March 2022

Moments keep happening and I’ve compiled a few of them here for you.

I’ll start with a really proud moment that I got to witness: God working in the heart of a sweet little girl.

Every month our mission center holds Morning in Prayer. True to its name, it’s a time that the community comes together and prays for anything and everything, in the morning. The format varies, but there’s often a sharing time at the end so you can share what the Lord has put on your heart if you would like to do so. There are rarely kids there, because they are in class at the time, but I had the opportunity to take Millie with me this month. She was the only kid there with close to 100 adults. During the sharing time at the end, I could tell that she was on the edge of her seat and that God was calling her to move. My intuition was less spiritual than that may sound; Millie was literally standing up and then back down repeatedly in her spot next to me. I leaned in and whispered to her “You should go.” She asked me, “Can I?” wanting to know if she was allowed to. A few more seconds passed and I whispered to her “You are the bravest person I know.” Then God gave her the courage and she walked to the front where the microphone towered above her head. Our Director, David, kindly helped her with the microphone and then gently encouraged her through her initial stage fright. Millie then went on to tell everyone about how God helped her have the courage to share about Jesus with one of her friends who accepted Him into her heart. That was a moment that changed her life, and she wanted to now share about Jesus with more people.

I praise our Heavenly Father who is working so powerfully in this 9 year old girl, and that He his given her a fearlessness that many an adult (including myself for sure) would love to have. I’m so proud of the young lady that she is becoming :)

The man that I’m sitting with above is Ephraim, and just that he is here is a miracle from the Lord. The fact that he can use his hand and the motion looks completely normal is another miracle from the Lord. We have known him for years and he has cut the grass at our house for many of those.

I struggle with what to share of his story. To tell the whole truth of it isn’t appropriate to share here. However, trying to summarize what he’s been through into a few family friendly lines also doesn’t seem appropriate. Eleven months ago he was attacked at a funeral for one of his family members and he barely got away with his life—mostly due to jealousy, which is a very tangible thing in our area. Since that time, Ephraim has been both hiding and in the hospital. He has more wounds than just his arm and hand. He has been through numerous surgeries to get him to where he is today. This was the first time that I had been with him since the attack and it was beautiful to hear him talk about all the ways that God has preserved his life and limbs. He is thankful and sharing it! Please pray for his continued recovery and for his safety.

Now here are some stories on the light-hearted side :)

Banner and I went to a “survival” birthday camp out for one of his good friends. Along with camping out in the rain (which was pretty much expected this time of year), we tried to make fire “from scratch” using various methods, and we cooked a chicken on a spit over an open fire. We failed at trying to make fire without the use of technology, however my friend Matt mentioned that fact to some of our CAM guys and he made this awesome video where Kevin makes it look so easy. Now you too can make fire at home if you have some coconut husk and bamboo. And yes, that’s me cackling in the background. Matt and I both tried this method as well and we wore our hands out before the fire ever happened. All of our CAM guys got a good laugh out of that!

And lastly, I’ll finish with some random work pics:

Part of the CAM Dept. here in Ukarumpa is our Agriculture program. The short story there is that we have cattle for beef and dairy products to support Bible translation here in PNG. Hans, our “Dutch Cowboy”, is always networking and recently had the opportunity to share some of our chocolate milk with the Prime Minister of PNG, James Marape (at a dedication where our team had installed solar power at a hospital).

Nori and I illustrate how chocolate milk sales went through the roof after getting the PM’s unofficial endorsement.

It’s always been difficult to get machine parts here, and even more difficult to ship and receive anything since COVID. Here’s a great example of a track loader part that we pushed too far. My co-worker, Todd, holds up the old part next to the new one that we just received. The piece of metal on the right is the exact same part as the one on the left—well, what’s left of it anyway.

And Nonte, as usual, bringing joy to just about every aspect of work :)

And lastly (for real this time), I’ll link to a couple of our videos from last year. A few of you said that you didn’t get them, so here they are. There were a couple more too, so if you didn’t get those either, check your spam folder and/or reach out to us via email.

Thanks so much! John, Kristi, Nori, Banner, and Millie

July 2021

Well, it took a little bit of coaxing (Thanks rising 5th graders at Trinity Evangelical Church!), but here are the kids! Thanks everyone for your continued prayers and support. We also are having ever changing restrictions and it has been much harder for missionaries to come and go for over a year now, but we are here to testify that God is still working. He is indeed on His throne!

Enjoy!

March 2021

As a bonus, here are a few pics from the book parade at the primary campus and the rain devastation lately.

God is Good! John & Kristi

Can you find astronaut Millie?

This is essentially the watering hole that all of our mission center draws our water from besides what we catch off our roofs. This landslide broke the pipe :(

To give you an idea, this is the kind of rain that we are talking about. This is usually a road, not a river.

Starting 2021!

We are trying something new—we hope that you enjoy seeing our faces! If you have trouble seeing the video or if you liked the format, or didn’t, or want to send us some questions to answer, please let us know :) Maybe we can coerce the children to join us in the future.

Another excuse to share a beautiful photo… One of the hats I’m currently wearing is that of Fire Chief. It has been unseasonably dry recently which means that we are seeing a rise in bush fires. My coworker, Andrew, got this aerial photo from one of the fires we had to attend to this week (black section in the centre). Never a dull moment here! Please pray for rain.

September 2020

We are here to testify that God is indeed moving and working in the midst of these uncertain times. Our seemingly dwindling community here has taken much encouragement from Judges 7 lately and what God can do with less. I’m not going to do a devotional for you now (you should go read it yourself!), but I will share verse 2 which packs quite a punch: “The Lord said to Gideon, ‘You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength.’”

I praise the Lord for directing us to humility, and working in ways that only He can take credit for. I feel like I had one such moment this week. The Construction and Maintenance (CAM) department is the largest in Ukarumpa (around 60 Papua New Guineans), and inside that my Maintenance Section is the largest segment (12 men, plus me). As a section, we start out every Monday morning in prayer together. Usually this consists of me probing the guys for testimonies (or even stories) from the weekend, and then Nonte (section foreman) assigns topics to each man to pray for and we pray all at one time. PNG Highlands men are not known for being conversationalists and any time together is typically a stoic event at best. Every once in a while, there’s a breakthrough though and Monday was one of those. I asked the guys about what the Lord did over the weekend and more than half of the guys were eager to share—some multiple times! A couple of the guys shared about their time in jail and how the Lord used that to bring them to where they are today. I had no idea! God is working behind the scenes—Believe it!

I am praising the Lord for what He has done, what He is doing, and for what’s next. Please pray for Nonte, James, Poi, Oko, Aron, David, Willie, Tama, Marcus, Terrance, Perry, and Regi. And for all the other CAM guys that are hearing the Word of the Lord here and taking it out across this valley to some very dark places. Those 12 guys represent no less than 6 different languages and they can be disciples to many. Please pray that they will have the courage to speak out for the Lord and be leaders in their families and communities.

Pics above: Due to COVID maybe making it here someday soon, Nonte and I (and others) have done a lot of work in our market area recently. Hundreds of people from the surrounding area stream through here weekly and keeping everyone healthy has become paramount. This has included new fencing to direct traffic past new hand washing stations, more tables to space people out further, and the new market sign which Nonte and I had just installed in the pictures above. The taller guy is Biwan, the sign painter, who did all of the lettering by hand! The verse is from Psalm 104 in Tok Pisin.

