Romans 12:12 “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

PRAISE

Happy New Year! Another year to grow & know God more!  We are so thankful for God’s many provisions & blessings. We also thank Him for the difficult times. God is at work in our hearts!

Papua New Guinea Missions trip for Pete & Jessica was such a huge blessing! They enjoyed their 2 1/2 week stay, safe travels across the globe, good health, a great time with our church friends from Manitoba, and success in building the National Guest Home in Sobega.  They even were blessed to travel to Wuzurumba, a tribal location, to visit with missionaries and tribal believers. That was certainly a highlight for them both as they met & worshipped the Lord together with the Wuzurumbia tribal folks.  We are so thankful that the CMC in Steinbach, MB gave so generously for this trip!  It was a privilege to be a part of what God is doing in PNG!

We praise the Lord for how he undertook for Lesley and the kids while Pete & Jess were away.  We had a good time together & made some special memories!  I’m pretty sure we went ice skating almost every day!

The NTMC Academy was ready for the teachers and students to move into for the beginning of classes in January.   We were blessed to see how God provided for this project. So even though the tornado was a horrible event, causing so much damage to the school, in the end the Academy looks better than ever!!

Jessica returned from PNG with two feet infections. She had an ingrown toe nail, and an ankle infection. With the help of antibiotics and soaking three times a day, her feet are doing much better! 

It’s hard to see friends suffer, so much harder to see them die.  Hawa Sane, a close friend of our family, passed away last month. She had been sick for several months with what we heard was AIDS.  She is pain free now, and with the Lord!  There are days when I miss her so much! Continue to pray for her family, two adult children, and one grandchild. Pray for their salvation.

PRAYER

We are so thankful for the opportunities that we have to be involved in each other’s lives. For Pete & Jessica that meant a trip to PNG for a few weeks. Being a blessing, and being blessed by our home church mission group.  For our family here in Durham, it means rubbing shoulders with the students on campus, and also the staff.  It’s a real encouragement to see how God is teaching and stretching us in our faith walk.  We’ve had several opportunities to speak with the students in mission training. It’s encouraging to testify of God’s grace!! Lesley continues to serve in the childcare department.  Those little two year olds are quite a challenge! They are fun, cute, and a blessing to care for.

Thanks so much for praying for Pete’s health.  Each day he is improving. The trip to PNG boosted him and he really enjoyed helping out on the project there.  Right now, he’s busy working on the new 6-plex.  The building team hopes to get two apartments done this next month so two families can move in.  We praise the Lord for the financial provision to build these buildings…all debt free!

Continue to pray for our kids, their emotional & spiritual well-being.  They are doing well, but often have sad days when it’s hard to adjust to Canada and they miss their friends a lot.

Pray that they can make new and meaningful friendships. Pray that they can grow in their walk with God and trust Him in these adjustments.

We are asking the Lord for guidance & wisdom in where we should permanently live. Right now, we are renting a home which has worked out well for now. We would like to move onto NTMC campus this year…however, we aren’t sure if there will be housing for us. Pray along with us that we would be patient, and that God will direct our paths.

It may seem far away, but as missionaries we often plan WAY ahead.  We would ask you to pray with us as we plan a trip this July to Missouri and then on to Manitoba.  We haven’t had a Demark family reunion for several years now.  We hope to all meet at the training center in Camdenton, MO.  Then after this we would like to go to our home church in Steinbach, MB to re-connect with our church family.  Pray for all the details.  We look forward to a special time with family & friends!