Dear Friends and Family,

It has been a while since I have written. I remember hearing the phrase, "I'm behind like a cow’s tail.” Well, I don’t know where that came from exactly, but I do know what it feels like to always be playing “catch-up.” (So what makes me think I can catch you all up?) About the cow’s tail, I know that they do use them to swat at flies, . . .but the flies keep coming, and sometimes I feel like that is what I am always doing . . .just taking a swipe at the things coming at me.

I do hope you all enjoyed the Christmas holidays with your families. We had a very busy time here. I wrote a mini cantata and practiced with two churches; one of them sang theirs on Christmas Eve, and one on Christmas Day. Christmas Day was so busy for me (and I was so tired) that we postponed Christmas dinner until the day after. BUT, being 16 or so hours ahead of most of you, we reason that we were having Christmas dinner on the same day as you in America. Our Christmas is always an extended affair anyway. Cards and packages are still coming... More catching up, see? I went shopping one day with my husband, but could find very little worth buying as far as Christmas presents were concerned. I did some sewing for Darla and the girls, but it may have been our slimmest Christmas ever with regard to gift-giving. The grandchildren here were happy with simplicity, and we enjoyed just being together with them, while missing the ones on the other side of the big Pacific. We had guests from Australia as well.

After Christmas my focus had to shift to a wedding which took place last Saturday. Yes, I sewed the dress — the sixth wedding dress I have made. This one was for another young lady who grew up in Rabaul Bible Baptist Church. Her brother, ordained before our furlough, told her that I had invested a lot of time in her dress, and that it was a labor of love. He told her he hoped all the love shown to her would be reaped in her life in her faithfully serving the Lord with her husband. We have another wedding coming up soon, but the bride will be able to wear a dress I sewed for a previous bride. PTL! Yes, the girls usually let me clean and store their dresses and are happy to let others wear them.

Now we are finally putting away the Christmas decorations and are preparing for a missions conference. We had two conferences scheduled for this month, but postponed one of them because we would have to travel to New Ireland by boat and the weather has made sea travel in small boats unsafe. There have been several boating disasters resulting in deaths already this month. Even if we made it alive, we would be worse for the wear as the seas are quite rough. The weather service said to expect the same until April. But on this island, we will have a conference at Rabaul Bible Baptist and a Missions booster Sunday at Kokopo Bible Baptist. I have been preparing music for those events.

Rick and Darla are finishing the last room of their house and I have begun sewing curtains for two rooms. . .one of my unfinished projects.

Now here’s the fun part. I am always telling you about things breaking down, aren’t I? Well, in the last couple weeks the list grew. Our lawn mower and weed eater BOTH broke down! My washing machine sometimes hits “dead spots” in one cycle. The air-conditioner in my husband’s office died and he replaced it. The most recent thing to go was the air-conditioner in our bedroom. We’re managing to sleep without it. All the things breaking down play their part in our “catching- up” efforts as well. We thank God for friends and churches who have contributed some extra finances since our furlough and for Christmas.

The churches here have had good attendances in spite of holiday travellers, and have seen a few souls saved as well. Rick II baptized four on New Year’s Day. A good start to the year!

We are all doing what we can to raise money to pay back the Seeto and Lau families who paid for Darla’s medevac last year. We thank everyone who has contributed to that. I think another $10,000 has come to Rick and Darla’s church and we are trying to put as much with it as we can. There is still a long ways to go. . . More catching-up. (-: Thank you for praying for this need.

Right now, I need to go to bed. I’m a little sleep deprived and need to do some serious “catching-up on sleep!” Thanks for sharing a few moments with me. I am looking forward to a certain “catching-up” called the Rapture? How about you? Till then, I expect I’ll be still trying to catch-up . . .

Love to all,
Joyce

We so appreciate you all for your prayers and concern for our
ministry here in Papua New Guinea.

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