May Update 2026

Greetings from PNG! We tried to put work in the schools on hold this month while we prepared for the renovation of our house at the Bible College. Johan bought all the hardware and timber for the work throughout the month of May and did some prep work in time for his brother and friend (both trades-men from Australia) to come in the first week of June and finish as much as they can.

Our house is on stilts, and is currently a two bedroom, one bathroom which isn’t ideal for a growing family. The plan is to enclose the area under the house and put bedrooms downstairs, so that the upstairs area can be used for living and homeschool.

We say we ‘tried’ to put schoolwork on hold, because there inevitably ended up being a few tasks to be done in addition to the ongoing administration work that Johan does.

The public objection period for the Intent to Incorporate as an Association finished on the 17th of May. This meant Johan could finally, after one more visit to the District Court, submit our application to incorporate two of our schools. This process started early January and when the final application is accepted it will be an exciting step. It will mean that two of our schools will be officially recognised entities that are able to apply for corporate bank accounts and continue working towards becoming a permitted school.

Another reason for thanks to our God is that the Southern River Mission Board approved a Mission Aid project which will see our teachers receive some assistance with their salaries. When we first arrived, we noted that our teachers were at risk of burnout with many of them (especially in the village schools) working for the last few years with close to no pay and with class sizes swelling larger every year. In villages where a person’s livelihood is their vegetable garden, we noted that teachers were finding it harder each year to support themselves. This is intended to be a short-term support that allows teachers to reduce their student numbers significantly without being financially ‘punished’ for it. In the meantime, we will work with the schools to improve their enrolment and school-fee collection policies and find ways to raise their own funds.

Our colleagues, Tim and Alana Slaa, had a beautiful baby girl towards the end of May which meant that their two oldest daughters stayed overnight with us. This made for a busy week but we’re grateful to be part of a support system at the Bible College and it’s fun to see our ‘crowd’ of girls running amok on the college grounds.

All in all, we’ve been experiencing some stress over the last few months, and our kids are also feeling the strain of the changes they’ve experienced over the last year. However, we’re grateful for the blessings we continue to experience from God’s fatherly hand.

The whole family is looking forward to finally being in our own house after living temporarily in guest housing/rentals since July 2025. Evelyn is also looking forward to having a dedicated homeschool space! As we’re writing this update a little late, the tradies have already arrived and are making good progress– it’s fun to see it all taking shape (sneak-peek on the right).

With thankfulness to God, we can also announce that we are expecting another baby, due DV in mid-November. Thankfully Evelyn has not experienced too much morning sickness aside from general tiredness and we’re grateful for God’s care so far over the pregnancy.

We left for home a little late from Bethel Christian school in Beretete last week, but we were privileged to experience this beautiful sunset on the “snake road” driving down to Port Moresby from Sogeri. We’re grateful for the blessings we experience living in such a beautiful part of God’s world.