Top image: Judith was able to join me on my latest consultant trip into a beautiful location here in the Highlands of PNG.
Christmas is one of our favorite times of the year. We are reminded of how God came near with the coming of the Christ child in Bethlehem. We rejoice at this open declaration of God’s love to a lost world, and our opportunity to share this message in our small corner of PNG. We also spend time thinking back on all that God has done in our lives over the last 12 months. We also tend to spend some time wondering what the new year will bring.
This time last year we had a lot of questions concerning what 2025 was going to look like. When were we going to get a green card for Judith? Where would we live in the US when it did come in? How do we live and serve in the moment while we wait? After reading that update again, I realized that we still have mostly the same questions this year. As we moved through 2025 the Lord has shown us that we don’t have answers to the questions but we do have Him.
So what do we know about 2026? At this stage we know that a work team from Judith’s home church in Abbotsford, BC is coming over to help us with a project in March. Judith’s mom will be traveling over with the team so that will be a huge encouragement for Judith. Judith and I will plan a trip into Malaumanda sometime in late January or early February to get our house there ready for the team and make sure that the materials for the new teacher’s office are all in place. We are very much looking forward to this team coming and having the opportunity to take them in to spend time with the Malaumandan church while we build the office building. Beyond that, to be honest, we are not quite sure.
A few weeks ago we had a Zoom call with an immigration attorney about Judith’s green card issues. Once we completed this call we both looked at each other and wondered what we actually learned from the exchange. Now this is not a dig at the attorney. It is a reflection of the ever changing policies within the US govt. I’m sure that many of the changes are for the good but it has made it very complicated for us to have any idea as to what we can expect moving forward. The attorney thinks that we could get our approval for the first application in 2-3 months even though the online estimate is at 13 months. So, God knows and we ask that you continue to pray for us as we wait on His leading in this.
In Him,
Eric and Judith, Stephen, Daniel and Timothy
Prayer & Praise
- Praise that we are here in PNG and have numerous ways to serve.
- Pray for Eric as he continues to work on Revelation lessons for Malaumanda. It has taken some time to get back into a good flow for lesson writing. Pray also for the people learning Tok Pisin here at Lapilo as I will be helping them to gain a level of proficiency so that they can enter into their ministries here.
- Praise that Judith has been able to come alongside and encourage a number of different families both here and in the bush.
- Pray for Judith’s paperwork to come through. Also Pray for both of us to stay encouraged while we wait. We have no idea when this will end which is hard.
- Pray for Daniel at Bible school. He is doing well in his classes but he has not yet found a job. He really wants to work. Praise that Daniel was able to fly to Spokane and spend Christmas with Stephen. He will fly to Oregon and spend some time with my parents right after the first of the year and then head back for the spring term.
- Continue to Pray for Stephen as he is balancing some courses at Moody with some work and some personal development. Pray for Judith and I as we figure out how to help him grow and mature while being unable to actually be with him. That has been the case basically since he graduated in 2022.
- Praise that Timothy continues to do well at school, sports and his walk with the Lord.
- Pray for me as I try to arrange a trip for Judith and I into Malaumanda in January in preparation for a work team coming in March. More on that later.
- Pray for us as we figure out what the Lord has for us in 2026.