Hello all!
It's been hard to know when/how to update the blog. I feel very inadequate in myself to put words to what our great and loving God has done and is doing. The joys and stresses of international travel, including unpacking; the quints turning 13 and moving up to a new campus with web-based teaching and homework; processing as a family our wonderful return and farewell to our home of 20 years (as well as the friends and community and "family" He's so richly provided for us there, per Matt. 19:29!) . . . where to begin?
I will say a couple of things:
1) God is so faithful.
He truly overwhelmed us with His tender care and powerful intervention, providing for each and every one of us exactly what He knew we each needed. We didn't even know; or thought we did, but He knew so much better!
For example: I thought I would be mostly focused on packing. I knew I needed supernatural help for organizing and moving items from our beloved home back to the USA. But when I got there, very little "stuff" mattered enough to even hold on to. He gave me eyes to almost instantly see what needed to be thrown away, what should stay in the house, and what needed to be given to others. (Gavin had the tougher time, dealing with all his tools there!) Instead, our Heavenly Father provided much more precious friend time than we thought we'd be able to have. He ordained beautiful, blessed, fun fellowship, as well as some hard, sad, yet hope-focused conversations. Seth's best friend was there still; David quickly rejoined his good buddies and spent hours walking around or doing woodworking projects with them in Gavin's workshop before it was dismantled. Gracie and Marcie got to spend hours and hours with their close friend and her kittens -- what joy! Dear friends of Gavin's and mine who always live in the village just "happened" to be there, even. What a gift to be allowed to re-enter our co-laborers' lives, hear their joys and hardships and wisdom learned from the Lord, and also get to share with them all that our Triune God has been for us these past two years. I truly think we built up and encouraged one another. I certainly know much better than ever how to PRAY for these dear people still on the front lines! The Enemy hates marriages and families and young people; Bible translation, Scripture use, and Trauma Healing workshops. The stresses of life are magnified there because they lack many of our conveniences. There are not enough teachers (only THREE junior high classes offered this school term, so all parents are homeschooling half-time!); there are no learning specialists; there are no drive-thru's; food is usually made from scratch -- and therefore delicious!; roof runoff rainwater is filtered, and tanks run dry when it hasn't rained in a while; the Store may or may not have noodles or cheese or meat or chocolate chips (O, the horror!). 😄 Clothes get SO dirty, so there is lots of laundry, and all of it needs to be hang-dried with clothespins and old-fashioned clotheslines! Houses need constant intensive upkeep as they aren't sealed and get shockingly dirty, moldy, and mildewy, with roach and rat visitors. I could go on; however, the point is not to evoke pity but rather to say, "I kind of forgot how much effort it takes just to live here!" And that was a great reminder to pray for the encouragement, stamina, and joy of the Lord for those we leave behind, as well as for their protection and peace in every area of life.💜
2) God is a healer
I left Ukarumpa last time very much feeling as though I was a failure on the mission field, especially as a missionary wife. Gavin loved just about everything in our lives there; I was breaking down under the pressures of 18 months of unusual difficulty for a "weak" woman. God used this recent time in PNG to solidify the truth He's been graciously teaching me the past couple of years in the USA: While I have failed plenty of times, as a human being, I am not myself a failure. I got to see that He had used the personality and unique gifts He gave me to serve there, and that it was often those same strengths and gifts that would understandably cause pain or be used by the Enemy to manipulate me when I was not on my guard.
One example: I love medical missions because I love alleviating suffering. However, in an underserved rural area, where people have to travel miles and hours to seek medical attention, the suffering can reach extreme severity before landing in my lab chair or the treatment room bed. After I developed severe post-COVID insomnia/apnea in February 2022, thereby losing the equilibrium that good sleep provides, the terrible cases I saw haunted me. It took a good year back here in the USA to "recover" spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and even physically, as my sleep also improved. In His incredible kindness, the Lord not only took us back to PNG, but also placed me in the medical lab again very briefly to serve a critically ill PNG child who was in agony. I prayed with the child for comfort, relief, mercy, and the knowledge of God's love. I prayed for wisdom for the medical staff. I prayed the Gospel with the relative accompanying the child. I prayed throughout all my testing and microscope work. I did what I could, the child was urgently transferred to the provincial hospital, and I was able to roll the grief and pain onto Jesus's very strong, infinitely loving shoulders and leave it there. He's on His throne. He loves that child more than I ever could. He is GOOD. Maybe that was only one day, but it was a day of confirmation that I was made to do the good things He had given me to do in PNG, and that His strength really is perfected my weakness as I abide in Him!
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| Alice, my beloved coworker who has faithfully served in the lab since long before my time! |
The Lord also moved Will from hating the idea of ever returning to PNG to having quite a nice time and being sweetly positive about life there. His favorite part was being allowed to read in the primary school library each morning. That had always been his happy place! He didn't have friends when we lived there and struggled tremendously in school, so he's thrilled to be back now at his dear Cedar Hill Preparatory Academy with kids and teachers who "get' him. We're unendingly grateful, though, that his enduring impression of Papua New Guinea is a very positive, fun one.
