May 2006 Update

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for praying for us as we were traveling during the month of April. Also, we want to thank those of you who have partnered with us financially. We had a wonderful trip and the Lord opened many doors for our ministry. Let me tell you a little about our itinerary!

We first visited Western Springs Baptist Church near Chicago, Illinois on Sunday April 9th. Monday the 10th we met with the church’s missions committee and had a successful meeting. Tuesday the 11th we traveled to Indianapolis, Indiana. On Wednesday night we spoke to the Franklin Road Baptist Church Senior High youth group and had a great time sharing with them about missions. Friday April 14th we traveled to Kalamazoo, Michigan and spent Easter weekend with Kurt’s older brother Eric and family who live there. Tuesday April 18th we went to Northern Michigan to a little town called Hale. Through some friends from our home church here in Dallas, God provided for us a beautiful log cottage to spend the week. Sunday April 23rd we spoke to the congregation at Hale Baptist Church about our ministry. Then finally on Monday April 24th we began our trip back to Dallas and arrived here in Desoto, TX in the afternoon of Wednesday April 26th.

Kassia with friends (Dave and Judy Wagner) in Western Springs, Illinois

Kassia with her cousin Stein in Kalamazoo, Michigan

We are also grateful for those of you who remembered to pray for Kassia during our trip. She did great most of the time and really enjoyed getting to meet new people and make new friends. In Chicago we were able to go to the Brookfield Zoo and she absolutely loved that! Of course on our way back to Dallas, after being in the car for 3 days, 8 hours each day, she was ready to get back home!

Kassia sleeping in the car with her bunny!

As you know, we were prayerfully hoping and preparing to go to the Pacific Orientation Course (POC) in Papua New Guinea (PNG) this August. Well, we had a little surprise come along our way. We recently found out that we are expecting our second child! We were very surprised because we were not planning on having a baby right now, but God has a perfect plan for us and we rest assured in knowing that to Him this was not a surprise! We know this little one is a gift and a blessing from our Father and we are greatly thankful for that.

We wrote to the Director’s Assistant for Personnel in PNG and after she spoke with the Assistant Director they have given us some advice knowing our current situation. First, they suggest that we stay here in Dallas until we have our child so that we can be at home near friends and family. They think that we will be able to travel to PNG when the baby is two months old (our pediatrician has said this is a good time also) and will have had his/her first round of immunizations. That means we would possibly be arriving in PNG sometime in March of 2007. We will first go to Ukarumpa, Wycliffe’s center of operations, where we will be living. There, Kurt will begin working in the Communication and Technical Services department until August of 2007, Lord willing, when we will attend the Pacific Orientation Course in Madang, PNG.

We know that the Lord’s plan for us is better then anything we ourselves could plan and we are grateful that being able to stay here for a little longer will allow us to be close to Kurt’s mom as she learns to live with lung cancer. We are also still lacking about 50% of our monthly financial support, but we know that God will provide the remainder in His perfect timing.

Finally, we would like to let you know that because of our change in plans we are looking for a house to rent from August of 2006 until March of 2007. If you know of anyone that is renting a house here in Dallas (South Dallas, Cedar Hill, Duncanville and South Grand Prairie area), please let us know. We would greatly appreciate any information regarding this matter.

Kassia on Easter Sunday!

Thank you again for praying for us and please let us know specifically how we can pray for you!

In His precious hands,
Johanna (for Kurt, Kassia, and baby Metzger!)

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April 2006 Update

Dear Loved Ones,

Praise God for His sovereignty and faithfulness in our lives. We recently found out that Kurt’s mom has lung cancer. She was in the hospital for a week but is now back at home. We thank God for taking care of her! She will be starting chemotherapy this week. Please pray for her as she begins her treatment.

Kassia and Grammy (Kurt's mom) looking at the flowers

We would like to thank all of you for praying for us and encouraging us so faithfully. Also thanks for those of you who are supporting us financially. You are so important to us! We feel such gratitude to the Lord for the way He touches hearts to be a part of this ministry. Please let us know how we can pray for you!

As you all know, we are prayerfully hoping to go to the Pacific Orientation Course (POC) that Wycliffe offers in Papua New Guinea (PNG) this August. After the fourteen week course, we will travel to Ukarumpa, Wycliffe’s center of operations in PNG where we will be working as support personnel for Bible translation. Kurt will be working with the Communication and Technical Services Department helping with computer hardware repair. We are truly excited about this opportunity!

In December, Kurt applied for his work permit to be able to work in PNG. In March the work permit was granted and for that we are very thankful. We are currently working on gathering and filling out the required paperwork for our visas so that we will be able to travel in August. We were notified this morning that our visas have already been granted. Now all we have to do is submit the paperwork required for obtaining the visas.

Papua New Guinea (red dot is approximate location of Ukarumpa)

This Friday we will be leaving on a partnership development trip. We will be visiting and speaking at several churches in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. We will be gone through the end of April. Please pray for us during this time. Pray specifically so that God will touch the hearts of those who He wants to partner with us. Also pray for Kassia during the trip as she will need to adjust to a different routine and will most likely not get the same amount of rest as she is used to getting.

