Read All About It! -- Newsletter Archive

Hey Everyone!

Many of you may be new to my blog and the story of my purpose in Asia/the Pacific. That's why I've included this page of my past newsletters so that you can see where I've been and where I'm going. May God bless you and stir your heart to engage His work among the nations!

Christ Follower,
Meg

2023 -- Newest On Top

September - October 2023

 

July - August 2023

(sorry it's a bit blurry)

June 2023

 

March - May 2023

January-February 2023

 

December 2022

 July - September 2022

 April - June 2022

 

Jan-March 2022

 

August-December 2021

 

June/July 2021

 

 March-May 2021

 January 2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2016 -- Newest On Top

 

2015 -- Newest On Top

  

July/August 2015

Flexibility With Contentment

My dear friends and family in Christ,

     July and August have been months of the unexpected. As you know, I left Papua New Guinea (PNG) in June to take care of my Mom who was diagnosed with terminal, stage IV lung cancer. These last couple months our days have been filled with doctors’ appointments, tests, treatments and a host of logistics for my Mom and our family. I’ve also been helping maintain our family’s home and doing anything I can to alleviate my parent’s workload as they walk this new path. God has been strengthening us and giving us what we need day by day.

    I thought we had received the worst news we could receive with my Mom’s cancer. However, I was wrong. On August 5^th my Mom’s parents, Ken and Sallie, were in a severe car accident and within a week of each other both of my grandparents passed away from injuries sustained in the accident.  This was quite a shock to all of us and we are still trying to walk through the process of grieving. My grandparents loved the Lord with all their heart and loved us almost as much. I’ve lost great friends, prayer warriors, encouragers and partners in ministry with the loss of these two amazing grandparents (their picture is below). I rejoice that I will see them again. The grief is real but so is the God who is close to the brokenhearted.

    Many people have asked me how long I anticipate staying here in the USA and my answer is: I don’t know. I’ve had to learn what a friend of my brother calls, “flexibility with contentment.” Every day I go to the Lord asking what He would have me do, and right now He’s asking me to take one day at a time and wait for Him to give me timing for returning to PNG. I can see, every day, that God brought me back for such a time as this. As torn as I feel some days I know that this is where I’m supposed to be and God holds my future in His hands. I thank you for continuing to hold me, my family, PNG and our Wycliffe ministry in His hands. I love you all and am so thankful for you.

Although I’m back in the USA I’m still hard at work for PNG. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to help teach Sunday School for a friend. I taught a group of 16 kids ranging from 3-11 years old (see picture below). I was able to tell them about PNG, about what God’s doing there, and teach them a worship song in Tok Pisin, the trade language of PNG.

It was so exciting to share my passion for PNG and all that God is doing there with kids. They have such great questions and it’s so exciting to involve them in God’s global purpose!  

Christ Follower,                                                                     Megan

May/June 2015

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Megan & the

Master

May/June 2015

SIL PO Box 1 (252), 

Ukarumpa, EHP, 444 Papua New Guinea 

megan_reed@wycliffe.org

“I nogat wanpela man i olsem God, Bikpela bilong yumi. Em i stap antap tru.” Buk Song 113:5

Psalm 113:5

Praise & Prayer

First View of My New Home:
Ukarumpa

• Praise: Language learning is going great!
  
• Praise: I’m settling into my new home very well
  
• Praise: God’s been providing wonderful friends and spiritual support here: both PNG and missionary friends
  
• Pray: for my continued learning at the clinic
  
• Pray: for PNG and for spiritual growth for individuals in PNG
  
• Pray: for the clinic as we navigate changes and staff shifts with upcoming furloughs.

