Mission Trip to Aniwa

There are some very exciting things happening these next two weeks that we wanted to let you know about so that you can be praying with us.  On Tuesday morning, March 23rd, an international team of Nazarenes will be traveling to Aniwa, the island to the south of us where we have a Nazarene Church established.  Rev. Aseri and his wife, La, from the island of Kadavu in Fiji arrived yesterday.  Another five team members from the Nazarene Hospital mission station in Papua New Guinea will be arriving tomorrow afternoon.  Dr. Becky Morsch is coming to complete the Community Based Health Care teaching that she began about 16 months ago.  This time she is bringing Nazarene missionaries Dr. Susan Myers and Dr. Stephanie Doenges to do some additional health teaching.  Susan’s daughter, Jessica, and Priscilla Radcliffe, MK teens, will be coming to assist with Good News club for the children and friendship evangelism.  Rev. Peter Isaac and Sylvia will be flying with the team on Tuesday.  Rev. Aseri and Peter will be preaching in evangelistic services each evening and La is planning to minister to the children.  Sylvia will be assisting with translation when needed.  She will return with Dr. Susan, Dr. Stephanie, Jessica, and Priscilla on Saturday as Pastor Jenny flies to join the remainder of the team for a full week of ministry.  There will be lots going on and we would appreciate your prayers for these days.  David and Sylvia will be taking care of the Isaac boys during the second week while their parents are on Aniwa.

If you visit our Nazarene missionary website, www.OceaniaNazarene.org, you can get better acquainted with the PNG team members that are arriving tomorrow.

We are so thankful for this opportunity to join together in ministry with our colleagues from across our two fields!  We are praying that God will use each of the team members as we reach out with the love and good news of Christ Jesus!

In case you haven’t heard, our twin granddaughters, Dora and Sylvia, are both at home now keeping their parents and Grandmama Kathy very busy with feedings and diaper changes.  Kathy will be returning to PNG in about a week, so please pray for safety during her flight.

Dora Is Home!

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.  His mercies never come to an end.  They are new every morning. 

Great is your faithfulness, O Lord!”

Dora (left)                      Sylvia (right)

We praise our faithful, loving, heavenly Father that today (just 2 ½ weeks after the twins were born), Dora Katherine Potter was discharged from the hospital to go live with her parents!  Dora’s sister, Sylvia Irena, is still in the NICU in Buffalo, recuperating from the necrotizing enterocolitis that set her back when she was about one week old.  We praise the Lord that he is healing her and restoring her tiny body!  Sylvia is just a bit bigger than Dora is, but both girls are well over 4 pounds now!  We are praying that she will be able to join her sister at home soon.  We are thankful that Kathy Radcliffe, Bekah’s mother, was able to fly to Buffalo to offer support and encouragement for them during these days.  Thank you for your prayers lifted to God on our behalf and for these precious twins!  God is so very good to us and is answering our prayers so faithfully and lovingly.

Skype has been such a blessing to help us feel connected with Joel, Bekah, and the twins when we feel so far away.  We marveled as we looked at our son, now a papa!  It did not seem possible that the little guy we held in our arms could be old enough to be holding his own precious daughter!  We could see through the webcam, Dora’s tiny fingers wrapped around his thumb.  Her wrist is smaller around than his thumb!  The “virtual visits” are great, but we are really looking forward to the real thing in May when we actually get to visit them in person!  We love being grandparents!  Regarding the picture of Dora (above left), mothers in Papua New Guinea carry their babies in a string bag called a bilum (bee-loom).  It is a warm, snuggy place for a baby to spend their first 12 months (or more).

David and Sylvia are both currently teaching a class for SPNTC.  We have re-structured our teaching schedule for some of our classes from intensive 2-week block courses to classes on nine successive Saturday’s.  Sylvia teaches Old Testament Survey for 4 hours in the morning, and then David instructs the students in Biblical Theology in the afternoon.  This gives the teachers a little more time to prepare, and the students more time to reflect on what they are learning.

In less than three weeks, a great team of missionaries will be arriving in Port Vila from Papua New Guinea and Fiji.  They will continue their travels the next day to Aniwa (island to the south) for two weeks of health teaching, kids club, discipleship, and revival services.  Please be in prayer for Dr. Rebecca Morsch, Dr. Stephanie Doenges, Dr. Susan Myers and Jessica, and Priscilla Radcliffe from PNG, and for Rev. Eseri and La Quraivalu from Kadavu Island in Fiji.  Pastors Peter and Jenny Isaac and Sylvia will join them on the trip.  Dr. Becky clearly voiced our desire for this trip when she said, “We're praying for a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit in all that is done resulting in transformed lives and the building up of God's kingdom,” and that the Nazarene pastor on Aniwa, Pastor Kidhly, will be encouraged and strengthened in his faith.  You may remember that the Chief Rena Memorial Church on Aniwa is located immediately adjacent to the John Frum cult headquarters.  Please pray that the truth and light of Christ will shine brightly for those who are lost in the darkness of the John Frum cult.

We are eagerly anticipating and preparing for another team’s arrival in late May or early June.  Three university students in the States have committed six weeks of their summer break to come on a Youth in Mission team to assist us in our work in the islands of Vanuatu!  Please be in prayer for Andrea, Lisa, and Jacob as they complete this semester of their studies and prepare for this life-changing opportunity.