Perhaps most importantly, God has healed our daughter. Marcie's intense grief, centered largely on leaving her beloved dog, Cooper, is gone. In a hard way, the Lord immediately loosened the dog's hold on her. She saw that the dog is happy where he is, that he is not the perfect puppy (he growled and barked at her the first few times she tried to approach him, which broke her heart), and that another dog is a much better fit for our family. [Meet Captain, below. We all love him to death, and even Marcie admits he's better than Cooper.] She'll always have a soft spot for Cooper, probably largely because she saved his life when he was nearly dead from malnutrition and worm infestation. Now, though, she is happy without Cooper and even without PNG. She told her dad two nights before we left, "God has told me that I'm going to be okay. I am at peace now. He has given me peace." We can never thank Him enough that the child who was hysterical at even the thought of not returning to the mission field is now truly settled here, joyful and tender-hearted towards the Lord and others. She is so grateful for His work in her that she even shared this testimony from the front at youth group last week.
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| My beautiful niece really likes Captain! He likes her too much -- keeps kissing her! |
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| He loves to lie down on the kids. This is Marcie. I do a lot of laundry. |
A couple of prayer requests:
- The new junior high school is a huge learning curve, although the kids absolutely love it, praise God. It has a really sweet spirit and is well run! However, there is a lot that's NEW: lockers, changing classrooms each period and being on time to each one, organizing folders and binders, keeping track of all the assignments in hard copy and Google Classroom, remembering to submit those assignments (i.e., hitting the "Submit" button or it's a 0 grade!), and interfacing online with the teacher. I am not a natural organizer myself, so I'd really appreciate prayer for strength and stamina and wisdom in shepherding these 13-year-olds through the torrent of new ways of doing things!
- Leaving PNG is hardest on Gavin. There have been some very sad and difficult days, understandably. Thankfully, he has had some really encouraging conversations with JAARS in recent days, regarding his recruitment and flight roles, so that's an answer to prayer! We pray for wisdom in striking the right balance between him flying for JAARS and being home for his family. David especially seems to really need his Father, another man, around. David is taller than I am now, by the way!
- Please pray that I will be the helpmate Gavin needs even when I am struggling with the endless "to do" and "to be" lists that are generated by running a home and parenting five kids (three of which are still in physical/occupational/speech therapy, which takes an additional 6 hours minimum each week).
- We're also praying for my mom's continued healing from her stroke, that she would regain strength and be encouraged in the meantime. If you look below you'll see we accidentally took the family birthday photo without her! But I caught her with Marcie later. 😁
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| The quints' actual 13th birthday with my family |
Their early birthday celebration in PNG at the community homemade waterslide:  |
| The quints with Kori, Isaac's best friend and "brother from another mother," who is like another son to us. We love and miss him so much!! I made a cake for each quint, and they decorated them. A PNG friend brought tapioca and coconut cake too - yum!! That was my favorite! |
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Saike, who made the tapioca coconut cake,
and two daughters |
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Dilu, our PNG daughter; April, our PNG granddaughter;
new baby Jeffrey, and Seth eating their cake.
Seth is always the quint who sticks closest to April. 😃 |
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| They had to rearrange the "Party Time" sign to say Impeatytr. David even attached a small paper with pronunciation guide: "Imp-ah-tee-ter" Which means absolutely nothing. Teenagers. |
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| Seth sliding down with Kori at the tail and a couple of buddies in between |
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| Our dear friends Zach and Cassidy, two of Gavin's very favorite people to fly! They are the ones who are usually in their village with the church they are planting there. We got to see them a few times and are grateful they attended the party with their kiddos, who our kids LOVE. |
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| The whole water sliding hill. Too bad it was such a cold day! |
Gavin's birthday was actually before the quints' (as it is every year, to be fair). It coincided with the 20th anniversary of the day we arrived in PNG! It was so sweet still be friends with two of the people we met on that first day, Kevin and Annette. They are so special to us, as is Annette's sister-in-law, Tannie, who works with Gavin at Aviation! We're so grateful to all who joined us that evening and wish we could have fit the whole community! There's nothing like Ukarumpa, and we miss it terribly.
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| Gavin and Tannie |
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| Our whole family with Kevin and Annette |
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| April "helped" me make pizza one night. My kids always wanted to sit on the counter too. I miss those days, but it's even better that a few of them are COOKING now!! |
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| Cuddling Jeffrey, who isn't quite as sure of me as April is! |
A last motorbike ride. A new JAARS mechanic now driving it!
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A Chinese lantern one night. We attempted three but only got one off the ground, haha!
They'd been left in storage too long. |
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| Supper at the Metzgers: We've known Kurt since we were kids and Johanna since college! We can never thank God enough for sending them to PNG after He sent us. They are our neighbors, our convenience shop for last-minute supper ingredients, our prayer supporters, and our family there. Kori is near and dear to us all! |
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| Kori helped us load up the vehicle with all our luggage on leaving day |
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| The boys with one of their bestest buddies, Ezra, who was late to school (I suspect) because he came to say goodbye! |
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| A last photo with our closest friends and Ukarumpa family, the Metzgers, Dilu and kids, and Kori. Gavin has his arm around a very close PNG friend and former colleague, Ricky. |
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| The Aviation department all came out to farewell us. |
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| Grateful and grieving |
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| We did it together. I am forever thankful. I love you, Gavin, and I love how you love me, the kids, and the Lord most of all. May He restore to you the lost years we expected to have in PNG, and may He unite you in Heaven with all the people you've loved so well there. I'm excited to worship with you in His Presence! |
