May 2005 Update

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you so much for praying for us and supporting our ministry. We have many things to be thankful for this month! As always, God has been faithful. His character never changes and His love for us is unconditional.

God has provided enough for us to by our tickets to go to Colombia. We will be visiting my (Johanna’s) family and we also hope to be able to speak at Johanna’s home church. We will be leaving to Bogotá in July and will come back to Dallas in August. We are thrilled about our trip especially since Kassia will finally be able to meet my family!

In August we plan to travel to North Carolina. Our Intercultural Communications and Spiritual Discipleship Training courses start on August 15th, so we plan to be in Waxhaw, NC a few days before those courses begin. At the end of those two courses, Kurt will go through some computer technical training needed in preparation to serve in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The need for computer technical support at the Wycliffe center in PNG is great. We are constantly hearing about the shortages of personnel. Please pray with us that this need will be met.

We put our house up for sale less than two weeks ago, and several people have come to take a look at it. Please continue to pray for the sale of our home. We know that it will be sold in God’s perfect timing if that is His will!

My citizenship application has been re-filed and we are waiting on it to come through. We know that they are probably processing the application since the checks we sent in have been cleared! We would appreciate your prayers for that as well.

We are grateful to the Lord for his provisions. Our financial support is at approximately 15% right now and we know that God is the One touching people’s hearts to take part in His ministry! We need to reach 100% of our support quota before we can leave to PNG. We are hoping to leave sometime in mid 2006!

Johanna for Kurt and Kassia Metzger

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God Answers Prayers

Dear Friends and Family,

Praise God, He has answered our prayers! We had asked you to pray for the safe delivery of our baby. And Kassia Adriana was born January 4th, 2005 at 9:00 a.m. after approximately seven hours of labor! Kassia weighed 6 lb. 9oz. and was 19 ¾ inches long. Both Johanna and Kassia are doing really well. Johanna has been blessed by being able to stay at home with our daughter and she loves it. She is learning how to be a mommy!

Another prayer request from our last newsletter was for our assignment with Wycliffe. Recently, Johanna and I were officially asked by the Papua New Guinea Wycliffe Branch to fill support roles at the Ukarumpa Center in the eastern highlands. I will be serving in the Communications and Technical Services Department (CTS) and Johanna will serve at the mission school; focusing on Elementary education. God has given us a peace about His leading in this direction. We look forward to these wonderful new ministries!


Please continue to pray with us especially for Johanna’s application for US citizenship. We had an appointment for the final interview and test for her citizenship, April 11th, only to learn that she was not eligible at that time. We will have to re-file her application; however, we were told by INS officials that it should not take long for it to be processed. Pray that she will be able to receive her citizenship soon so that we can pursue our ministry overseas!

So What’s Next for Us?

Lord willing, from April to July:
We will be in Dallas where I will continue to work at Ace Engineering, but be available to visit churches and individuals interested in our future ministry.

We will pack up our house and get it ready to sell (we would like to see it sell before we leave for Colombia and Waxhaw this summer).

I will do preliminary software training specific to my Wycliffe assignment.

Johanna will sort though things to sell, store here in the US, or pack to go with us to PNG, correspond with our constituency, and continue to be a mom.

In July:
We will travel to Colombia to visit Johanna’s family, who have not met Kassia yet, and we hope to speak at Johanna’s home church in Bogotá.

From August through November:
Johanna and I will attend the Inter-cultural Communication and Spiritual Discipleship Training at Wycliffe’s JAARS Center in Waxhaw, NC.

I will receive computer hardware and software technical training at JAARS.

After Training in Waxhaw:
We will travel back to Dallas and apply for work permits and visas for Papua New Guinea.

We will also work to raise our financial and prayer support to 100% —a Wycliffe requirement— so that we can leave for the field.

Then, Lord willing, sometime in the summer of 2006…
Leave for Papua New Guinea!

What will we be doing in Papua New Guinea?

