We made it! Praise God! We returned to Papua New Guinea on 5 October, and after seven days we were released from quarantine. It’s a good feeling to be back, to be set loose, and to be heading to work!
Robert still needs to complete some training to be signed off to fly here. As there are currently no other helicopter pilots in Ukarumpa, the current plan, which could still change, is for our family to fly to Goroka in November. There we will live in the New Tribes Mission centre until Christmas, while a pilot there will train Robert.
In the meantime, Loralie has a small waitlist of people wanting to have an optometry appointment here! She is setting up in the Clinic to see them before we head to Goroka.
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Above: Views out the window on our return to Ukarumpa. Maps: both Ukarumpa and Goroka are situated in the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, highlighted. In the close-up you can see where we will travel from (the Aiyura valley near Kainantu) to Goroka, a much larger town, at roughly the same elevation (~5000ft).
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- Praise God that we received permission to enter Papua New Guinea, for our safe arrival, and for a warm welcome in Ukarumpa.
- Please pray for our time in Goroka, for Robert to be able to receive the training he needs and for our family to do well through ongoing transitions.
- Pray for Loralie as she sets up her new role as optometrist in the clinic, that this service will prove a blessing for the community.
- Pray for those seeking to return to PNG, including Robert’s boss and chief helicopter pilot, Gavin Jones, and his family. Pray that doors for them to return to the country will open soon. Praise God that 10 more families returned this week from the USA.
- Pray for continued collaboration between mission organisations here in Papua New Guinea as we serve in the common goal of spreading the good news of Jesus.
- Praise God for Bible translation work that has continued despite the pandemic.
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It was the morning of our flight to Port Moresby from Cairns, and we still hadn’t received our approval to enter the country from the State of Emergency Controller. This extra step is part of Papua New Guinea’s response to the pandemic, making sure that those arriving in the country are 'essential' personnel. Without this little stamp we would be unable to board the plane despite having exit exemptions, passports, negative COVID-19 test results, quarantine exemptions, visas and work permits… and every other bit of paperwork (a lot is required these days!).
During the week prior, we’d packed and weighed and repacked our bags, got our noses poked for our COVID-19 test result, said our goodbyes and journeyed up to Cairns in the hope of boarding our international flight. We’d practised with the kids wearing masks, with the teddies wearing masks, and then repacked our bags again. All the while, we had many of you praying for this little stamp of approval to come through. So we’d kept walking forward… in hope, despite the uncertainty.
About two hours before our flight was due to depart, we finally got the approval!
During check-in for the flight we discovered the kids didn’t have an exemption to leave Australia. This was despite them being listed on our (approved) exemption! After some consideration we decided that we probably shouldn’t leave them behind, so there followed some tense phone calls before they had an override exemption. We were all allowed to board the flight, with great relief and thankfulness to God.
The rest of our journey was blissfully uneventful. We landed in the late afternoon and were quickly transported to our own home for quarantine.
It really is very difficult to travel at this time and in these circumstances. We must say we didn’t love the experience of waiting until the last minute. We don’t know why God has a habit of this eleventh hour thing. But as we look behind us we can clearly see we have crossed over on a bridge of his faithfulness, and we believe it to be by his control over all things. So all we can do is thank him for the privilege of being able to return to serve him here.
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Ps 96:2-3
Sing to the Lord; praise his name. Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.
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Above from top: Emily's teddy was very good at wearing his mask. Michael enjoyed the Kodiak flight. Weighing the luggage, and the kids in our home in Ukarumpa where our friends made a 'Praise the LORD! You made it!' sign.
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Life here is still shaky. In fact, three days after we arrived there was an earthquake centred near Kainantu, the next town to Ukarumpa, measuring 6.7 on the Richter scale. It was certainly the biggest one we’ve experienced. We were indoors, quarantining, when our whole house began to sway side to side. It continued for what felt like several minutes, long enough for car alarms on centre to start going off and for our entire family to jump underneath the table. (All, that is, except for Robert’s rear end which didn’t quite fit.)
The next morning, we momentarily thought our washing machine was having a fit and would need replacing, only to realise it was an aftershock.
Later in the week we read and were reminded of God’s promises to be a steady foundation amidst the shakiness.
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Ps 46: 1-2, 11
God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.
The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.
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We asked a good friend to describe life in Ukarumpa in the last six months in three words. Long, hard and challenging were her responses. Over 100 personnel left the centre around March, and everyone wanting to return has struggled to do so. This has left many positions unfilled and some people stretched from picking up the slack.
Despite this, work on Bible translation has continued. We celebrated the completion of a NT draft for the Onobasulu language just this month, extra exciting for us after we had met some of the national translators on the team during our orientation classes here. The Ukarumpa International School which serves the missions community has had (just) enough personnel to reopen. This in turn frees up more people to work their normal roles rather than needing to homeschool. So we see God's hand at work and are thankful that in spite of shaky times, he is still a solid rock for us to remain on.
Please do pray for those who still seek to return, that they will be able to. Pray that God would also raise up more new workers to complete the task here, that all people may hear the Word of God in a language they understand.
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Above: We were quarantined with 'CAUTION' tape all around our home, that was ceremonially cut when we were released. Walking to the kids' first day back at school - Kindy for Emily and daycare for Michael.
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PNG is not only a linguistically diverse country, it also boasts the greatest plant diversity of any island in the world. It is home to more than 13,500 plant species! And it also has some pretty crazy looking animals and insects. See below the picture of a little caterpillar in our backyard, and two bigger caterpillars in their pink cocoon in our hallway.
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Thanks for your support enabling us to be here,
with love from Robert & Loralie, Emily & Michael.
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To Contact Us:
Email: robert-loralie_handasyde@wycliffe.org.au
Post to: PO Box 1 (142),
Ukarumpa,
Eastern Highlands Province 444,
PNG
Our numbers have changed!
Robert: +675 7077 8307, Loralie: +675 7917 3942
Wycliffe Australia: wycliffe.org.au
If you’d like to know anything about our journey, drop us a line.
We love to hear stories of your lives too, and are encouraged, challenged and changed by hearing them. Please never underestimate how much we value you all!
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Please do not redistribute this newsletter without permission
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