Greetings Friends and Family!
Rainy season is in full swing here now! Rain comes every day now and sometimes multiple times a day but we are staying dry and doing well.
We wanted to bring to your attention a prayer request for our hospital. Recently, the PNG government started passing out a lot more money to hospitals, which sounds great, except for how it affects us. According to the government, any church run medical center is considered a "clinic" and not a hospital. Because of that, our hospital with a staff of over 100 is only considered a clinic and does not receive this extra money. Our hospital sees approximately 3/4 the number of patients as the nearest government hospital but we receive 1/10th the the government funding.
Because of that difference in pay, our hospital is going through a mass exodus of sorts. In the last month or so we have seen over 20 staff members leave the hospital, mostly nurses. This is causing huge problems for our hospital and every week, we hear of another staff member who has applied to another hospital or quit. In addition to the hospital staff leaving, we have also lost about 3-4 (maybe more) of our college of nursing teachers. Since we only have 8 or 9 teachers, this is going to really effect our college if the spots don't get filled by next semester.
So our prayer request comes in 2 parts. First, pray for our staff that they will view this hospital as a ministry opportunity and not just a pay check and pray that we will get more staff. Second, pray that we will get more funding for the hospital and that the government will upgrade our status so we can get the funding we need.
Also, while American nurses aren't able to work at the hospital, they can teach in the nursing college. If any of you are nurses or know a nurse who feels God's leading to serve in PNG, let me know and you/they may be able to teach in our college.
Because of this staff shortage, Amy and I had an exciting opportunity recently. We went on an all day hike to a waterfall with some visiting volunteers. When we got back that evening, we were quite tired and just finishing up supper when we got a phone call. Jim Radcliffe, our surgeon here, was calling because he had to do an emergency surgery on a patient who had been stabbed and he couldn't get ahold of anyone else to help him. Amy and I headed down to the hospital and ended up scrubbing in and assisting with the surgery. After the hour and a half surgery, we were quite exhausted and went to bed.
Another prayer request. Our station has its own hydro electric plant. However, it hasn't been working for a few years. Without being able to generate our own power, we have to rely on the government power which isn't very reliable. The cost of government power is also quite high which is cutting into the funds we have available to pay our staff. Next week, we have 4 gentlemen coming here to inspect our hydro system and get the ball rolling on getting it running again. Once we start the project going again, we will need a project manager who will have to live here for 2 years to oversee the hydro. One of these 4 gentlemen is considering taking on that responsibility but if he decides not to, pray that God will lead a project manager to us.
Thanks for all your prayers and support. I will have more pictures available for you to see soon but our internet is having problems right now so uploading pictures is very hard.
God bless you all,
Stephen and Amy
Monday, November 21, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
School Starts, Independence Day, and a Cat!
Hello again Friends and Family!
I apologize about the two month delay in writing to you but time just seems to fly by. We have had a busy two months including that start of school, a trip on Papua New Guinea's Independence Day, and getting our very first pet as a couple!
First off, if you haven't seen pictures yet, you can click on this link to view pictures of our house here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollenbergpng/sets/72157627358274853/
School started on August 29 and has been going well ever since. I started the year with only 3 kids who were in grades 7, 8, and 10. For the past three weeks, I have had another two kids added to the pile so now I have a 7th, two 8th, a 10th, and an 11th grader. My sixth student will be joining us on November 1.
A typical day of school starts with 15 minutes of devotions at the beginning of the day, then the kids begin their work. Most of the students classes are done either with video teachers or self learning. My primary job at school is to grade papers, plan for which video lesson they will watch each day, and to keep them on task. I do teach 7th and 10th grade math since we don't have videos available.
After lunch, everyone does a language class first thing. If you walk into the school during that time, it is quite a mix of languages. We have 3 students learning German, 1 doing Chinese, and 1 doing spanish. Combine that with English and some Pidgin and the room gets very exciting. The final class of the day varies between Bible, P.E., Art, and a fun elective.
For Bible, the kids are all participating in Bible Quizzing. We are studying and preparing with the hope that we can send them to the general quiz at Olivet this upcoming summer.
The elective period is supposed to be a very fun class so the kids picked things they want to do and most of them have 2 electives. I am teaching Josiah and Ethan computer programming and they are watching a video on computer repair as well. Allison is learning how to use Photoshop on the computer then spending an hour a week learning how to be a teacher at the younger kid school. Lydia is learning pottery and spending an hour each week learning how to garden with Dr. Bill McCoy.
Overall, school keeps me pretty busy and I am there from around 7:30 am till between 3:30 and 5:30 in the afternoon.
Amy has been keeping busy teaching handwriting, spelling, and math at the younger MK school in the mornings. She also has joined the hospitality team here which keeps her busy planning events and cleaning in the afternoons.
