-- June 2008 Update --

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you for your faithful prayers and your financial support that allow us to continue serving in Papua New Guinea. We are grateful to have you in our partnership team and know that we could not be here without your part in our ministry.

We are doing well.  Life has been very busy here in Ukarumpa since we got back from Australia three months ago. Kurt continues to enjoy his work at the Communications and Technical Services Department working at the Help Desk alongside a Papua New Guinean and a Korean man. We thank God for the work he supplies for Kurt.

 

(Kassia and Kurt reading; Kassia and Luke getting ready to go to bed)

Kassia and Luke continue to grow and learn many things. Kassia now recognizes the letters K (for Kassia of course!), O, and L (for Luke).  Luke is four months old now! I (Johanna) took him to the clinic last week for his check up and the doctor said he is doing great.  She also said he is a healthy little  guy! He gives us huge smiles and can laugh now too. He is also sleeping better so thanks for your prayers in that regard.

For two mornings this week, I am going to be involved in strategy meetings here in Ukarumpa. In these meetings I will join several other SIL members in order to discuss what needs to be in place in SIL-PNG (Papua New Guinea) in the next 5 to 10 years and how we will be engaged in Bible translation.  Kurt will attend the same meetings next week.

 

(Little Luke is getting bigger)

In about three weeks we will be moving. We are living in an apartment right now, but we will be moving to a house that we will be renting for about one and a half years. We are excited about being in a house, though we know yet another move will be stressful.

At the end of this month (after we move), Kurt will be going to a village with some of our friends who are Bible translators with the Sam people in the Madang province. They are building a house in the village where they work and Kurt has offered to help them build it.  He is very excited about the trip and will be away for about  one week.

Thanks again for lifting us up to the Lord in prayer and supporting our work here in Papua New Guinea.

 

(Kassia at the Ukarumpa International School Sports Day held this May)

In His hands,

Johanna (for Kurt, Kassia, and Luke too!)

Praise:

• For good health in the last few months.

• For Kurt’s work at the Communication and Technical Services Department.

• For Luke who is growing steadily!

• For the house we will be moving into.

Pray:

• For all of us to continue to have good health.

• For us to have wisdom as we attend the strategy meetings this month.

• For a smooth transition and move into the house.

• For Kurt as he goes to help our friends build their village house. For physical, mental, and spiritual protection for him during the time he will be gone.

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April 2008 Update

Dear Loved Ones,

Thank you for your faithful prayers, encouragement, and financial partnership. We are grateful for the part you play in our ministry here in Papua New Guinea (PNG)!

We have been back in PNG for 4 weeks now.  Thanks for praying for our PNG visas to come through quickly while we were in Australia. God truly answered your prayers and we were able to come back sooner than we expected because our visas were granted very quickly. We arrived here in Ukarumpa on March 5th.

Kurt is back working at the Communications and Technical Services Department. He really enjoys working at the Help Desk and it has been very busy lately, which he really likes. He is also happy to be back in Ukarumpa where he can play sports on the weekends such as soccer, volleyball, frisbee, and basketball.

Kassia is learning how to be a big sister and she really loves her baby brother Luke. She protects him when others try to hold him and she likes to talk to him and make him smile. It is fun to see the sibling relationship developing so early in Luke’s life!

Luke is growing nicely. Today I took him to the clinic for his two month check-up and the doctor said he is doing great. Soon we will go back in so he can get his shots. I (Johanna) am learning how to be a mommy of two, keep up the house, take care of my husband, and keep in touch with our friends and partners.

 

Thanks again for allowing us to be a part of the process of translating the Word of God into the heart languages of the Bibleless people of Papua New Guinea.

Praise:

We praise God for the one time gifts that helped us cover the cost of Luke’s birth.

Prayer:

Please pray that God will keep us healthy and allow Johanna and Luke to get enough sleep during the night.

In His hands,

Johanna (for Kurt, Kassia, and Luke too!)

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Johanna and Luke are back!

“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.” Phil. 1:3-6 (NIV)

Thank you to all of you who prayed while Luke and I (Johanna) went to Sydney on Thursday. We had an uneventful trip and were able to go to the United States Consulate to apply for Luke’s passport on Friday morning. Then we flew back to Cairns on Friday evening and were happy to be reunited with Kurt and Kassia at that time!

Thanks again for your prayers and love.

