January edition of the PNG Observer

Greetings from frigid Michigan... Yu stap gut? (How are you?)    

 

(Picture to right of all current staff of MAPANG, can't wait to meet them)

 

This weather has been unreal... between the snow and freezing temperatures we are dreaming of next winter when I'm certain we'll be sweating:)  Certainly can tell which windows in the house need insulation, love old farmhouses.  You can feel the breeze coming through in a few spots...

A challenging month for me.... lots of health issues, nothing too serious but enough to slow me down and make me appreciate feeling good and having access to good medical facilities.  Little concerned with a fall that has resulted in strong shoulder pain, appointment with orthopedic doc this week hoping it's nothing serious but sure does hurt:)

We have begun wrestling with the thought of leaving our families, especially grandchildren.  Mia, who is six, was over a few weeks ago and our prayer cards had just arrived.  She was reading it and said "what does serving in Papa New guinea (is that like pig) mean"?  Found ourselves trying to explain to her what God has asked us to do, she wanted to know how we knew, did God call or send us a letter?  Why do we have to go?  Dayton, who is 2 1/2 cried the last time I left:(  and our new grandson arrives in May.  It's so hard to leave those you love so much but when you know in your heart this is Gods' will, how can one disobey?  We will continue to embrace all the time we have until our departure, concentrating on the positives!

Have you ever found yourself thinking... "what difference can one person make"?  I know I heard that from a number of volunteers who came over to Zambia, Haiti and Sierra Leone.  The poverty and health struggles are so overwhelming, what difference could I make?  I have a story for you...

During our last few months  in Sierra Leone we hosted a few friends from Michigan.  Nick ,who has been our dearest friend for years, and his friend Amy (we didn't really know Amy).  Nick, who had been on a few mission trips prior,  kept talking about how much Amy wanted to go on a mission trip so we said sure, her husband couldn't travel but she and Nick decided to visit.  Amy was a joy to watch, everything so new, heartbreaking, touching and eye opening.  David arranged for us to spend time at an orphanage/foster home in Waterloo.  We met Frank, who had been following his dream to get kids off the streets, a few months earlier.  Like so many orphanages/foster homes in third world countries they were struggling to feed and clothe the kids on a daily basis.  Amy and Nick literally fell in love with these kids, during their five days visiting  we spent time doing crafts, teaching knitting, bible stories and plays.  It was a great time of playing with the kids, showering them with little gifts, helping obtain food and just getting to know them and love them.  But as we all know, trips end and when we took them to the airport it was with heavy hearts.

But God didn't let Amy or Nick forget those kids, he kept working on their hearts and they kept in contact with Frank.  Within a few months they were gathering food and clothing to ship to Sierra Leone in barrels.  Since that point they have shared their love with many others in their lives and soon... people they had spoke to  raised  money to send  barrels of food and clothing, to provide sponsorship  to  school for all the children and funds to build a church for the people in that area which is mostly Muslim.  To date... the church is almost finished but services are happening and a number of locals have converted to Christianity.  The children are all in school, have food each day, bedding and they know how much they are loved by God and others.  Amy talks to Frank weekly and he sends updates and pictures of how all the kids are doing.  Amy and Nick are praying they can return this year to visit their new family.

Do you remember me talking about Janet and Thomas, the children who lived in our backyard with their grandmother?  Amy and Nick have become their sponsors and they are now able to attend school and are taking English lessons.  Frank  travels from Waterloo to Newton and makes sure they have food and clothing... our God is so mighty!!  He works in so many different ways and we are so blessed to watch his works unfold.  God knows the plans he has for us and what a delight to watch those unfold in our lives and in others.    Can you believe... what a difference one or two people made??  How God places people in just the right place to fulfill his perfect plan???   We all aren't called to help in the same ways but we each can make a difference through prayers, giving or going!

It's been an interesting month as we have been reaching out to begin our church and home to talk to those who may desire to partner with us through prayer and finances.  We have a number of church visits set up the next few months, so hopefully we may see you soon! Please feel free to give us a call or drop an email and let us know if you would like us to come and visit your church. Thank you so much for your continued prayers and for those who have reached out to us with encouragement and financial support.  We are so blessed to have you all in our lives, without you this wouldn't be possible.

