A Chapter Closing, The Call Strengthened

Beloved, our time in Papua New Guinea has come to a close, heralded by countless hands held, necks hugged, and tearful farewells. But it is not goodbye - just, 

see you again soon!

Peds Ward staff and students - stickers and all :-)

I have seen some hard days and many difficult cases in the last three months, but they all fade in the overwhelming light of JESUS’ presence - shining into every moment, a comforting cloak of eternity perspective, stirring the heart, inspiring prayer, and revealing Heavenly plans prepared from time’s beginning. 

Jenny and Ruth are great friends from Outpatient Clinic

We are overwhelmed with a sense of fulfillment having seen the Lord move miraculously through our invested time, talent, and treasure. The name of Jesus has been proclaimed to the brokenhearted - His love and invitation to peace accepted by many. Hearts have been encouraged, the Body of Christ unified, and physical needs met. This spirit of fulfillment is closely accompanied by a deep sense of indebtedness - to the Lord for providing this Call, to YOU our supporters empowering us with your financial gifts and prayer power, and to our fellow missionaries at Kudjip who have inspired and encouraged every effort in these three months to bring Heaven down to the people of PNG. Hallelujah! 

Mise Church - ribbon cutting ceremony for breaking new ground

Rach and the kids gifted with PNG Swag from the Peds Ward staff

The Ladies of Konduk Lotu gifted Rachel with beautiful bilums

Our calling to PNG has only grown stronger, and I remain deeply grateful to my Pediatric company in Richmond VA partnering with us to pursue this mission. We now leave behind countless relationships and projects here in PNG (both old and new) but eagerly anticipate the Spirit watering seeds in readiness for our soon return. Our hope is to increase our time at Kudjip by serving every year, to both more effectively continue the work we have started, as well as to provide regular relief to our fellow missionaries spending their lives full time in the field. Please join us in praying for the Lord’s timing in this. 

Extra hugs for Hannah, the sweetest house cat imaginable

Our beloved Missionary Family praying over us. Thank you Lord!

Ombus, our carpenter friend, now pain free after the recent blessing of dental work showed up to say thank you and gift Rachel with a PNG knit cap

John Gari Farewell

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We learned the night before our departure that our first flight out of Mount Hagen would be delayed, causing us to miss our second flight to Australia. This meant an overnight in the capital of Port Moresby and adding 24 hours of travel to our five-flight 42 hour trip home. Oof! While initially we felt disappointed we prayed for God to bless this itinerary change with a relaxing time at a hotel and a Divine Appointment along the way. He gave us both! 

Meet Clint Borle (pictured below), co-founder of CORA Projects, and above mentioned Divine Appointment. Sitting beside me on our way to Brisbane, Clint mentioned he liked my PNG tattoo which kicked off a long conversation about our lives, work, and faith. What a fascinating man! Here's a guy with PNG in his blood (Father's side), was raised in Australia with a touch of Catholic faith exposure, and now lives in California but is bringing Sustainable Agroforestry back to PNG in the most missional way imaginable. I was able to share my testimony about serving at Kudjip and encouraged Clint in his faith journey. Please join me in praying for Clint! 

Our travel home also included a long layover in LA so we bravely ditched the airport and explored nearby Manhattan Beach - it felt GREAT to breath the fresh sea air, eat some ice-cream, put our toes in the sand, and soak up the late afternoon sunshine. 

In the end, we made it home, and maybe it's just my sleep-deprived jet-lagged brain, but what a surreal thing it is to be back in Richmond - like no time has passed at all since we left on March 3rd, and yet a lifetime of PNG experiences in between. Home is where the heart is, and my heart is still in PNG. God is good ALL the time, even when it doesn't make any sense to our feeble minds. 

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I will leave you with a brief clip from our last Missionary Prayer Meeting, and if you can ignore Solomon's gnarly feet, you'll appreciate the beautiful spirit of this special family. I have pasted the lyrics of this Hymn below - they certainly reflect our hearts, trusting God for tomorrow, whatever HE has for us to do, we're ready. Amen!

