Overwhelming Joy!

Dear Friends and Family,

We are writing today with our hearts overflowing with joy because of the work that God has been doing in our lives. We have very exciting news. God has been faithful above and beyond our expectations!

There’s a Bun in the Oven!?

First of all, we would like to announce that we are expecting our first child. We know this is one of God’s miracles and are thankful to Him for this precious gift to us. I am 35 weeks along in my pregnancy and am feeling great. Our baby is due at the end of December or early January.

The Journey Begins!

We also wanted to let all of you know that we have joined Wycliffe Bible Translators and will be serving as support personnel overseas. Lord willing, Kurt will be working in computer support and I will be teaching elementary students. We are thrilled to be a part of what God is doing through Bible translation all around the world for those who have never heard the good news.

In June we were at Wycliffe’s Orientation Training Camp in Orlando, FL for two weeks. I had an extra week of training in July for my Education Orientation as a teacher. We treasured our time in Orlando. We learned so much!

The task . . .

The Word of God simply does not exist for an estimated 300 million people on this earth. It’s never been translated into the languages they speak.

Wycliffe translators live among the Bibleless peoples of the world, learning their languages, translating the Scriptures and encouraging a body of believers.

Bible translation is not just Wycliffe’s task though — it’s the task of the whole church. It’s a team effort — Wycliffe, working in partnership with the church, brings God’s Word to those who are still waiting.

Kurt and my part...

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship" (Romans 12:1).

As Paul wrote in Romans, worship involves sacrifice. Sometimes it involves giving up our desires for His. We want to be a ‘living sacrifice’ in His Kingdom work.

At Wycliffe, we know that becoming involved in Bible translation is a sacrifice. We view it as an opportunity to worship, an opportunity to give ourselves to God by participating as support personnel in His work!

Why Bible Translation...

“Would that this one book were in every language, in every land, before the eyes, and ears and hearts of all men!” — Martin Luther

“God’s Word is the foundation: vital to evangelism, essential to discipleship, critical to church growth, and its impact is eternal. The greatest missionary is the Bible in the mother tongue. It never needs furlough, is never considered a foreigner, and makes all other missionaries unnecessary.” — William Cameron

So were do we go from here?

I will be teaching this fall until our baby is born while Kurt will continue to work at his current job. Then early next year we will transition into full time ministry, looking for God’s will in where to take an assignment overseas. Papua New Guinea is one option where the need for our skills is great. We would like to leave as soon as I receive my U.S. citizenship and we raise 100% of our monthly financial support.

In His hands,
Johanna for Kurt, and baby!

Praise God...
· For the life of our unborn baby.
· We have made our final payment for Kurt’s school loans.
· For His provisions for us while we transition from our current jobs to full time work with Wycliffe.
· For allowing us the opportunity to serve Him with Wycliffe.
Please pray with us...
· For continued health for both Johanna and our baby.
· For wisdom and discernment as we decide where God would have us take an assignment.
· For strength and patience as we continue at our current jobs.
· For the sale of home early next year.
· As we apply for Johanna’s US citizenship.

How can we pray for you? Please let us know!

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Pictures of Papua New Guinea

kahunapulej's pictures of PNG
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Send a package

Here are instructions on how to send us a package from the U.S. to Papua New Guinea (we borrowed the outline of these instructions from some friends of ours – Ryan and Crystal Pennington). Hopefully it will answer all your questions, but feel free to ask if you would like any more help. To do that, email us: {Kurt and Johanna}. Also, if you learn any other tricks or if you’re asked to do something that we haven’t listed here, let us know so that we can include those in these instructions also!

Our mailing address is:

Kurt and Johanna Metzger
SIL Box 1 (161)
Ukarumpa EHP 444
Papua New Guinea

Letters

For small items that can just fit inside a letter-sized parcel, it should be fairly straight forward to just go to the counter and pay the correct postage to get it here.

Flat Rate Boxes through USPS:

USPS Flat rate boxes are probably the easiest and most economical way to send packages to PNG as you can pack up to a certain amount of weight in a box for a set price. For a list of boxes and prices you can visit USPS’s Website. You can also save a few bucks by printing your own postage for the flat rate boxes {Print Flat Rate Postage}. However, you can send any box you would like.

Customs Form:

You will have to fill out a customs form with the package at the Post Office. Each Post Office seems to require different forms and levels of detail on those forms. The one we have had success with is a white form (Form 2976-A) with carbon copies. You will have to list out the items you are sending, so I would recommend writing out a separate list of what you packed and taking it with you so you aren’t left guessing at the PO. Here are some tips on how to list things that you are sending:

• Food items should be listed as “culinary items”.
• If you send any kind of media (CD’s, DVDs, etc..), list it as “entertainment media” or something along those lines. It will be less likely to be confiscated this way.
• Group similar things under one heading (i.e., don’t list out all of the medicines individually, just label them “medical supplies” and write a quantity).
• General descriptions are fine, you don’t have to be super specific (although some Post Offices might be more demanding in this regard).
• Some Post Offices are more strict than others. It’s possible they will ask you to list individual weights next to each item. In that case, you should be able to just put down estimates that add up to the total weight of the box.

Other information for the Customs Form:

• All overseas mail is now airmail; you don’t have the option of sending by sea (rf. #6 on Form 2976-A)
• Check the box for “Gift” on the customs form to describe the contents (rf. #5 on Form 2976-A)

Other Tips

• Please pack any food items extra well, as rats often can get to it before we can, especially if it ends up sitting in a hangar or Post Office somewhere for awhile.
• Regardless of how fast you pay to have it shipped, there is no guarantee it gets here in that time frame. It will probably hit PNG shores in that amount of time, but once it is in country, who knows how long it takes! Packages tend to take 3-6 weeks to get to us. All that to say, please don’t spend extra money trying to get it here super fast!

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