Patrick and Dawn Eggleton Expanding the Reach of the Gospel in PNG Unexpected Changes
Having served in Papua New Guinea, where there always seems to be many personnel needs, it is always difficult to hear of co-workers who will no longer be able to serve. While being back on home assignment we have heard of 3 families that will no longer be part of the team overseas for various reasons. The most common reason people have to leave the field is due to physical reasons. While we are very thankful for the medical staff God has provided for the PNG field, they are only able to meet so many needs. If complex tests are needed the individual usually has to leave the country at least for those tests. If that happens too often, the cost just becomes too much. Some of the challenges of daily living in our remote area can also become too much for some physical issues. We just heard this last week of the third family that is having to make this difficult change. It is hard to believe that these key people will no longer be able to continue in their ministries as they have. We say all this just to encourage you to continue to support any who God directs to the mission field. If someone in your church or community is led by God to serve overseas, I pray you can be a source of encouragement for them. There are so many needs and the time that any of us can give to serve is always unknown.
We are very thankful for the encouragement and support you have shown us to continue in serving overseas. This week we were able to finalize our tickets to return to Papua New Guinea. It looks like we will be leaving in early July to start our next term of service with the families there. At this point it looks like Patrick will continue to teach some math classes while also providing leadership with MK education. Dawn will probably continue her work with the many homeschooling families while Timothy and Elizabeth will attend the school there. It will be hard to leave Nathan behind to attend college, but we have been so blessed by family and friends who are “adopting” him while we are gone. We know we are all in good hands – the same hands that have led us for many years!
We have so much appreciated our home church and the way they have reached out to us this year. It has been a pleasure to be able to serve on staff for this part of the year. Last week Timothy, Elizabeth and I were able to attend a student retreat with others in the youth group. These are opportunities that Timothy and Elizabeth have not had. We are so thankful for these experiences for them. The church will soon be bringing in a full-time minister for the student and family ministry, so my time serving on staff will soon be over. The last few months, though out of my normal area of service, have been a great experience. We continue to look forward to serving alongside the ministerial staff for our last few months here in the US.
