-- July 2009 Metzger Update --

“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 10^th 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.

Please Pray:

• 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!

In Him,
Johanna (for Kurt, Kassia, and Luke) Metzger!

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-- April 2009 Update --

"For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ' Do not fear, I will help you.' (Isaiah 41:13 NASB)
Dear friends and family,
Happy Easter! He is risen! Thank you for being faithful as a very important part of our ministry here in Papua New Guinea (PNG). We pray for you and would like to pray for you more specifically. If you would like, please send us any prayer requests that you have.

(Luke with some friends in Madang PNG)
2009 has been a very busy year already. Kurt continues to work at the Communication and Technical Services Department. He has been training to support our network. In June, one of his colleges will go on furlough and Kurt will be supporting communications for over 160 translation teams and the many support people who are joining in the Bible translation task. CTS is responsible for the operation, support, security, maintenance, and upgrading of a medium-sized installation. There are over 200 corporate workstations spread out over the Ukarumpa Center connected by a local area network along with about 500 personal use computers. The mix and ages of the technologies can cause problems due to the shortage of computer personnel with appropriate knowledge. Corporate servers provide sophisticated services equivalent to those found in North America – email/calendar, SQL database, intranet, file, print and data backup/recovery. Because the Ukarumpa Center is located away from normal urban infrastructure, we operate our own Internet connection to supply email and Internet services to the Centre. There are over 800 user accounts on the system. Our Internet connection is severely limited and expensive due to our remote location.

(Kassia and Luke)
For the first three weeks of March, Kurt also helped part time as the Director’s Assistant for Security (DAS). During that time he was a part of peace talks that took place between two clans that live just outside of Ukarumpa. Thank you for praying for Kurt as he served as DAS.
SIL Papua New Guinea Branch Conference began on March 26^th and ran through April 8^th. Kurt and I (Johanna) attended conference every day (we had meetings from 8 to 12 and 1:30 to 4:30). In the afternoon we took turns to be at home with the kids. During conference we elected the Directorate and Executive Committee that will be serving our branch for the next two years. We also worked on developing a new comprehensive branch strategy that will help us to finish the task of Bible translation here in PNG. There are still more that 300 language groups that have need of adequate scriptures that speak to their hearts. Kassia attended Vacation Bible School each morning during conference. She memorized several Bible verses such as Romans 10:9 and Isaiah 41:13.

(Kassia and Luke)
Kurt and I are a support team for one of our translation couples. Dave and Sarah Troolin work in the Madang province of Papua New Guinea with the Sam people. While they were in the village in January, we were able to talk to them on the radio once a week to see how they were doing and how we could help them while they were away. We also were able to buy food for them from the store here in Ukarumpa and send it on a helicopter so that they could store the food in their house until their next village stay.  In March I was also able to help Sarah work on some primary school books that she was preparing for some teachers in the village.

(Dave and Sarah Troolin - children from left: Rebekah, Samuel, Matthew and Joanna)
He is risen indeed!
Johanna (for Kurt, Kassia, and Luke)
Praise:
-We always praise God for our faithful prayer partners and those who support us financially.
-For the opportunity that Kurt had in March to be DAS and help with Ukarumpa’s security.
-For the SIL PNG Branch Conference where we could work on developing a branch strategy.
-For Dave and Sarah Troolin’s work the with the Sam people in the Madang Province.
Prayer:
-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 our marriage to grow stronger in Christ each day.
-For wisdom, patience, and love in raising Kassia and Luke.

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-- Metzger's Year 2008 Reflections --

The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. {They} are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. - Lamentations 3:22-23 (NASB)
Dear Friends and Family,
We have seen God’s hand in many tangible ways this year, 2008.  Praise God for his faithfulness! Here are a few things that have happened where we were able to experience God’s unchanging character and love for us.
· Luke’s healthy delivery at the end of January in Australia and God’s provision to cover the costs.

(Luke is getting ready for his first Christmas)
· Safe and quick return of our new family of four to Papua New Guinea (PNG) in March to continue supporting the work of Bible Translation.
· The provision of a house that we moved into in June and where we can stay until we go on furlough. Thank you God!
· Slow but continual healing of Kurt’s knee which he injured in June. He was even able to enjoy coaching the Ukarumpa High School boys volleyball team from July to September.
· We were able to be involved with the 9^th grade Youth Group from July until December and will continue to do that next year.
· The opportunity that Kurt had in September to go with the more than 80 High School students from Ukarumpa to a 5 day Spiritual Retreat called Encounter. 19 students were baptized while at the retreat!
· The quick medical care Kassia was able to receive here in Ukarumpa and in Australia at the end of October when she fell and broke her arm. She had surgery in Australia where they placed 3 pins to hold her arm in place for one month!
· The financial provision for Kurt and Kassia to go back to Australia at the end of November to have the pins removed from her arm. Praise the Lord her arm healed quickly and there is now new bone where the bone was broken!

· At the end of December we will celebrate 2 years of serving in PNG!
· The joy that God has given throughout the whole year to Kurt while he works at the Communication and Technical Services Department through software support and computer repair. Thank you God for giving us the opportunity to be a part of the team that is bringing the written word of God to the Bibleless people of Papua New Guinea.
· The never ending provision and faithfulness of God for our ministry throughout the year through your prayers and financial support. Thank you!

(Kassia loves to hold her little brother Luke!)

