April 2007 Update - We're back!

Dear Loved Ones,

We are back from village living and are enjoying our last days here at the Pacific Orientation Course (POC). Thank you so very much for all your prayers, words of encouragement, and financial support during this time.

We left for the village on March 9th to live there for five weeks. We had a wonderful wasfamili (literally translated - watch family) who cared for us and watched over us all the time. Our waspapa “watch father” Tamanik and his wife Moinas have nine children: seven girls and two boys. I (Johanna) got to know some of our was “watch” sisters quite well since they helped me wash dishes, do laundry, and even showed me where to bathe while we were in the village. Kurt got to know our waspapa too since they spent a fair amount of time together.

(Johanna with wasmama “watch mother” preparing food picked from their gardens & Kurt next to waspapa “watch father” with the bow and arrow used to kill the pig being cooked in the background)

As you might remember, we mentioned in our last email update that Kurt got sick during our three day hike, about seven weeks ago. Well, apparently his sickness faded for a week while we were here at POC before going into village living and then it returned our first Sunday in the village. His symptoms included a very sore throat, pain in his stomach, lack of energy and sore swollen lymph nodes. After two weeks in the village his symptoms intensified and by that time I had to watch Kassia and do all the village living assignments and work with little help from him since he was so tired and sleeping much of the day. The nurse from POC came to the village and decided it would be better to take Kurt into town to check with the doctor and see what was happening. Various blood tests were run and the doctor concluded that Kurt had some type of mono (mononucleosis) virus.

After the doctor's diagnosis and talking and praying with the POC directors and staff, we decided it would be better for our family to come out of the village for a while until Kurt regained some strength. We came back to the POC campus and Kurt rested and slept quite a bit during our time here. We also were able to receive tutoring in Tok Pisin for two hours a day by one of the Papua New Guinean ladies who works at POC, which was a real help for us.

(Kassia with friends in the village looking at pictures of our families)

God has been so faithful to us during this entire time and we praise Him for that. Kurt began to feel better and we were able to go back to the village and spend 4 days there before we were picked up with all the other POC students from their village allocations. It was an answer to prayer to be able to go back to the village and get closure of our time there.

On Tuesday, April 17th we will be going to Ukarumpa, the missionary community where we will be living for the next three years. There Kurt will be working at the Communication and Technical Services Department doing computer primarily hardware repair. We are very excited to go to Ukarumpa and get settled into a house and a routine. At the same time we thank God for the 14 weeks we have had here at POC and all the things that we have learned about the people in Papua New Guinea.

When we get to Ukarumpa we will try to send an update of how we are settling into our new life there and the many things we learned and experienced in the village. Thanks again for all your prayers and letters. We could not have done village living and gone through Kurt's illness without you praying for us. Please continue to pray for Kurt as he completely recuperates from this sickness and for our family as we make yet another transition. Thank you so much for praying for Kassia as she has done exceptionally well through all the transitions we have been going through… thank you Lord.

(Kassia posing for a picture)

In His hands,

Johanna for Kurt and Kassia and Kassia too!

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March 2007 Update

“Olsem na yupela i no ken tingting tumas long tomora. De tumora em i ken tingting long samting bilong em yet. Hevi bilong wanpela de em inap long dispela tasol.” – Matyu 6:34 (Buk Baibel) Matthew 6:34 (Tok Pisin Bible)

Wednesday, March 7, 2005

Dear Friends and Loved Ones,

We find it hard to believe that we have been in Papua New Guinea for the last two months. Time has truly passed by quickly as we have been learning and doing many different things. God has blessed us in many ways during this time of training.

We have been praying for you and we would love to know how we could better pray for you. Please let us know how you and your family are doing.

Our days here at the Pacific Orientation Course (POC) are filled as we have classes from 8AM to 12PM and 2PM to 4PM each day. Our classes include subjects such as: Tok Pisin (language learning), Spiritual Vitality, Anthropology, Cultural Adaptation, Medical Care, Conflict Resolution, and Physical Endurance (hikes and swimming).