God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus;

He came to love, heal and forgive;

He lived and died to buy my pardon,

An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,

Because He lives, all fear is gone;

Because I know He holds the future,

And life is worth the living,

Just because He lives!

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,

And feel the pride and joy he brings;

But greater still the calm assurance:

This child can face uncertain days because He Lives!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,

Because He lives, all fear is gone;

Because I know He holds the future,

And life is worth the living,

Just because He lives!

And then one day, I'll cross the river,

I'll fight life's final war with pain;

And then, as death gives way to victory,

I'll see the lights of glory and I'll know He lives!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,

Because He lives, all fear is gone;

Because I know He holds the future,

And life is worth the living,

Just because He lives!

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Greetings friends!  

Below are some recent snapshots of our lives at Kudjip.  We carry you with us in our thoughts and prayers, and hope that these photos/videos allow you to engage and connect with us from afar.  

We would appreciate your prayers for God to prepare ALL of our hearts for the transition back to the US.  Pennie and Solomon are absolute troopers jumping from one culture to the next, but as they get older they are more aware of the differences between the developing world and the western world.  We pray that we can navigate these conversations with wisdom and discernment.  

In HIM,
Rachel (and Ted)

The heavens declare the Glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands. 
Psalm 19:1

The "rot bung" (street market) is just outside of Kudjip Station.  It is our weekly stop for produce, and Pennie and Solomon are amazing helpers carrying large bags of cucumbers, papaya, carrots, pineapple, greens, etc...  The second photo shows Pennie carrying her Aldi bilum like a true PNG Meri with the straps across her forehead and the bag on her back - she saw the other ladies doing it, and she followed suit.  

We finished our school year this week!  Homeschooling can often be a challenge, but I am so grateful for the flexibility to bring school with us when we come to serve at Kudjip.  

Pennie and some of her gal pals playing with a pet cuscus.  A cuscus is a small tree kangaroo - this one particularly enjoys climbing on top of children's heads!

Ted and Mark spontaneously decided to cut new lines for the outdoor volleyball court. 
A weekly pickup volleyball match is a long-standing Kudjip tradition. 

Our caterpillar cocoon hatched! We were greeted by a beautiful creamy yellow moth.  We gave it a day of rest with some papaya to nibble upon, and then let it free in the front yard.  

Ted had the opportunity to join a few gents from the Maintenance Team at a local rugby match. Our Jiwaka Province Team (Waghi Tumbe) crushed the National Champions, the Mount Hagen Eagles, 30 to zero! 

We recently were able to enjoy a missionary family Bonfire Gathering - everyone brings food to cook or reheat over the fire.  

We brought some friends with us on a hike to Mise Church last Sunday.  This is our favorite way to commute on a Sunday morning.  : )

More bugs!  The children have an admirable appreciation for the insects here in PNG.  Pennie has now been trained by local friends how to safely pick up huge banana spiders, and she and Solomon are both willing to let all sorts of creatures climb on them.  

"All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small.  

All things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all."  

For our last Music Class, we took one last field trip out to the hospital and sang a few songs for the children and families on the pediatric ward. We ended our time by stretching out our hands and praying over the children and staff. I am SO proud of these missionary kids for stepping out and sharing the gift of music with others.  We ended our class time with doing some of their favorite games and line dances! 

A beautiful sunset to commemorate the closing of this chapter in Papua New Guinea.

Your Generosity, Multiplied!

Kudjip Tea Fields

Dear Friends, coming into our last week at Kudjip we are eager to share with you all that God is doing here. The Lord has multiplied our time and has given us a great many opportunities to be invested and involved in His work, and we want to thank YOU for making all this happen through your generous financial and prayer support.

In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25, Jesus shares "The Parable of the Talents," revealing the essential importance of believers to invest and multiply the gift of Salvation. In the parable, those servants who wisely invested and grew their Master's deposit were told "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master."