Picture above: For the safety of the kids, my crew just removed 7 massive trees at the primary school campus. Six of them were eucalyptus trees that were 120-150 ft. tall. God blessed us with safety for all involved!

Nori and I have ventured into beekeeping recently. One of the other beekeepers here, Paul, got a request to remove a hive that set up camp in a wall behind a toilet in the Men’s Dorm at the Training Center. We were happy to help! The middle picture below is what Paul did with the bees. Now they are in an observation hive in the 4th grade classroom. They are so fascinating to watch and learn about!

And of course, there’s Banner and Millie having fun for you.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support. We thank God for you every day!

Much Love,

John, Kristi, Nori, Banner, & Millie

August 2019

August has snuck up on us as we have been recovering from jet lag, completing house projects, and hunting rats! We are mostly settled back into our home now… still washing the mold off of everything, but down to the last few boxes left to be unpacked. Thankfully we are now rid of all the rats, and just diving back into friendships, school, and work.

Nori has really loved going to school so far, and we have enjoyed hearing her stories of learning to navigate this new world. Please keep praying for her, as we know this kind of transition can take time and will have many ups and downs.

Some fairly big news to report is that John has been given a new assignment here in Ukarumpa. It won’t be replacing his role in the Construction and Maintenance department, but will be in addition to it. For the time being, he will also be managing the facilities and PNG staff at the Ukarumpa Training Center. Also known as the Pacific Institute of Languages, Arts, and Translation (or PILAT), the Ukarumpa Training Center is dedicated to training Papua New Guineans for Bible translation, literacy and other language development work.  You can check out more about PILAT here: http://pngtraining.sil.ac.pg/

Please pray for John as he straddles two departments and engages many more relationships.

Our biggest concern for prayer though is that our community has just suffered a great loss.

The day before school started, the father of one of Nori’s best friends collapsed and died while playing soccer with many from our community. This Papua New Guinean was a kind godly man who served faithfully in our Aviation department for many years. Death is a part of all our lives but somehow it always seems just a little more in our face here. Please pray for Hadassa and her family (she has 5 siblings); please pray that God meets them in a powerful and comforting way as only He can through such loss. Please pray for Nori as she leans into loving her friend.

Somewhere close to the start of our first term here another godly PNG man died leaving heartache on our center, and shortly after that his daughter joined my community group (she was just starting 7th grade at the time). I am now leading the 6th grade girls (Nori’s class) and Hadassa is walking through this most painful of times. Needless to say, I’m feeling inadequate for the the task that He has called me to.

Thank you for your prayers! please let us know how we can be praying for you too!

 Kristi for John and the kiddos

July 2018

Thank you to all of you who continue to pray for Papua New Guinea and for our work and life here. The past couple weeks have probably been the hardest for me (John) since we have been here. Today I am going to bury a friend and coworker, Delbert Yuta. Delbert worked in the CAM department as a Joinery carpenter as long as I have been here, although I think that he started not long before we came. He was 23 years old, and had already shown himself to be a spiritual leader. He led the other Joinery guys in prayer every morning and the joy he had in the Lord beamed through the smile that he always had for whomever he greeted. His smile was contagious. I’m honored that God gave me the opportunity to be his manager for a period and to work alongside him many times. Delbert gave his life to protect his father—his actions saved his father’s life.

Please pray for Delbert’s wife and young daughter. Please pray for his mother and his father, Yuta, who still has serious injuries that are healing but in danger of infection. Please pray for their community in Onamuna where the church is strong and the spiritual warfare is frequent and sometimes fatal.

Please also pray for Lemeck and his wife. He is another close friend and CAM coworker that lives in the Onamuna community. Lemeck and Delbert grew up together and were close friends. Delbert’s death comes on the heels of Lemeck losing his second child in less than 2 years. Please pray that the Lord will comfort them and uphold them in the midst of this agonizing grief.

Please pray for us as we walk through these times with our PNG friends. Death seems to be more frequent here, or at least more present in everyday life; it can really weigh you down at times. Pray for God’s grace and love to guide our way through the brokenness of this world, and that He will give us the right words when we need them or the wisdom to sit silently. Thanks for praying with us through the hard times as well as the joyous times.

We look forward to seeing you in America this Winter!

John, Kristi, Nori, Banner, and Millie

Obert, Delbert, and Brendon at the Joinery together earlier this year.

May 2018

This month we are celebrating our 3 year anniversary of arriving in PNG. God has been faithful is His mercy and care for us here, and we marvel at how much he has has let us be a part of and work on since our arrival. The words of this Jason Upton song encompass where I feel our hearts are resting.

“ It’s a holy thing to be wild and free

When I seek You, I’m going to find You.

There is no higher praise than to trust You”

- by the way if you have never listened to Jason Upton, you really should check him out;)

The last time we wrote we were filling you in on all the AMAZING things God was up to with our different ministries here in PNG. This month we thought we would take a minute to update you on whats going on for each of us. 

John will be going to a funeral today for the young daughter of one of his friends and coworkers, Lemech. Please be praying for Lemech, his wife Mara, and the rest of their family as they try to navigate this most painful event. John gave Lemech and his family a ride into Kainantu just last week and Lemech's daughter sat next to him—it's been particularly hard to understand. John has also been pretty sick this past month. We praise God that he was healthy and well for the whole youth mission trip, and that we got to enjoy the Easter sunrise service as a family before his malaria decided to make another showing. This round lasted a little longer that normal, and then he got sick again with a nasty intestinal bug. Please keep praying that he can stay well. It’s pretty frustrating for him to deal with his bodies limitations when he has so much work to do. He isn't wired to just sit around and rest, so that's a challenge :) 

Kristi has been busy triple time it seems lately. She is still homeschooling the kids, running the household, and working with the 8 grade youth… but now she is also getting Nori ready for transitioning into school in a few months here at the primary campus, preparing our home and all the paperwork etc needed for us to go on furlough in November (we just bought tickets and we fly out Nov 29th), and getting all the details together for the 9 months we will be stateside. Please pray for her resilience and time management. Pray that she will not miss any details needed to be attended to, but that she will also be able to stop and be present with the kids and the community here.

Nori is beside herself with nerves and excitement over going to school in July and then getting to go see her friends and family in November. She is constantly talking about one or the other :) Please pray for her to transition well, and to be a good friend to those she is leaving and to those she is seeing for the first time in a while. We are really praying for her friendships this year—that God will give her deep friendships here in her class, and that God will be the glue that helps her step back into friendships she has been missing so dearly back in the states.

Banner: this kid has our Biggest and best news. John got the privilege of baptizing Banner in the Ba'e River here. I know even with all the crazy things we have going on this year, it will remain a highlight for us all! Please be praying for him and his walk with Christ. Pray that his hunger for that relationship continues to grow by leaps and bounds, and that Banner can remember that in the mist of living a life that is constantly changing there is one thing that stays steadfast… and that is our Father’s Love and presence in his life.