In His hands,

Johanna (for Kurt, Kassia, and Luke Metzger)

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Travel to/from Sydney and US Passport for Luke

Dear Friends and Family,

As I am writing this email, Johanna and Luke are on a flight to Sydney. Johanna will meet a cousin at the airport and stay with her overnight. In the morning Johanna and Luke have an appointment at the US embassy. Would you please pray right now for Johanna and Luke that traveling will go well and the paperwork for Luke’s Passport and Consular Report of Birth abroad will be in order and completed quickly. Then tomorrow night Johanna and Luke will be traveling back here to Cairns. Thank you for praying.

 

In His hands,

Kurt (for Johanna, Kassia, and Luke Metzger)

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Luke Timothy is here!

Dear Friends and Family,

Praise God with us! Luke Timothy was born this morning, 29 January, at 6:15 AM local time (Cairns, Australia). Johanna and Luke are doing great! God is so very good. Johanna’s labor and delivery went as well as you could ask for. Luke weighed in at 7lbs 9ozs and measured 20 1/4in long. Thank you so much for praying.

(Luke in Johanna’s arms.)

(Kassia was so excited her baby brother finally came she screamed when she heard the news.)

In His hands,
Kurt (for Johanna, Kassia, and Luke Metzger)

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Metzger year 2007 review... What's to come?

Dear Loved Ones,

On December 31^st we will celebrate one year since we left the United States to begin our journey to Papua New Guinea (PNG). What a blessed year it has been for our family! From January until mid April we were able to attend the Pacific Orientation Course (POC) in Madang, PNG. There we studied many things including the main PNG trade language (Tok Pisin), anthropology, cultural acquisition, and we had many physical activities such as swimming a mile and many hikes.

In mid April we moved to Ukarumpa (the base of operations for SIL in PNG) and we were there until December 19^th. Kurt has been working at the Communications and Technical Services Department at their Help Desk and also doing hardware repair. I (Johanna) was able to tutor a 5^th grade student from July until December and truly enjoyed that. As a couple, we have also been involved with the 8^th grade Youth Group in Ukarumpa. We meet with them every Sunday night and have gotten to know them better in this last semester.

We arrived here in Cairns, Australia on December 19^th. Praise God for that! The policy of SIL PNG is that all members must return to their home country or go to Australia for any major medical reason because of the limited health care resources in PNG. We thank God for you, our partners, who make it possible for us to come here to await the birth of our second child. I met with my OBGYN last week and he did a sonogram and said everything with the pregnancy is on track. I also was able to register at the hospital where, Lord willing, I will be giving birth. I am 36 weeks pregnant now and feeling great! Sometimes I feel tired but Kurt and Kassia are great helpers.

(Kassia with her friend Corrie, from Ukarumpa, at the Cairns Zoo)

We had a wonderful Christmas day. In the morning we celebrated here at our flat with a special breakfast that I made (Colombian style) and then we had a little devotion and opened presents. It was fun! At 12:30 we were invited to a get-together with all the guests from the missionary guest house where we are staying here in Australia. There were 6 other missionary families. What a blessing to be able to celebrate with family, our brothers and sisters in Christ!

(Kassia and Johanna in Cairns)

While here in Australia, besides medical costs we will need the finances to cover extra one-time costs of airlines tickets, lodging, visa fees, passports fees (for the baby), car rentals, and some baby supplies. We have carefully made a budget with the input of several other families who have recently had babies in Australia. Our estimated increased financial need for the 2 ½-3 months we will be here comes to $8,000. Would you please pray with us that God will provide for these expenses? Thank you in advance.

Thank you again for your faithful prayers and financial support that allow us to serve the Lord in Papua New Guinea and while here in Australia. We truly could not be here without your part in our team! We will be sending news as soon as our new little one arrives.

Praise:

• For our safe arrival in Cairns, Australia and that we can peacefully await the birth of our second child here.
• For a wonderful OBGYN who will be helping Johanna.
• For a blessed year serving as a family in Papua New Guinea.
• For our faithful prayer partners that lift us and our ministry up to our Heavenly Father and for our faithful financial supporters who sacrifice time and money to be able to give to our ministry.

Pray:

• For God to provide for our increased financial needs while we live in Australia.
• For wisdom, love and patience in raising Kassia.
• For our unborn baby to continue to grow strong and healthy in the last weeks of pregnancy.
• For a safe delivery and a healthy baby to be born in January.

In His hands,
Johanna (for Kurt, Kassia, and baby Metzger)

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