Kurt, Johanna, Kassia, Lukas and Matthias

Our family in Papua New Guinea | 2012

Ukarumpa and Aiyura Valley

Ukarumpa is SIL's center of opperations in Papua New Guinea and where we live and work.

Miniafia New Testaments from the dedication in 2010

"God is a Miniafia Man," the loincloth-clad speaker exulted! "Before He was English, and American, and Australian. But today He has become Miniafia!"

Doini Island

Photo by Tim McIntosh (SIL PNG's boat manager in 2008) | Many of the 100's of islands in PNG can only be reached by boat.

Where do you play when you live on an island?

Children from Nubwageta village playing near the shore.

Miniafia New Testament Dedication

New Testament dedications in PNG usually include elaborate processions to welcome the Bibles.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

July 2006 Update

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you so much for your prayers, the cards, words of encouragement and meals that you gave us last month when we lost our little one. How comforting it is to know that we are part of the family of Christ and that we are surrounded by His love during happiness and during sorrow!

Thank you also to those of you have now been supporting our ministry for many months and for those new individuals that have recently began to support us. We could not be a part of this ministry without your generous gifts.

Please let us know specifically how we can pray for you and your families!

God Provides

We had asked you to pray for us as we needed a place to live in after the month of July, and the Lord answered your prayers. Last month, a gracious lady from our church called and let us know that we could use her house while she would be gone on an extended trip to Peru. We have been here for about four weeks and have enjoyed getting settled in and having our own little place.

We are also grateful to God for his answer of prayer concerning our support level. This month we learned that a church that we visited during our partnership development trip in April will be supporting us financially. Also, in the past couple of months several individuals have come along side us in our ministry. This brings our support up to 68% of the approximately $2,900/month quota required to live and serve in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Frequently Asked Questions

When do you go to the field?

Many of you have asked us when we are planning to go to PNG. Our current departure date is set December of this year (2006). Our passports have already been stamped with our visas, so as far as the paper work is concerned we are ready to go! However, we have to reach 100% of our support quota before we will be released to leave for the field. We have been in contact with the Wycliffe personnel administration in PNG and they have let us know that we can come as soon as we reach 100%. We will not have to wait until December to leave if we reach our quota earlier. The remaining 32% of our quota represents about 1 to 2 more supporting churches and 12 to 15 more individuals or families that will partner with us in this life-changing ministry.

Will you pray about partnering with us so that together we can support the work of translating God’s precious Word into the heart language of the Bibleless people groups of Papua New Guinea? If you would like more information about our ministry or know someone who would, please download this response form and email it back to us.

(A presentation, earlier this year, of the 159 New Testaments completed in PNG during the last 50 years)
 

How can we pray for you?

You can pray for us as we have five (or less) busy months ahead of us before we go to PNG. Please pray for us as we continue our partnership development, speaking at churches and sharing about our ministry with individuals. Pray also as we begin to sort and pack the things we are going to take. We will be shipping some of our belongings to PNG before we leave and we will also take some things with us in our suitcases.

Kassia’s Korner

Kassia is eighteen months old now! Time goes by quickly. She runs around the house talking and playing all the time. She loves to swim in her kiddy pool and enjoys going to water parks during this hot Texas summer.

She has been speaking much more lately and we enjoy seeing her improvements. She can sing the ABC song and loves singing Jesus Loves Me in Spanish. She speaks quite a bit of English now and some words in Spanish. Kurt talks to her in English most of the time and I speak to her in Spanish. We want her to be at least bilingual as she grows up – she will probably learn Tok Pisin (Melanesian Pidgin) in PNG also!
 

Praise and Prayer

  • Praise God for the comfort and encouragement He has provided through many of you as we mourn the loss of our baby.
  • Praise God for providing a house for us to stay until we depart to go to the field.
  • Praise Him for providing a new church and new individuals to support us. Praise Him that we have reached 68% of our support quota to go to PNG!
  • Pray for us as we share in churches and with individuals about our ministry.
  • Pray that God will provide the 32% that we are lacking of our support quota.
  • Pray for us as we begin sorting and packing for our trip.

In His hands,

Johanna (for Kurt and Kassia too!)