Praise God:

• For a fun, relaxing time of celebrating Adam's 29th birthday on September 25th!



• For continued progress that we are making with building, packing and preparing to move.



• For good weather on the South Coast making traveling and building much easier.



• For the excitement that the Akolet people have for us coming and living with them.

Please Pray:

• For Adam, Ryan and Stephen as they build in Gasmata for 10 days in October. Please pray for physical safety and good weather while traveling and building, and that they would get their projects complete.



• For strength and encouragement for us as individuals, families and as a team during this time of packing, moving and building.



• For the hearts of the Akolet people to be hungering for a truth that they don't yet know. Please pray that the Lord would cause them to see their deep spiritual need so that when we are able to present the truth to them that they accept it fully as the answer.



• For us that above all else we would keep our eyes fixed on the goal of knowing Christ and one day making Him known to the Akolet people.

Praise God:

• For a successful building trip in Akolet land. 2 of our 3 projects got completed and the third (Ryan's office) is at least underway. Building also gave us good opportunities to start building relationships with the Akolet people as we worked together towards a common goal.



• For the Jacksons' safe arrival to Hoskins on September 8th! Nothing eventful happened during their travels and they're now adjusting to life here.



• For Julie making her first trip to Akolet land. The ladies there were very excited to meet her and we're certain she'll have no problems finding language helpers when the time comes! (The only problem will be convincing them to not try to teach her until our houses are built and we're ready to start formal language study!)

Please Pray:

• For the Lord's timing for the building of Ryan's office and the other projects we want to have completed before our short term work teams come in November.



• For our 2 work teams coming - that all the details of their travel and time here would fall into place.



• For continued wisdom in our relationships with the Akolet people. Pray that we would really bond with them in spite of the differences in language and culture and that they would truly see our care for them.



• For physical health for all of us. This is a time where it would be easy for us to get run down physically, and we'd appreciate prayer that we'd all be at our physical best for the hard work we're in the midst of.

Scrambling Through the Open Window

Adam and I have learned in our 15 months on the field here in PNG that when a window of opportunity opens, you'd better scramble through it before it slams shut again! That's what we were doing on Monday - scrambling through the open window of opportunity...

After the last attempted trip to Akolet land where the guys only made it part way and were stranded for another week due to bad weather, we were waiting and praying for another opportunity to come for them to go down again and get the building projects done that they had hoped to.

Saturday (Sept. 2) we got a casual email from our missionary friend in Kandrian (where the guys got stuck last time) saying that the weather was good and he was thinking that this week would be a good time to go down for 3 or 4 days and build the wharf. We didn't think much of it, but decided to contact him on Sunday and see what he was thinking. "The weather's great. Get down here while you can." Adam and Ryan decided to jump on it, so we began packing them (very lightly) for a Tuesday-Friday trip. We should have known that would change!

Monday afternoon (the day before Adam is to leave), we find out that the boat captain who was to ship all our building materials for the storage shed and office around to Akolet land had suddenly decided to change his schedule and go again this week with the weather being as good as it was. So suddenly the guys were not going for 4 days, they were going for 10 days! (And when you're headed to the bush, there's a lot more to pack than just a few changes of clothes... you need emergency medicines, food, tents, a way to get clean water, etc.)

By Monday evening, we were exhausted but we were packed and we'd concocted The Plan....the guys would leave in the morning and Nicki and the kids and I would fly down on Friday and join them for the remainder of the trip. During this time they wanted to get the wharf, storage shed and office completed.

Well, it is Thursday now and I'm getting ready to leave in the morning for my first trip to Akolet land! We heard from the guys last night via radio (which they had set up in the local men's meeting house where there were 40 or 50 Akolet men crammed in to hear Adam and Ryan talking to their wives...no privacy I tell you!). Everything is going very well and the wharf, the first of the 3 projects, is already complete! Praise the Lord! Adam and Ryan are extremely encouraged as this is the first time we've ever been "ahead of schedule".

