“I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you, will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. “ Philippians 1: 3-7
Dear Loved Ones,
I (Johanna) am writing with a heart full of gratitude to God and to you our partners. God is faithful and His goodness is beyond measure. We truly don’t deserve anything, and yet He gives abundantly. Thank you God!
Since May Kurt has been working to support the network services part of CTS (Communication and Technical Services). At the beginning of June, he helped prepare for and install a new 3.7 meter satellite dish that will improve communications for the Ukarumpa center. The new connection is about to go online. He continues to help translators and support personnel with computer hardware and software issues but enjoys this new aspect of his job and continues to learn new things.
(New VSAT; Kurt, Kassia, and Luke sitting on the rocking chair)
Kassia will start pre-Kindergarten this Friday and she is counting the days until the beginning of school. We visited her new classroom on Monday and she had a lot of fun looking at all the centers that she will learn in. She will attend school three mornings a week and the other two mornings we will work on “Spanish School” at home. She can now read two syllable words in Spanish and knows all her letters and letter sounds.
(Kassia playing with her doll)
Luke will be 18 months old next week and is finally beginning to walk. It is exciting to see him taking more steps now and learning to talk. He can say many words now including: hi, bye, ciao, shoe, banana, mama, papa, Kassia (sounds like cha-cha), etc.
(Luke eating homemade pizza!)
This semester, Kurt and I will continue to help the youth here in Ukarumpa specifically being the youth group leaders for the 10th graders. We look forward to getting together with these kids, as we have been working with them for over two years now!
I praise God for the opportunity I will have this semester to help out in the Primary School, assisting in the 3 year old pre-school class. I look forward to using my skills as a teacher to support the missionary kids in Ukarumpa.
I thank God for the opportunity I had to go on a Ladies Retreat called “Come Before Winter” from June 1st through the 5th. It took place in Madang, which is a town on the coast of PNG, and all I had to pay for was the transport to get there. I was truly blessed spiritually and physically. Madang is a beautiful place and I was able to go snorkeling and swimming, which I don’t get to do here in Ukarumpa. We meditated on Psalm 103 all week and I came back with much that I had learned. We serve a great God!
(Johanna and her friend Heidi at the Ladies Retreat in Madang)
In the last three years we have been asking God to show us His will for our family. We have asked the Lord specifically if we should stay here in Papua New Guinea or not. Kurt and I have felt a peace about staying here long term. God has provided a house that we were able to buy at the beginning of July. This is really a big answer to prayer and we can see that God is confirming our commitment to serve here in Papua New Guinea. This house will give us more stability as a family. We will not have to move as often and will have a place to return from our home assignments to. Since we arrived in January of 2007, we have moved 4 times.
(The front of our new house!)
Praise the Lord with us:
Johanna (for Kurt, Kassia, and Luke) Metzger!
Dear Loved Ones,
I (Johanna) am writing with a heart full of gratitude to God and to you our partners. God is faithful and His goodness is beyond measure. We truly don’t deserve anything, and yet He gives abundantly. Thank you God!
Since May Kurt has been working to support the network services part of CTS (Communication and Technical Services). At the beginning of June, he helped prepare for and install a new 3.7 meter satellite dish that will improve communications for the Ukarumpa center. The new connection is about to go online. He continues to help translators and support personnel with computer hardware and software issues but enjoys this new aspect of his job and continues to learn new things.
(New VSAT; Kurt, Kassia, and Luke sitting on the rocking chair)
Kassia will start pre-Kindergarten this Friday and she is counting the days until the beginning of school. We visited her new classroom on Monday and she had a lot of fun looking at all the centers that she will learn in. She will attend school three mornings a week and the other two mornings we will work on “Spanish School” at home. She can now read two syllable words in Spanish and knows all her letters and letter sounds.
(Kassia playing with her doll)
Luke will be 18 months old next week and is finally beginning to walk. It is exciting to see him taking more steps now and learning to talk. He can say many words now including: hi, bye, ciao, shoe, banana, mama, papa, Kassia (sounds like cha-cha), etc.
(Luke eating homemade pizza!)
This semester, Kurt and I will continue to help the youth here in Ukarumpa specifically being the youth group leaders for the 10th graders. We look forward to getting together with these kids, as we have been working with them for over two years now!
I praise God for the opportunity I will have this semester to help out in the Primary School, assisting in the 3 year old pre-school class. I look forward to using my skills as a teacher to support the missionary kids in Ukarumpa.
I thank God for the opportunity I had to go on a Ladies Retreat called “Come Before Winter” from June 1st through the 5th. It took place in Madang, which is a town on the coast of PNG, and all I had to pay for was the transport to get there. I was truly blessed spiritually and physically. Madang is a beautiful place and I was able to go snorkeling and swimming, which I don’t get to do here in Ukarumpa. We meditated on Psalm 103 all week and I came back with much that I had learned. We serve a great God!
(Johanna and her friend Heidi at the Ladies Retreat in Madang)
In the last three years we have been asking God to show us His will for our family. We have asked the Lord specifically if we should stay here in Papua New Guinea or not. Kurt and I have felt a peace about staying here long term. God has provided a house that we were able to buy at the beginning of July. This is really a big answer to prayer and we can see that God is confirming our commitment to serve here in Papua New Guinea. This house will give us more stability as a family. We will not have to move as often and will have a place to return from our home assignments to. Since we arrived in January of 2007, we have moved 4 times.
(The front of our new house!)
Praise the Lord with us:
- For the home that God provided for us to buy!
- We always praise God for you who faithfully partner with us in prayer and financially.
- For Kurt’s work here in Ukarumpa and the opportunity he has to help those who are translating the Bible into the many different languages of Papua New Guinea.
- For Kassia’s school and her friends here in Ukarumpa.
- For our relationship with the Lord to become deeper and stronger and that we can be an example to our PNG friends and coworkers.
- For Kurt to have wisdom in his new network administration role at the CTS.
- For wisdom, patience, and love in raising Kassia and Luke.
- For our marriage to grow stronger in Christ each day.
- What a great God we serve. To Him be the Honor and Glory forever! Thank you for allowing us to serve Him here in Papua New Guinea!
Johanna (for Kurt, Kassia, and Luke) Metzger!
