There are times when we pretty much sit tight here at Lapilo. There are other times when it feels something like I envision the Israelites felt like as they were wandering from place to place on the way to Caanan. This month has been one of those ‘wandering’ months. There have been no pillars of fire to guide our way but the Lord has certainly made it clear where He wants us and when.
As you know from our last update, we left Malaumanda for a couple of weeks in Wewak. This was sort of a break but also filled with a fair amount of work. Our co-workers, John and Christina Hutteman. arrived back to the country just as we were leaving for the bush. While they were in quarantine up at Lapilo we were in Wewak and had the opportunity to help finish up their house renovation. Much of the interior ceilings were replaced but what we spent the most time on was painting. The hot humid coastal air really does a number on the paint so after a complete repaint, it looks much better. It was also a good opportunity for Stephen and Daniel to learn a bit more about house painting.
While in Malaumanda, Judith and I celebrated our 20th anniversary. Now trying to do nice things to celebrate these milestones while in PNG is always hard. Being in Malaumanda with the family made it that much more challenging. Truth be told we spent our anniversary evening with a group of missionaries from a couple of other organizations giving them a presentation on Malaumanda and the work of NTM here in Papua New Guinea. If you see this as the antithesis of romance then you are correct. The good news is that someone is taking care of the boys so that we can head elsewhere in the country for a 3-night getaway. We have never been able to do this during a term of service before. We actually had a couple of gifts that helped make this possible.
Three days after we get back from this trip, Judith and I will leave the boys with another set of people and then head back down to Wewak for the night. I’ll do a couple of evaluations that day and then on the following day, we will fly into a tribe and do culture and language evaluations for 3 families. We have never been to this people group before but I am very excited to get in there. The language that they speak there is related to the Malaumandan language and I am dying to know how much I will be able to understand. At the very least I should be able to give them some good direction as to the structure of their grammar and culture study. Most of all, Judith and I want to be an encouragement to the team there. They are very early on in the work which brings many challenges.
We do want to say a huge thanks to all of you who faithfully support us in prayer and finances. We love being partnered with you in the ministry.
In Him,
Eric and Judith, Stephen, Daniel, and Timothy
Prayer & Praise
- Praise for a great time in Malaumanda and in Wewak.
- Pray for the development of additional leadership in the Malaumanda church. I am looking for a time when my co-worker, John Hutteman, and I can get back in to do a refresher teaching session on church leadership principles.
- Praise for an enjoyable working break down in Wewak. We did a lot of painting in my co-worker’s house but also made it to the beach numerous times as well.
- Pray for the next several weeks as Judith and I will be doing some traveling. We will get away this coming weekend to celebrate our 20th anniversary. The following weekend we will be heading to Wewak for a night and then into a bush location to do some consulting. Judith will go home after that while I spend 2 nights at our church planting orientation centre working with the folks there.
- Pray for our boys while we are gone. They will be staying with friends here on the centre.
- Pray for the final formatting work to be done on the Malaumanda New Testament.
- Pray for wisdom as we attempt to function here in PNG with new Covid restrictions. This effects people attempting to come into the country more than it does us but the trickle down effect hits the school here as well as the orientation program that we are involved in.
- Praise for great health and strength as a family