· Many people received the New Testament in their heart language this year here in PNG for the very first time. What a privilege for us to be able to see the results of many years of work by many translators, support personnel, and partners in home countries. There were four New Testament dedications: Kuman, Ipili, Bimin, and Mape. There are about 950 languages spoken in Papua New Guinea. Other than the 3 national languages (Melanesian Pidgin, English, and Hiri Motu), Kuman is the language with the third highest population of speakers.

PNG Pastor - "For years now I have read to you from God's Word in Kiwai or Motu. I just read it; I didn't understand it. I thought that God's words were too hard for human minds to grasp. But then I read them in our own language, and they spoke to me. I could understand what God was saying! It isn't hard. God from Heaven wants to communicate with us!"
 
(Folopa New Testament; Bimin NT Dedication)
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.
In Him,
Johanna (for Kurt, Kassia, and Luke)

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-- November 2008 Update --

Dear Loves Ones,

Thank you for all of you who have been praying for Kassia’s arm. Thanks also for those of you who gave gifts for our extra expenses in taking care of Kassia when she broke her arm.  We have seen God’s hand of provision in every moment of our lives and especially during this time. We continue to trust in His faithfulness!

Yesterday Kurt and Kassia flew in the morning to Port Moresby (the capital of Papua New Guinea) and in the afternoon they will be flying to Cairns, Australia.  On Wednesday Kassia has an appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon who will check her arm and do an x-ray to see how her arm is healing.  Lord willing, on Thursday the doctor will do surgery and remove the “wires” that have been holding Kassia’s arm for a month.  Luke and I (Johanna) stayed here in Ukarumpa and will wait for them to return on Friday afternoon from Australia.

Kurt continues to enjoy his job at the Communications and Technical Services Department working at the Help Desk.   He has also been asked if it would be possible for him to help out in our security team here in Ukarumpa.  There is a group of men that have agreed to help and take turns being the Director’s Assistant for Security (DAS).  There is no one being the DAS full time right now, so our director has asked for help in this role. 

In our October Update I mentioned something about the possibility that came up for me to teach in the Mother Tongue Studies(MTS) program here in Ukarumpa.   I met with the Principal of the Primary School last month and we talked about this possibility and discussed some options.  In my other update I told you that I would be teaching children whose mother tongue is Spanish.  The principal explained to me that the purpose of the MTS program is to prepare children whose mother tongue is Spanish, to be able to go to school in their home country in Spanish. We came to the conclusion that at this time, there are no children here in Ukarumpa (except for Kassia and Luke) who will be studying in Spanish in their home countries. So, we have decided not to offer the MTS program in Spanish until we have more students that would qualify for it.

Thank you again for your faithful prayers and financial support that allow us to serve the Lord in Papua New Guinea. We truly could not be here without your part in our team!

Praise:

• We always praise God for our faithful prayer partners and those who support us financially.
• For the opportunity that Kurt has to be a part of the DAS team.
• For  the healing that Kassia has had in her arm already.

Pray:

• 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 wisdom for Kurt as he becomes a part of the DAS team.
• For Kassia’s surgery this Thursday to remove the “wires” from her arm.
• For continued healing of Kassia’s arm.

In His hands,

Johanna (for Kurt, Kassia, and Luke Metzger)

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God is good!

Dear Friends and Family,

We just wanted to let you know that Kassia and I (Kurt) are now back in Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea. We arrived Wednesday afternoon and are settling back in well, but are maybe just a little tired. Thank you so much for your prayers and support during this time. I cannot remember being anxious at any point during our medivac to Australia. I believe that God gave me a peace about the whole situation so I would be able to comfort and take care of Kassia.

Kassia is doing so much better now that she is back here in Ukarumpa with her friends and her mother and brother. She was so excited to come to be with them. Now that she is back, she is acting as if her arm is not broken. In one month’s time we return to Australia so that the wires holding Kassia’s bone together can be removed. Please pray for protection and healing for her arm during this month as she does not have a cast on (the doctor said it was not necessary). Thanks again.

Blessings,

Kurt for Kassia, Johanna and Luke too!

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Update on Kassia

Dear Friends and Family,

Thanks for praying for Kassia.  I have talked to Kurt throughout the day today and he was able to tell me what happened. He says that he and Kassia were taken to the hospital right away when they arrived in Cairns yesterday afternoon.  They waited in the hospital room until about 6 pm and then Kassia had surgery on her arm. The doctor said she had a very delicate fracture. Kurt says she was in surgery for about an hour and a half. They had to put some "wires" to hold her arm in place.

They think she might be able to leave the hospital tomorrow.  However, the doctor also said that Kassia needs to be in Cairns again to get the “wires” removed from her arm in a month.

Please pray for us to have wisdom at this time.  We want to glorify Him with the decision we make and we are thinking about two different options. The first option is for Kurt and Kassia to come back to Ukarumpa next week (if the doctor gives her permission to come back this soon). The second option for them to wait in Cairns for a month until they can remove the wires from her arm, and Luke and I would join them there. 

Pray also because Kassia continues to be in a lot of pain and does not want to take the medication to relieve it.  And finally pray for our finances during this time.

As always God is faithful in meeting all of our needs. This morning some friends from Cairns, offered Kurt and Kassia to stay at their house instead of staying at a hotel. Thank you Lord!!!

In His hands,

Johanna (for the Metzgers)

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