After nearly half an hour of bumping over country roads, the Land Rover ground to a halt, and we opened the back doors of our “ambulance”/moving clinic. My Papua New Guinean colleagues expertly pulled things from the back of the vehicle and set up two stations for our team, and then we were ready. Soon a crowd of people gathered around, and we began giving vaccinations, and teaching mamas and papas how to give medications or treat wounds.
In the valley where I live, there are about 12 villages that are within driving distance and the clinic I work with partners with the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government to provide clinics for the people of villages that don’t have good access to health care. At these clinics, we’re able to provide vital immunizations and often life-saving treatments for common but dangerous conditions such as severe dehydration or infections that threaten children and babies. It’s a real privilege and, as you can tell from the picture above, it gives me huge joy to serve in this way.

At the Clinic: But that’s not the only way I’ve been serving medically in PNG. I’ve also started working at the clinic at the center where I work (Ukarumpa). The Ukarumpa center has several hundred missionaries that live or work there at any given time, and the clinic provides health care to keep them and their families healthy so they can continue working in PNG. I’ve been nearly half an hour of bumping over country learning so much in my role at the clinic: everything from checking people in (much like the nurses in your home country’s clinics) to crazy things like running lab tests and taking x-rays. I LOVE it! Our clinic is separated into two sections: the missionary side and the PNG government side. In addition to helping missionaries, I’m able to work on the PNG government side of the clinic helping to serve Papua New Guinean patients. I bustle from taking vital signs to dispensing medications to helping diagnose and treat patients. But most precious of all, I’ve been able to start praying with all of my patients on both sides of the clinic. It’s been a blessing to both my patients and me. What a joy to be part of such a ministry and to have you along side me in it.

Ministry: You may think I’ve only been in the clinic since my last update, but God’s been filling my days with all sorts of wonderful things. I’ve been able to join a Tok Pisin (the trade language of PNG) ladies’ Bible study where I get to read the Word, pray and sing with a wonderful group of Papua New Guinean ladies. What a joy! I love hearing their hearts and sharing in their lives each week during study. I’ve also been working with a friend of mine to host a team of Papua New Guinean translators as they’ve been attending a translation training workshop here in Ukarumpa. They are working to finish a translation of the Bible in their heart language (language they understand best). Their language is called Kalo, and they are only 9 books away from completing the whole Bible. They’ve finished the New Testament and sold out! Praise God! Pray that God would provide for them to reprint the New Testament and that He’d help them as they finish the Old Testament. It’s been a delight to have my hands in the active work of Bible translation and getting the good news into the hands of my new people. J Thanks for always walking with me in prayer, partnership and friendship!
Christ Follower, 
Megan

Megan’s May/June 2015 Update

Frozen crocodile ready to chop

New in PNG:
1 Crocodile meat: Crocodile is one of the cheapest meats here in Ukarumpa so I’m learning to make lots of things with it.  To the side is my first stir-fry with it. Just like chicken. ;)

Ginger Crocodile stir fry
Bok Choy included

Learning to cook has been a new favorite for me. There’s so much great produce here at Ukarumpa that I’m having lots of cooking adventures.

3 “God em i inapim mi”: This means “God is enabling me” in Tok Pisin, the trade language of PNG. God’s been really helping me with language learning, and this is a great way for me to get to know my PNG friends. They say I’m sounding like a true PNG lady.So happy!
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March/April 2015

MEGAN REED MARCH/APRIL 2015 UPDATE

(cont’d) that I would have my heart knit with the people because leaving them was almost as difficult as leaving you. I left a piece of my heart in the village and I carry a piece of theirs as I transition to my assignment in Ukarumpa. One of the songs we learned was the one I used as the title of this newsletter, O God Yu Gutpela Wasman. The song talks about God being a good protector, guardian, and guide in our lives wherever we go. Throughout this last month I’ve seen God’s faithfulness in protecting and guiding through the time of me getting sick in the village, helping me in the cross-cultural communication and relationship building and in equipping me further for my work here in PNG. Thank you all for praying for me in this time as I both needed God’s help and saw His hand at work every step of the way and I know He will be with me as I transition to living and working in Ukarumpa. I’ve got so much more to tell but will try not to overwhelm you now. Below there’s some quick descriptions of some of the things we did and learned and I’ll be putting bite-sized chunks of the story on my blog in the next few weeks.                                                                                                                                        Christ Follower,                                                                                                                                               Megan Village Living in Wargiden These pictures give you a tiny snapshot of what our days included in March in the village of Wargiden. The following is a list of some of the things we did: • Learned to harvest/catch and cook sago palm, fish, coconut, sweet potatoes, yams, tapiok (to name a few) and other foods in our village. • Helped clear a garden • Learned to weave mats, baskets and fans • Saw WWII remnants in the area • Swam almost daily and snorkeled Storied (chatted) with our host family and others in the village and learned Tok Pisin along the way Sang and worshipped with our host family ... And so much more (keep an eye on my blog for stories) Note on Prayer and Praise Praise: First of all, thank you for your prayers. All the students here were safe, and we had no effects from the large earthquake many of you wrote me about. In fact, I didn’t even know we’d had an earthquake until I received your emails. Prayer: However, please be praying for our close neighbor – Vanuatu – that was hit by a large cyclone in March and is experiencing serious devastation. Praise: I’m back to full health after being sick, and I arrived in Ukarumpa safely Prayer: Emotional and spiritual health in the transition Prayer: New friendships: both with Papua New Guineans and fellow missionaries Prayer: Clear and quick mind as I start learning my new work position

FEBRUARY 2015
(Unable to upload pictures for this newsletter but can send the newsletter if you want to see pictures). 

“I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.’ The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.” 

Lamentations 3:24-25 

By the time you read this letter I will have been in Papua New Guinea (PNG) for 6 weeks and will be half way through the Pacific Orientation Course (POC). It’s crazy! Some days I feel I’ve just left you and others I feel like it’s been a year. However, God has been answering your prayers and helping me in this time of training and transition.
Since I’ve been in PNG I’ve been learning quite a bit. (If you’ve been reading my blog then you’ve heard a little, but for those who haven’t been able to, the second page of this letter is a brief overview of what I’ve been up to since my last newsletter).The expatriate staff here are excellent and are working hard to help me gain tools to help me to thrive in PNG and the Pacific area. It’s also been a huge blessing to get to know the PNG staff as they are so kind, patient and gracious as they gently guide and teach me about their home and language.
All the learning and new experiences have been wonderful, but also exhausting. As I’ve been here God’s been teaching me both the joy of fulfilled hope (I’m finally working as a missionary!) and also the sufficiency of Himself in all things. Just as the verse above says, I have been telling my soul that God is my portion. And, as I’ve been waiting on Him in this busy time I’ve been learning that He truly is good to those who wait for Him and seek Him. His presence has been exactly what I need as I ride the roller coaster of cross-cultural living. It is so good to know that our God keeps His promises and it brings me renewed focus as I realize I am here in PNG to share the good news of that all-sufficient God. 

Answered Prayer

Safe travel to PNG

• I’m starting to adjust to the new climate
  
• I’m finding ways to spend time with the Lord
  
• I have an awesome village living partner for 4 weeks in the village
• Tok Pisin and culture learning is going well

Prayer Requests

• Preparations for village living (all of March): pray for me and my village living partner’s placement, our host family and us as we prepare for this adventure
  
• Ongoing language and culture learning
• Spiritual protection and vitality
• Emotional health in ongoing transition, stress and learning

What I’ve Been Up To...
Hiking & Swimming

If ever there was an amazing and challenging place to hike it would be PNG. Every week we get to go with a Papua New Guinean guide on the twisting, slippery, steep and breathtaking trails around the POC center. We’re training for a more strenuous hike and are learning about PNG culture, foods and life as we go. It’s great fun! In this picture I’ve just finished a hike and am drinking my new favorite drink: a kulau (a young coconut full of refreshing water). Yum! I’ve also been swimming every week and have nearly swam a mile (just 400 meters shy because I took longer than the allotted time to swim a mile).