Millie is going to be 6 this month… she turned 3 the week we moved here! Its really hard to view her as 6 years old, she is still a sweet little baby who wouldn’t talk or walk for ages… but now i think she moves, talks and sings, more than the other two combined! That girl is 100% from sun up to sun down! Pray for her in this next year of her life; there will be a lot of firsts for her, like 1st grade, first international flight (as far as she remembers), and first memories of America (that's right, she has pretty much no memory of coming here, or life before PNG). Leaving the only place she knows as home for 9 months will be a hard transition for this gal.

We miss you all and love you! please write us back and let us know whats going on with you :)

John, Kristi and the Craig kids

Here's a video of Banner's baptism for you. One of the best parts was when Nori ran into the water and joyously hugged Banner afterwards. For the sake of a little bit of internet privacy for this special moment, the video password is "river"

Password is “river”

February 2018

We wanted to share some good news with all of you back home in the USA…we are currently scheduling our 9 month furlough and we hope to be back in North Carolina at the start of December this year! I know 10 months away might seem like a far off date to announce our trip, or even start planning, but there are so many details. Sometimes they can take even a year to get lined up properly… like finding a car to drive, a house to live in, renewing drivers licenses, planning trips to our churches and partners and plenty of paperwork. And that list doesn’t even include the random details like the fact that we will show up in the middle of winter from a tropical climate with nothing warm to wear!

One thing that we are working to line up now is housing. We are currently planning to be at JAARS in Waxhaw, NC for the majority of our furlough. However, we would love to be closer to Charlotte if possible—closer to family, friends, and church. We would be needing a home to live in that will hold our family of five for two different windows of time: Jan-March 2019, and June-July 2019. So if you or someone you know might have a house that we could stay in for some of or all of those times, let’s talk!

So what are furloughs anyway? Furloughs are meant to accomplish a few things:

1. We get to spend time with YOU! It will be so joy filling to get to spend time with all of you at home. We want lots of coffee dates, play dates, nights of laughter around the fire, and hugs (loads of them)!

2. A time of spiritual filling. We will have not sat in a church worshiping or hearing sermons in our own language and culture for 3.5 years (we are so thankful for Church at Charlotte podcasts!). Furlough is a season of soul filling, to sustain us for another term in PNG.

3. REST. We love our life in Papua New Guinea—we are wild about the people and the land into which God has called us to pour out our lives… But it’s just that, we are pouring out. When we get back to the US, we look forward to plenty of rest so that we can come back healthy and ready to do it all again (John can take meds to finally get rid of the malaria that’s lying dormant in his body, but frequently pops up). We haven’t gone on a vacation, or a proper date even, the whole time we have been here… so we just need some time to rejuvenate.

4. Partnership development. There are plenty of life and budget changes that can happen in 3 plus years, so we will be traveling around and sharing about God’s work here in PNG and praying that God provides again for our next chapter here. We will have to be at 100% of the ministry budget that Wycliffe sets for us before we come back to PNG at the end of Summer 2019.

There is still so much to do this year before we return, and we are excited to see some of the new and cool ways God is really working here in this valley (even more on that next month). Please keep praying for us as we strive to finish our work this term well. Pray that God will provide someone that can pick up John’s work while we are on furlough. Please pray that God provides the right plane tickets at the right time and price. And as always, let us know how we can pray for you better this month to come:)

Thank you, thank you, thank you! We just want to send a major shout out to God’s provision through the many of you who have so generously blessed us in abundance—even more these past few months. We have been floored by the outpouring of generosity through special gifts and even increasing monthly partnerships! Thank you! We could not serve PNG without your faith in God's work here.

Maybe you know someone who has a heart for world missions and wants all people to have a chance to hear God’s word in their own language. Maybe you know someone (or your church) who is interested in learning more about our Wycliffe ministry here in Papua New Guinea and would like to get involved.

Send me an email and we'll talk! :) OR send them to our website (www.liveforGodandlive.com) via sharing this prayer update with them.

We love you and miss you but rejoice in knowing we will be in the same time zone this calendar year!

Much love and blessings to you and your families!

John, Kristi and the 3 wild ones (Nori, Banner, Millie)

November 2017

They say that after 2 years on the field, people back in your home country start to forget about you. They say that your first term on the field will be the hardest and your loneliest. However, all of your emails, Facebook messages, Skype calls, and packages of small reminders from Home tell me this is not true.

Thanks to you all, we don’t feel forgotten or alone (I mean, really, I homeschool 3 kids, I’m never alone). I will be the first to admit that I am not great at communicating well with people in front of me—let alone around the world. I think about and pray for you back home way more that I reach out and write. I like to think you do the same. And when we do catch up, we just jump in with both feet. Yes, we have been broken-hearted over missing walking through life with you side by side. There are funerals of dear friends’ parents we have missed, so many births (and first years of life) we have not been a part of, and the holidays—those magical times of memory making that we won’t ever get back. But just because life marches on, no matter where God tells us home is for now, doesn’t mean we forget each other.

This is true for us, but we know it’s not true for everyone serving Christ overseas; so we wanted to take a moment before life gets even more busy and full this season to tell you THANKS! Thank you for the prayers. Thank you for talking about us when you see something that reminds you of something we once said. Thank you for your words of encouragement—written out or voiced in a message. Thank you for sending us cards, magazines, and (especially) bacon. On that note, thanks for spending $15 for candy and then multiplying that by 3 or 4 just to ship it! Thank you for believing in what God has us doing here, and for partnering with our ministry financially to do it, even though it means you are sending us away. Thanks to all of you that we know give sacrificially and give up things that you love so that we can serve here. Thank you for all these things and a million others, it’s because of these things that our hearts are still tethered to one another… and cannot be forgotten.

We hope this holiday season will be a blessing to you, your family, and community. We pray that you get to experience an even greater measure of God’s goodness and glory. We pray you are stirred by the Spirit to live life with open hands to the One who sent His Son so we could have Life. We hope this season holds you remembering us, those crazy people who live in Papua New Guinea, a place that many of you never thought of before all this, but just the same holds a family who speaks your name in fondness. 

As this year transitions into yet another, here are some ways you can continue to be our village (Pray, Give, Go):

1. PRAY PRAY PRAY. Sometimes we don’t even know what to ask for in our prayers, but God does and he hears. Please just continue to lift us up to the Protector and Provider of all things.

2. We are still under 65% of the budget that Wycliffe has set for us to work and live here. Please tell your friends about us! You all have friends and churches that may be interested in world missions, but don’t know where to dig in. Please feel free to share our story with them and see what the Lord does. Thanks for being our advocates in the places we can’t reach! Please prayerfully consider giving an end of year gift if you are able. 

Here is our ministry page link to use or share https://www.wycliffe.org/partner/thefamilycraig

3. Come and visit us. There is more than enough work for us all. If you are interested in a visit, a short ministry opportunity, or something even longer (!!!). We would be overjoyed to help organize that with you!

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!

Much Love,

The Family Craig (John, Kristi, Nori, Banner, & Millie)

September 2017

I know that we have asked you to pray for our friend Steven Pikus quite a few times since we have been here, but we thought that we might take this month to tell you a little more about him so that you can pray for him a little more personally.

We met Steven during our Pacific Orientation Course (POC) at the Training Center shortly after we arrived here in Ukarumpa (well over 2 years ago now—wow!). He was there as a student also, taking the Translators’ Training Course 1 (TTC1, which is the first of 4 TTC courses), which trains Papua New Guineans to learn how to translate the Bible into their own mother tongue. Of course, we didn’t meet in class though, because what God has equipped him to do is way over my head—our friendship started with a frisbee. Even though we challenged each other to stand as far apart as our arms could throw, God managed to bring us close.

