Paul and Andrea Wilson Missionaries to Papua New Guinea Our New Addition!
We have just a few praises and prayer requests that we would like to bring to your attention:
- Praise: On November 3 at 10:06 PM Phoebe Joy Wilson arrived via c-section weighting in at just over 8 lbs.
- Praise: Andrea is recovering well from surgery.
- Praise: God has exceedingly and abundantly met our needs for getting set up during this time of home assignment.
- Prayer Request: With the addition to our family, we have extra expenses. Please join us in praying for God’s provision.
- Prayer Request: More laborers. NTM Aviation – PNG is currently in a critical situation and has had to limit flying. Pray for wisdom as we seek the Lord’s leading during these “lean” times.
- Prayer Request: That we would be godly parents.
Thanks for praying and rejoicing with us!
7Flights & 7 Beds
The months of August and September have flown by in a blur. We are so thankful for your prayers as we packed up our home in Papua New Guinea and prepared to head back to the US for these next months of home assignment.
Because Andrea was 7 months pregnant, we decided to “island hop” on our way home as a way to break up the long flight across the Pacific. With the help of rewards points and discount lodging provided by NTM, we were able to enjoy a few days of relaxing and unwinding before arriving in Maryland.
We want to thank you all for praying. We had a total of 7 flights and not one was cancelled and our luggage made it with us every step of the way! And other than a little bit of swelling and lots of bathroom trips, Andrea & Baby Wilson weathered the trips well. We arrived in Southern Maryland and were spoiled by some friends as we waited for our apartment to be made ready.
August 2011 Praises & Prayer Requests
In one week we will board the first of seven flights as we make our way from Papua New Guinea to the east coast of the US. Many of you are aware that we had to move up our home assignment time as we are expecting in mid November. We have a ton of praises and prayer requests that we wanted to share with you:
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Time of Transition
With Numonohi Christian Academy’s (our NTM school for missionary kids) graduation just a few weeks away, life here at our centre has entered a time of transition. Shortly after graduation, many families choose this time to head back to their home countries….some for a time of home assignment (formally called furlough) and some to change ministries. And like most years, our NTM aviation staff is no exception to this “tradition.”
While we do have one family returning in July, we will be saying good-bye to several more. This once again will mean some lean months ahead, staff-wise, and more opportunities to trust the Lord. How do you cover the work of two pilots, two mechanics and one admin person? Please join us in praying for wisdom and endurance during this time. We count it a tremendous blessing to be able to offer aviation support to our bush missionaries and hope that these shortages don’t mean we have to limit our services to them. Also, please pray for more laborers. The fields of PNG are ripe and ready for harvest.
It is also a time of transition for Aviation leadership in McNeal, Arizona. Please pray for the team there as they work through some necessary changes.
God is doing amazing things!
As missionaries living at our NTM’s PNG headquarters, we often have opportunities to visit with bush missionaries who are out for medical needs, meetings, schooling, and breaks.
Recently we were able to catch up with Jason and Nisae Williamson. They work among the Tobo people.
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Refreshment & Praise
Taking A Break
We want to start by saying thank you to all those who have been praying for us. As most of you know it was an intense and stressful summer with 
the minimal staffing. We both held much responsibility within our departments at the hangar. This was a huge learning curve for both of us and we are grateful for the current opportunity to take a week long break (15-19 Nov).
You might recall that for 4 months our helicopter was down having the engine repaired. Last month we re-installed the helicopter’s engine and fuel cells. We were able to return it to service just prior to our International Chief Pilot’s arrival to do check & training with our veteran helicopter pilot Ray Finsaas and our new pilot Mike McGregor. Ray needs to be trained to be an instructor for Mike. Having a second helicopter pilot family on the field is a huge blessing. This will prevent the helicopter from just sitting during home assignment times.
Additionally we had an inspection on our King Air C-90.
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A.O.G.
For those of you who don’t know aircraft lingo, AOG stands for Aircraft On Ground. And that is what we are dealing with at our NTM Aviation hangar here in PNG.
Paul & Marc removing the engine in preparation for transport to Australia.
