Anything, I would give up for you... (Laura)

I was made to love you

I was made just for you

Made to adore you

I was made to love

And be loved by you

You were here before me

You were waiting on me

And you said you'd keep me

Never would you leave me, I was made to love

And be loved by you...

Anything, I would give up for you

Everything, I'd give it all away

Cause I was made to love you.

I was dropping the kids off at school this morning so I could go home and keep packing when this song by Toby Mac came on the radio. It expressed exactly what I've been feeling lately as we prepare to leave for Papua New Guinea on January 19th (yes, we've bought our tickets!). We were created to love God and He has promised that He will keep us and never leave us. What an awesome promise for me right now!

In many ways, we are "giving up" a lot as we leave our dream jobs, comfortable house, close friends, and family. But we know that it will be worth it and that it is such a small thing for us to do in comparison to what the Lord has done for us. Matt said it well when he said, "This life is so small in comparison to eternity. We can do something now, during this short time on earth, to effect eternity for so many people."

The days between now and January 19th are going to be full of organizing, packing, vaccinating, studying, and enjoying family and friends that we won't see for two years. It can be overwhelming at times, but the Lord has shown us over and over again that He will work out the details - even better than how we would plan to work them out!

We are so very thankful for all of our friends and supporters for the encouragement, prayers, and giving over the past months! THANK YOU!

Grayson, stashing jingle bells in one of our boxes to be shipped. Only the necessities!





Fall has come and seems to be leaving quickly - snow in October! I told Brianna and Grayson to enjoy the fall colors and we've been spending a lot of time outside in the cool air. We didn't expect it to be snowing yet, though! We won't be seeing these fall colors and snowflakes in Papua New Guinea. When we first get there, we'll be near the coast for training, so it will be a hot, tropical January for us! Once we get to the highlands where we'll be living long-term (5,000 ft.), it will be a bit cooler!



The view we woke up to this morning:

 

 

 

 

Grayson's New Ride

Grayson and Brianna: Ready to ride!

God cares about the details. Again and again over the past 5 months, we have seen Him affirm our decision to join Wycliffe Bible Translators and open doors to make going to Papua New Guinea (PNG) possible. Selling our house, providing a rental home without a lease, finding great homes for our dogs, and most recently, giving us this motorcycle.

Matt heard from Andrew Koens, the head motorcycle mechanic at Ukarumpa(http://pngandrew.blogspot.com/) , who gave us a list of suggestions for motorcycles that would be great bikes there. It's often easiest to get around the mud roads at the center with a bike.We decided that a Yamaha TW200 would best suit our needs, so we started looking for one to ship to PNG. Matt searched for weeks, but couldn't find the right one within 300 miles of us! We then realized we hadn't been asking for one  - we were trying to do it on our own. We contacted some of our friends to pray for the right motorcycle for us, and within a week a friend called us...

"I found your bike!", said Doug.

When Matt asked, "Where?!", he said in Deep Gap, which is right next door to us! It was in great condition and we paid less than we had planned to pay.

When Matt pulled up with the motorcycle in the back of his truck, Grayson was standing in the yard and he pointed to it and said, "A motorcycle!". There's not much cooler in this world to a 2 1/2 year-old boy! Matt's "cool dad" points when way up that day.

 

What do all of the people in this picture have in common?

At first, it may not seem like much - other than our good looks, of course! No...we are all ordinary people serving our extraordinary God as missionaries. In August, we had the privelege of being a part of Bethel Baptist Church's Missions Conference in Vilas, NC where we met (from left), Emanuel and Adugna Tahear, Nard Pugyao, and Lisa Kappeler. We shared our testimonies of God's faithfulness throughout our lives as missionary kids all the way until now, in preparing us to serve Him in Papua New Guinea. But, we were especially encouraged by the other missionaries there...

The Tahears are missionaries FROM Ethiopia, TO Chicago! They are working with the international community of Chicago, specifically the muslim population. Adugna is a dentist and has an awesome dental ministry throughout the world.

Nard Pugyao is a Wycliffe missionary helicopter pilot and has an amazing story. As he was growing inside his mother's womb in a tiny village in the northern Philippines, God was calling a young man to become a missionary. That missionary worked to give Nard and the people of his village, the Isnegs, the Bible in their heart language.

"It's because of you missionaries that I have to wear clothes and shoes!"

Nard made us laugh a lot - and his joy and passion for the work of supporting Bible translation is contagious!

Lisa Kappeler is a missionary with New Tribes Missions who has been working in Wabuku, Papua New Guinea for 8 years as a church planter and Bible translator. The people in her village only number 300, but she realizes that each of them is precious to the Lord and He desires relationship with them. Many have come to know the Lord through hearing His Word in their heart language already!

Check out her video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwwXIoT7lGI

We are so thankful for the time that we had with these wonderful people, especially to hear over and over again how faithful God is, how powerful He is, and how He is at work in the hearts of men and women all over the world. It's awesome to see how the Lord is working through our friends at Bethel Baptist Church in the mountains of North Carolina, to impact eternity for people on the other side of the globe through their partnerships with missionaries.

Training and Trusting

We just returned from Dallas, Texas where we got to meet and learn alongside an awesome group of people who have also joined Wycliffe's Global Service Program. Many of them are headed to Papua New Guinea like us! It will be cool to see familiar faces when we get there! One of our favorite times was getting to meet the Franklins and Milligans who served in Papua New Guinea for many years. You can read more about the Franklins in our July newsletter.

Click below to see a video of the Franklin's New Testament dedication:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VJZ9uWzgUo

During our first week of training, we had the opportunity to learn from veteran missionaries on many topics including principles of Bible translation, life overseas, spiritual warfare, God's sovereignty, and spiritual vitality. We also had plenty of time to develop relationships with other Wycliffe members.

The second week of training was for teachers. We were trained on how to help kids transition from one country and culture to another, deal with trauma and crisis, and how to teach kids from many countries in the same classroom. Laura's classroom in Papua New Guinea could have kids from as many as 15 different nations!

Now that we have completed all of the required training, we are ready to go! We are trusting that the Lord will provide everything we need to get there!

 

Welcome

We both grew up as MK’s (missionary kids) and have always had a heart for missions. We have been waiting for God to show us “when”, not “if” we should go. We believe that God is leading us to go now! We have been accepted by Wycliffe Bible Translators’ Global Service Program to serve a two year commitment in Papua New Guinea.

We will be serving at Ukarumpa, located in the Eastern Highlands of PNG.  Laura will be teaching primary students at Ukarumpa International School, which is an elementary and secondary school of around 350 kids. Matt will be doing carpentry, building and overseeing nationals in maintaining the center. We will both be building relationships with Papua New Guineans and other missionaries each day.