On September 16, Papua New Guinea had it's Independence Day and we were invited by the Dooley family (some missionaries here) to spend the long weekend with them in Goroka which is a town about 3 hours away. It was a nice relaxing weekend where we got to swim a lot and enjoy some restaraunts. The following link has pictures of that weekend:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollenbergpng/sets/72157627668806253/
Amy and I haven't had a pet yet in our two years of marriage and we both like dogs more than cats. However, one of the missionaries here has a cat that had kittens right before we came. We decided that we would take one of the kittens and it turned out to be a great decision! We both (Amy especially) have grown very attached to our little Florence Nightengale, or Flo for short.
However, while it does seem like a silly prayer request, we have one in regards to Flo. Flo's brother, adopted by the Radcliffe family, has recently developed what appears to be a bone problem that is making it very hard for him to walk. We thought it was caused by an injury but just about 2 weeks ago, Flo started limping on her right front paw. We suspected it could be an injury as well but then tonight, she started limping on her back right leg as well so that she can barely walk.
We suspect it may be a vitamin deficiency so we are trying to increase her calcium and vitamin D intake. Flo has been a wonderful companion so far and keeps Amy company in the afternoons. We are praying that we can fix this problem and that it isn't a genetic defect but would you be willing to lift our cat up in prayer? She is our first "child" and it makes it very sad to see her hurting.
As a praise, my roommate from college, Jordan Thompson and his wife are coming back to PNG this week. We are really excited for them to come and it will be a wonderful to spend time with them while they are here. Thank you if any of you were able to support them in their ministry. If anyone else would like to contribute to their mission fund, you can at: http://web.nazarene.org/goto/thompson.png.
Thank you so much for all your love and support. I will leave you with some prayer requests and praises.
On the Journey,
Stephen
Praises:
-Jordan and Rachel coming back
-A great 2 months and being able to adapt
-Having a wonderful cat to keep Amy company on days when she has nothing in the afternoon
-A country wide women's conference had a wonderful turn out last week
Prayer Requests
-Pray for Flo that she can recover from this problem
-Pray that God will open some doors for Amy and I to new areas of ministry.
-We have a hydro-electric plant that isn't working right now but we are trying to get it started again. Pray for everything involved in that process because it will take a lot of work and a effort to get it going again.
I apologize about the two month delay in writing to you but time just seems to fly by. We have had a busy two months including that start of school, a trip on Papua New Guinea's Independence Day, and getting our very first pet as a couple!
First off, if you haven't seen pictures yet, you can click on this link to view pictures of our house here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollenbergpng/sets/72157627358274853/
School started on August 29 and has been going well ever since. I started the year with only 3 kids who were in grades 7, 8, and 10. For the past three weeks, I have had another two kids added to the pile so now I have a 7th, two 8th, a 10th, and an 11th grader. My sixth student will be joining us on November 1.
A typical day of school starts with 15 minutes of devotions at the beginning of the day, then the kids begin their work. Most of the students classes are done either with video teachers or self learning. My primary job at school is to grade papers, plan for which video lesson they will watch each day, and to keep them on task. I do teach 7th and 10th grade math since we don't have videos available.
After lunch, everyone does a language class first thing. If you walk into the school during that time, it is quite a mix of languages. We have 3 students learning German, 1 doing Chinese, and 1 doing spanish. Combine that with English and some Pidgin and the room gets very exciting. The final class of the day varies between Bible, P.E., Art, and a fun elective.
For Bible, the kids are all participating in Bible Quizzing. We are studying and preparing with the hope that we can send them to the general quiz at Olivet this upcoming summer.
The elective period is supposed to be a very fun class so the kids picked things they want to do and most of them have 2 electives. I am teaching Josiah and Ethan computer programming and they are watching a video on computer repair as well. Allison is learning how to use Photoshop on the computer then spending an hour a week learning how to be a teacher at the younger kid school. Lydia is learning pottery and spending an hour each week learning how to garden with Dr. Bill McCoy.
Overall, school keeps me pretty busy and I am there from around 7:30 am till between 3:30 and 5:30 in the afternoon.
Amy has been keeping busy teaching handwriting, spelling, and math at the younger MK school in the mornings. She also has joined the hospitality team here which keeps her busy planning events and cleaning in the afternoons.
On September 16, Papua New Guinea had it's Independence Day and we were invited by the Dooley family (some missionaries here) to spend the long weekend with them in Goroka which is a town about 3 hours away. It was a nice relaxing weekend where we got to swim a lot and enjoy some restaraunts. The following link has pictures of that weekend:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollenbergpng/sets/72157627668806253/
Amy and I haven't had a pet yet in our two years of marriage and we both like dogs more than cats. However, one of the missionaries here has a cat that had kittens right before we came. We decided that we would take one of the kittens and it turned out to be a great decision! We both (Amy especially) have grown very attached to our little Florence Nightengale, or Flo for short.