Love the devotional  "Jesus Calling",  the other day when I was feeling low about my health and leaving family the following reading jumped out at me "My peace is the treasure of treasures: the pearl of great price.  It is an exquisitely costly gift, both for the Giver and the receiver.  I purchased this Peace for you with My blood.  You receive this gift by trusting me in the midst of life's storms.  If you have the world's peace-everything going your way-you don't seek My unfathomable Peace.  Thank Me when things do not go your way, because spiritual blessings come wrapped in trials.  Adverse circumstances are normal in a fallen world.  Expect them each day.  Rejoice in the face of hardship, for I have overcome the world."  

Tenkyu (thank you) and blessings,

David and Beth

 

To donate by mail:                                                                Donate On line:

Wycliffe Associates                                                                    www.wycliffeassociates.org

PO Box 620143                                                                          Click Donate Now upper right corner
Orlando, FL  32862                                                                    Enter our name in Search box on the left
Our ministry number # M10731                                             Follow instructions on screen

The excitement builds...

Hello,

What a crazy few weeks...  David and I were nervous, told our employers about our call and their responses were great.  I will be going to part time in January in order to concentrate on fund raising but David will continue to work full time down to the wire. 

Now the dust is settling, we have so much to do and so many decisions to make...what to do with the house?  It's been for sale for the last 6 months and no one is buying, the idea of renting is frightening considering our last experience.  I remember six years ago as we were ready to leave for the first time, the house didn't sell and we were forced to rent it.  We were conflicted on why God didn't provide a buyer... but now sitting in the house since we've been home a year I am so grateful he knew what our future needs would be... So the house may provide a "concern" but we are confident God will direct us.

"Getting" ready for the field this time, we am filled with so much peace.  He has provided for every need the last six years and we are so confident this is his calling for us that we know he will open all the doors and make our path clear.

The toughest area...again... our children and grandchildren.  I just returned from a week in Denver with our two year old grandson, Dayton and he has a baby brother coming in May.  He's a clone of his daddy and is starting to talk a mile a minute.  David was here spending time with our six year granddaughter Mia who is full of life and never stops moving:)  The boys, actually men, are all over the place,  Chad is in Denver, Joshua is in Florida and Nick is here in Michigan.  We know this is Gods' path for our lives, otherwise we would never have the strength to leave them.  Thank goodness for Skype!  and of course I'll be saving up those frequent flier miles for visits home.  All those trips to Africa provided enough miles that we haven't paid for a plane trip in the US for a number of years. 

We've spent the last few weeks readying tons of documents and test results to forward to Papua New Guinea to begin our work permit and multiple year visa process.  Finding your diploma from high school after ..... let's just say...numerous years was a challenge.  PNG is very thorough and the process is a lengthy one.  Just finished gathering our information and sent it off DHL. 

Blessed by many who have responded to help us reach our year end goal of $6000 to cover our language school and training.  We're 50% of the way there!  Thank you so much.

May you have a blessed and peaceful Christmas as we celebrate the true meaning of the season.
Thank you for being part of our lives!

Blessings,
David and Beth

I wonder what kind of bugs they have???

And so it begins...

Hello/ Gude...

 Where to start..it's been quite the year!  Many ups and downs.. lots of time with friends, family and our beautiful  grandchildren.  Mia turned six last week, Dayton is two and we have another on the way arriving in May 2014.  Upon our arrival in the states  last year we didn't feel God was done with us yet but couldn't imagine serving anywhere at that time.  He blessed us with a year to rest, rejuvenate and find peace.  We were  "beat up", saddened and so tired.  Spent lots of sleeping, eating (way too much junk food) and crying.  During this year, many of our partners have continued to help and lift us up and for that we are truly grateful!

We had no idea how hard it would be to step back into the American way of life.  After  five years of adjusting to life at a much slower pace, we fought  daily thoughts of being behind and never getting anything done.  Very frustrated, disillusioned and out of place.  Blessed to have a house to live in and employment, but we truly couldn't settle in, the round peg in the square hole.   People kept saying aren't you glad to be home?  but was this really home and why didn't we really feel  "glad"?  There was a period where we truly isolated, life was so overwhelming here and it didn't make sense, we'd survived here all those years before God called us overseas...what was the problem? 

Things kept triggering such profound emotions, the first time I threw out leftovers... started crying and all I could see was a sea of hungry faces.  How could I be forgetting so quickly?    Visiting the zoo with family, entering the "African" exhibit with all the animals and breaking down bawling.  David standing in Lowe's and wishing all his Zambian friends could have seen all the "toys".  Everywhere brought something to mind and we kept digging for answers to make sense of our feelings. 