We ran into Steven a couple times after POC which turned into one lunch, then another, then a standing Tuesday time of fellowship. At that time he had just started as a Bible translator for his tok ples (think talk place, or your local language. Literally, how they talk in a certain place), Gadsup. He was working only two days a week at the time as a Bible translator. This was partly because his village is more than a 2 hour walk from Ukarumpa (your math is right, that’s more than 4 hours round trip!), and partly because it’s volunteer work for him.

It was more than a year ago that Steven told me over our Tuesday lunch time that he was reading his Bible over the weekend and that God was telling him to step out in faith and give his Bible translation work everything. He had talked about it with his wife, Tina, and his parents (who would also help care for his garden, their sustenance); he was going from two days a week to five days a week! That’s more than 20 hours of walking every week to meet with three other Gadsup translators in a cubicle on our center and translate God’s Word so that his family, friends, and neighbors can know the Lord as he does. It was a burden and a calling that he could not deny.

All the walking amazes me, but Steven never mentions it. In fact, whenever I give him money and tell him to catch a PMV (Public Motor Vehicle, usually a big open bed truck from Steven’s village), I’m pretty sure that he walks anyway and saves the money for his family. That’s his bigger concern, trusting God to provide for his family while he’s doing translation work and not garden work. Even that burden though, he doesn’t bring to me, but I believe that he’s laid it wholly at the Lord’s feet.

Thanks to you all, we take Steven grocery shopping once or twice a month, or whenever we feel God tugging at as for some reason. Steven is always humbled and overly thankful to receive the blessing even after all the time that we have known him now. I just keep telling him that it’s not from us, but from the Lord and all the people that God has moved to keep us working here in Papua New Guinea.

So Steven made a comment to me this last week which is probably why I’m writing all of this to you now. He is currently in a five-week long Hebrew course at the Training Center. He studies non-stop during the week and lives at the Training Center, and then goes home to see his family over the weekend. We (yes, that includes you!) had sent some groceries home with him one Friday. The next time that I saw him, he didn’t just say “thanks for the food”; he said “Thanks so much, because of what you did I can be here fully and not worry about my family.” When Steven is at work, he can whole-heartedly give himself to translating Scripture and trust God with the rest. I wanted you all to hear that, because that is what God is doing through your prayers and support.

Steven teaching me how to roast coffee beans over an open fire.

Making repairs at church

On that note, please be praying for Steven Pikus, his wife Tina, and their four kids, Ian, Victoria, Lovelynn, and Miracle. Pray for their health, safety, and provision. Pray for him, Pastor Kennet, and their other 2 Gadsup translators (and probably numerous others that they consult with for their work). A Gadsup New Testament was completed decades ago (to my knowledge) and they are currently working to translate the Old Testament. Pray for this Hebrew course that he is in now and that he would be able to learn and use all that he can from it. Pray for his safety as he travels every day for the glory of God and expansion of His kingdom.

And to quote a good friend, I have to also say for myself, “Thanks so much, because of what you [do] I can be here fully and not worry about my family.” Thanks for making a way for us to serve the people here in Papua New Guinea!

Serving Together,

John, Kristi, Nori, Banner, and Millie

Steven (far right) and his Hebrew class leading a Hebrew song at the monthly Morning in Prayer.

August 2017

August is upon us, and I actually got to buy an apple in the store today! It was shipped in from Australia, and was a bit small, but it was an apple none the less. This lovely fruit we take for granted in America is a luxury here, and just getting to share one with the kids brought me home to NC thinking how apple harvesting is about to begin… now if we could only find a way to get grapes and peaches here we would be set… oh and blackberries… and maybe some plums while we’re at it… ok needless to say we will be gorging ourselves on fruit when we hit the states! Missionaries think about the food they miss from home often. I fear that if you listened to us when some craving that struck us, that we might sound like the stereotype of a pregnant woman craving pickles and ice-cream. Please don’t get me started talking about sushi… or Mexican food!

Anyways, I thought I should update you on some of our prayer requests from last month since they were many.

• The elections here are over, but still they are surely at the top of this list. Tensions from the supporters of the various candidates are high and we have already been experiencing some effects from that here. We want you to know that we are safe and just ask you to please continue to pray for this nation and the people here we have been called to come serve and love. Below is SIL’s official statement about what is going on.

As PNG National Election results have been announced, there have been pockets of civil unrest break out in various parts of the country. Concerns about potential unrest in the Aiyura Valley have caused some SIL paid staff to remain in their home villages.  Their absence from work hasresulted in some Ukarumpa department closures. As a proactive security measure, a decision was made on Sunday night to close today's centre market.  On advice from the Police, the market willremain closed for the remainder of the week. The SIL-PNG Directorate and Security staff are continuing to monitor the Valley situation to determine if additional security measures are necessary. Please pray with us that God will enable a peaceful transition to the new government, at local and National levels.

P.S.- for those of you that don’t know or don’t remember, SIL (Summer Institute of Linguistics) is the Wycliffe entity that we officially work with here in PNG.

• Lice… ahhh we thought we got them all and were clear for a whole 3 weeks, but alas we found more on Saturday on all 3 kids :( Just pray they all die, that’s all.
• School is going GREAT! The kids are loving this year, especially science, we are studying the human body. Please pray that they just keep eating it up, as it is such a blessing to my heart that they love it so much.
• John is feeling much better. After his last bout of malaria, he got this chest cold that knocked him off his feet. He is up and running full steam ahead again, and we know your prayers were such a help with his recovery. Thank you!
• Please be praying for the 3 new guys (Ete, Maricus, and Lloyd) that John just hired to join his crew in the Maintenance Section at CAM. Mostly pray that they will be accepted well by the other guys and that work will transition well for all. Blood (family) runs really thick here and John may have to pacify many upset guys, just because he didn’t hire somebody from their village. Similarly, these new guys will be seen and treated as outsiders for a while–regardless of whether they are doing a good job or not.
• As much as John builds and fixes stuff around here so that the Bible translators can do what they do, his major ministry has really become discipling his work guys at CAM. Please pray for God’s wisdom for him as he walks through some of the most bizarre relational situations on a daily basis.
• We are still about $4,000.00 short for our solar project. Still praying God will provide the rest of the funds needed to complete this build as it really would help out our monthly budget greatly long term. Thank you again to those of you who have jumped on board with helping us with this!
• After reviewing our ministry budget with a fine tooth comb with our Wycliffe financial advisor, we have our new numbers in. We are currently $1,823 short of what we need to live here each month. We simply ask you to join us in praying for God to provide.  I will just reiterate what we said last month:
  • Pray that God will surprise us with new partners to help support our work here.
  • We ask that you too prayerfully consider raising the amount you support us monthly.
  • And please pray that God guards our hearts from discouragement–that we will keep our hope in Him and continue to trust in His generous provisions, even when things seem daunting.

Here is the link to our ministry page if you want to share what we are doing with someone:

www.liveforGodandlive.com

Thank you, thank you, thank you for praying along side of us!
John and Kristi (and Nori, Banner, & Millie)

P.S. please keep your prayer requests coming… we love praying for you too.