However, while it does seem like a silly prayer request, we have one in regards to Flo. Flo's brother, adopted by the Radcliffe family, has recently developed what appears to be a bone problem that is making it very hard for him to walk. We thought it was caused by an injury but just about 2 weeks ago, Flo started limping on her right front paw. We suspected it could be an injury as well but then tonight, she started limping on her back right leg as well so that she can barely walk.
We suspect it may be a vitamin deficiency so we are trying to increase her calcium and vitamin D intake. Flo has been a wonderful companion so far and keeps Amy company in the afternoons. We are praying that we can fix this problem and that it isn't a genetic defect but would you be willing to lift our cat up in prayer? She is our first "child" and it makes it very sad to see her hurting.
As a praise, my roommate from college, Jordan Thompson and his wife are coming back to PNG this week. We are really excited for them to come and it will be a wonderful to spend time with them while they are here. Thank you if any of you were able to support them in their ministry. If anyone else would like to contribute to their mission fund, you can at: http://web.nazarene.org/goto/thompson.png.
Thank you so much for all your love and support. I will leave you with some prayer requests and praises.
On the Journey,
Stephen
Praises:
-Jordan and Rachel coming back
-A great 2 months and being able to adapt
-Having a wonderful cat to keep Amy company on days when she has nothing in the afternoon
-A country wide women's conference had a wonderful turn out last week
Prayer Requests
-Pray for Flo that she can recover from this problem
-Pray that God will open some doors for Amy and I to new areas of ministry.
-We have a hydro-electric plant that isn't working right now but we are trying to get it started again. Pray for everything involved in that process because it will take a lot of work and a effort to get it going again.
Monday, August 15, 2011
1 Week Down!
Life has been going good here in PNG! Our house, Primerose Cottage is really cute. The only slight annoyances are that before we arrived our solar hot water heater broke so they put in an electric water heater. The only problem is that it doesn't create that much hot water so we have been taking lukewarm showers. The only thing is that for the past 3 days, our water has been turning brown in the evenings. By morning and most of the day it is clear so we don't really know what causes it. It has been raining in the evening so we think that maybe the rain is stirring up the dirt in the bottom of the tank but we aren't sure on that. Amy isn't adapted enough yet to drink brown water so we have been making sure we fill up enough water in the morning to last the whole day.
We have been here a week now and not starved yet! We have had dinner at other missionaries houses 5 times now. The other nights we made homemade tacos with homemade tortillas (you can buy tortillas in town for about $13 for 12), homemade waffles with homemade syrup, hamburgers, and loaded baked potatoes. Amy even made homemade cookies twice already. We only get groceries once a month so we are trying to figure out how to balance not eating all our vegetables in the first 2 weeks and not waiting too long so that they spoil. Our meals will probably get more unhealthy the closer we get to the next shopping day. Thankfully, we haven't had any shortage of fresh fruit though. There are more pineapples on the station than the missionaries know what to do with and we have enjoyed bananas, oranges, lemons, passionfruit, and applies. Unlike when I was here last time, they have really nice shrink wrapped New Zealand apples in town for about $3.50 for 6.
This weekend we had some fun. On Saturday, we went to the Hagen Show (a cultural show where different tribes dress in traditional outfits) to get Amy some cultural exposure. It was pretty fun although we got sunburned. We took pictures and will try to post some. Unfortunately, since a lot of traditional outfits involve a lot of nudity, most of our pictures are probably inappropriate to post. Saturday night, one of the missionary kids, Josiah Radcliffe, hosted a showing of the Fellowship of the Ring extended edition so a lot of missionaries gathered to watch that. Sunday afternoon, some of the MKs and a couple adults went to the river to go tubing (floating down the rapids in a car tire inner tube). I didn't do a very good job showing Amy how to steer so she hit quite a few rocks and didn't like it that much but she said she would go again once I teach her how to control the tube better.
Today, we went to Hagen again (our 4th time in 1 week, bleh!). For those that don't know, Mt. Hagen is about an hour a way and it is a very tiring experience to go which is why we try to only go once a month to get groceries. We took some volunteers to the airport who were leaving and then went into town. Some missionaries ladies had to shop but Amy and I had go come along because we had an "interview" to open a bank account. We basically sat in the bank office for a full 2 hours while the guy put all our information into the computer and barely talked to us. Then we signed about 10 papers and were done but at least we got our bank set up. I found out today though that about 2 years ago, they started making new 1 kina coins with are smaller and they stopped making the 1 and 2 toea coins. Now, no one, not even the bank will take the large 1 kinas or the small toea coins. We brought a bunch of those with us so they are now worthless.
