Talking, Teaching and Trowel work

by | Sep 29, 2025 | Family Updates


Top Image: Judith’s Birthday party with friends. The guys were eating inside.

Early in the month we were able to celebrate Judith’s birthday. This year we had about 18 people join us for a meal. The guys were inside due to the size of the group. This picture does remind us that we work with an incredible group of people. There are so many different gifts and abilities at the table and in the group as a whole. And it takes all of us working together to see God’s work here go ahead.

On September 19th, I flew into Malaumanda to begin some work on a teacher’s office building. This is the first time that I have been back since we were in there for the Bible dedication in 2024. It was fun to get back and get caught up with people there. As is quite often the case there were a number of inter-village disputes going on during my time. I know everyone involved so it was rather funny to stroll through the area while heated discussions were happening. For the most part everyone was happy to see me and greeted me warmly even though they were still angry at the other party in the conflict. In some ways hilarious, and yet a bit sad too. 

I had some work to do on the house and have identified a few things that need to be fixed when I go in next time. Most everything still works so for that I am thankful. The stove top still works, I had hot showers and I had a comfortable chair to sit in to drink my coffee and have my devotions. I also had numerous conversations with pastor Jim and other church leaders. They are doing well though they made several requests that I would love to help them with but don’t have the time to be involved in right now. I also had opportunities to stand up and teach which was fun. Thankfully I didn’t have to do that on my first day back in as it took a few days to get my ears and mouth to work well again. 

As you can see from the pictures below we were able to make some good progress on the cement floor for the teacher’s office. After laying out the dimensions of the office and getting everything squared up a whole group of us tackled the job over 3 days. The ladies were carrying gravel in from the surrounding streams. The younger guys were mixing the cement and the rest of us were getting it poured, screed and finished off. It was definitely a group effort which was fun to be a part of. I just heard from Jim on the phone that they completed the final section yesterday. 

In Him,

Eric and Judith, Stephen, Daniel and Timothy

After laying out the dimensions of the building with string we had to clear off the grass.
We then set the first set of forms to be square with the overall building size, leveled it out and got ready to pour.
We had multiple guys working with two wheel barrows to mix cement. The sun was hot most of those days which made this a bit brutal.
Thankfully the young guys mixed the cement and left the finish work for me to do.
We ran short of cement so this is as far as we got before I left. More cement came in the flight that took me out so they should have this done now.
As is usually the case I was able to teach on Sunday and again at a leaders’ meeting on Tuesday.
Some of my friends in Malaumanda are getting old. Kabo still has a spirit that is willing to serve but his body is failing him.

Prayer and Praise

  • Praise for the opportunity that Eric had to visit the Kovol people group for a culture and language consult. The one remaining couple completed their study and have now transitioned into preparing for literacy, teaching and translation. 
  • Pray for Eric as he is very busy here at Lapilo centre. There is a big push to hire some citizen workers so wisdom is needed to find the right individuals to fill the department needs. Praise that he was able to get in to Malaumanda this month. There is still a lot to do in there so a future trip is needed. 
  • Pray for another consultant trip in October. Eric has been in Maliyali numerous times before though he will be working with a newer couple who has joined the team there. 
  • Pray for Judith as she balances helping out in the school, helping Timothy with his schooling and her engagement/encouragement with various ladies on the centre. 
  • Praise that there are several church planting teams that are completing their culture and language study and can now move into the formal preparation for teaching the Gospel and translating the Bible. 
  • Pray for me as I try to arrange a trip into Malaumanda later on this year. Jim is wanting help with more complete lessons for the book of Revelation so pray that I can find a way to do this. 
  • Pray for the continued outreach to Minini. They should be starting to teach through Romans in October. 
  • Pray for Daniel as he is at Bible school and very busy with a lot of reading and papers to write. Pray also that he will be able to find a part time job so that he can pay some of his bills. 
  • Praise/Pray for Stephen as he now has the funds for the rest of this semester. Praise that he was able to get his private pilot’s license. Praise also that he was able to find a reliable car.  
  • Pray for the work of church planting here in PNG. There are a lot of challenges on the support side of things these days. We are wanting to integrate PNG citizens into various activities here on Lapilo centre though this is not an easy process. We trust that the Lord will bring the right people along who will be a good fit. 
  • Continue to Pray for Judith’s US immigration process. We are down to 4 months for the first application though it really feels like it is taking forever. 
Stephen just passed his test for his private pilot’s license. We are proud of him as he reaches this milestone in his quest to become a missionary bush pilot.