Wrapping Up the Furlough Trail

I know that it has been a while since we last updated you on the happenings of the Myers clan, so the time has come to do just that. Since our last article much has taken place and many miles have been covered. As we started out the new year our first district tour of 2009 took us to Central California where we made some wonderful friends and had a great time sharing in the churches what God is doing in PNG. We spent a week with Luella and Damon Ashford at their home as we toured around Central California. Luella has served in the past as District NMI President and took excellant care of us!! We visited and had a great time sharing with kids and adults alike at 10 different churches across the district. We had a super day taking in the awesome sights of Sequoia National Park with Pastor Ron Fleming and his family! It is truly hard to believe that a tree could grow so large and be so incredibly old!! Only our Heavenly Creator could make something so fantastic! It was also neat to see all of the varous kinds of orchards hat grow in Central California. The Monday morning that we had planned to go the the coast and visit a beach with Jim and Christine Thompson, lovely folk of Pixley Nazarene, Susan received a phone call that her Dad needed to have immediate open heart surgery . Our hosts graciously loaded us up and made a trip to LAX so that Susan could fly home to be with her Dad and family during this time. Thanks! On that note, Susan's Father is doing very well and is currently (the last we heard) walking up to a mile and a half several days a week! We thank the Lord for His blessings!


Following our time in California we had 2 weekend trips to churches that we had special ties with because of special friends who attend and pastor there. First up was Denton Maryland where we were able to spend some time with Pastor Hal and Joyce Parry. Pastor Hal was our pastor at East Liberty CON on the East Ohio District while Susan was in residency at Akron Children's Hospital. It was great to see them again and to be able to watch the Superbowl together even though the Cardinals lost to the despicable Steelers. (Sorry Steelers fans but I am a loyal BROWNS fan) Next up we traveled to Roxana, Illinois where we met up with, after many years, Doug and Jan Krasow. Doug was our district Impact Team Director when I was in high school and did a great job working with us. He was the right man to work with a bunch of angelic (OK sometimes ornery) high school kids. We were sad when the Lord moved him on to his next assignment. With both families it felt as if years had never passed and such it is with the family of God!

On February the 10th we said our goodbyes to family and friends back home in the "Great State" of Ohio and headed out to the West Coast again. We flew out to LAX where we were met by Gordon and Pat Johnston, former missionaries to PNG. They were a tremendous help as they stored 5 pieces of our return luggage, fed us and helped us find a place to stay over night. It was all fun and we had a great time visiting with them and spending the night at Casa Robles Guest House.

The next day we headed to the Northwest District, Washington. We had never been to this part of the country before so we were looking forward to it. It was beautiful! Come to think of it, I don't know if we have ever visited an ugly part of the country, if such a place even exists! We have a beautiful Nation to live in! I will say this, people from Washington and Idaho kept telling us there were Moose around, how they see them all the time. Well, let me tell you, we hunted high and low, spent extra hours getting from one church to another trying to find a Moose and never did! We believe that no Moose live in Washington and Idaho and who knows, maybe those who live there just tell visitors that so they can watch us drive all over the place looking for one little Moose! Or maybe it just wasn't our visit to see one, but it wasn't from a lack of trying! We did have a super time touring on the district. It was a gorgeous place to spend a couple of weeks.
We had fun visiting the various churches and making new friends.
It was an awesome privilege to visit Quest Aircraft Co. with Chris Grant, the NMI President at Sandpoint Nazarene, who is an engineer with Quest. We had our picture taken with the MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) airplane that will arrive in PNG in the near future! MAF is importatnt to us here in PNG. They help make it possible to reach very remote places in PNG.
One of the greatest things about missionary life is all the great people we get to meet. When we get to visit and rekindle those friendships, that's icing on the cake! We got to have our "icing" as we had the privilege of spending time with our former Regional Director and his wife. It was wonderful catching up with Brent and Marty Cobb at their home and church in Lewiston, Idaho. Our next taste of the "icing" was when we shared lunch and the wonderful company of Brad and Nikolai Ballin and their daughter Cherith. Brad is a pilot and engineer for MAF and Nikolai taught our MKs here at Kudjip for 2 years, which is how she and Brad met. It is really neat how the Lord brings everything together. It was also great to see and spend time with soon to be arriving missionaries to PNG, the Kerrs. Dave and Rosie Kerr and their 2 daughters, Grace and Anna, will be arriving sometime within the next few months. They will live at Melanesia Nazarene Bible College here in the Highlands of PNG. Dave will be working at the Bible College and Rosie will be working part time as a Medical Doctor. We look forward to their arrival...and more "icing"!!
Last but not least before leaving the Continental US we traveled to Medford, