Welcome Osborns

It all came together kind of last minute, but we've been able to welcome the Osborn family for an extended stay of six weeks here in Mibu. The Osborns (Joseph and Elizabeth, along with Belle (4), Lucy (3), and Everet (1) ) are here staying with us in Mibu for what is called 'bush orientation'. They arrived in Papua New Guinea in August, have been getting acquainted with things here in Papua New Guinea, and have also been working hard to learn the country's trade language, Pidgin English. They arrived here in Mibu last Wednesday, the 14th and are planning on heading back out to town with us on January 25th.

Bush orientation is one of the final steps of preparing a family for ministry in a remote location. The idea is to finalize their study of Pidgin English language and to gain their first longer term exposure to what life is like living in the bush. This also affords them the opportunity rub shoulders with the believers here in Mibu as they spend time in their world. One more step toward preparing the Osborns to begin serving wherever it is that God directs them. So please be in prayer for their time here, that this exposure would give them wisdom and insight and that they'd sense more of God's direction through this experience.

As for us, it's been a blast getting to know Joseph and Elizabeth and the kids. We've been enjoying helping them get settled in and giving them the 'lay of the land' as it were, showing them how life in the bush looks for us.

Update on travel logistics

(Our apologies for the random picture that just showed up in your inbox yesterday. Here is the text that the picture was supposed to accompany. Our email system sometimes tears our emails apart and decides to send just one little part. Ironically enough, the content of the picture is still rather random :)

Over the last few weeks, our busyness seems to have gotten in the way of keeping you updated. There are several things that we'll be trying to catch you up on here over the next several updates. So stay tuned!

For starters we wanted to inform you about where things are at with our plans to return home for Husa baby number four. We're super thankful to see that so far about $8300 of our needs for this trip has been graciously provided! The total needed for travel and medical expenses is estimated around $15,000.

Currently the plan is to be returning home on January 27th, sometime in the afternoon. The baby is due around the end of April. Then we'll give enough time to process paperwork, entry permits, passport, etc and return to Mibu on July 20.

Please continue to pray with us regarding the health of the baby and also for Shannon who typically experiences a great deal of discomfort and pain associated with pregnancy. Please also be in prayer for our housing needs when we're home. If anyone happens to know of a house that needs house sitting during our time home, we're still looking for something that fits our small budget within reasonable proximity to the Tempe/Chandler area.

As the time for travel approaches, we've got much work to finish up here in Mibu as well as packing up our house which will sit unoccupied during the months that we're home. It's hard to believe that the time is so close already! We're really looking forward to seeing you and hopefully having a chance to visit and share about the wonderful things God continues to do in Mibu!

(here's a random, fun picture of Skyler, Maddie, and Abby all enjoying some imaginative play time)

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The attached file was originally sent with another message.

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