I have been assigned to work at the CTS (Communications and Technical Service) department, which has many functions; some of them include: maintenance of the HF (high frequency) radio network, which allows translators and their families in remote locations to communicate with the outside world; maintenance of the Ukarumpa center telephone network, which enables both on-center communication as well as e-mail, Internet and voice access with the outside world; maintenance of the center-wide LAN and business programs; computer helpdesk support and hardware repair—my primary function—which keeps the translation process rolling along smoothly. Parenthetically, prior to the advent of personal computers, the translation process would usually take more than 30 years but now that time has been cut in half. CTS also contributes to the maintenance of photocopiers, fax machines, solar equipment (for translation teams), printers and other electronic equipment.

Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea is Wycliffe’s center of operations for a country with more than 800 language groups and about half of those have yet to have a Bible translation completed in their language. You can imagine what would happen if there was a shortage of personnel in the CTS department! Well, there is a shortage and the situation has been described as “desperate.” Would you be willing to partner with us so that together we can see this need be met; so that “all the ends of the earth will fear Him”?

In His hands, Kurt (for Johanna and Kassia)

Praise God...
· for our official invitation to serve in Papua New Guinea.
· for wisdom and patience in raising Kassia so that she will serve God her whole life.
· for receiving a number of pledges for the financial support we will need to serve in Papua New Guinea. Each one counts!

Please pray with us...
· for the sale of our home in the coming months.
· for safety and provision for our trips to Colombia and training in Waxhaw, NC this summer.
· for God’s continued blessing in raising our prayer and financial support teams. We still have a long way to go to meet our field’s support quota.

- Please let us know how we can pray for you and your family. Also, let us know if you would like to receive regular email updates—write us a quick note or email us! We would love to hear from each and everyone of you!

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Here she is! Kassia Adrianna Metzger

Name – Kassia Adriana Metzger
Date and time of birth – January 4th, 2005 at 9:00 A.M.
Weight – 6 lbs 9 oz Length – 19 3/4 in

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Overwhelming Joy!

Dear Friends and Family,

We are writing today with our hearts overflowing with joy because of the work that God has been doing in our lives. We have very exciting news. God has been faithful above and beyond our expectations!

There’s a Bun in the Oven!?

First of all, we would like to announce that we are expecting our first child. We know this is one of God’s miracles and are thankful to Him for this precious gift to us. I am 35 weeks along in my pregnancy and am feeling great. Our baby is due at the end of December or early January.

The Journey Begins!

We also wanted to let all of you know that we have joined Wycliffe Bible Translators and will be serving as support personnel overseas. Lord willing, Kurt will be working in computer support and I will be teaching elementary students. We are thrilled to be a part of what God is doing through Bible translation all around the world for those who have never heard the good news.

In June we were at Wycliffe’s Orientation Training Camp in Orlando, FL for two weeks. I had an extra week of training in July for my Education Orientation as a teacher. We treasured our time in Orlando. We learned so much!

The task . . .

The Word of God simply does not exist for an estimated 300 million people on this earth. It’s never been translated into the languages they speak.

Wycliffe translators live among the Bibleless peoples of the world, learning their languages, translating the Scriptures and encouraging a body of believers.

Bible translation is not just Wycliffe’s task though — it’s the task of the whole church. It’s a team effort — Wycliffe, working in partnership with the church, brings God’s Word to those who are still waiting.

Kurt and my part...

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1).

As Paul wrote in Romans, worship involves sacrifice. Sometimes it involves giving up our desires for His. We want to be a ‘living sacrifice’ in His Kingdom work.

At Wycliffe, we know that becoming involved in Bible translation is a sacrifice. We view it as an opportunity to worship, an opportunity to give ourselves to God by participating as support personnel in His work!

Why Bible Translation...