(POC students and staff)

Both Kurt and I (Johanna) have done distance swimming and have gone on many different hikes through the jungle near by. Last week we went on the three day survey hike. We chose a very sweet family that is in training with us to watch Kassia while we were gone on the hike. We hiked for two days and stayed in two villages where we had to do basic surveys of their language and culture. The experience was incredible and the people we stayed with unforgettable. Unfortunately, Kurt got sick with some type of virus on our second day of hiking. In the evening after radioing the nurse here at the orientation site, she decided that it would be better if Kurt was brought back to the orientation site to spend the night and recuperate. He had a high fever and chills as we were picked up at the village. We were sad to say goodbye to the people in the village and to the group that we had been hiking with for the previous two days. We really wanted to hike with them on the last day, however it was a blessing for Kurt to be able to have a good night sleep and to rest and recuperate. The rest of the hiking group joined us at the orientation site the next day around midday.

(On our 3 day survey hike with a family in the village)

POC is a total of fourteen weeks of training. The first eight weeks are for learning the language and culture of Papua New Guinea. Now, we have completed these eight weeks and the next phase of the course begins when we will go to a village and live there for five weeks. Each family here at the course will go to a different village in order for them to be able to concentrate on learning the language and culture without having other English speakers around. After the five weeks of village living is over, we will return to the POC site and have a week of debriefing before we go to Ukarumpa. This is the missionary base where Kurt will be working in the Communication and Technical Services Department.

(The village house we will be staying in for the next five weeks)

This coming Friday March 9^th, we will be leaving the POC site and going to our five week village living site. God has been faithful above and beyond our expectations and has been revealing himself to us during this time. Please pray for us as we are in the village. Pray for protection and good health during our time there. Also pray that we will be able to get to know the people in the village and be able to establish lasting relationships with them. Pray also that we would be able to learn Tok Pisin well so that we can better communicate with the people we will serve and work with.

During the next five weeks (starting Friday March 9^th) we will not have email access. We will try to send an update when we get back to let you know how this time went.

(Kassia with the guard dog Herman)

Thank you so much for your prayers, financial support, and encouragement. We truly could not do this with you.

In His hands,

Johanna (for Kurt and Kassia too!)

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In Papua New Guinea

Dear Friends and Family,

We just wanted to write a quick note and let you know that we arrived in Madang, Papua New Guinea (PNG) safely. Thank you so much for your prayers. Our trip went well after the first day and we felt that God was with us every step of the way. We were supposed to leave Saturday, December 30^th but the flight we were to leave on was canceled. We were rebooked on the flight the following day, but we were going to miss our connecting flight in Singapore which only makes the trip twice a week. We called Air Niugini in PNG and they were able to rebook us on the next flight. In Japan while we were running to make the connecting flight, I left my jacket with all our passports at a security check point and did not even realize that we had left it until a security agent caught up with us downstairs. Praise God for that!

Madang will be our home for then next 15 weeks as we learn the language and culture so that we can better serve and minister to the people of PNG. We will make every effort to update you with our progress as our time here continues.

Blessings,

Kurt for Johanna and Kassia too!

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Colombia is Passion

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December 2006 Update

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. - Micah 6:8

Dear Friends and Family,

We are in awe of what God has been doing in our lives in the last month. What an awesome God we serve! We thank Him for His constant provision and faithfulness.

We asked you to pray for us as we spoke to individuals and churches about our ministry. This last month we were able to speak at a church here in the Dallas area and we had a great time worshiping there. The Lord touched the hearts of individuals in that church and some of them have joined our partnership team. Thanks for praying for that!

(Kurt and I sharing about our ministry at my home church in Bogotá, Colombia in October)

WHEN DO WE GO TO PAPUA NEW GUINEA (PNG)?

At the end of November we were able to buy our tickets to go to Papua New Guinea (PNG). Lord willing, we will be leaving Dallas on December 30^th and arriving in PNG on January 2^nd, 2007. We will have an overnight stay in Singapore. Some gracious friends from our church offered accommodations for us at a hotel in Singapore near to the airport. Thank God for friends!

ABOUT OUR SUPPORT

We had also asked you to pray for our support, as we wanted to go to PNG with 100% of the quota that Wycliffe requires for us to live there. Well, God has answered your prayers and we can now say that we have been pledged 100% of our support. Praise God for His constant care for us! It is a blessing for us to be able to go to PNG knowing that we are fully supported.

(We leave for PNG December 30^th, Praise God for all He has done!)

THANK YOU!!!

Thanks to all of you who have prayed so faithfully for our ministry and for our upcoming trip. God has answered each one of your prayers in His timing and in His way. Thank you also to those of you who are supporting us financially so that we can live in PNG. And thanks to those who have given us special gifts that have allowed us to buy our tickets and ship our belongings overseas. We could not serve the Lord in PNG if we did not have partners like you!

