Three months… it feel like a LONG time, and yet it feels just around the corner.  We are planning on leaving for PNG in about three months, give or take.  In essence, we know that our time in the USA is coming to an end, but we still don’t have an exact departure date.

To bring you up to speed with what we do know…

• Our paperwork is currently in transit to Ukarumpa via DHL. Estimated arrival by Feb 5.
• Once in Ukarumpa there are two steps that have to be completed.
  • Step 1 should take about 1 month in PNG (this is assuming everything goes smoothly)
  • Step 1.5 should be instantaneous: once the paperwork is approved in PNG, they electronically transfer the approval to Washington D.C.  Can you believe it?!?!  Something instantaneous actually exists in this process!  :-D
  • Step 2 should take about 4 weeks in D.C. (what is the difference between 1 month (PNG time) and 4 weeks (USA time)?? Your guess is as good as mine) :-)
• Then our passports with visas will be sent back to us.

That means that we *should* have our passports/visas in hand by mid April if all goes well.

We are already beginning the process of seriously sorting and packing in preparation. Hopefully by starting now it will help keep things from getting too overwhelming down the road. It has been hard to start what we know is going to be a major upheaval for our family, but it is necessary and putting it off any longer isn’t going to make it better. We have enjoyed having a home in the USA and now it is time to begin the transition period again. This is a period of time where we feel torn between two sides of the world: The sadness of saying goodbye to our friends, family, and life in the USA again while simultaneously feeling excitement/anticipation at returning to our life in PNG. Packing is so much more than straight up sorting/packing…it is a time filled with many emotions and a lot of energy spent processing through these feelings and emotions – both for ourselves and with our kids.

All of that to say that while we are in the throes of preparing for our departure to PNG, we don’t have plane tickets yet and therefore do not have a departure date yet. Our plan at this point is to buy plane tickets once we know Step 2 above is underway (hopefully the second week of March). And at that point we will look at plane tickets and buy whatever is most reasonably priced during the last week of April or first week of May (to allow for our paperwork to for sure be in hand well before we leave for the airport, instead of right before we leave for the airport like last time).

Thank you very much for your partnership with us and for your prayers for us and our ministry in PNG. Please pray for God’s grace and peace to reign in our lives especially during this time of transition and upheaval for our family (physically/emotionally/spiritually/mentally).