July 2017

School's out for Winter (it's "Winter" here, a.k.a. dry season), schools out forever! For most of the families here in Ukarumpa that is the song ringing out across the mountains—but not for the Craig kids. We are entering our 3rd month of our new school year, and going strong. I now have them all at home and the juggling act has gotten harder with a 4th, 2nd, and kindergartener in the mix. You might be wondering why we are starting so early; why we are moving full steam ahead. Well, it's because everything here takes so much more time and planning, you have to constantly be looking to the future while also staying focused on the present.

Next September (2018) we are planning to go on furlough. It will take at the very least one crazy month to pack and prepare our home here for us to be gone, and then a month or so to settle into a routine in the States. That puts us loosing 3 months of valuable school time next year. So the plan is to start early now, so that two years from now we can finish right on time, even with taking a break for transitioning.

I find that I tend to thrive in this kind of environment—as God created me to be a planner and organizer at heart. I find it invigorating to live in a place that people have to be planning all the time, it's truly is a beautiful thing :) But the better part of it really is that it's just another opportunity for us to lay our lives at God's feet and surrender control. Plans change, life happens, and that's where His glory shines. And that is a huge statement of surrender for a planner, LOL!

So for prayer this month, please pray first for the future of PNG. Elections just happened at the very end of June and we are currently waiting for the results. Pray that God defeats the deceiver and raises up God-fearing people to lead PNG through this next term.

Pray for Kristi and the kids as we are still navigating how this new school year will work. Pray that they will be patent and kind with each other as they learn. As much as I want them to absorb the knowledge from our formal teachings, even more I want them to learn how to speak kindly, love mercy, and walk humbly before the Lord. Pray that each day God will gain a larger part of their hearts.

Pray against lice!!!! We can’t seem to rid our family of it, lately. There are Super Lice here (yeah, I made that up), and they laugh at me as I put things on the kids' hair to smother and kill them. We have combed and blow-dried the hair; we have washed the bedding and sun baked it, and we have sprayed the house, but still they keep popping up! I have even taken to flat ironing the kids hair every day. Maybe a few weeks of that will fry anything still hiding in there. Pray we eradicate lice from our lives, it really makes me want to cry (drying bedding outside across multiple days of rain is impossible!).

Pray for John’s work; they have lost some people and for the next two weeks, John will be the head of all Construction and Maintenance. Pray that God sends more people to help serve in that department. Pray that John has the energy to finish and oversee all the projects, and the endurance to love the people well that God sets before him.

Thank you to those of you who have sent help for our solar project! Please keep praying that God will provide the rest of the funding needed to purchase and install them. There was a short delay in ordering, so we do have a little bit more time in raising the funds. If you were thinking about helping out, now's still the time. You can give to our Wycliffe account, or contact us if you have any questions, we would be happy to chat with you :)

Also, due to our revised Wycliffe budget amounts (accounting for cost of living increases, mostly in the US, but also here) and with the loss of a few partners, for the first time since we arrived 2 years ago we are under budget. :(

Thank you to all have been faithfully giving and supporting us all this time. It's hard to put into words how much it has blessed us to have not had to worry about this major part of being here. Your generosity has been God's faithfulness to our family here, and a HUGE encouragement. Thank you!!! 

Now we are in a place where God is calling for us to be even more dependent on Him. Now we have about 70% of our needed funds coming in. Please pray over 3 things.

1. That God would surprise us with new partners to help support our work here.

2. That you would prayerfully consider raising your support of our Wycliffe ministry by even $5 to $10 dollars more a month. If all our partners joined us in this way we would be fully funded again.

3. That God will guard our hearts. It's so easy for the enemy to use anything here to make you feel discouraged. Pray that we keep our hope in Him and that we continue to trust in Him and His provisions, even when things seem daunting.

The truth is and always has been: we aren't here because of anything that we have done. It is because of the Lord that we have come this far, and it is God alone that will sustain us! Thank you again for being His hands and feet.

Thank you for praying! we love you,

John and Kristi & Nori, Banner, and Millie

P.S. - please send us your prayer requests and updates too! we would love to pray for you better :)

May 2015

Happy May! It's possibly the one month out of the year when our weather lines up with yours—showers and flowers.

We have made it back from our month away, serving at the Alotau Regional Center in the southeast of PNG. We were so blessed to be able to work there, serving the local translation teams. While there, we had the honor of celebrating with Cliff Olsen and his Gumawana co-translators. After 30 years of work they finished the translation of the New Testament into the Gumawana language. These people will never again have to wonder what God’s Word says—they can read it for themselves in their own language. Praising God for this work that He completed! Please continue to pray for their language project as the finished New Testament now goes off to be type set (formatted) and printed.

The Gumawana team shares swit kai (dessert) and gives thanks for God's victory in their language group.

As glad as we were to go somewhere new to work for a short time, we are equally glad to be home. Before, whenever we would travel to other villages, or work outside Ukarumpa, the kids would always ask when we were going to be going back to Ukarumpa again. This time they asked when were were going to be going home. Home… such a small word to hold such big meanings.

Well now that we are back home, we are jumping back with both feet. John is catching up on a month of work that seemed to stop without him. The past couple weeks for him have been filled with drainage projects, road repairs, security fence repairs, and a lot of tree work (he and his guys got attacked by a bunch of angry bees last week, yikes!). I have my hands full, as always, with these amazing kids of ours. We are homeschooling, leading youth Bible studies and worship times, and trying to love the people in our small community well. Also, Katie just left our household to make her way back home after her 2 year term in PNG. She is heading back to the US to finish her degree in language survey and hopefully return here to serve full time in 2020. Please pray for her as she prays for what's next. We have been delighted to be able to use our home to serve and care for others here.

Please pray that God continues to open our eyes to all the various ways we can use all He has blessed us with to bring Him glory.

Please pray for us as we face more transitions in the months to come. As the school year finishes, families here will start leaving for furloughs. People here call it crying month because of all the goodbyes. Having been here 2 years now, we have even more goodbyes to make than this time last year. This is probably one of the hardest parts of this life God has called us to, a life of constant goodbyes with those you love. No matter where we live from here on out we will always be far away from some people that we care deeply for.

Thank you for praying over our finances the past few months. We feel very blessed to still be hovering around 95% of our monthly budget that Wycliffe has set for us! This is AMAZING! We are so thankful for the constant support from all of you in our home in the States. We are continually humbled at your willingness to help us do whatever God calls us to do in His name here in PNG. The blessing of your consistency is that we can commit our concerns to the work here, which is abundant, so thank you!

As a side note, we have a rare opportunity coming up that we would also ask your prayer over. The CAM dept. (Construction and Maintenance, John's dept.) is going to be placing an order for solar panel systems for the first time since we have been here. There is a big upfront cost, but in the long run we will be saving a good bit of money that we can put to uses here other than living expenses. The rate that we pay for power here is about 8-10 times what we were paying in the States. The cost for a 3 KW solar system with 10 panels will be around $6,000. Not only will our power bill go to zero, but the center will buy excess power from us (which is a savings for the center as well versus our power provider). Our breakeven point should be 3-4 years. The center will be placing the order in the next couple months. So what are we asking for? Please pray. We've seen God do amazing and unexpected things throughout this journey, and we firmly believe that he'll move in one way or another. If He doesn't provide the money for them, we'll praise Him for that too. His ways are bigger than our ways!

