The Stewart Family in New Guinea, March 2020

Hi everyone!

We have been meaning to write you for a while to let you know how things are going here in Papua New Guinea but our situation was changing almost daily. Now things have finally settled down for a little bit and we have a chance to breathe and check in with you.

We have had only one confirmed case of COVID-19 in PNG so far but the PNG government is watching closely as the virus spreads around the world and taking measures now to prepare for it and minimize the impact to this country.

This is the public statement from our branch administration about what we are doing here:

“SIL-PNG is complying in full with the requirements of the State of Emergency [SoE] announced by Prime Minister James Marape on Sunday 22nd March.  The SoE was initiated on Tuesday, 24th March. The Ukarumpa Centre and all Regional Centres are practicing appropriate self-isolation protocols.

Our Ukarumpa Clinic staff remain vigilant and are examining any and all patients who present with COVID-type symptoms.  Without ready access to testing, we cannot confirm whether any case of COVID-19 exists within our community. As a result, we are exercising appropriate caution and anyone exhibiting symptoms of a possible infection will be monitored, and any contacts traced and advised accordingly.  The SIL-PNG Community continues to exercise robust self-isolation measures.”

There is a two week domestic travel ban in PNG in an effort to keep everyone at home and prevent the spread of the virus. We are complying fully with that which means our airplanes aren’t flying. Paul has set up a home office in the shed to work from home.

The kids are on school break until after Easter but the school has decided to do online school and homeschool for term 4. I have always said that I would only homeschool if Armageddon happened and we were living in a cave…well…welcome to my cave!

I am co-hosting a daily radio show with my friend Jaime for the missionaries on our center. This will hopefully bring some humor to their day along with some information and a daily devotional. I’m also busy keeping our isolated children from destroying the house and each other! We have had some good ideas sent our way for projects and they are enjoying the fact that I have time to bake again.

For now we feel that the safest place for us is to remain here in PNG. We have food, water, electricity and work to do. Our hearts are with all of you in the States as we watch the virus spread. We are praying fervently for you as you watch and wait. We are especially praying for our health care heroes as they work tirelessly to keep people alive. Pray for my sister Adrianne and her husband Jonathan as they are both health care workers.

Thank you for your continued prayer, emotional and financial support. We know that life is crazy right now but your continued support of the work God is doing in PNG has eternal value. We miss and love you all!

Love, the Stewart Six

29 March 2020







For financial contributions to our ministry account: Checks should be made payable to “Wycliffe Bible Translators” with a separate note indicating, “Preference for the Wycliffe ministry of Paul and Kelly Stewart, Account #200014.” Send to Wycliffe Bible Translators P.O. Box 628200 Orlando, Florida 32862-8200.
Or give online at http://www.wycliffe.org/Partner/pkstewart
wycliffe logo
 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Rich Family in Brazil, February 2020

Image
Opposition When the Enemy is upset, we must be doing something right. Our mission made headlines this month because an anthropologist, who was formerly a member of the mission, was appointed to a high position in the government organization that oversees indigenous affairs. Particularly, he was put over the section that deals with uncontacted tribes. This sparked outrage in the media and digging up all the past garbage they could on the mission: some true, some half true, and some false. The Enemy does not want any infiltration of his strongholds and he doesn't care about truth or fairness.The new mission helicopter, which has begun operating, has also come up in the news. The Past Month In our little corner of Brazil, there are still rumors. Ed just got back from a short time in the village. He talked to A, one of the guys who is reported to oppose us at meetings. Ed explained to him that we got authorization to be there and showed him the document that the village leader
Read more

The Rich Family in Brazil, March 2020

Image
A "Hairy" Experience "Suddenly, there was a piercing pain like someone jabbed my heel with a needle," Rachel recounts. It was our first night in a local Portuguese-speaking community's church near the village, where Ed was invited to teach. Rachel looked around for the culprit that bit her as she was getting up from kneeling during prayer time. Later, she spotted a large hairy spider and had the lady in the next pew get rid of it. It wasn't until we were getting out of our boat at our village that she told me about her arachnid encounter. When we got home, she had me use our retrofitted stun gun to zap the bite several times. She says it helped with the pain. By the next day, she said the bite wasn't bothering her much anymore. Re-entry We had gotten to the village the week before, and it took some time to clean and organize our house. Most of our villagers were in town, so language learning opportunities were a bit sparse. Ed and I went to the ne
Read more

Stephen Newton, Spring 2020

Image
 our hope in uncertain times... “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13 It was the 5th of February when we received another call to search for another local fisherman... We hoped that our newest pilot, who was on his way from Germany with his family, would not be held up at a transiting airport as they journeyed to Palau. Our last sea search occurred at the beginning of December. It was the 5th of February when we received another call to search for another local fisherman. Oddly, he had gone missing in nearly the same location as the last lost fisherman. This time I flew with only one passenger. His name was Ishmael and he was the Marine Law officer who was sent to assist in the search. Again, the man had been missing for nearly 24 hrs before we were notified. He had been using a raft, which had been found, and was wearing a black shirt. I departed
Read more