament:

* We are thankful that we are able to contribute to the work of Bible translation; we look forward to continuing our work of fixing small engines and caring for missionaries after arriving back in PNG on 12 January 2018.

* We are so thankful to those who are partnering with our work in PNG through prayer, financial giving and encouragement.

* We are overwhelmingly thankful that 100% of our Wycliffe ministry budget has been pledged for the next three years.  We stand in awe at how the Lord has accomplished this.

* We are thankful for the wonderful times we've had with friends, family and churches this year.

Much of December will be spent packing up and cleaning our house in North Carolina; after that we will travel back down to Florida for Christmas.  We are grateful for your ongoing prayer during this period of travel and change; these are usually emotionally challenging times, especially for our children.

Photo credit: Amy Evers

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.

A Letter From Andrew's Manager

To all interested in the ministry of Andrew Koens,

In total I have worked 2 years side by side with Andrew, as his manager. In that time he has proven himself to be irreplaceable as a mechanic, assistant manager, and shop historian. He is truly an ambassador for Christ, here in Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea. It’s been my pleasure to see Andrew help all of us get a better understanding of the Melanesian culture in his daily dealings with our national customers and employees. He is always stressing grace and understanding, before any action should take place. 

There have been times when I would be concerned about employees breaking the rules in the shop. Andrew would always stop me and have me ask, “Why do you think they are doing what they are doing? Are they doing it because it’s culturally appropriate, or is it just blatant disregard for the rules?”.  His patience and gentle handling of people have helped so many situations turn out positive.

And he is one of our best mechanics to boot.  We depend heavily on Andrews knowledge base of motorcycles and small engines. He keeps our missionaries', local nationals' and other missions organizations' motorcycles, generators, air strip mowers, chain saws and any other small engines going.

If you are looking to partner financially with a missionary family, the Koens are worth every penny in their service here. They are a part of our community, our family and our work.

James Ernandes

Auto Shop Manager/DO-Fleet Manager

SIL Auto Shop

In the USA

After being away from the USA for almost six years, it's great to spend time with family here once again; we've loved meeting new family members too:

We've continued to share at churches and Bible study groups about the work of Bible translation in Papua New Guinea.  We always enjoy telling the recent story of Angam, a speaker of the Tami language in Papua New Guinea: 

After reading Bible verses that his wife brought home from a women's Bible study, Angam joined his wife at the group the following week to hear more.  His wife watched his face physically change as he listened to the Word of God and understood for the first time the forgiveness that Christ offers.  Angam is now chairman of the Tami Bible translation committee and is sharing his story with members of his language group.  Because of the changes in Angam's life, many other Tami people are now excited about translating the Bible into the Tami language.  You can read more of his story here.

We are so grateful for your prayers and your financial giving towards our work.  Several people have joined our financial team since we last wrote and a few churches are considering how they might partner with us financially.  However, one of our main sending churches will be ending their partnership with us, following budget cuts.   We still need to raise an extra $1600 per month in order to serve in Papua New Guinea for the next three years.  Please keep praying!  The sooner our work is funded, the sooner we will be able to finalise our return date, planned for mid-January (before Clare's US visa expires!)

This month's prayer points:
*We praise God for how he showers us with blessings: from friendly welcomes, meals and financial gifts to vehicular loans and housing in a great location.
*We pray for wisdom and opportunities as we plan our schedule for the next four months: We have so many friends in so many places but so little time!  We are very aware that our energy is limited, especially after being busy for a long time.
*We pray for patience and insight as parents as we journey with our children through a lengthy time of transition.
*We pray for Andrew to be able to renew his US driver's license; he is facing difficulties as it expired while we were overseas.

Many thanks,

Andrew, Clare, Levi, Heidi and Eowyn Koens