“Would that this one book were in every language, in every land, before the eyes, and ears and hearts of all men!” — Martin Luther

“God’s Word is the foundation: vital to evangelism, essential to discipleship, critical to church growth, and its impact is eternal. The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue. It never needs furlough, is never considered a foreigner, and makes all other missionaries unnecessary.” — William Cameron

So were do we go from here?

I will be teaching this fall until our baby is born while Kurt will continue to work at his current job. Then early next year we will transition into full time ministry, looking for God’s will in where to take an assignment overseas. Papua New Guinea is one option where the need for our skills is great. We would like to leave as soon as I receive my U.S. citizenship and we raise 100% of our monthly financial support.

In His hands,
Johanna for Kurt, and baby!

Praise God...
· For the life of our unborn baby.
· We have made our final payment for Kurt’s school loans.
· For His provisions for us while we transition from our current jobs to full time work with Wycliffe.
· For allowing us the opportunity to serve Him with Wycliffe.
Please pray with us...
· For continued health for both Johanna and our baby.
· For wisdom and discernment as we decide where God would have us take an assignment.
· For strength and patience as we continue at our current jobs.
· For the sale of home early next year.
· As we apply for Johanna’s US citizenship.

How can we pray for you? Please let us know!

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Pictures of Papua New Guinea

kahunapulej's pictures of PNG
View full screen on Flickr

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Send a package

Here are instructions on how to send us a package from the U.S. to Papua New Guinea (we borrowed the outline of these instructions from some friends of ours – Ryan and Crystal Pennington). Hopefully it will answer all your questions, but feel free to ask if you would like any more help. To do that, email us: {Kurt and Johanna}. Also, if you learn any other tricks or if you’re asked to do something that we haven’t listed here, let us know so that we can include those in these instructions also!
Our mailing address is:

Kurt and Johanna Metzger
SIL Box 1 (161)
Ukarumpa EHP 444
Papua New Guinea

Letters

For small items that can just fit inside a letter-sized parcel, it should be fairly straight forward to just go to the counter and pay the correct postage to get it here.

Flat Rate Boxes through USPS:

USPS Flat rate boxes are probably the easiest and most economical way to send packages to PNG as you can pack up to a certain amount of weight in a box for a set price. For a list of boxes and prices you can visit USPS’s Website. You can also save a few bucks by printing your own postage for the flat rate boxes {Print Flat Rate Postage}. However, you can send any box you would like.

Customs Form:

You will have to fill out a customs form with the package at the Post Office. Each Post Office seems to require different forms and levels of detail on those forms. The one we have had success with is a white form (Form 2976-A) with carbon copies. You will have to list out the items you are sending, so I would recommend writing out a separate list of what you packed and taking it with you so you aren’t left guessing at the PO. Here are some tips on how to list things that you are sending:

• Food items should be listed as “culinary items”.
• If you send any kind of media (CD’s, DVDs, etc..), list it as “entertainment media” or something along those lines. It will be less likely to be confiscated this way.
• Group similar things under one heading (i.e., don’t list out all of the medicines individually, just label them “medical supplies” and write a quantity).
• General descriptions are fine, you don’t have to be super specific (although some Post Offices might be more demanding in this regard).
• Some Post Offices are more strict than others. It’s possible they will ask you to list individual weights next to each item. In that case, you should be able to just put down estimates that add up to the total weight of the box.

Other information for the Customs Form:

• All overseas mail is now airmail; you don’t have the option of sending by sea (rf. #6 on Form 2976-A)
• Check the box for “Gift” on the customs form to describe the contents (rf. #5 on Form 2976-A)

Other Tips

• Please pack any food items extra well, as rats often can get to it before we can, especially if it ends up sitting in a hangar or Post Office somewhere for awhile.
• Regardless of how fast you pay to have it shipped, there is no guarantee it gets here in that time frame. It will probably hit PNG shores in that amount of time, but once it is in country, who knows how long it takes! Packages tend to take 3-6 weeks to get to us. All that to say, please don’t spend extra money trying to get it here super fast!

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