Nem bilong mi Nancy

Yes, that’s Tok Pisin for “my name is Nancy”. For those of you who don’t know, I am Sara’s Mom. Sara asked if I would like to be a guest on her blog while she is out in the village. She thought it would be interesting for me to write some posts, because I can tell you about my upcoming trip to visit her in PNG! My trip will begin on August 25th when I fly from Scranton, to Philadelphia, then on to Los Angeles, Auckland, Brisbane, Port Morseby, and finally to Ukarumpa - where Sara lives! (That’s six flights, the longest one is almost 13 hours). For someone who is not known as being “adventurous” this is going to be quite an adventure. Shortly after beginning to plan this trip, I read Joshua 1:9 - “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." I know “wherever” includes all those places and I am trusting the Lord that He will be with me!

I’d like to thank my husband for encouraging and supporting me to take this trip. I know he would like to go, too, and hopefully he will get a chance to someday soon as well.

I’ve been preparing for this trip since the middle of March, when I bought my airline tickets. Since then, I’ve been working on things like getting the necessary shots and anti-malarial medicine, purchasing things I’ll need and that Sara has asked me to bring, and getting my Visas (one for PNG and one for Australia since I have to stay overnight there on the way home). Preparing for this month-long trip has helped me understand better how much missionaries have to do to get ready to spend several years of their lives on the mission field! Mine is not a missions trip, just a visit to Sara, but my prayer is that I will be an encouragement to her and the other missionaries I meet while I am there. I’m very excited to be going – to see Sara (it’ll be a year since she left), meet her co-workers, and to experience PNG for myself after hearing and reading so much about it. I'll try to share a little about my experiences here with you as I continue to get ready and possibly after I arrive in PNG.

Please continue to remember Sara and Christiane in your prayers as they work on recording the Bimin New Testament! Thank you.