School Holiday Fun

At the moment our children are enjoying their five-week school holiday.  Here is their guide to staying entertained while living in a remote location:

1) Take the lid of the crate that came by ship filled with shoes, clothes and other items that we'll be using between now and 2021
2) Draw pictures (in this case, of a light bulb, a child and a cat)
3) Cut out head holes
4) Stick your head through and get your Mum to take pictures

Next week, Levi (9) will begin Grade 4 and Heidi (6) starts Grade 2 at Ukarumpa International School. Eowyn (4) has another year of pre-school; on some mornings she'll stay home with Mum or with Mama Hana, a wonderful Papua New Guinean lady who helps us at home.

Andrew at the Autoshop

What does it look like to support Bible translation in Papua New Guinea?  For Andrew it looks like this:

In this photo Andrew is replacing the drive chain and sprockets on the 'Jesus Video Bike', used to distribute scripture, Audibibles, hymn books and educational supplies in the highlands of Papua New Guinea.

Andrew has helped many people this year in his role as a small engines mechanic.  He worked on an all-terrain vehicle that will be used to transport members of a multi-language project around the areas where they work; he has advised on the maintenance of airstrip mowers (so that planes bringing translators and supplies can land); and of course he has performed maintenance on many motorbikes and other smaller vehicles.

We're home!

We are so glad to have returned to our own home in Papua New Guinea and to have completed the long journey back here.  The following picture was taken during one of the better moments of our 12-hour layover in San Francisco; the children had already been awake for 16 hours at that point.  Twenty-nine hours later we arrived in Cairns, Australia.

After some swimming, repacking and two nights of sleeping, two short flights brought us to our home on the Ukarumpa centre.

* We praise God for allowing us to return to Papua New Guinea.  We are grateful that our luggage made it too!
* We are thankful that our home and dog were well taken care of by missionary colleagues.  The children were particularly concerned about the dog while we were away!
* We've felt the effect of your prayers as we've parented Levi, Heidi and Eowyn through this time of transition.  We've gained various helpful insights as we continue to raise our children.
* We would appreciate prayer as we return to our roles on the Ukarumpa centre and find our place amongst our colleagues.

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