PLEASE PRAY

Please continue to pray for us as we prepare to go to PNG. We are packing the things we will need for the 14 week orientation course. Please pray that we will take everything we need and that we will leave things that we can buy there.

Pray also for Kassia and for the plane ride. We will go from Minneapolis Saint Paul to Narita, Japan (12+ hour flight). Our next flight will take us from Japan to Singapore (7+ hours). Then we will fly from Singapore to Port Moresby, the capital of PNG (5 hour flight). And finally we will go from Port Moresby to Madang where our orientation course will take place.

Pray for us as we say goodbye. It is very exciting to go to PNG but at the same time it is sad to say goodbye to friends and family here in Dallas. We will greatly miss our church, family, and friends! However, it is a blessing for us to be a part of what God is doing in Papua New Guinea!

In His hands,

Johanna (for Kurt and Kassia)

 

(Pictures from left to right: Kassia eating nuggets with “salsa”; Kassia in her winter jacket with Papá)

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November 2006 Update

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. – 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)

Dear Loved Ones,

Thank you for praying for us as we were in Colombia visiting my (Johanna’s) friends and family. Thanks also for praying for our financial support. We have seen God’s hand in a very tangible way during this last month. We also would like to know how we can pray for you as well.

OUR TRIP TO COLOMBIA

We had a wonderful time during our trip. We were able to visit my home church in Bogota during their Missions month and were able to share about our ministry on several occasions. We spoke in the two morning services one Sunday; and during the week we spoke to the College group, the Young Adults, the Men’s Group, and the Missions Group. We were also invited to speak one Sunday at my home church’s sister church in Bogota. My father also organized three different home groups at his house. Praise God for all the opportunities He gave us to share about our ministry!

My family was thrilled to have Kassia with them. God opened the door for us to be able to visit my oldest sister Patricia in Ibague, my sister Olga in Bogota, and my sister Adriana in Medellin. Kassia had great fun with her two great grandmothers, her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. It was also a special time to pray with my family and to say goodbye to them as we will not be seeing them for the next three years while we are in Papua New Guinea (PNG) for our first term.

(Pictures from left to right: Kassia with her grandma Fanny; Kassia with her cousins Juan Pablo and Valeria; Kassia playing)

WHEN DO WE GO TO PAPUA NEW GUINEA (PNG)?

We have been cleared by our Wycliffe personnel administrator to buy our tickets to PNG. Once again, praise God for His answer of prayer and His confirmation that it is time for us to go to the mission field. We are in the process of buying our tickets right now. We want to leave in late December or early January since the Pacific Orientation Course (POC) starts in January of 2007.

POC is a course that will be fourteen weeks long. During the first nine weeks we will be living in Madang, which is located on the North coast of PNG. In those first nine weeks we will be learning the trade language (Tok Pisin) and learning about the culture. During the last five weeks we will be sent to a village where our family will be the only family that speaks English. There we will have to put into practice what we learned during the first nine weeks of POC. In April 2007, after POC is over, we will be heading up to Ukarumpa where Wycliffe has its main center in PNG. That is where we will be living and where Kurt will be serving in the Communication and Technical Services Department.

ABOUT OUR SUPPORT

We have been blessed to see how God works in miraculous ways with the gifts that are given to Him, no matter what size those gifts may be. We thank Him for allowing us to be a part of His awesome miracles! We would like to thank the many of you who have so faithfully given to us either by supporting us monthly or by your special gifts that will allow us to travel to PNG. Right now we can say with great joy that we have received pledges for 90% of the monthly support quota that Wycliffe requires for us to receive while we live and serve in PNG. We are only lacking about $310/month in pledges! Praise God for His faithfulness and everlasting provision!

PLEASE PRAY

Pray for us as we continue our partnership development, speaking at churches and sharing about our ministry with individuals. Pray that through these speaking engagements God will raise up more people that will pray for us and that will support us financially. Please pray that we will reach 100% of our quota so that we can leave for PNG in late December or early January!

Furthermore, pray that God will prepare us for the training we will be receiving in January. Pray that we will be able to pack everything we need before we leave and that we will also have time to spend with friends and family here in Dallas as we say goodbye to them.

In His hands,

Johanna (for Kurt and Kassia too!)

(Pictures from left to right: Kassia with her aunt Adriana and cousin Valeria; Kassia getting ready to got to bed in Bogota)

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