Well, February is just about over and like most months I find myself wondering where the time went to. There were many expected and not expected events. We see the Lord’s faithfulness in all of them though we don’t always know exactly what His agenda is. I suppose the apostle Paul had some of those moments when he was sitting in the Caesarean jail for a couple of years in Acts 24,25. We aren’t in jail though the timing of our lives is not in our control.
We mentioned last update that Daniel is planning to attend Bible school starting in August of this year. He has been accepted into the program and we are beginning to plan his return to the US. As it looks right now Daniel and I (Eric) will fly back to Oregon at the end of May to help him go through his things. We hope to help him get his driver’s license as well. This brings me to our first prayer request. We will need a vehicle to drive during my 6 week stay in the Pacific Northwest. Our second need will be for housing in the Dallas area for portions of our time in the US. We do plan to spend time with Stephen up in Spokane though we will hold off on that until closer to when he has a break in his training starting June 20th. I don’t have dates yet though I do plan to head back to PNG in early July. Judith will be staying behind in PNG with Timothy which is another prayer request.
We also want to give you a brief update concerning Stephen. He has taken and passed 3 of the 4 tests that needs to take to receive his Aviation mechanics license. His final test is in March so be praying for him in this. He has also started the flight portion of his training. It is challenging though he is thoroughly enjoying his time.
Next month we will be taking a break as a family down in the Sepik. Our time back in PNG has been challenging for us and a break away from Lapilo is long overdue. Please be praying for a relaxing time away.
In Him,
Eric and Judith, Stephen, Daniel and Timothy
Prayer and Praise
- Praise that we are in good health
- Pray for Eric as he is staying busy as centre manager. We had a death of one of the wives of the main land owner here at Lapilo which added some extra drama for the last 2 weeks. Praise that we were able to show God’s love and support for the family during this time. Several of her kids and grandkids work or go to school here at Lapilo.
- Praise that Daniel is really enjoying his time working on the new aviation hanger. He works long days and some Saturdays as well. He has a lot of transitions in front of him as we travel back to the US and then he moves on to Wisconsin without Judith or I. Pray for him and for Judith and I. This isn’t the way we would have planned it.
- Praise that Timothy continues to do well in school. He is also enjoying his first year on the basketball team. He still has a lot to learn but it is good for him.
- Pray for Stephen as he has his final test for the mechanics license in 2 weeks. He is also in the midst of the first part of his flight course with a long way to go.
- Pray for Judith as she is helping out some in school while also looking to see where the Lord wants to use her during this particular block of time.
- Pray for New Tribes Mission PNG as we will be losing a large number of leadership this coming summer due to home assignment and some shifting to a US based ministry. There will be some significant holes to be filled.
- Pray for the Malaumanda church. The outreach in Minini is still happening. One of the pastors in training is unable to be a part of this outreach due to some problems that his younger brother has with people in that area. Pray that these problems can be resolved so Japiti can take part in this outreach again. They are getting ready to teach through the book of Acts.
- Pray for encouragement, peace and perseverance as we serve here while facing numerous uncertainties.