For His glory,

John, Kristi, Nori, Banner, and Millie

PS- let us know how we can be praying for you too.

March 2017

There are big changes for our family this March. We are spending the month in Alotau, filling in for the regional center managers here. Alotau is at the southeastern tip of PNG. It’s a coastal location, and hot as can be. Millie gets a sweat mustache just reading books in the morning as she waits for someone to make her breakfast!

By being here this month we are getting to be a part of some really cool things.

Our serving here is allowing the current regional managers a chance to attend SIL’s bi-annual Branch Conference held in Ukarumpa—giving them a chance to reconnect with the rest of our SIL teammates and discuss issues and ideas to move Bible translation forward. While here, we are the acting support staff for 3 different translation projects nearing their final phases! That means they are in draft checking mode. It’s such a blessing to be able to walk alongside these teams who have spent much of their lives dedicated to bringing a Bible translation to the language groups that God brought them to. Also, John will hopefully be able to tackle some property maintenance to the center while we are here, like gutter repairs, drainage issues, and whatever else he can find to straighten out.

The staff at this center is comprised of five Papua New Guineans, most of whom are new to working with SIL. Besides working alongside them, John will have the chance to lead morning devotions three days a week with them too. Please pray for Dora, Kelly, Susan, Mathew, and Samson as we work and grow together this month. And please pray for the full time center managers, Joe and Heather Patrick, as they travel to Ukarumpa, Branch Conference, and then back here at the end of the month.

Please pray for all the work we have in this new location—that we can do it well, and glorify God with our words, actions, and attitudes. Pray that even though there is an abundance of work to be done here we will find some rest and peace this month as a family.

Please pray for CAM as John has stepped away from his team in a fairly busy time.

Please pray that the kids transition well again. Pray they will soak in their school work, and love on our new friends here. Pray they are safe and healthy. As I write this we found lice for the first time in our family since moving here almost 2 years ago. I personally feel this must be some sort of record, and am so grateful it has taken so long. But it was a long day of tears I don’t wish to live through again.

Please pray for our financial support. Pray that God will continue to surprise us with His creativity and generosity through His people and His church.

Thank you for taking the time to love on us while we are so far away by lifting us up to our Lord.

Blessings!

John and Kristi and the kids

Ps. We are praying for you! Please let us know if you have any specifics you would like us to be praying for:)

And here are a few pictures of God's majesty for you… 

February 2017

Prayer update time again. It’s Feb 2017! Does this shock you as much as it does me? I still remember Y2K and when the whole world was suppose to shut down… and here we are almost two decades later. The other day Nori was asking me if I would be alive in 3000. I answered that I would not but she very well could be… now that is a wild thought! I wonder what we will all see change in this century? Will we really have flying cars at some point? Will we see another world war? Then I think of our life here in PNG—will we accomplish what feels impossible? Will there be a Bible in every single one of the languages here? Will this land experience a revival? Will I be alive to see these things happen? I pray to the Lord that I will and that I will get to continue to be a part of it even in my own small way.

John: Is still wearing many hats, so please pray that he doesn't burn out. He's recently seen some personnel changes in his Maintenance section in the CAM dept. and lost his PNG foreman. This has doubled his work load and will be a hard position to fill. John is also still managing all of the contract work with the Papua New Guineans here in the valley. This is a very relational role that is as frustrating as it is rewarding. Sadly, one complaining person can quickly overshadow the nine people that just brought you bananas and pineapples in gratitude. It's a totally different culture here, and yet humans are humans all over the globe. Also please be praying for John (and his co-leader Andrew) with their 8th grade boys Bible study on Wednesdays. It's been quite a few months now that he's been doing it and he thinks that God is starting to break down some of those middle school walls to form some friendships; so praise the Lord for that!

Kristi: I am still working with my 7th grade girls. This month we are looking at spiritual warfare and the armor of God. Please remember them when you pray for me, a good number of them are a bit anxious about what is next for their families as they have older siblings they will be sending back home to go to college while they remain here. I am still seeking new ways to continue to invest in the women and children from our village church in Kwina. Pray that I can clearly see how to live out Christ with them. Also a huge praise, our homeschool community here has been continuing to grow here, we are up to 9 families now :) The SIL directorate has asked me to rewrite homeschool policy for the center, so prayers for wisdom over how to handle this.

Nori: Is now taking piano and recorder lessons and loving it. The Lord finally sent a 3rd grade teacher to the school, so when she goes there for her music class the size is a bit smaller. There are 9 kids in her class now, with 5 countries represented. Nori has been pursuing a friendship with a Papua New Guinean in her class named Tessgrace. Please pray for Nori as she misses her friends back home, and as we continue to work on self-control. She also helped facilitate the Vacation Bible School that SIL held for local village communities in January. She was a teacher's aide in the 1st grade class. Nori was born for this life and the more ways we can find for her to serve the better, for that is where her heart is truly joyful. Nori is praying for more opportunities to serve His people here like this.

Banner: Is growing like a weed. I think it is time for new shoes again! He is that kid who can play with anyone; he is a wonderful includer. I sometimes just sit at the top of the steps in our house to hear him play… all the plain noises and explosions mixed in with his funny little commentary. He is a whiz at math, and is looking more and more like John inside and out everyday. He is really looking forward to March when we will be running a regional center in Alotau (in the south-east) for one whole month. He will get to go swimming and eat fish pretty much everyday… or so he says. It will be fun and relaxing for the kids but still a great deal of work for us. Please pray that even in the work we find time to relax with the kids and just have fun.

Millie: She is still our spitfire. Everyone who meets her is totally charmed and she knows it. We adore the kid who still makes up her own words and tells stories with such wit and passion. I think she will be the one that is writing and reading at the youngest age; she just picks up everything so fast. Millie is insistent on having her own school work whenever the other kids are doing theirs! After much deliberation we have decided that she will be doing our homeschool routine full time in the fall for Kindergarten—something she is already talking about, well that and about her dragon princess birthday party that is in May. I'm not sure how I’m going to pull that one off for her. Please pray for her cough. It has been back for about 3 months now, and I am convinced it is from mold. We are looking into some preventive measures for her and the house like flooring to put over the concrete in her room etc. But please just pray that God will heal her little body of this.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! we love you all dearly are are praying for you too! Please write us back and let us know how we can be praying for you better.

Love,

John, Kristi and the kid

November 2016

So it's November here… and I guess its November were you are too, only it looks a bit different as Fall is well under its way for you :) Please enjoy a few blustery days with the leaves swirling around you, and take a minute to lay under a maple tree as the sun is setting through its firery branches, try to eat an apple right off the tree… and of course do it all while wearing warm boots and cozy sweaters! think of me as you do them and know my heart is there with you and you bask in these glories God is blessing you with.

For you I will enjoy the 1/2 sunny 1/2 rainy days and the rainy nights, purple Jacaranda petals dancing through the bright blue sky on the back of the wind, and mangos that are now in season (only I won’t eat too  many at one time so to cause a rash around my mouth!)

My mom was here for 2 weeks visiting last month. Thanks for all of your prayers that carried her here and back home safely. It's funny how we haven’t seen each other in 1.5 years and it felt like we could pick up right where we left off. She was just as I remembered and I found this to be more of a comfort than I expected. Praise the Lord for mothers! Of course, the mother-daughter interactions paled in comparison to the Grammy-grandkids interactions as you might expect. I hope it was a gift to her as much as it was to us to share this piece of our lives with her.