For God's glory among the Akolet of Papua New Guinea,

Adam & Julie Martin

Praise God:

• For the opportunity the Lord gave us to get to Akolet land and make up for lost time on our building projects! To find out more, go to our "What's Going On Now" page and read the latest entry.



• For healing Joseph Coleman! We still aren't sure what he had (malaria? bacterial infection?) but he is doing much better now much to the relief of everyone.



• For Julie finally getting an opportunity to go and see our future home before it's actually time to move in!



• For His perfect timing in everything here. We know that even though at times things seem to not be going "according to plan" from our perspective that He is in control and knows more than any of us what is best.

Please Pray:

• For the Jackson family arriving in PNG September 8th! Please pray that as they arrive and settle in that Jonathan and Melissa and their 4 children would be able to adjust well to life here. Pray also for us, Colemans and Jacksons as we continue to seek the Lord together about Jacksons joining our work in Akolet.



• For the remainder of Adam and Ryan's building trip in Akolet land. Please pray for good weather, calm seas, and that the building would go smoothly.



• For strength for us as we continue packing up here and preparing for our big move to the bush. At times the details of coordinating the shipping of all our possessions along with preparing all the building materials and all the other countless details involved in this move seem overwhelming.



• For our relationships with the Akolet people. Please pray that we would know how to show genuine care for them and that these relationships would pave the way for people wanting to come and help us learn language and, down the road, to come to our teaching meetings to hear the truth of God's Son in their own language.

No Fuel??

We'd had a good trip so far: the land agreement was signed, the weather was good and I along with a fellow missionary were heading home. We got to the airstrip early to catch our New Tribes Mission plane for the quick trip home. I got out our satellite phone to call in a weather report for the plane but to my dismay, the battery was mysteriously dead. Unable to call in a weather report, we had to trust that the pilot would come and be able to land. As the time wore on, we began to wonder if the pilot was coming or not but we remained patient...

We had now been at the airstrip 5 hours with no signs of a plane. We had also begun hearing rumors from some of the people that the local commercial air company had closed the airstrip after their most recent flight because of the grass being too long on the airstrip (remember this is a bush airstrip!). If this had indeed happened, we would have to find another way home because our mission plane wouldn't be allowed to land either. We decided to wait until 4:00pm before leaving the airstrip and trying to find out what to do next - if it hadn't come by then, then it wouldn't be coming at all as darkness was soon to set in and these planes can only fly during the day. We tried using the local government-run medical aid post HF radio to call out to our mission base and find out what was going on but that radio's battery was dead. It is amazing how isolated and on your own you can feel out in the bush while only being a 25 minute flight from home!

4:00pm came and went with no sign of the plane so I along with the other missionary decided it was time to go to Plan B...find another way home. Our nearest NTM base on the south coast is in a small town called Kandrian which is about a 3-4 hour boat trip away from Gasmata (where we were stranded at). The problem was that we didn't have a boat nor did we have a way to contact the missionary based there to let them know where we were and for them to come get us. As we started talking with people, we heard of a boat coming form the government aid post in Kandrian to the Gasmata aid post that afternoon. We tracked this boat down and asked if they would take the two of us back to Kandrian that evening. The boat driver said he wasn't going out there again until tomorrow because his trip today had taken over 7 hours (much longer than usual) because the seas were so rough! So, we were stuck for one more night. We headed back to our Akolet friends and told them the story, and they graciously gave us some food and a place to sleep. Definitely not a Holiday Inn but it was the best they had to offer! They even gave me their mosquito netting to keep me from possibly getting malaria from the ever-present mosquitos.

In the morning, we met the boat and made the trip along the coast to Kandrian. The seas were still rough but not as bad as the day before and we were thankful to God for that. Once we got into Kandrian we found out we were still stuck, just some place with nicer beds! Their was an aviation fuel shortage and no planes were flying at all until the shipment of fuel had come in (which was supposed to have been a few days ago). This was hard news - stranded away from my wife and no idea when the situation would be sorted out again! We were relieved to have been able to get to Kandrian and have some place available to us to stay while we waited for the fuel shortage to work itself out, but still wondered when and how things would be fixed.

