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Summer Zimmer, Communications Manager
Papua New Guinea: August 2021
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Worlds collide . . . in a good way.

I've had a beautiful time home this summer.  We traveled from the highlands of Papua New Guinea, to the capital city of Port Moresby where we all had to get Covid tests before our 30 hours of flight time.  Because of the tests and needing to arrive at the airport several hours before our flights to get them, we had an evening on the town.  There was a beautiful area of restaurants and seating right on the water.  It felt surreal to find such a modern spot in PNG!  We could order Indian food and pizza! 

After finally making it home, it's been a delightful time of being with family and connecting with friends and Warsaw Community Church.

I've been able to do all the 'things.'  You know . . . the things I can't do while I'm in PNG.  Swimming, biking, boating, paddle boarding, eating out, having real ice cream, watching a play at the Wagon Wheel, going to the beach. 

I've also been home at a great time to connect with other missionaries from WCC, as well as other missionaries I serve with in PNG!  The Porter family, Sh and Jason Brown and Chris and Evie Jones were all home to visit with.  Since being involved with our missions committee and connecting with our missionaries (these very ones!) was one of the foundational steps the Lord used to move me into missions, it's been such a blessing to reconnect.

I was super surprised to walk in my first time at church and run into co-workers from PNG, the Halls! And then I was super blessed to have some of my closest friends from PNG, the Streeters, over to enjoy Winona Lake.  Super cool.  I also had an opportunity to hear another family I work with in PNG speak at my good friend's church in Fort Wayne. Plus, I had great times with the Jones family, also co-workers from PNG.  It's so nice when my two worlds don't have to be so separate.

I was able to be with my family for some special events, like the Fourth of July and my niece's first day of 2nd grade. (I wanted to type Kindergarten there . . . my how time goes so fast.)

Thank you to all of you who have been a blessing these past two months by sharing life and reconnecting with me.  I love the time I get to spend here, and you're a huge part of that!
Why teach tribal people who are oral story tellers to read and write?  Learn about the benefits of combining oral teaching and the written word for mature believers in future generations.

What's Happening Next

I head back to PNG again in a week.  And it'll be another long journey. The Covid test before I fly etc.  They've recently reduced my quarantine days from 21 to seven.  You might think that's a good thing, and it is, but I was also looking forward to that time to move into a new apartment.  It's unfurnished, but I was fortunate enough to borrow furniture from someone who is away for a year on their home assignment.  Once I get in and settled, I hope to start having ladies' groups and new families over for dinner again.

I am also hoping to have another ladies' debriefing retreat in October and December, but the housing is very limited on our centers right now.  Please pray with me for a solution.  The options I'm considering so far would all add quite a bit of expense to hosting the retreat, so it could be prohibitive for the ladies to attend, and I don't want that.

I was able to facilitate a Missionary Care Discussion Group with six churches while I was home and we had some great discussions about how to communicate with and care for their missionaries/ my co-workers.  I'm hoping to host another zoom call discussion group starting in September. 

I was able to finish the second video in a series on literacy (above), and am hoping to start work on the third one, How do you teach adults how to read and write? before I head back.

Praises

Praise the Lord for health and safety over this time home.

Praise Him for the blessing of connecting with family and the church and even my PNG co-workers in my time here.

Praise that I have all the necessary paperwork to return to PNG- except for the Covid test, which I'll get in a week.

Praise the Lord for His provision in the furnishings for my next housing assignment. 

Praise the Lord for all of you who support me financially and through prayer and who encourage me with your continued friendship.

Prayer Requests

Pray for the churches who just finished up the Missionary Care Discussion Group, that they'll be able to implement what they've learned. Pray for openness and excitement for those I invite next.

Pray for my packing!  That I could have discernment on what is necessary.

Pray for my travel— for the Covid test a few days before I go, the necessary paperwork to be in order, for smoothness of transiting and flying and for no unreasonable luggage fees or losses.

Pray for me once again, and my family too, as we have to say goodbye.  It doesn't get easier to do!

Pray as I get back into the swing of things in PNG, that I will find meaningful ways to reconnect to my community there.

Pray for contentment in my new apartment, that I would be able to set it up to be cozy and welcoming.
More stories of what God is doing in Papua New Guinea can be found through social media:
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My mailing address is:
Summer Zimmer C/O New Tribes Mission
PO Box 1079 Goroka, EHP 441 Papua New Guinea

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