I am beyond words with joy over my new 7th grade girls Bible study. It was one of those things that I really struggled with taking on, but as always God’s plans are better than mine. Those girls are amazing and probably teaching me more than I'm teaching them!

The kiddos are doing well. The other night Nori just ripped, and I say "ripped" as she had to (and with all her might), another tooth out. It was a molar this time, and wow that thing would not stop bleeding. That is one determined girl! Banner is over the moon that we get to do sports day at school this year, more of that to come ;) and Millie is just a joy, making us laugh all the time… but isn’t that what a 3rd child is suppose to be like? She has become the family storyteller and makes up all kinds of wacky tales for our enjoyment.

Something new! We have invited a single gal, Katie, to come live with us for the remainder of her time here (through April). Katie was in our POC training course with us, so we have known her for a while now. She needed a place to stay and a family to share, so we shuffled around to fit her in. Katie works in Language Survey which does important research about the vitality of the many different languages here in PNG. Please pray for Katie :)

Pray for John he is having a hard week, one of his guys lost his 6 month old daughter Monday. Death is such a normal part of life here, but this one feels especially tragic and personal.

A couple other BIG prayer requests: John is headed out on November 14th to go build a village house for the Wade family in East New Britain (big island off the east coast). He will be gone for approximately 3 weeks (that's right, over Thanksgiving!). Please pray for the preparations for this project; so many unpredictable things have to line up just right or else a lot of time and money could go to waste. Pray for good health, good weather, safe travels, prompt material deliveries, peace in the area, hospitable power tools, and a host of other things that only God can think of. Pray for our team: LaVeryl, Joshua, Able, & Don. And of course pray for Aaron Wade who is leaving his family to help too, is lining up so many things even as I write this; and he's still working with his Mamusi co-translators all the while! Also John's role at CAM has shifted lately and has gotten quite stressful. He has rewritten the procedure for how we hire people from around the valley. The intent is that it is much more fair to all than it used to be. This has ramifications that directly impact the security of our missions center. Please pray for patience and wisdom as they move forward.

I miss you!

kristi

September 2016

Septemeber is full of fun things to pray for! It really is the best month of the year, and I’m not just saying that because it's my birth month (Kristi)!

Please Pray:

1. The translation team that we support is back in the village this month. This is the Wades' second stay since taking the leap of faith to partner with the Mamusi language group to create a written language and translate the Bible for them. Pray for the kids especially as they transition, and for Aaron as he endeavors to learn the language. The Wades also have a lot on their minds as they sort through all the details required to build a permanent dwelling for their family in the village.  This is the village that John will be visiting in November to commence building the Wades' village house for them!

2. Encounter is this month. September 16th - 20th to be exact. It's the senior high youth retreat. John is one of the leaders going, and while he is away I will be watching our friends' two sons so they can both go to help lead too. Please pray for safe travel to Goroka, wisdom for all of the adult leaders (especially Marty Driggers, who will be speaking), and for revival in the hearts of all. 

3. My mother is coming to PNG!!!! My (Kristi) mom will be here from Sept 21st till Oct. 4th… our first visitor! Please pray for safe and uneventful travel for her, and pray for God’s blessings over her time here—that it will be a sweet gift to us all, and that she will get a better picture of why we love this country and these people so much. 

This was short and sweet, but still full of big big things. Thank you for your faithful prayers, let us know how we can be praying for you too, our warriors.

Blessings,

John and Kristi and kids

August 2016

Well Facebook is about to be flooded with photos of the first day of school, and it reminded me that we almost view August as the start of the new year, not January. In January we are still in the thick of things. We might have resolutions, but all new schedules really start with the new school year. I have found myself subconsciously finding projects that required me to buy office {cough cough} I mean school supplies, just so I could revel in the joy of organizing notebooks with fresh tabs and getting colored pencils beautifully pointed in a pristine new box. There is something very promising about new crayons–like anything creative is possible.

Now that we have school aged kids, we homeschool them, in a third world country at that! But I still give them new pencils and notebooks and little post-it notes to start the “new year”. So as I sit and look at their year laid out and packaged for them so nicely, I thought I would take a moment to share with you some of the things that are coming up for our family and our ministry in this “new year” to come.

John:

Ha, no this is not John. This is a pic of Marty Driggers from the high school mission trip that John went on earlier this year. We are grateful to be now serving the high school kids under Marty's leadership. He is a tremendous guy in innumerable ways!

His current role on center is Maintenance Section Head. If anyone is counting, yes that is the 5th hat that he’s worn in the Construction And Maintenance department since we have been serving here, but John loves the variety! Basically he is in charge of maintaining everything on center that is not a building: like roads, drainage (when it rains, it rains a lot here!), security fences, trees, heavy machinery, grounds maintenance, and garbage (yes, even garbage). The biggest part of his job though is the relationships. Maintenance is the largest section in CAM and also works with more people from adjacent villages than possibly any other department in Ukarumpa. He has joined the fire team here too… They have a Japanese firetruck from the 70s and fire suits and hoses to boot. This fire team is our center’s ONLY defense against fires. Please also pray for John as he and another friend, Andrew Roberts, have taken on the 8th grade boys Bible Study on Wednesday nights. Other things on the horizon: 2 trips building village houses for translation teams, a new church building for our church in Kwina, building needs for new village schools in Bauka and Onamuna, and the list goes on. Please pray that we can be effective and not spread ourselves too thin. And keep praying for our Gadsup translator friend Steven Pikus whom we continue to support and fellowship with weekly thanks to you all!

Kristi:

Things are about to get even more interesting for me this year, as I have two new roles to fill. I accepted a job post at the training center here in Ukarumpa. The training center is where we had our POC training, but mostly it is a facility that we use to provide training to Papua New Guineans. They can take classes that range from basic reading skills to greek to literacy application. This is a central location that translation teams can bring their national helpers to learn how to do their own translation projects in their mother tongue, which speeds up the translation process greatly. I will be in charge of purchasing for the center to provide food and accommodations for the teams as they are training. 

I will also be co leading the community group for 7th grade girls. This too is a big and exciting commitment, as I hope to be with them their whole journey through school. My group consists of 4 American missionary kids, 3 local girls, and 1 Korean girl who’s parents own a store in town. This is their first year at the Secondary Campus (that’s high school here), and they are just a sweet as can be. They will be coming over to our home each Wed night ( that is Wed AM for you), so if you think of us please pray that we can speak and live Jesus well for them. My heart is burdened and delighted at this opportunity to really pour into these girls.

All this on top of starting a new homeschool year, current and new relationships with PNGers and other expats, and running the house it make for very very full days.

Nori:

School is fuller than ever for Nori. Not only is she learning at home but she is attending an art class and a computer class at the Primary Campus here on center. God has answered our prayers and provided Nori with a dear girl her age that homeschools too! Nori is also attending a craft club held by the older commutity here (missionaries and nationals both!) she says it's like being in a room full of grandmothers :) They are helping her learn how to quilt and crochet. Nori’s favorite day of the week is still Sunday when we get to go to Kwina for church. She has such a heart for the people here; it is a gift to watch her love well.