I casually mentioned to Harmon (the field director) that since we have time before school starts that it would be fun to take a week to do a language study somewhere. He offered to fly us to Dusin (a remote village in the mountains) and the field would pay for it. Amy and I talked about it and we decided not to do it. We thought the money could be better used somewhere else. Also, Amy felt too much pressure since the language study would mostly be for her and if for some reason she came back and didn't know pidgin, she would feel bad. We may try to go somewhere cheaper though like Mandamil (a mission station run by missionaries from Switzerland) since we can just drive there.
I feel bad for Amy because I kept telling her how nice the Papua New Guinea weather is and it just happens that we showed up during the coldest and wettest dry season they have had in a long time. The first 5 days we were here it was overcast and raining most of the day. Since they, we have had 2 sunny days but both days it still rained in the evening. The missionaries said that it has rained pretty much every single day since June and this is the dry season! It is also getting into the low 60s every night so we have been sleeping in sweat pants. Last year, during dry season they had a 3 month drought without any rain so I guess this is better than that.
This weekend I got to eat my first stick of sugarcane in a long time as well as some fresh peanuts which I love. School starts 2 weeks from today so in the meantime, we will be preparing for the coming year, working around the house a bit including getting our garden started, and possibly spending a week in the "bush".
Thanks for all your prayer and support so far! We have only been here a week and we can already feel God working in our lives! We appreciate all the financial support you have all given us and I was hoping some of you might prayerfully consider a request from some of our fellow missionaries. My former roommate from college and his wife have been volunteers in PNG for the past 2 years. They feel God calling them to return as full time, long term missionaries. However, due to budget constraints, they Nazarene church is not able to send out paid missionaries at this time. Therefore, in order to go as full time missionaries with the Nazarene church, they have to raise their own support. It is a tremendous amount of money to stay on the mission field and they are prayerfully trusting God to provide for their needs.
They are looking for 50 people to partner with them and be willing to donate $50 a month. Some people may be able to give more and maybe a couple people could get together and donate $50 together. Many people sponsor a child and this is only a little more than that. Prehaps a church could make this an extension of their ministry. If you feel led to donate or if you simply want more information about their ministry, you can visit their fund page at http://web.nazarene.org/goto/thompson.png. Through this page you can make a 1 time donation or have a monthly gift automatically withdrawn. Thanks for prayerfully considering this request and thank you all so much for how much you have already given to Amy and I.
We have been here a week now and not starved yet! We have had dinner at other missionaries houses 5 times now. The other nights we made homemade tacos with homemade tortillas (you can buy tortillas in town for about $13 for 12), homemade waffles with homemade syrup, hamburgers, and loaded baked potatoes. Amy even made homemade cookies twice already. We only get groceries once a month so we are trying to figure out how to balance not eating all our vegetables in the first 2 weeks and not waiting too long so that they spoil. Our meals will probably get more unhealthy the closer we get to the next shopping day. Thankfully, we haven't had any shortage of fresh fruit though. There are more pineapples on the station than the missionaries know what to do with and we have enjoyed bananas, oranges, lemons, passionfruit, and applies. Unlike when I was here last time, they have really nice shrink wrapped New Zealand apples in town for about $3.50 for 6.
This weekend we had some fun. On Saturday, we went to the Hagen Show (a cultural show where different tribes dress in traditional outfits) to get Amy some cultural exposure. It was pretty fun although we got sunburned. We took pictures and will try to post some. Unfortunately, since a lot of traditional outfits involve a lot of nudity, most of our pictures are probably inappropriate to post. Saturday night, one of the missionary kids, Josiah Radcliffe, hosted a showing of the Fellowship of the Ring extended edition so a lot of missionaries gathered to watch that. Sunday afternoon, some of the MKs and a couple adults went to the river to go tubing (floating down the rapids in a car tire inner tube). I didn't do a very good job showing Amy how to steer so she hit quite a few rocks and didn't like it that much but she said she would go again once I teach her how to control the tube better.
Today, we went to Hagen again (our 4th time in 1 week, bleh!). For those that don't know, Mt. Hagen is about an hour a way and it is a very tiring experience to go which is why we try to only go once a month to get groceries. We took some volunteers to the airport who were leaving and then went into town. Some missionaries ladies had to shop but Amy and I had go come along because we had an "interview" to open a bank account. We basically sat in the bank office for a full 2 hours while the guy put all our information into the computer and barely talked to us. Then we signed about 10 papers and were done but at least we got our bank set up. I found out today though that about 2 years ago, they started making new 1 kina coins with are smaller and they stopped making the 1 and 2 toea coins. Now, no one, not even the bank will take the large 1 kinas or the small toea coins. We brought a bunch of those with us so they are now worthless.
