The past month has been a whirlwind of milestones – first, we reached 100% of our financial need!!! God is so good! We can’t thank you enough for your partnership, your prayers, and your encouragement as we have walked this path!

Here’s the news many of you have been asking about – we have just received official confirmation that we can buy our plane tickets and head to Papua New Guinea as soon as our visas come through! Based on visa processing times, we expect a departure date around the end of May.

Timeline to PNG

Here is what our upcoming timeline looks like:

May – final preparation for moving to Papua New Guinea, including selling our cars and packing. There will also be a “commissioning” service at Our Savior Lutheran before we depart! More information to follow 🙂

End of May – Move to Ukarumpa, the center where we will be serving. Matt will start his work in the IT department and learn from other staff before they leave for furlough.

July – POC (Pacific Orientation Course). New members of the Papua New Guinea branch need to attend this training just outside of Madang that includes instruction in Tok Pisin (the trade language), culture and history of PNG, survival skills, and village living.

Fall 2018 – return to Ukarumpa and settle in to life and ministry there!

We hope this gives you a small picture of what life will look like for us this coming year! We appreciate your prayers for our family as we get ready for the big transition ahead of us.

Love from Matt, Emily, & Elijah

How we will cook and sleep at POC

Praise

• We have met our monthly budget thanks to your partnership! Thank you!!!
• Our work permits were approved, so now visas are being processed
• Elijah is turning 3 on April 12! We give thanks for our little guy!

Prayer Requests

• It will be difficult to leave family. We especially ask that you pray for this very tough part of our move
• For us to keep our focus on God
• For our visas to come through in God’s timing!
• For the comfort and provision of the Papua New Guineans affected by the recent earthquakes
• For those in PNG still waiting to hear the Good News in their own languages!