Where to start…

Most months I do not have a hard time figuring out what to write in these updates. There always seems to be more going on than I would try to shoe-horn into a note that people wouldn’t describe as a novel. This month will once again force me to just give you a few highlights. Hopefully, you see that the common denominator for everything written here in GOD.

Most of the pictures this month are from a trip that I was able to take to Malaumanda. You may remember that Judith and I and the boys went into Malaumanda in March and were able to pour a slab of cement for a new radio house. At that time we didn’t have the ability to do anything else. To make a long story short, the Lord worked it out for me and two other guys (Chris Weaver and Jeremy Dunn) to fly in and spend 5 days in Malaumanda. We were able to get the house built, the solar system installed, and the antenna mast and radio installed in about 3 days. After that, we spent some time in the community and at the river and I also had numerous opportunities to spend time with the church there. I didn’t expect to get back into Malaumanda before coming back to the States so this was a special blessing.

On May 26th our oldest son, Stephen will graduate from High School. This is a very exciting time in our lives but also an emotionally charged transition as we move forward into unknown territory as a family. We can, in part, see what the Lord has for us but we will certainly be walking by faith and not sight. We’ll explain more about what is next for Stephen below but first, we want to make you aware of some specific prayer requests.

It was necessary for Judith and me to get vaccinated for our summer travels. This went fairly smoothly and we received our provincial vaccination cards. The only problem is that we need an international version of this card. We started this process in April expecting it to be taken care of in a couple of days. Well, we still do not have our vaccination cards and we are leaving in just over a week. So, please be praying for this little detail to be taken care of by our Father, and that He will also help me to rest in the midst of waiting.

We also want you to be praying for all of the logistics related to this summer trip back to the US. We have several long flights that will bring us back to Oregon but that will just be the beginning of a busy summer. We have roughly 7 weeks to get a lot done before we head back to PNG. Can we get up to Canada to see Judith’s family and our friends there? We aren’t really sure. Please pray for this. How is it going to work out to get Stephen set up for school? We aren’t entirely sure. We are kind of figuring things out as we go. We know that God goes before us and with us….a day at a time.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support of our family and ministry,

In Him,

Eric and Judith, Stephen, Daniel and Timothy

Prayer and Praise

• Praise that we are currently all healthy.
• Praise that Stephen is done with school and the other two have roughly 3 days left. Stephen’s graduation is on Thursday our time. See his story below…
• Pray for our International vaccination cards to come in. Without this card, Judith will not be able to go with us to the US. We aren’t really sure what we will do if that happens.
• Praise that the Malaumanda community now has a working HF radio so that they can talk to the pilots, the regional hospital, and us. We are so thankful for the help that we got to see this project completed.
• Praise that we just finished up our latest Orientation class. Now I just need to strategize as to how we are going to run the next class that will start after we get back from our summer travels. Our co-workers, Derrick and LaShawn Dobbs will be heading on home assignment so this will change things significantly.
• Pray for us as we negotiate our way through a very busy and expensive summer. It will be good to see friends and family while in the US but this is an expensive time to travel about.
• Pray for us to find a vehicle to use while we are here. It would probably just be for 6 weeks.
• Pray for us to be able to get up to Canada to visit with Judith’s family and our church home there. Vaccination requirements for kids make this a bit challenging.
• Continue to Pray for the printing of the Malaumanda Bible. We are still waiting to hear from the printers so that we can move forward. Believe it or not, the global economic and political chaos in the world is playing into this. The Lord knows.

Stephen’s Story

Stephen has desired to be a pilot for years. He grew up in Malaumanda watching bush planes land multiple times each week. Now that he has graduated from high school he sees the Lord leading him to attend Moody Aviation in Spokane, Washington. This isn’t news to anyone who regularly reads our updates. Training to be a missionary pilot is a bit different than a normal academic program and will certainly have quite a few challenges. Here is a bit of information that will allow you to pray for Stephen and for Judith and me.

Moody Aviation is a very well-known and solid missionary aviation program though they are not set up like a normal Bible school or even like Moody Bible Institute back in Chicago. There is tuition and there are classrooms and instructors but there are NO dorms and NO cafeteria. There are some houses in the general area around their facility that are rented out to Moody students during their time in the program. Stephen will have housemates to live with and go to school together with. He will have to shop for his own food and cook it. While he has the ability to cook courtesy of his Mom, he will have to jump right in and budget his funds wisely. He will do what he can to get a part-time job to augment what we can do to help him. It will certainly be an interesting time for him and us as we negotiate our way through this transition.
We are excited to see Stephen move forward toward his goal to serve the Lord. He will need to live by faith just as we do. Please be praying for him as he grows!