Trusting in the Providence of God

At the beginning of August we had hoped to be sending out a “leaving for Papua New Guinea” newsletter. When we got news that the final approval for our visas had come through, despite issues and delays in Port Moresby, we anticipated that we would have our passports back with visas in them within a week or two. So we bought tickets for August 30, and made all the travel arrangements for getting back to our home in PNG.

Now it looks like all that might have to be adjusted. Technical problems at the PNG embassy here in the USA are causing the physical issuance of our visas to be delayed, with no clear projection of when those issues might be cleared up.

Please do join us in prayer for the embassy staff, in what is likely a very frustrating and pressure-filled time for them. There are many people in need of visas beside us. We also ask for prayers for our family as we wait, not knowing what might be even a few days ahead. The World Missions office in Overland Park, KS, as well as our Human Resources office in PNG are both working on different parts of this problem, also with very large margins of uncertainty.

We want to be back in PNG working with our language team and colleagues, but only God knows when and how that will happen. We are learning once again what it means to trust, even when we cannot control the outcome.