I casually mentioned to Harmon (the field director) that since we have time before school starts that it would be fun to take a week to do a language study somewhere. He offered to fly us to Dusin (a remote village in the mountains) and the field would pay for it. Amy and I talked about it and we decided not to do it. We thought the money could be better used somewhere else. Also, Amy felt too much pressure since the language study would mostly be for her and if for some reason she came back and didn't know pidgin, she would feel bad. We may try to go somewhere cheaper though like Mandamil (a mission station run by missionaries from Switzerland) since we can just drive there.
I feel bad for Amy because I kept telling her how nice the Papua New Guinea weather is and it just happens that we showed up during the coldest and wettest dry season they have had in a long time. The first 5 days we were here it was overcast and raining most of the day. Since they, we have had 2 sunny days but both days it still rained in the evening. The missionaries said that it has rained pretty much every single day since June and this is the dry season! It is also getting into the low 60s every night so we have been sleeping in sweat pants. Last year, during dry season they had a 3 month drought without any rain so I guess this is better than that.
This weekend I got to eat my first stick of sugarcane in a long time as well as some fresh peanuts which I love. School starts 2 weeks from today so in the meantime, we will be preparing for the coming year, working around the house a bit including getting our garden started, and possibly spending a week in the "bush".
Thanks for all your prayer and support so far! We have only been here a week and we can already feel God working in our lives! We appreciate all the financial support you have all given us and I was hoping some of you might prayerfully consider a request from some of our fellow missionaries. My former roommate from college and his wife have been volunteers in PNG for the past 2 years. They feel God calling them to return as full time, long term missionaries. However, due to budget constraints, they Nazarene church is not able to send out paid missionaries at this time. Therefore, in order to go as full time missionaries with the Nazarene church, they have to raise their own support. It is a tremendous amount of money to stay on the mission field and they are prayerfully trusting God to provide for their needs.
They are looking for 50 people to partner with them and be willing to donate $50 a month. Some people may be able to give more and maybe a couple people could get together and donate $50 together. Many people sponsor a child and this is only a little more than that. Prehaps a church could make this an extension of their ministry. If you feel led to donate or if you simply want more information about their ministry, you can visit their fund page at http://web.nazarene.org/goto/thompson.png. Through this page you can make a 1 time donation or have a monthly gift automatically withdrawn. Thanks for prayerfully considering this request and thank you all so much for how much you have already given to Amy and I.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
We Made It!
For anyone who hadn't heard yet, we made it safely to Papua New Guinea. None of our flights were delayed and we made the entire trip without any road blocks. We just got internet in our house today but we have been in the country now for 3 days. So far we have spent our time putting away our stuff, meeting the local people, and cleaning the school I will be teaching at. Yesterday we went into the nearest town, an hour away, to buy our groceries for the next month.
Amy's assignment here is a little more clear now. She is being asked to teach Math to the grade school children. She will be teaching 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th grade math every day until 11:30. After that she will probably spend the afternoons helping at the hospital either working with the nursing students or doing community health care. That part will become more clear as time goes by. There is another teacher who is try to come here by the end of October and if she makes it here, Amy will probably be able to work full time at the hospital.
School doesn't start for a couple more weeks so in the mean time, we plan on getting ready for the school year, starting a garden, finding ways to ministry to the people here. I am trying to convince Amy that we should take next week as a "language study" week and go live in a grass hut somewhere. I am not sure she is convinced yet!
Thanks for all your prayers and support thus far. We will try to have pictures up on our website soon for you all to see.
On the Journey,
Stephen Hollenberg
Amy's assignment here is a little more clear now. She is being asked to teach Math to the grade school children. She will be teaching 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th grade math every day until 11:30. After that she will probably spend the afternoons helping at the hospital either working with the nursing students or doing community health care. That part will become more clear as time goes by. There is another teacher who is try to come here by the end of October and if she makes it here, Amy will probably be able to work full time at the hospital.
School doesn't start for a couple more weeks so in the mean time, we plan on getting ready for the school year, starting a garden, finding ways to ministry to the people here. I am trying to convince Amy that we should take next week as a "language study" week and go live in a grass hut somewhere. I am not sure she is convinced yet!
Thanks for all your prayers and support thus far. We will try to have pictures up on our website soon for you all to see.
On the Journey,
Stephen Hollenberg
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Work Visa Approved!
After nearly 4 months of praying and waiting, the work visa has been approved! You have all been a part of our prayer team and for that, we thank you! Amy and I just had a day of frustration while packing and not knowing if we were going to be able to leave on time. We emailed people, called the Papua New Guinea embassy and even called Papua New Guinea itself but no one had an answer for us. At 10:30PM, we prayed together to give our frustration to God and to put our trust in Him to provide. I went out to the computer afterwards and 6 minutes later, I get an email saying the Visa has been approved! God provides!
The waiting and praying doesn't stop quite yet though. Tomorrow, we will overnight our passports to the Papua New Guinea embassy in Washington D.C. They will then have to put the visas into our passports and mail them back to us.
