A diagnosis...and an announcement

“Praise the Lord; praise God our Savior!

For each day He carries us in His arms.”

Psalm 68:18

This week we were reminded again that our God is sovereign...and that He carries us each day.

A Diagnosis

After months of seeking answers and waiting, our co-workers, Mason and Kim Lockwood, received a definitive diagnosis of intestinal cancer as the cause of Kim’s ongoing illness.  Lord willing, she will have surgery in the next week or so to remove the tumor and check for further issues.   We were all shocked by the very unexpected news – Kim has become like a sister to me over the years (and if you know how close I am with my sisters, you know that means a lot!) and it hit hard to be so far away .  They will be pursuing treatment if needed after surgery and with the best-case scenario will be returning to Pal in roughly 6 months.  We are trusting His plan and finding hope in the fact that each day He truly does carry us, and our dear friends, in His arms.

Please pray with us for healing for Kim and for Mason, and for all of us as we wait to hear the results of the surgery.  

And an announcement…

This week we also received news that a new family will be joining our church-planting team here in Pal!  We are so glad to be able to introduce Chris and Maggie Hostetter and their four kiddos to you.  They got to know Mason and Kim over the last few months and more recently spent time getting to know the Claasen clan (and vice versa!).  We have spent hours talking and praying and thinking through things with them and we and the Lockwoods are delighted that they will be joining the team here in Pal.

Please pray for the Hostetter family as they prepare to fly into Pal and settle in to life and ministry here.  Pray that their needs will be met.  Pray for their kids as they prepare to adjust to life in a tribe.  Thank Him with us for answered prayer.  May we display His love and unity as we work side by side!

Since Nate is taking the week off from updating you faithful pray-ers, I’ll take the opportunity to tell you about the progress he is making in language (since he never would J).  He is working HARD daily and his ability to understand and communicate is hugely taking off.  I love it that he teaches me what he is learning – I’m not able to fully keep up but am learning as well!  It is exciting as we pray that we are less than a year away from being able to move towards literacy classes and beginning Bible translation…some of the building blocks that we pray the eventual Pal church will be built upon.   More progress, though, means more distress as we daily see the effects of slavery to sin and Satan among our dear friends here.

Please pray that the Pal people will turn to the Savior and be rescued as they truly learn of Him.    As we’ve said before, they know the name of Jesus as just another god to be worshipped, along with evil spirits.  May TRUTH set them free!!

We couldn’t be where we are without you.  Thank you for lifting both the Pal people and the Pal church-planting team up daily to the One who carries us.

Elizabeth for the family

Posted via email from PNG Time