Back in July Paul and the maintenance team were doing some routine inspections on our helicopter when they noticed signs of a problem. “Can we fix it here? Do we have the parts/equipment/ability to fix it?” After further investigation and consultations, it was determined that the engine needed to be shipped to an overhaul facility and fixed. Closest facility = Sydney, Australia!
Wish that we could report that it only took a call to FedEX to get our 200 lb “package” shipped. A special shipping crate was first sent to us. In the mean time the engine needed to be removed and prepared. And due to the size of this crate, we actually had to fly the engine down to Port Morseby ourselves in our C-90.
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Seasons in Papua New Guinea
Construction Season
Since our return in October of 2009 there has been non-stop construction on our corner of the center. This is a necessary step towards making room for m
ore laborers and is usually considered a good thing. However, when you live at ground zero for an extended time it tends to wear on ones sanity.
From the siding of the new duplex behind us to the remodeling of our neighboring duplex unit, to the landscaping of the grounds around us for better rain run-off we have had our fill of construction noise and activity. Before you get too judgmental of my negative tone I would ask: Have you ever heard the noise produced by a saw cutting aluminum siding? Have you ever had your pictures and décor removed by the vibrations of a floor sander? Have you ever been feet away from a landscaping crew who are digging ditches in your yard with shovels and a Bobcat tractor while you are working at your office desk? Have you ever enjoyed a headache from a varnish fume high and not reaped the refinished floors that go with it?
We completely understand that the construction crew has to complete these projects and are grateful for the necessary expansion of housing. However, we share all this to ask that you pray for us in this nerve racking trial….especially for Andrea as she spends Tuesdays and Thursdays at home taking care of our needs here.
When we as believers commit to serving the Lord we are promised trials and persecution. Thankfully we have not heard the sounds of conflict or tasted persecution as yet. Please DO NOT forget to pray for our fellow brothers and sisters around the world who are enduring such things for the name of Christ.
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Shuttles, Sling-loads & Sleeping Bags
Remember those busy months we asked prayer for? Well, thanks for praying!!
Very sweaty work filling every inch of the helicopter with cargo.
Work at the hangar has kept both of us pretty busy. On top of that Paul was able to help a new tribal team move their supplies into their bush location. This new tribal work amongst the Pal people of Papua New Guinea is in a very remote location. The missionaries homes are located on the crest of a mountain range and thus only accessible by helicopter.
No these aren’t men raising the flag at Iwo Jima. Instead it’s Paul getting lots of help as he fixes the windsock near the helicopter landing area.
So Paul packed his camping gear and flew down to the north coast of PNG in the Madang region. He spent the next few days loading the missionaries supplies into the helicopter. Because the helicopter is so expensive to operate, they wanted to make sure they divided the cargo into as few loads as possible. Our Long Ranger helicopter can carry a maximum of 1,100 lbs so Paul and the crew had to make sure every inch of space was used. For many of the larger items they used a sling and carried the cargo outside of the helicopter.
On the last days of shuttles, Paul was able to fly in and see where the Lockwood and Claasen families will be living. Their two homes are situated on the crest of a hill. There is barely enough space for their houses and a helicopter “pad”. Please be praying for these two families and their SIX active young boys.
Pray for them in these weeks and months ahead as they adjust to bush living and begin to learn the Pal language and culture. And please join with us in praying for the eventual salvation of the Pal people!! (Pal is pronounced like Paul so it is easy to remember, at least for us. :^)
It Takes A Team…
Paul getting his shot.
We are amazed at how our God works! Have you ever just stopped what you are doing and thought about it? We want to share with you one of those amazing times:
Many of you know that Paul has been struggling with allergies. Because of his particular condition (too much IgE) he qualifies to go on a specific allergy drug that helps with these high levels. He started this treatment in the States (a shot every other week for at least a year) and his various allergic reactions started to decrease. But after returning to PNG in October, we found out we are unable to have it shipped from the US.
So that’s when our NTM team went to work. We had doctors, nurses and medical staff looking into purchasing it in Australia, the Philippines and even possibly Thailand. After finding it in Australia our NTM team there had to pick up the medicine and make sure it remained refrigerated. Then our NTM Aviation team packed it in the plane and flew it up here (along with a lot of other cargo).
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