Tomorrow we have a full day of packing and cleaning. Friday, we start driving to Illinois. Then a week from Saturday, we are scheduled to leave the country. That doesn't give the embassy much time to send the passports back. Please continue to pray that God will provide and we will be able to leave on time and not spend the extra money to reschedule our tickets.
Thanks so much for all your prayers! To God be the glory!
The waiting and praying doesn't stop quite yet though. Tomorrow, we will overnight our passports to the Papua New Guinea embassy in Washington D.C. They will then have to put the visas into our passports and mail them back to us.
Tomorrow we have a full day of packing and cleaning. Friday, we start driving to Illinois. Then a week from Saturday, we are scheduled to leave the country. That doesn't give the embassy much time to send the passports back. Please continue to pray that God will provide and we will be able to leave on time and not spend the extra money to reschedule our tickets.
Thanks so much for all your prayers! To God be the glory!
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Final Count Down!
We are officially in final month before we depart. Time is ticking away and we are starting to finalize everything for our trip. My list of "to-dos" is shrinking but there are still a couple of things that we can use your prayers about.
1) First and greatest of all is our Work Visa. Everything is together now and we are submitting our 3rd application for a Visa in the next couple of days. We cannot leave the country without this so please pray hard this week that the Papua New Guinean official who looks at the application will approve it without hesitation! We are trusting in God to provide our needs but this particular situation is starting to make us nervous.
2) We are selling one of our cars to my sister which is a blessing because we won't have to pay monthly payments but it also adds some complications. We have already purchased our plane tickets to Illinois but now that we are selling the car, we have to drive it to Illinois. Right now I am trying to get a refund for our non-refundable plane tickets so we aren't out $320!
3) Our 2nd car is staying here but it has a minor oil leak in it that needs to be fixed before we leave. If anyone knows a mechanic that will fix an oil leak for cheap, let us know! Just another expense before we leave.
4) All the other small expenses that will add up before we leave such as suitcases, a laptop, immunizations, etc.
Thanks so much for all your prayers and support. This trip couldn't happen without each of you. Thanks for sharing in our ministry and please continue to pray for the work visa to go through!
If you know someone who would like to see us before we leave, here is our speaking schedule:
July 10 - Augusta Church of the Nazarene
July 17 - Auburn Church of the Nazarene
July 24 - Gardiner Church of the Nazarene
July 31 - Eureka Church of the Nazarene (Illinois)
Our Sunday evenings are free currently if anyone would like to schedule us to speak on one of those days.
God Bless
1) First and greatest of all is our Work Visa. Everything is together now and we are submitting our 3rd application for a Visa in the next couple of days. We cannot leave the country without this so please pray hard this week that the Papua New Guinean official who looks at the application will approve it without hesitation! We are trusting in God to provide our needs but this particular situation is starting to make us nervous.
2) We are selling one of our cars to my sister which is a blessing because we won't have to pay monthly payments but it also adds some complications. We have already purchased our plane tickets to Illinois but now that we are selling the car, we have to drive it to Illinois. Right now I am trying to get a refund for our non-refundable plane tickets so we aren't out $320!
3) Our 2nd car is staying here but it has a minor oil leak in it that needs to be fixed before we leave. If anyone knows a mechanic that will fix an oil leak for cheap, let us know! Just another expense before we leave.
4) All the other small expenses that will add up before we leave such as suitcases, a laptop, immunizations, etc.
Thanks so much for all your prayers and support. This trip couldn't happen without each of you. Thanks for sharing in our ministry and please continue to pray for the work visa to go through!
If you know someone who would like to see us before we leave, here is our speaking schedule:
July 10 - Augusta Church of the Nazarene
July 17 - Auburn Church of the Nazarene
July 24 - Gardiner Church of the Nazarene
July 31 - Eureka Church of the Nazarene (Illinois)
Our Sunday evenings are free currently if anyone would like to schedule us to speak on one of those days.
God Bless
Monday, June 20, 2011
47 Days Left!
Wow, time is ticking by! In a little over a month, Amy and I will be on a plane to begin our journey into the "Land of the Unexpected". All of our preparations are coming together! Our plane tickets have been purchased, our insurance is paid for, our immunizations are scheduled, and God is moving in our hearts! Almost everything is ready for us to leave except for a couple of things:
- We are looking for 4 cheap, large suitcases to take our stuff with us. Each suitcase will have to carry 50 lbs but what we fit in those will be the only stuff we can take with us.
- Please pray for my Work Visa to be approved. We will not be allowed into the country until I have a Work Visa but the PNG government is not known for their speed at approving them. My first application was rejected and we are trying again. While a very minor thing, our trip won't happen if I don't get it.
