Cross-Country

Greetings from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where we have just finished our three-week cross-country trip. What a blessing it has been to visit Martha's cousin and his family in Durango, Colorado; camp in Ouray, Colorado; speak at supporting churches in Greeley and Montrose, Colorado; visit supporters in Wellington, Colorado; see old friends in Plymouth, Minnesota and Geneva, Illinois; and reconnect with all of my (Adam's) family as we celebrated my grandmother's 100th birthday in Madison, Connecticut!

Celebrating my grandmother's 100th birthday

It has also been a joy to see the children get so excited about seeing things that many of us take for granted like squirrels, chipmunks, and deer. (They don't remember seeing any of those things before!) For Martha and me it felt wonderful to be on the open road and see the country from the California deserts to the mountains of Colorado and from the plains of the Midwest to the forests of the East Coast. Nevertheless, we are so glad to finally be able to settle down in Pittsburgh with my parents after weeks of living out of suitcases. Martha is now starting to homeschool the kids as I return to work, checking the Enga translation of the book of Luke and continuing to compile my grammar of the Enga language. Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support!

El Nino Causes Drought and Frost in Enga The people of Enga are currently facing a major disaster as they face the worst frost to hit the area in 40 years. While Papua New Guinea is on a tropical island, most of Enga is over 5,000 feet in altitude and some areas are over 8,000 feet. Frost destroys the vegetable gardens that people rely upon for their daily food and entire crops of sweet potatoes have been lost. Sweet potatoes are the main staple in Enga, and so those in affected areas are virtually without food. El Nino has also caused a drought, which has left people with dangerously low water supplies. Papua New Guinea's government has promised immediate disaster relief funds for the region, but please keep the people of Enga in your prayers that they would have food to eat and water to drink.

Frost-burnt sweet potato crops in the Highlands region of Papua New Guinea. (The darker brown colors
are not dirt but withered sweet potato vines. Normally these mounds would be green.)