Have you ever woken up and not felt well? Have you ever had that feeling where you’re just not getting better and you know you need to seek more medical attention?

Things change and sometimes things change quickly. And, here, when things change, the changes can involve quick decisions and international flights to seek further answers.

Over the past few weeks, a dear friend and fellow Science teacher here at Ukarumpa International School, Sheila Nelson, was experiencing just that.

Our clinic here does amazing work but, there are times when the answers can’t be found locally and individuals have to leave Ukarumpa and Papua New Guinea in order to seek further medical attention – this is why we pay monthly premiums for international medical insurance to cover these unexpected departures, should they arise.

Just this past Wednesday, after a week of consistent, unusual and unsettling symptoms, Sheila and her husband flew from PNG to Cairns, Australia to seek further answers for issues that just weren’t resolving themselves. 

We are SO thankful that we have an amazing clinic that can handle a myriad of things locally and we are equally thankful for our incredible aviation department that connects us with the outside world in order to provide us access (albeit at a slightly higher cost than driving to your local hospital or clinic 🙂 ) to larger facilities equipped to handle everything else that can’t be treated here in PNG.

Mostly, we are thankful that Sheila was able to arrive in Cairns and that she is currently waiting for answers and solutions to the symptoms she has been experiencing and we would love it if you would join us in praying that the doctors are able to determine what is happening and arrive at a solution to bring comfort and healing to our dear friend.

In the meantime, we are also thankful that God has placed us in a team of working professionals and wonderful administration at Ukarumpa International School who could help us sort out a solution for coverage for Sheila’s classes while she is away for an unknown length of time. 

Right now, it is an all McCarthy Science department, and, together with the administration, we’ve come up with some creative solutions to fit Sheila’s courses into our existing timetables – one of which includes shuffling around some 7th and 6th grade schedules to combine these two Science courses to fit into one 34-student block 🙂 

This also means that Jon is currently Ben’s science teacher and that I have the opportunity to step in and teach some Anatomy and Physiology, which I do love. 

Things are busy but we are thankful that, just as things may change here in an instant that God is not surprised, that God is still Sovereign and that God is our strength and Sheila’s strength throughout every single change. 

Thank you for allowing us to be here in PNG. Thank you for praying for our friends, Ken & Sheila and thank you for following along with us as we watch God display His power and His glory through every situation – both the expected and the unexpected.

With love,

Anita

“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)