- Trying to make final arrangements for our 2 cars. We have a 1997 Saturn with a minor oil leak we are thinking we will just put on blocks for a year unless someone wants it. The bigger issue is our 2009 Corolla which we haven't finished paying off yet.
Another development since my last post is that while playing basketball a few months ago, I ended up partially tearing my ACL. The surgeon decided that based on my time frame and how I have been healing, surgery is not the best option. Instead, I have been doing physical therapy. Praise Jesus that at this time, I am able to complete every day functions without pain and even do running with minimal pain. I do have a knee brace which is supposed to allow me to play sports but I am afraid of hurting my knee further. While we are gone, please pray for protection for my knee.
We are so thankful to all those who have given us support so far and look forward to sharing with the Lisbon Falls Church of the Nazarene on July 3, Auburn Church of the Nazarene on July 17, and Eureka, Illinois Church of the Nazarene on July 31!
God is teaching us so much and we are so excited to serve Him where ever He leads us.
- We are looking for 4 cheap, large suitcases to take our stuff with us. Each suitcase will have to carry 50 lbs but what we fit in those will be the only stuff we can take with us.
- Please pray for my Work Visa to be approved. We will not be allowed into the country until I have a Work Visa but the PNG government is not known for their speed at approving them. My first application was rejected and we are trying again. While a very minor thing, our trip won't happen if I don't get it.
- Trying to make final arrangements for our 2 cars. We have a 1997 Saturn with a minor oil leak we are thinking we will just put on blocks for a year unless someone wants it. The bigger issue is our 2009 Corolla which we haven't finished paying off yet.
Another development since my last post is that while playing basketball a few months ago, I ended up partially tearing my ACL. The surgeon decided that based on my time frame and how I have been healing, surgery is not the best option. Instead, I have been doing physical therapy. Praise Jesus that at this time, I am able to complete every day functions without pain and even do running with minimal pain. I do have a knee brace which is supposed to allow me to play sports but I am afraid of hurting my knee further. While we are gone, please pray for protection for my knee.
We are so thankful to all those who have given us support so far and look forward to sharing with the Lisbon Falls Church of the Nazarene on July 3, Auburn Church of the Nazarene on July 17, and Eureka, Illinois Church of the Nazarene on July 31!
God is teaching us so much and we are so excited to serve Him where ever He leads us.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
The Faith Journey Has Started
We begin this adventure of ours on faith. It is impossible for us to complete this assignment on our own. Faith does not always come easy and this seemingly insurmountable task has already brought forth tears on a couple of occasions. The idea of raising $15,000 is one that brings forth so many worries and concerns. However, our verse of the month (or months until we go) is this:
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Matthew 6:33-34
Pray for us that we will continue to grow in our faith and that we will release our cares unto God. If this year of service is God's will for our lives, and we believe it is, he can, and will provide for our every need.
We have made some good progress on the fund raising, although not in the traditional sense of the word. While the total expense for our trip was around $15,000, the field sent us an email a couple weeks ago letting us know that they were able to reduce our monthly living expenses from $650 per month to $480 per month. This alone "raised" $1700 toward our trip by reducing the over all cost.
In addition to 2 heartfelt donations on our website, we will soon be getting a tax refund totally around $3500.
Finally, we decided that if we move into Amy's parents house, that would be a huge fund raiser in itself. On March 6, we will be making the move from our apartment into their basement to spend our remaining 5 months saving money. We felt really bad for our landlord that we gave such a short notice and were moving out during one of the worst months for finding tenants. However, God not only provides for us, but for our landlord. The day after she ran the ad in the paper she received 4 phone calls of potential tenants and was amazed at how fast she was able to find someone.
Please pray for us in this move that we will be able to cope with living under someone else's roof and that these next 5 months will be a time to grow closer with her family instead of bickering about who's dirty clothes are on the floor. By saving money on rent, cable, internet, and electricity, this one move will "raise" approximately $4300 for our trip.
When we combine them all, our grand total "raised" so far comes to $9500, without touching the money we have in savings. God really does provide and if we have that much money raised in just one month, $15,000 does not seem that far away.
Praise God.
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Matthew 6:33-34
Pray for us that we will continue to grow in our faith and that we will release our cares unto God. If this year of service is God's will for our lives, and we believe it is, he can, and will provide for our every need.
We have made some good progress on the fund raising, although not in the traditional sense of the word. While the total expense for our trip was around $15,000, the field sent us an email a couple weeks ago letting us know that they were able to reduce our monthly living expenses from $650 per month to $480 per month. This alone "raised" $1700 toward our trip by reducing the over all cost.
In addition to 2 heartfelt donations on our website, we will soon be getting a tax refund totally around $3500.