Praying continually we knew that God had not given us five amazing years to come home and feel such uncertainty and sadness. We kept  thanking Him in all situations, happy or not,  and continued moving. Then...the light bulb moment... BANG!   The realization came....  What had been important prior to life on the field, no longer held the same priority to us now.  We somehow,  mistakenly,  thought we were suppose to "fit" right back in and it's not possible. WE had changed!  Once a person has experienced a life changing event, they can no longer be the same.  One who has cancer never looks at each day quite the same as before the diagnosis, one who has lost a loved one never truly fills that gap that has been created by the loss.  We heal, we change and we go on... but we are never the same.  I can not begin to tell you ( but I will) what a gift that realization has become.  It has led us to the threshold of another magnificent opportunity to serve God.

In the summer  we began to feel the pull... you know that unconscious tugging at your heart .  We prayed,  talked and began researching opportunities and agencies.  We kept ending up back on the Wycliffe Associates website.  Many had told us that they didn't offer many opportunities for developing ministries but as we kept "stalking" the website a position jumped out.  In fact, I saw it the day it was posted and we called the same day.  I liked that they described it as " This volunteer position, could suit a couple where one person has ministry in the city, or is part of another mission . It could also be a good fit for a couple where both share the guesthouse responsibilities as well as both serving elsewhere in part time roles".  How amazing is that? 

The next step was submitting our resumes, references, etc.  and three weeks ago the board of MAPANG met in Papua New Guinea and approved our application.  We then waited for all the paperwork to be finalized and approved by Wycliffe in the US.  

Now It's official!   We have been appointed to serve through Wycliffe Associates as managers for the MAPANG (Missionary Association of Papua New Guinea) guest house in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.  The guest house has been in existence since the early 1950s' and has served as a blessing to missionaries as it provides affordable accommodation while travelling through the city to areas of service throughout the nation.

We are so thrilled about this position, David and I thrived in our roles serving and hosting teams in  Zambia and Haiti.  It's exciting to think of all the new people we will meet on this new journey.  The guesthouse will be expanding so David will be in charge of that.   In talking with the current guesthouse managers (who have been there 10 years) they are very active in outside ministry, preaching and teaching at various churches and organizations.  We know that God will lead us to ministry work and are excited to see how that will unfold.

It is very exciting,  we will be attending  a 14 week Pacific Orientation Course in Papua New Guinea beginning in August 2014.  We will be learning the language (Tok Pisin) and culture, our last four weeks will be spent living in a village with a local family (that speaks no English). This is something we always wished for in our other placements but the opportunity and time was never in our favor.

Our appointment begins in November 2014, right after our POC course is finished, and initially runs for three years.  The couple who currently manage the guest house are returning to their home in New Zealand in December 2014. 

We ask first (and most important)  that you would once again become our prayer partners (although I know many of you never stopped and thank you!).   

Secondly and critical to our missions is to prayerfully consider financially supporting  our work.  We would love to visit your church and share what God is doing now in our lives and in Papua New Guinea.   Our ministry costs will be more than we have previously raised and we have additional one- time expenses such as the  cost of language school, shipping a container of household goods, plane tickets and a used vehicle.  But we are confident that God will provide!

You may contribute in a number of ways:  send your check to  Wycliffe Associates, 11450 Translation Way, P.O. Box 620143 Orlando, FL.  Our ministry number is M10731, please enter it in the memo portion of your check.  You may also donate on line by going to http://give.wycliffeassociates.com, and then either type our names in the search field or click on the Staff Sponsorships  button and search for our names and follow the instructions.  Wycliffe already has us on the web!!!

This past year a reading (one of my favorites) comforted us many times.. "I Love you for who you are, not for what you do.  Many voices vie for control of your mind, especially when you sit in silence.  You must learn to discern what is My voice and what is not...Many of my children run around in circles, trying to obey the various voices directing their lives...do not fall into this trap... My sheep know my voice and follow wherever I lead."  Thank you Lord that we are able to discern your words to us!!

In closing, please pray... and join us on our next journey following Jesus!

In Him,

David and Beth            

P. S.      Any ideas for the name of our "new" newsletter?  November edition of the Papua New Guinea......??