Reaching New Fields: We have tickets!

Hi Friends!

As we looked at our last update in preparation for writing this one, it was encouraging to see all that the Lord has done. The title of this update already spilled the biggest news – Yes, we have purchased tickets to return to Papua New Guinea! However, before we share more details about that, there are several other advancements we want to let you all know about.

PAPERWORK COMPLETED

Thank you for praying with us! Rowen’s PNG visa was approved and has been stamped into his passport by the PNG Embassy in DC. Other than one little mix-up at the post office on our first visit to get his passport, the entire process of getting his passport, getting visa approval from the PNG government, and then getting his visa stamped into the passport in Washington DC has all gone about as smoothly as any PNG paperwork process could go, and we’re grateful for that!

If this next picture doesn't make sense to you, you can check out the second one, which we shared last year to announce our pregnancy. In honor of completing Rowen's whole paperwork process, we thought it would be fun to create an updated picture!

Got it!

The original announcement from last year.

SUPPORT RAISING UPDATE AND PRAYER REQUEST

We’re grateful that since our last update, our monthly pledged support has gone up as well. Currently, we are still a little bit short of 100% of our needed support, but we are trusting that God will bring in the remaining several hundred dollars needed in monthly support. We humbled by everyone who has chosen to be part of our ongoing support team, and as always, we know you are really giving to the Lord, not to us. Thank you!

Speaking of support, one of our biggest needs right now is to still raise $23,000 for our start-up costs in PNG, to cover our initial house build and move into the nDo tribe. If you would pray with us for the Lord to provide those funds, we would be very grateful! We have no doubt that God will provide in the perfect time, and while we wait, He continues to grow our faith and trust in Him.

PLANE TICKETS

As we saw the Lord providing in both of the above areas, we were praying about the right time to “pull the trigger” and purchase our tickets. At a certain point, with lots of prayer and the encouragement of our leadership, we decided it was time to go ahead and purchase tickets, and just last week, we bought them!

We’ll be leaving at the beginning of June, and we’ll have a couple of stop-offs on our way, which is a blessing, since we were hoping to break up the looooooong trip (over 27 total hours in the air), since this is our first time traveling so far with Rowen. Our first stop-off will be with a supporting church in California who have only “met” us through Zoom calls so far, and we’re excited to get to finally say hi in person. It is a small thing but also a blessing that the Lord worked it out that they are in the perfect location for us to stop off after the first leg of our trip and spend several days with them.

OPPORTUNITIES TO SAY GOODBYE

As much as we rejoice to have tickets in hand, there is also a serious & heavy side to this as well. We now have to set dates to say our goodbyes to family, friends, and church family, all of whom we’ll miss dearly during the next 2-3 years before we expect to be back for a furlough. We have so many people who we care about, and it is meaningful to have the chance to give hugs, share laughs and tears, and say goodbyes in person. Because of this, in May, we’ll be making a trip to Ohio. We’re mostly going to spend one-on-one time with immediate family, but we also want to have a chance to see extended family and friends. Because there are just too many people to be able to have one-on-one time with everyone we care about, we’ve decided to have two informal “Open House” dates for anyone who would like to come see us and give goodbye hugs.

OPEN HOUSE #1
Friday, May 9 – 6-8pm

Josh’s Parent’s House
2493 N. Millborne Rd.
Wooster, OH 44691

OPEN HOUSE #2
Sunday, May 18 – 3-5pm
Location: Somewhere in the Fremont, Ohio area. Exact location TBD
(We will send out another short update with the location and reminders.)

If you happen to be free either of these times, we’d love to see you.

For our Florida friends, we also want to mention that we’ll have a Goodbye/Send-off event at our home church in Florida shortly before we fly out, and we’ll share information on that as soon as details are finalized.

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Thank you so much for your ongoing support and especially your prayers for us as we prepare for another big transition as a family. This move feels especially weighty as we consider taking our baby boy to the other side of the world, and into a context where there are fewer of the comforts and safety measures than we’d naturally like to have for him. We know these emotions aren't unique to us, and we ask you to pray for us as we learn to trust God in new ways and areas. Thankfully, what we believe doesn’t change whether we are in the USA or in the jungles of PNG: our God will bring about what is best, both for our good and for His glory! What a comfort!

As usual, we'll close with some of our favorite family pictures (which really means mostly pictures of Rowen - haha) from the past several months.