We were finally able to get a flight and come back to Hoskins only 3 days later than we had planned - not because the fuel had arrived but because we found another small plane that uses another kind of fuel that was willing to come and get us. We were especially grateful for that opportunity when we saw the first shipment of fuel finally arrive - weeks later than expected! We are learning constantly of God's sovereignty in all aspects of life and trying to learn not to hold onto our plans too tightly, even when it means being stranded away from home and completely helpless to do anything about it.

Update

In July, Adam and another missionary were able to travel to Akolet land again and visit with the guys there. For the third time in a row, their reception was very warm and the people remained excited as ever about having us missionaries come and live with them.

After discussing with the Akolet people why we wanted to sign a land agreement with them (so that they would know exactly the type of work that we have come to do with them --our end of the bargain-- and so that we would have confidence that we will be welcome on the land they're lending us to build our houses on --their end of the bargain--), they gathered all the men necessary and the signing took place. Adam arranged with some of the men to continue clearing land on our future house site, and they were off again (to read the details of their exciting return journey, go to our "Bush Notes" section and read "No Fuel??").

Together with our partners, the Colemans, we made plans for the guys to travel there again in August in order to build a wharf, a storage shed and a small office for our future language study. The wharf will enable us to receive supplies by ship, and the storage shed and office were two pre-house projects that we wanted to have done in advance. Our thinking was that both families could live out of the office and storage shed as temporary shelters while our permanent houses were going up.

Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate with us in August. The guys made part of the journey to Akolet land and were unable to travel the rest of the way because the seas were too rough and there was constant rain. After having lived in PNG for over a year now, we are used to having a Plan A, a Plan B, and quite often Plans C-F, but it was still discouraging as we had put a lot of preparation into this trip! But we know the Lord's timing is perfect, and the guys are planning a trip again in early to mid September to try to complete the projects that didn't get done on the last trip.

In a way we're working with a deadline, because we have 2 groups of people coming from our home church in Iowa to help us build our houses. They're coming in early November, and we are very excited about that. That means, though, that there is a lot of work that has to be completed in order to make the most of them during their several days of building here. Our goal is that both our house and the Coleman's would be completed by Christmas. If we're able to do that, then our plan is to start into full-time Akolet language and culture study shortly after the first of the year.

Praise God:

• For continued progress being made on our house building materials here at Hoskins. Even though Adam and Ryan's building trip in August was completely thwarted due to bad weather, we're still making progress.



• For a new visa that the government is granting to short-term workers which will enable our work teams coming over to have all their paperwork completed in plenty of time for their arrival in early November!



• For Julie's dad who is planning to join the building team in November! It will be a big encouragement to have him here during this time.



• For His perfect timing in everything here. We know that even though at
  
  times things seem to not be going "according to plan" from our perspective
  
  that He is in control and knows more than any of us what is best.

Please Pray:

• For Joseph Coleman, Ryan and Nicki's 4-year-old son. He's been sick for a week now with very high fevers. He doesn't seem to be responding to malaria treatment or antibiotics, so please pray for wisdom in knowing how to best treat what he has and that he'd soon return to good health.



• For the Jackson family arriving in PNG September 8th! Please pray that as they arrive and settle in that Jonathan and Melissa and their 4 children would be able to adjust well to life here. Pray also for us, Colemans and Jacksons as we continue to seek the Lord together about Jacksons joining our work in Akolet.



• For Adam and Ryan's next building trip to Gasmata. Please pray for good weather, calm seas, and that the building of our dock (which will enable us to receive supplies in Akolet land by ship) would go well.



• For strength for us as we continue packing up here and preparing for our big move to the bush. At times the details of coordinating the shipping of all our possessions along with preparing all the building materials and all the other countless details involved in this move seem overwhelming.