In the next several months we need to raise our financial support level to 100% of the approximately $2,900 per month quota that Wycliffe has calculated we will need to live and minister effectively in Papua New Guinea. We will not be released to take a full time assignment unless we are assured of that amount. The following two graphs show where this money will be used and our current support level.

Will you pray about partnering with us so that the 500+ Bibleless people groups of Papua New Guinea will soon have God’s precious Word in their heart language?

Now a few words from Kassia…

Kassia’s Korner

I would like to announce that I am walking now! I began walking when I was 14 months (about two weeks ago). Today I turned 15 months old. I love reading my books, playing with “papa” and “mama”, playing with my toys, but most of all I love playing outside on the swing set! Today while “mama” was at the ladies bible study, I spent some time on the playground with the people from our church’s nursery. While I was outside I ate some sand…funny ha? I love sticking pretty much anything into my mouth, yummy!

In Him,

Johanna (for Kurt and Kassia)

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February 2006 Update

Dear friends and family,

We are back in Dallas after spending three whole weeks in Colombia with my family. Kassia had a great time getting acquainted with her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was hard to leave them, but I think it was harder for them to see Kassia leaving!


(In front of my parent’s house in Bogota with some of my extended family)

We now have our quota for living in Papua New Guinea (PNG), a figure less than what we needed to live here in the US! As a result, now we are at 45% of what we need for PNG instead of 30%. Praise God for this!

God is always faithful. He has provided Kurt with caring and understanding employers. Recently Kurt’s employer allowed him to have one day a week to work on developing our financial support.

We had mentioned earlier that I needed to have my wisdom teeth removed. Well, while we were in Colombia I was able to have that surgery done at a fraction of what it would have cost us in the U.S. I had hardly any pain after the surgery and just a bit of swelling for a few days. Now I am back to normal!

During our time in Colombia we were able spend one week with my brother-in-law, a marine biologist at the beautiful fish hatchery where he works. Kurt was also able to visit Lomalinda, the place where he was born and spent most of his first 18 years of life. We thank God for this time of rest and wonderful family memories!


(Above the fish hatchery)

During our time in Colombia we celebrated Kassia’s 1st Birthday! It is hard to believe that a whole year has already gone by. We thank God for the beautiful gift He has given us in her! She is happy to walk around holding on to daddy or mommy’s hands. She also loves crawling around and getting into everything. She has recently begun trying to sing “Happy Birthday to you”. We love her. We pray that she will be able to trust Christ as her savior at an early age.



(Kassia taking a tub bath and celebrating her first birthday in Colombia)

We want to let you know that you are continual source of joy and encouragement to us as you so faithfully pray and stand with us financially. Let us know how we can lift you up in prayer. Please continue to pray for us. Lord willing we are planning to attend the August Pacific Orientation Course in PNG. Pray that the Lord will go before us and provide for our partnership development. We know that all of this will be done in His perfect timing and in His perfect will.

In Him,

Johanna (for Kurt and Kassia)

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Kassia's first Birthday (in the US)

Kassia with Grandma Metzger


Kassia next to her cake (made by Grandma Metzger)


Kassia with Aunt Miriam and Cousin Julianne



Kassia with Aunt Miriam

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November - December 2005

Dear Loves Ones,

We are finally back in Texas after being gone for three months. We are glad to be back and we have been able to visit with many of you already! Our first month away from Texas was spent in Colombia visiting my (Johanna’s) family. In August and September, with your support, we were able to attend a Spiritual Discipleship (SD) course and an Intercultural Communications Course (ICC) in Waxhaw, North Carolina! The last two weeks in NC Kurt attended orientation for computer hardware repair and language software that is being used by translators. These three training courses were required for us before we can go overseas.

During our four week ICC we learned much about conflict resolution, forgiveness, culture, and language acquisition, and more. I know God wanted us to attend those courses so that He could show us areas in our lives in which where He wants to mold and make us more like Christ. It has been exciting and challenging to be able to apply what we learned in those courses in our lives today!

(Kassia in her crib)

How can we pray for you?

We are greatly thankful to God for placing each one of you in our lives. Your love and words of encouragement are such a blessing to us!

Please email or call us and let us know specifically how we can lift you up in prayer. We would love to know how we can intercede for you and minister to you just as you have ministered to us. Thank you again for the impact you have had and continue to have in our family!

(Kassia with 3 of her 12 cousins and her Metzger grandparents)

Frequently Asked Questions: a) What are we doing now?

Now that we are back in Dallas, we are focusing on building our team of prayer and financial partnership development. Wycliffe has practical formulas they use to calculate what it will cost us to live and minister effectively. For us it will be about $2,814 a month, and we need to be assured of that amount before we will be released to go to a full-time assignment. I know that sounds like a lot of money and it is, but it is based on what Wycliffe believes we need to be involved in ministry full time. This includes Social Security and Income taxes, Wycliffe’s administrative fees, health insurance, housing, common ministry expenses, retirement savings, tithing and living expenses to name a few. We know that God will provide for our needs in His timing and we thank Him for those he has already brought along side us in our ministry. Currently we are receiving 30% of our monthly quota. Please prayerfully consider what part God may want you to play in our ministry together.

