Off the map...

 

Nate and a new Uyuk friend

Survey into Uyuk

A few days ago, Nate took off with two friend, new missionaries, to fly into Pal.  After arriving they connected with three Pal Bible teachers and set off in the dawn hours of the morning for a massive hike into the next language group.  Roughly 9 hours of hiking later, they reached the first border village.  No manicured trails for these guys...they pretty much went straight up and straight down mountains for most of those 9 hours.

And all in search of Uyuk speakers.  A few of these guys have been coming to Pal for years, now, to ask for missionaries to come and do the same work in their area.  Our friends Michael and Jacob, and their families, have been praying about that open door.  But they need to begin to learn about the people group.  The men will spend nearly a week hiking in the rain, sitting around smoky fires chatting in the trade language and gathering language data, and eating with new Uyuk friends.

Pray for safety for all the men, and for wisdom for Nate as the 'senior missionary' (ha ha!  He'll celebrate his 45th birthday deep in the jungle this week!) on the trip.  Pray for great connections and clear understanding in each of the villages the men will visit.  Pray for the Pal Bible teachers and missionaries to mutually encourage each other along the way!  And pray for the Uyuk people to hear the gospel in their own heart language some day.

And speaking of off the map...

You might be thinking, "Huh, we haven't heard from you guys for a looooong time!" One time years ago I shared that when you don't hear from us, it's because we are 'snowed under' by responsibilities.  I know many are working long hours in the US as well!  But as the Lord brings us to mind, please pray for us as we seek to meet needs, to serve and to love well.  Our team is very thin right now.  We need Him every moment of every day as our Source of Living Water.

• Praise Him with us that 3 more school teachers have returned and we are hopeful that our boys will be able to resume 'in person' school next January!  
• Covid is in our local town, but so far we haven't heard of resultant deaths.  
• Noah is praying about decisions for next year.  Will you pray with us about his next steps?
• There are some major changes ahead for the Pal church.  Enough to deserve their own blog post, which we can hopefully pull together and share with you before Nate is a REALLY senior missionary...😆  (Happy birthday in the bush, babe!) Please pray with us for wisdom and encouragement for Pal believers.