Learning about life in PNG

It’s amazing how much you can learn in 6 weeks and just how much you can feel you’ve just scratched the surface. I’ve been learning Tok Pisin and can now give my basic testimony (Laip Stori to left) in Tok Pisin! I’ve also been learning how Papua New Guineans work and live. In the second picture my Tok Pisin teacher is showing me how to make a fan for the fire from coconut fronds.

Outdoor Cooking

Starting in a couple of weeks I will be living in a village with my roommate April for four weeks. This will be an awesome opportunity to build relationships with, and learn and understand

more about my new Papua New Guinean friends. However, to do this we will need to be able to live in the village context and that means outdoor cooking and living. April and I have really been enjoying experimenting with new foods and learning to cook with local foods and produce over a fire instead of a stove in preparation for our village living time.To the right is some of the produce and one of our resulting 

JANUARY 2015

And Away We Go...
Preparing to fly to Papua New Guinea on January 7, 2015
When I was little I would watch the cartoon Peter Pan in breathless excitement as Peter swept the Darling children off to a grand adventure in Never Land. Well, now I'm setting off on my own adventure (as some have called it) to start my first 4-year term in Papua New Guinea. This last month has felt like I was being swept off my feet and irresistibly carried away as I worked on last minute preparations, said many goodbyes and spent the holidays with my family.
That, as many of you would guess, has in many ways
been the hardest part of this adventure; saying goodbye.
To be quite honest, there have been days it's hurt almost
more than I can bear. However, in these last few days with my family the Lord has put this verse on my mind "A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world." He told his disciples this to comfort them after He told them He was going to have to leave. I've known (and my family's known) since I was a child that I was going to go onto the mission field long-term. I've also known for the last 9 months that I would be leaving in January. But just like that does not decrease the worry, fear, and pain of a pregnant woman preparing to give birth, neither has it decreased those things in me either. Yes, my anticipation and hope for the road ahead is high and exciting, but I also must walk through the anguish to have the long-awaited "child."
Thanks to many of your prayers and encouragement, I have weathered the worst of the sorrows and am now really grabbing the joy of holding the new life that God has for me in PNG.
So, just like the Darling Children, on January 7th I will step onto a plane and into a new phase of the plan God has for me. I'm so excited to begin the first 3 months of training in language, culture and outdoor living skills necessary for successful work in PNG. I thank you for continuing to hold me up in prayer. To help you do that I've included a flight itinerary and an outline of my first 12 weeks in PNG. I've also included prayer and praise requests. Can’t wait to share the “face” of this new adventure with you next time!
Christ Follower ~Megan 

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER  2014

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As I was preparing to share updates from this last month with you the thought that kept coming to me was God’s faithfulness. This year, you and I have been witnessing the miraculous faithfulness of God. He has accomplished the impossible in my Wycliffe ministry and He has made His name great in the process to you and me and those around us.
Since I last wrote I have:

• Received my work permit
  
• Packed my belongings and sent the majority to NC to send to Papua New Guinea (PNG)
  
• Sent my visa application and expect its approval and return any day
  God has continued to show His faithfulness as I have continued to prepare to leave the first week of January 2015. What a might God we serve!
  With that in mind, I want to share what the next steps will be in this last month that I am here in the US. This month I will:
  
  • Have a ministry commissioning and send off party Dec. 7th
    
  • Purchase plane tickets to PNG (potential departure Jan. 4 or 5)
    
  • Finish final logistics for the field
    
  • Celebrate the holidays with my family
    I am so excited to start the next step of this journey that we’ve been on together for almost a year! I am looking forward to my training in PNG in January for language, culture and practical skills. But for now I want to take the time to thank you and to thank God for your faithfulness, love and commitment to me, my Wycliffe ministry, and the Bibleless people of PNG. I praise God that we can work together to see the people of the world eternally transformed and rooted in God’s love and faithfulness.
    May you have a wonderful holiday season and may you live in joy and wonder at God’s unfailing faithfulness! 
    