As with past visits to PNG we arrived to Kudjip "overfunded" (praise the Lord!), meaning our generous supporters gave us more than we needed for flights, room, board, insurance, etc etc. What this creates in us while we serve at Kudjip is a spirit of abundant generosity, always on the lookout for the Lord to lead us in supporting local needs. Well, for this trip in particular we have been overjoyed to invest in quite a number of projects/people, and we hope you enjoy reading through the following accounts, accepting the Lord's "well done!" for your part. 

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You may recall on our last trip we helped our dear friend John Opa leave behind a lifetime of dental pain and obtain dentures, and on this trip we have been able to support his family with purchasing materials for the concrete foundation of a new home. (They have been sleeping in a leaky grass-thatched home for many years.) Another missionary had purchased building materials for their new home a couple years ago but they have been unable to build without funds to make the concrete slab foundation. A few weeks ago on our Mount Tabi hike I was able to see the slab being poured, and then with our recent visit to Konduk church (very close to their home) we rejoiced to see the house framing already going up! As a blessed side note, the carpenter Ombus, (pictured with blue cap smoothing concrete in the first photo) will also be set free from dental pain as we have provided funds for his dental care. 

Another wonderful friend and brother in Christ, John Gari, is a frequent companion during our visits to Kudjip, and you may recall I wrote about him recently in a Blog titled "Love Thy Neighbor." Well we have been very thankful during our stay to have his handy expertise with a number of yard and garden projects (building a couple sheep fences, weeding, planting a new garden, etc), and we were VERY excited to bless him with the gift of LIGHT - in the form of solar-power. John sends to you his deepest thanks for this rich blessing which now allows him to read the Bible after the sun goes down. 

John Gari's brother Elijah is on the NHM Maintenance Team and has been a faithful "wasman" for the missionary women on Station for many years. When they need to drive into Mount Hagen and shop for groceries, Elijah will accompany them for safety. When he was recently visiting our home we learned that he has been having difficulty reading fine print for a number of years (including text messages), and we were delighted to cover the cost for him to have a vision test and reading glasses prescribed. Lookin good Elijah! 

On one of our last trips we noticed the hospital flags were in tatters due to the constant sun, wind and rain, and we sent flags back to Kudjip with another missionary. Well prior to this trip we were asked for another round of replacement flags, and we were only too happy to bring along a fresh set - USA, The Cross of Christ, PNG, The Nazarene Church, Australia, and standing proudly in front the green and yellow flag of our Jiwaka Province. 

We have also been very glad to use funds on two occasions for the purchase of groceries for the local Orphanage. Pastor Ruth has cared for scores of children over the years, especially those left without parents due to HIV, and we are always blessed to see their cheery faces! 

Certainly the biggest project on this trip has been the planning and partnership with Mise Church for the building of a new church. This amazing family of God truly embodies the presence of the Holy Spirit and so it is no wonder they have outgrown their old building. To ensure we create space for congregation ownership, we have agreed to assist with the purchase of store-bought materials while the church members will invest time, talent and treasure to actually build the church. This project will be taken in four phases with the Foundation being the first phase, and thanks be to God's sovereign provision from saints like you, the materials have been purchased. While we expect it will take quite some time to complete, we are very excited to see this church's dream become a reality!

Mise Board Project Meeting #5

Purchasing Materials with Carpenter, Pastor, and Board Member

The JOY (and back ache) of Loading Cement Bags

Mise Church of the Nazarene

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REACHING THE COMMUNITY

I wanted to also briefly share some great footage from a recent outing I enjoyed with the Primary Health Services (PHS) team. Four days a week this heroic nursing team rotates visiting ALL the local villages to provide FREE Maternal/Child services - prenatal screening, infant growth screening, vaccines, preventive education, and they bring along a small assortment of common medications and supplements to treat common diseases. I was honestly wowed with their efficiency and thoroughness to care for all the needs of these mamas and babies, and they even permitted me the opportunity to give some Malnutrition Prevention education. Go Team JESUS! :-)

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.