Banner:

One of the hardest parts of life here: parting ways with dear friends is a never ending cycle on both sides of the ocean.

This guy has started 1st grade. He is not taking extra classes at the school but he keeps his time busy learning to be like his Dad. He is hoping to learn to use tools better this year so he can help John out on building projects. This past week John took him along to a village for a work trip and Banner was on cloud nine. Where Nori is such a relational servant, Banner loves with his deeds and his works. Banner is also helping me coordinate more book and school supplly donations for our home village. He counts the minutes till we can visit our wasfamili again!

Millie:

She just lives life to the fullest. She loves our PNG friend, Rose, to pieces and will just follow her room to room to be with her. She is in pre-school 2 mornings a week and is learning things so fast. Millie's favorite thing is riding home from school with Daddy on the motorcycle.

I hope this you a better idea of some of the things we are doing here. John’s work is both relational and very tangible and necessary for the translation work here to take place. The rest of our work lands more fully in the relational part of things. Both are key to building God’s church here in PNG. Thanks you for your prayers and your support. It can be overwhelming to us just seeing the amount of need there is here and that we won’t ever have enough hours in the day to do it all. But thinking of you, and your confidence in what God is accomplishing through us here spurs us on. Thank you friends. We love you and covet your prayers!

Blessings,

John and Kristi

P.S. — Let us know what god is setting in front of you this year so we can be more intentional in our prayers for you too!

June 2016

Well, we have officially been serving, learning, and living in Papua New Guinea for a year now. What better way to celebrate this blessed anniversary than to review some of the many answered prayers from the last year??? So, here they are in no particular order. Join us in our celebration and praise of our Father who is our Sustainer and Abundant Provider. His ways are truly better than our ways!

• Please pray for us as we transition repeatedly this month.
  • The transitions are frequent here, but God is faithful and consistent throughout the perpetual changes. Please continue to pray for our kids especially as friends come and go all the time. The friendship roller coaster may very well be one of the hardest parts of life here.
• Please pray for our health 
  • We thank the Lord that we have been extremely blessed to not have frequent or serious illnesses. People go home every month because of this issue, and we are so thankful everyday for our continued good health.
• Please pray for our old overtaxed brains! That we can really soak up the language here. It has already proven to be such a strong key to deeper relationships with Papua New Guineans.
  • God has answered this and has blessed us in learning Tok Pisin and bits of other local languages too (even Nori!).
• Please pray for our upcoming village stay. We will be in the village for three weeks, starting on June 25th. Pray for health, safety, sleep, food, language acquisition, and relationships.
  • This time was truly blessed! We feel like we couldn't have asked for a better wasfamili. We are thankful that we can keep working on and growing these relationships! The visit in May to deliver school books was such a blessed time, and we are hopeful to continue doing more to promote literacy and the Gospel message in this community. Another exciting note is when Kristi's Mom comes to visit in September we will be taking her to meet our family in the village :)
• Please pray for rain! We are in a drought right now and this becomes a hardship for everyone. The Papua New Guineans are losing their food and their livelihood as things dry up, our rainwater tanks are becoming empty, and even the river next to Ukarumpa is dwindling, which is a lifeline to the entire community around here.
  • God answered this big time in His perfect timing! Our tanks are overflowing as we enter into dry season again. John's water storage project for our community here is now complete and we hope that this is a great help as the typically frequent rains start to diminish.
• Please pray for us as we continue to settle into this new life here. That our hearts will be open to what God has planned for us that day.
  • He continues to answer! We ask that you keep praying this with us, as this is a daily choice. God is constantly putting new people and new projects in our path. It's exciting to be a part of so much work and life, but just pray that we hold our plans with open hands because that is when God can really do His thing. One new thing God has added to our plates is both John and Kristi will be leading and shepherding a youth Bible study each week that consists of expats and nationals both!
• Please pray for us as we look for a local Tok Pisin church (instead of the English service here at the center) to be a part of. We hope that God can use this church relationship to give us deep roots in the local community here.
  • God has answered this through our church in Kwina. He continues to further our relationships in this close-knit village. Each week we are more and more accepted as a true part of this community, and we are looking forward to working alongside of them more as we continue work on building a new church there. We feel so blessed with this church choice—unbeknownst to us when we chose it, but there a number of men and their families from the CAM department that attend here. What an amazing opportunity to continue to build relationships with people that John gets to see at work everyday
• Please pray for John as so much is changing at his job in CAM (Construction and Maintenance). Two men are leaving the department this next month: one is going finish (meaning he won’t be returning at this time to PNG), and the other (who is the director of the whole CAM department) will be on furlough through May 2016. Their departure leaves a lot of weight on the shoulders of the managers that are left (4 left in a department of over 50). There is more work to be done than they could ever finish, and now with the drought they have all been working overtime to figure out and implement some more long term solutions for the community here. Pray that God will give him wisdom, endurance, and patience. Please pray for his relationships with both Papua New Guineans and other missionaries, that they would continue to grow and deepen despite cultural differences, and pray for him to remember to use his sunscreen!

  • This is such a praise and still a big prayer request. John has found the work that God has created him to do and is thriving in this department that has so many hats to wear :) Given that missionaries go home on furlough every 2-4 years, he has recently taken on his fifth role since being here. He is currently in charge of the Maintenance Section which is the biggest in CAM and is pretty much responsible for everything here that's not a building (interesting background about Ukarumpa here). There are still daily challenges as he has to navigate cultural and relational dynamics and manage projects in Tok Pisin, but God is gracious! Another praise is that help seems to be on the horizon. There are at least four new guys scheduled to come (or come back) in the next few months! It's so encouraging to see all the Bible translation projects that His work directly enables to help take place. John doesn't always remember His sunscreen but maybe his darker skin is helping him become even more PNG true (LOL)!

• Steven Pikus is a young (that's mid-30's y'all...) Bible translator that we met at the training center here during our POC training. He is stepping out in faith to work 5+ days a week on the Gadsup Old Testament for his language group. He has a wife and three little kids and is working full time now for no pay, so we are walking with him through this, whatever it entails.
  • Steven and John have continued to forge a deeper relationship as they get together weekly to eat, pray, and fellowship together. Steven just graduated from the next training course here for national translators to help him with his translation work for the Gadsup Old Testament. It is humbling to walk alongside someone that lives in a bush house without power and running water, but is willing to walk 2+ hours every day (one way!) and learn Greek and Hebrew to better translate the Bible into his community's heart language so that they can understand God's life-changing Word.
• A House to call Home-This is a big heavy on our heart. So much our our ministry happens in and through our home that not having this settled has been hard for us. Pray for wisdom, discernment, certainty, and for God to provide the finances needed.
  • This is an answer to prayer that took us by complete surprise, but God has provided us with a home! We are overjoyed and so thankful for this generous gift from our Father! We are so thankful that we won't be moving every 6-12 months now! Please pray that this will be a safe place for our family, a haven of rest, and a tool for His ministry. 

Just like this photo, its hand in hand that that we all get to work together to share God's word and love with this world.

We love you all dearly. Thank you for your prayers, they are being heard and answered left and right, are are a true lifeline for us. Connecting our hearts and lives not only to our Creator but to you back home. We are so thankful for you, and remember you all in our prayers daily.

Love,

John, Kristi, and the kids