We are also in the process of applying for a work permit that will allow us to get visas to live and work in Papua New Guinea. This process usually takes at least six months. In the meantime, Kurt has been able to return to his job to work part time while we work on raising our prayer and financial support team. We thank God that Kurt has been blessed with an employer that has allowed him to work on and off around our work with Wycliffe, knowing that eventually he will be quitting for good!

Kassia and I are enjoying our time together at home. We have been blessed by being able to stay at a missionary house that a gracious family at our church owns. I have enjoy writing our newsletters and corresponding with our partners. I have also been attending a ladies Bible study on Tuesday mornings and have also been mentoring a young girl from our youth group. God continues to teach me many things through ministering to others!

(Kassia with her red hat)

b) How Long Will We Be in Dallas?

Lord willing, we will be here in Dallas until next August. When we arrive in Papua New Guinea, we must attend the Pacific Orientation Course (POC). It is offered twice a year, in January and August. We would like to be able to be there for the August of 2006 session.

c) Can You Help?

YES! First of all you can pray for us. Thank you for lifting us up in the name of Jesus Christ. We are also trying to fill our calendar with speaking engagements. We are excited to share our desire to see God’s Word brought to those who have still never heard it in their heart language. We would love to share in Bible studies, Sunday school classes, church services, AWANA meetings, Life Groups, and so on. Please let us know if you want to hear about the work we will be involved in or are interested becoming a part of our team!

Always in His precious hands,
Johanna for Kurt and Kassia too!

Praise God...
· for raising up faithful partners to support us both in prayer and financially.
· for Johanna’s US citizenship.
· that we are at 30 % of the monthly financial support that Wycliffe requires before releasing us to take a full-time assignment.
· for His faithfulness in providing for us to go to Colombia at the end of the year.
Please pray with us...
· for our ministry here at our church and with friends and co-workers.
· for a strong team that will pray for us and support us.
· because we still have a long way to go to meet our field’s support quota.

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September 2005 Update

Dear friends and family,

The last time Kurt wrote you in July, Kassia and I were in Colombia and he was getting ready to meet us there. We had an amazing time with family and friends while in Colombia. My parents and my sisters with their respective families met Kassia for the first time! As you can imagine, they were thrilled to see her and very sad when we had to say good bye. God is so good to us. He is good all the time!

While in Bogotá, we were able to visit the church where I grew up. We had the opportunity to give a presentation and share what God has been doing in our lives and how He is shaping us and molding us for what He has in store for us. We had a wonderful time and the church staff was able to pray for us and to commend us to the ministry.

(Speaking at Johanna’s home church in Bogotá)

We took a couple of trips during the time we were in Colombia. We were able to travel to Cartagena (which is on the North coast of the country) and spent 5 days there with one of my sisters and her family. It was really fun for Kassia to go to the beach and play with the sand! At first she was a little scared of the waves, but later on her daddy showed her how it was possible to play with the sand and in the waves and from then on she loved our trips to the beach. Our last weekend in Colombia, we were able to travel three hours away from Bogotá and spent those days with my entire family. There were 17 of us total, because one of my brothers-in-law could not be present because he was preaching at church that Sunday!

(Johanna with her parents, three sisters and all the grand children in Bogotá)

(Kassia with her Penaloza grandparents in Bogotá)

We flew back from Bogotá to DFW and were in Dallas for two days. Then we began our journey to Waxhaw North Carolina! We have been here almost four weeks now and are truly enjoying this time. Our first week here we took a Spiritual Discipleship (SD) course and are now attending an Intercultural Communications Course (ICC). In the SD course we covered who we are in Christ, breaking strongholds, and most importantly worship and intimacy with God. During ICC we have covered quite a few topics ranging from relating to nationals and those in authority over us to language leaning and adapting to other cultures. We have learned many things, but above all we can recognize that God is stretching us and molding us to become more like Him! We praise Him for this time of training and for the facilitators that He has placed in our classes and their wisdom and care for us. What a mighty God we serve!

(Our ICC class at the JAARS center in Waxhaw, NC)

After ICC is over, Kurt will be going through some technical training specific to his work in computer services in Papua New Guinea. When that is done, we will head back to Dallas and we are looking forward to seeing many of you at this time! We miss our church, family and friends, but we thank God for this time of learning and growth.

Praise God:

• For travel safety and financial provision for our trips to Colombia and North Carolina (NC).
• For the time we were able to spend in Colombia with family and friends.
• For the opportunity we had to share about our ministry at Johanna’s home church in Bogotá.
• For the training we are receiving in NC that will prepare us to be better equipped when we go to Papua New Guinea.
• For the increase of our financial support to 25% of the quota Wycliffe requires us to obtain prior to leaving for Papua New Guinea.

Please pray with us:

• For travel mercies as we return to Dallas sometime in October.
• For wisdom as we speak in churches and share about our ministry.
• For God’s continued blessing in raising our prayer and financial support team.
• For God to give us wisdom and patience in raising Kassia.

Always in His precious hands,
Johanna for Kurt and Kassia Metzger

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