Just a Little Longer
The days wander by and time marches on. As the intended date of our departure approaches, we are tempted to entertain the thoughts that say, “Will our paperwork not make it in time?” “Will we miss our orientation?” The temptation to doubt seems brief because we are quickly reminded of everything God has done to get us to this point. He trained us, got us passports, raised seemingly insurmountable funds, and much more, and would we doubt Him? No. We remember all else He has done and we are spurred on to continue in faith. Many have prayed with us for our entry permits to be approved so that we have some way of making it to PNG by Jan 20th for our orientation.
We had less than a week from when the last flight to get us there on time would leave and we still had no word from the PNG government about our entry permit approval. Jess and I encouraged one another as we continued to pray for God to make a way. At this point we were asking the same question as Mary after the angel told her she was going to be the mother of the Messiah, “How will this be?!” Yet us and many others were still convinced that it would, indeed, be. I think an old puritan prayer said it best,
“I ask great things of a great God.” - Valley of Vision
Our Great God responded.
2 days ago we were informed that one of the few families in our orientation who was intending to head to PNG tested positive for Covid! Having no symptoms, they scrambled to get retested and their results came in just hours before their flight was scheduled to depart - positive! Will neither of us make it? Due to this unforeseen circumstance and the resulting small size of the remaining orientation class, we received correspondence that orientation will be delayed! Woohoo? It’s a bittersweet and very creative way for it to happen and God doesn’t always give us the why, but we praise the Lord for the mysterious ways in which He works! Now we are aiming to land in PNG on Feb 10! With this God given time extension we trust God will give us the appropriate paperwork to be able to buy plane tickets and go. It also allows time for the other family to test negative and reschedule their flights. Thank you so much for praying with us through this! Your prayers have already moved mountains! Hopefully we will update you next from the other side of the world.
Prayer and praise
Praise the Lord that He has allowed us a bit more time to get permission to enter Papua New Guinea!
Praise the Lord that Jess Got her work permit! We are still waiting on our entry permits, but God has given us some extra time!
Pray for our deepening relationship with the Lord, the most vital part of our ministry.
Pray for the continued strengthening of our marriage.
Please pray for our transition to Papua New Guinea, that God would lead us in team formation. Also pray for the people group God will lead us to live among and minister to.