We knew that this trip back to the US was going to be a long one. 50 hours of travel takes a toll on your body. Thankfully we made all of our connections until we got to the US and all of our bags arrived with us. One of the blessings that we enjoyed on this trip was that we ended up traveling with quite a few other missionary families. For Stephen in particular, he got to spend extra time with his friends from PNG.
Now that we are back in the US we find ourselves busy figuring out what we need to do in order to get Stephen ready for school. Some of this leads us to dig through totes that we have in storage here and other times we are shopping around for clothes that haven’t endured the abuse of life on the mission field. Regardless of the activity, we have seen God’s goodness in the midst of our lives.
We hadn’t planned on spending much time sharing about our ministry in PNG during this trip. That being said, we have had several opportunities to share already. We have a couple more meetings scheduled during the next couple of weeks. One fun aspect of these meetings has been the times that I can talk through the importance of a prayer supporter base with Stephen. His desire is to serve God as a missionary pilot and he will certainly need to have people standing with him in prayer. We are very thankful for all of you who have been praying for us over the years.
This morning we will be heading out as a family to visit Spokane, Washington; where Moody Aviation is located. We have a tour scheduled and will spend some time scouting out the area with Stephen. We will also be able to see the house where he will be living. After a couple of days there we will travel down to southern Idaho to spend a bit of time with Judith’s sister and family. After that we’ll have just 3 weeks or so before we head back to PNG. This is a whirlwind trip for certain.
Thanks for your prayers and support
In Him,
Eric and Judith, Stephen, Daniel and Timothy
Prayer & Praise
- Praise that we had a safe trip back to Oregon.
- Pray for us as a family as we travel for this next week. Pray specifically for the boys as they will be in close quarters in the back of our Jetta. We trust that the Lord will give His grace for the journey.
- Praise that the boys finished up school well.
- Pray for our family as we work our way through this significant transition.
- Pray for wisdom and provision as we have a LOT of expenses during this summer’s travels but also as we figure out how to cover all of the costs of Stephen’s schooling. Of course, we know that God will provide.
- Continue Praying for the final printing of the Malaumanda New Testament. Geopolitical problems in the world have not made this any easier.
- Continue Praying for the church leaders in Malaumanda; especially Jim. He is a faithful man but he does have a lot on his plate. He always needs wisdom to know what he should do and what should be put off.
- Pray for our continued ministry in PNG as we return at the end of July. As is usually the case, there will be some changes to our ministry ‘mix’ that will demand some changes.