OCTOBER 2014

What an incredible October it’s been!

God has been moving in incredible ways and I’ve been encouraged, refreshed, and filled with excitement for the work He has for me in Papua New Guinea (PNG). I just got back from a trip to my old hometown in Colorado. It was such an immense encouragement to reconnect with dear friends and be lifted up by faithful partners, both new and veteran! My family and I spent 6 days in CO and we were able to reunite with more than 100 people! But that’s not all…

This month I found out my nursing registration in PNG has been approved! Praise God for His faithfulness!  They are lodging the work permit this week and I can now apply for my visa.

 I have also been embraced by a church in Vancouver called the Church of Refuge that wants to commission me for my Wycliffe ministry.  This is a huge answer to prayer and I couldn’t be happier than to partner with this church as they expand their global vision of God’s commission to make disciples of the nations!

Thank you so much for praying for me, encouraging me and advocating for me. Let me know how I can pray for you and if you’d like me to come and share with you or your church/small group!

AUGUST 2014

Wow! Where do I begin? The last month has been a whirlwind of training, preparation and growth. I spent the last ~5 weeks in North Carolina at a training called the Intercultural Communications Course (ICC). I had the privilege to learn a great host of things including:

·       How to learn and acquire a new language and culture

·       How to interact well on intercultural teams

·       How to work through the physical and emotional transitions to international cross-cultural work

·       How to stay spiritually healthy on the field

 It was truly incredible and I left feeling a sense of readiness.

     This course was critical to my preparation for cross cultural service because of the training I received, but also because I had the opportunity to be assessed by experienced missionaries to determine if I was ready (in almost every way) for long-term overseas missions service.  Praise God, as a result I have been approved as ready for the field!

    So now what? The ICC course was the last course I need to take in the US before I can be approved to go to Papua New Guinea (PNG). That means that I’m one step closer to getting to PNG in January and starting my role as a nurse at the Ukarumpa translation center clinic. God’s been doing great things and is increasing our fellow teammates in this work in PNG. Please continue to pray with me for the nursing license and visa that I need for PNG. Also, please continue to pray that God would increase my Wycliffe ministry’s team of prayer and financial partners. I am filled with a greater sense of peace, joy and readiness for the work in PNG and I thank you so much for being such a strong encouragement and help in this work!

 Christ Follower,

       Megan

JULY 2014

Wow! This last month has been quite the whirlwind of activity. You have all faithfully walked with me through the transition and push to get to the Intercultural Communications Course (ICC) and I am here at ICC! It seems as though God has me in an intense season of training for all aspects of the work He has ahead for me. Just like the athlete preparing for the competitions ahead, I feel God is training me in this season to walk closely with Him, hear His voice and to learn how to be like Him in the culture He is sending me to in Papua New Guinea. I’m excited to learn at this cross-cultural ministry course and grow in my interpersonal skills, gain tools for spiritual vitality and develop more multi-cultural sensitivity.

vPlease pray that I will be able to still myself in God’s presence and that I will be focused during this training opportunity to learn what I need for the next steps of preparation for transition to Papua New Guinea (PNG).

…Transition…       Recently I was watching a video of Papua New Guinea translators talking about the work they were doing on translating the Word of God into their Tok Ples -- “heart language” (the language they understand best). I was challenged by the words of one translator named Sebby. As he described how he had to leave his family and responsibilities at home much of the time to work on translation he said, “I leave good work and I come to do God’s work.” He then explained with joy how much the Scriptures have transformed his people for the good.

I’ve been experiencing a similar leaving of good work to do God’s work. This month I finally made the transition at my work place from a full time to part time position.

vPraise God for my job and the understanding of my supervisors as they’ve supported me and accommodated my training schedule!

vPlease pray that as I completely transition away from home health work that God would help me to leave well and that I would begin to embrace the missionary work He has prepared at the Ukarumpa Clinic.

