These last few months have been a whirlwind for us. We left America in May to return to Papua New Guinea and embarked on a literal round-the-world trip. After almost 80 hours, 5 flights, and over 16,400 miles of travel with a three-year-old and a four-month-old, we arrived at the New Tribes Mission Base in Goroka for our two week quarantine. Most of those two weeks were spent recovering from our long journey and re-adjusting to the climate and life here in PNG. After our quarantine was finished and we were able to do some supply buying in town, we jumped on one of the missions Kodiaks and flew the 45 minutes from Goroka to Lembena. We had a sweet reception from our co-workers and from the people whom we hadn’t seen in almost 8 months! It was so good to finally be “home” after so long away.

The village has quickly fallen in love with Declan and he seems to love them just as much as they do him. It has been so good reconnecting with our friends in the village and getting to be a full team once again. The strides that our teammates have made in the language has been incredible and we are hoping that, with their help, we can catch up with them soon! We have gotten back into the rhythm of life here: going to the gardens with people, spending lots of time around the fire telling stories and learning little by little to speak like them and to better understand how they view life and the world around them, which is very different from us.

We are so thankful to have the new lawnmower here and no longer have to be cutting the airstrip with just machetes. It has made a huge difference! Now, instead of going out almost daily to cut the grass with hand tools, we are able to cut the entire strip in a day, and during dry season now, only have to cut it about once a month! Thank you so much to everyone who was a part of that fundraiser to get the mower here! It has allowed us to spend time learning language and culture instead of cutting grass.

Just about a month ago, we had a team from a medical facility in a nearby town (about a 15 minute flight away) fly in and put on a two day vaccination and check-up clinic. Along with a few national nurses, a doctor with our organization came in along with his wife and son. We’ve gotten to know their family a little over the past few years being in PNG, and we were blessed with being able to host them while they were in here for the clinic. We enjoyed our time getting to know them more and having other believers to interact with. Micah was able to help out at the clinic by taking vital signs on patients which sped things up for the doctor, enabling him to see more patients. It was a huge blessing to the community, having the medical team come in here to provide free vaccinations and check-ups. We are so thankful for the nearby medical facility and the staff who provide convenient, affordable medical access to our people.

Being back in America for so long, we had kind of forgotten how difficult life is in the bush (and how hot), as we deal with people who lie to us, steal from us, mock us, and try to manipulate us. It is not easy seeing the fighting, the beatings, the fear the people have of death and sickness, and the need they feel to appease higher powers to have success and avoid death and sickness. All of this reminds us of the reason that we are here. We aren’t here because we enjoy living simply in the jungle. We aren’t here to feel good about ourselves. We aren’t even here because of our love for the people, because there are many days when we do not feel much love for them. We are here because these people are lost and in darkness, but there is a God who loves them and died for them so they wouldn’t have to live like they’re living now. We are here because we have experienced that love and know how the Gospel changes everything. We are here because we want these people to know our God like we know him. We wish so badly that we could communicate the Gospel clearly now to our friends but we know that learning a new language and culture takes time. Communicating an unclear Gospel results in a false Gospel and a false Gospel is no Gospel at all.

At the end of July, we had two consultants come in to perform CLA (culture and language acquisition) evaluations on us and our co-workers, which is basically an evaluation of our language ability and cultural knowledge. We were so excited to see where the team is and what is still left to be done. They evaluated us, as well as provided us with direction on how to continue pressing on with language learning and best engage with the people to learn how they view the world around them. With Ethnos360, all bush missionaries have regular CLA evaluations, starting with a three-month evaluation, and one every six months after. This was our three-month evaluation, and our co-workers’ nine-month evaluation. By God’s grace, we are all progressing in the language and were given the direction and encouragement we need to continue on learning language and culture for the next six months before our next evaluation! Please continue to remember us in your prayers as we engage daily with the people, learning their language and culture and seeking to prepare the soil here for the future Gospel presentation.

Prayer and Praise

• Praise God with us that the transition back into this culture has gone very well for all of us and that Addy and Declan have adjusted well to life here.
• Pray for us to have wisdom in dealing with our people, and to not be easily frustrated but to show the love of Christ to them in every situation.
• Pray for endurance and strength as we learn the Lembena language and culture as well as try to balance homeschooling, raising a baby and maintaining a strong marriage.
• Also thank God for the progress our team has made in learning the language and culture over this past year.
• Pray for the Lembena People, that God would be preparing their hearts and creating in them a desire to hear the good news when they see how the Gospel has changed our lives.

In His Strength and Power Alone,
Micah, Laura, Adalia and Declan