Finally, we decided that if we move into Amy's parents house, that would be a huge fund raiser in itself. On March 6, we will be making the move from our apartment into their basement to spend our remaining 5 months saving money. We felt really bad for our landlord that we gave such a short notice and were moving out during one of the worst months for finding tenants. However, God not only provides for us, but for our landlord. The day after she ran the ad in the paper she received 4 phone calls of potential tenants and was amazed at how fast she was able to find someone.
Please pray for us in this move that we will be able to cope with living under someone else's roof and that these next 5 months will be a time to grow closer with her family instead of bickering about who's dirty clothes are on the floor. By saving money on rent, cable, internet, and electricity, this one move will "raise" approximately $4300 for our trip.
When we combine them all, our grand total "raised" so far comes to $9500, without touching the money we have in savings. God really does provide and if we have that much money raised in just one month, $15,000 does not seem that far away.
Praise God.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
God Called; We Answered
If you are seeing this, then no doubt you are aware of the calling God has placed on our lives. We have been called on a journey to the country of Papua New Guinea for a year. As we embark on this adventure, we are faced with many questions and concerns. What should we expect in this third world country? What do we do with all of our belongings and a car we haven't finishing paying off? How can we possibly afford this trip? Who will pray for us? These are just a couple thoughts going through our minds.
In the months leading up to our trip, we will be working on easing some of our concerns. If you feel so lead, there are a couple of concerns with which you can assist us. We are always looking for more people to partner with us in prayer. This trip will not happen and lives cannot be changed without the power of prayer behind us. We need everyone we can find to lift us up in prayer throughout this upcoming year of our lives so that things will go well with us and people will be touched.
In addition to your prayers, we ask those of you who can, support us financially. We know that not everyone can give, but we know that some people can. Even if we clean out all of our savings, we cannot afford this trip. This trip cannot happen without help from both you and God. If God is leading you to give, then please visit our donation site to make a tax deductible gift:
http://web.nazarene.org/goto/hollenberg
Or mail a check made out to: General Treasurer Church of the Nazarene
Church of the Nazarene
P.O. Box 843116
Kansas City, MO 64184
On the memo line, please write: Hollenbergs - PNG - MissionCorps so they can make sure it gets to us.
This site makes it possible for you to make a one time gift, or have a monthly gift automatically deducted from your account. 100% of the money you donate will be sent straight to us on the mission field. For those of you associated with a Nazarene church, keep in mind that your donations will count toward your churches 10% Mission Giving. Perhaps God is calling you to meet a specific financial need. If that is the case, I have listed some possible areas for you to cover.
One Time Amounts:
Plane Ticket (Per Person): ~$2000
Visa (Per Person):$150
Insurance (Per Person): $250
Monthly Expenses:
Utilities: $50/month
Food: $200/month
Living Expenses: $150/month
On-Site Travel: $120/month
Liability Insurance (Per Person): $70/month
Amy's Insulin: $60/month
Approximate Total: $15,000
Thank you so much for partnering with us on this journey. Your prayers and gifts are greatly appreciated.
Blessings in Christ,
Stephen and Amy Hollenberg
In the months leading up to our trip, we will be working on easing some of our concerns. If you feel so lead, there are a couple of concerns with which you can assist us. We are always looking for more people to partner with us in prayer. This trip will not happen and lives cannot be changed without the power of prayer behind us. We need everyone we can find to lift us up in prayer throughout this upcoming year of our lives so that things will go well with us and people will be touched.
In addition to your prayers, we ask those of you who can, support us financially. We know that not everyone can give, but we know that some people can. Even if we clean out all of our savings, we cannot afford this trip. This trip cannot happen without help from both you and God. If God is leading you to give, then please visit our donation site to make a tax deductible gift:
http://web.nazarene.org/goto/hollenberg
Or mail a check made out to: General Treasurer Church of the Nazarene
Church of the Nazarene
P.O. Box 843116
Kansas City, MO 64184
On the memo line, please write: Hollenbergs - PNG - MissionCorps so they can make sure it gets to us.
This site makes it possible for you to make a one time gift, or have a monthly gift automatically deducted from your account. 100% of the money you donate will be sent straight to us on the mission field. For those of you associated with a Nazarene church, keep in mind that your donations will count toward your churches 10% Mission Giving. Perhaps God is calling you to meet a specific financial need. If that is the case, I have listed some possible areas for you to cover.
One Time Amounts:
Plane Ticket (Per Person): ~$2000
Visa (Per Person):$150
Insurance (Per Person): $250
Monthly Expenses:
Utilities: $50/month
Food: $200/month
Living Expenses: $150/month
On-Site Travel: $120/month
Liability Insurance (Per Person): $70/month
Amy's Insulin: $60/month
Approximate Total: $15,000
Thank you so much for partnering with us on this journey. Your prayers and gifts are greatly appreciated.
Blessings in Christ,
Stephen and Amy Hollenberg
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