…& Team Building! God has really been growing my Wycliffe ministry’s team of partners since I last wrote. Your partnership in prayer, finances, and encouragement has been crucial to me in the decisions, training and transitions of the last month. Praise God and thank you! However, I still need financial partners to meet my monthly ministry budget. I only have about 5 months to build my partner team so that I can begin my long-term assignment in PNG in January 2015.

vPlease continue to pray that God expands my team of partners according to His purpose for this ministry. God continues to demonstrate His faithfulness and I can’t wait to share what He does in this next month. Until next month…

Christ Follower,

  Megan       

JUNE 2014

Why I Can’t Stay

Someone once told me, “If you feel you can do anything else but missions then do not go to the mission field. But, if you believe firmly that you cannot do anything but missions, then go.” Ever since God first placed the call for missions on my heart, it has been like a fire shut up in my bones. I have felt compelled to engage with God’s work and His people around the world. I truly felt that I could not do anything else.

Once, I felt God asked me if I would be willing to stay in the US and I flat out answered “No!” I wrestled with God and finally submitted to His will and said, “Lord, if you want me to stay, I’ll stay. I want to obey you no matter what.” Almost at the very moment of my submission, God laid Romans 15:20-21 on my heart and since then it has been my heart cry.

Over the last few years God has really been developing in me a passion for the unreached (those who have less than 2% evangelical Christians in their culture) and for the unengaged (those who have no one attempting to reach them with the good news of Jesus' saving grace). He’s also planted in me a desire to see people effectively discipled to be healthy, reproducing followers of Christ like those modeled in the first century church. There are people around the world, and also in Papua New Guinea (PNG), who have yet to hear the good news about Jesus or who struggle to understand it because it’s not in a language they understand well. I long to be a part of seeing the Papua New Guineans grasping the gospel for themselves and sharing that good news with their fellow country people. God is using the people of PNG in mighty ways to reach the unreached of their country. I burn with a passion and desire to serve and partner in that however God allows me – and for now, that’s working as a nurse to maintain the health of all the team involved in this great work.

It is my ambition to go where the gospel has never been preached. That fire is shut up in my bones and it’s that fire God’s placed in me that drives me not only to the nations, but to PNG specifically. I long to see every Papua New Guinean before the throne, and hear every one of their tongues praising our matchless King.

Christ Follower,

                                                                                 Megan

MAY 2014

Help Wanted

Help Wanted. We've all seen the signs in shop windows at various times in our lives and some of us may have been looking for these signs. It was an invitation not so unlike this sign that started me on the path I'm now taking to Papua New Guinea to work with Wycliffe Bible Translators.

The email read something like this, "Registered Nurse needed for clinic in Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea." My heart leaped within me. This seemed like an ideal opportunity for me as a nurse and I had already fallen in love with the remote and isolated tribes on the other side of the island when I had gone on a medical trip to Papua, Indonesia less than a year before. Although I thought I was heading in the direction of China at the time, God had other plans.

As you know, I’ve felt a call to the unreached and unengaged since I was 7 years old. I discovered that Wycliffe is working to see the Bible translated into the almost 1,900 languages that do not have a single verse of the Bible in their own language SO THAT the approximately 180 million people that this number represents could have their lives eternally transformed by the gospel available in the scriptures. Talk about unreached! As I attended orientation training with Wycliffe in Orlando this month, I knew I’d partnered with an organization that shared my heart and would allow me to pursue the vision God has put in my heart.

And that is where the past and future collided, in one simple email asking for a nurse to come and work on a Bible translation base in Papua New Guinea. The passion and skills God had so purposefully developed in me were matched perfectly with the needs of Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Bibleless people of Papua New Guinea. So, I responded and I'm on my way to fill that position of “Help Wanted” for the unreached of Papua New Guinea by January 2015.

 Christ Follower,

       Megan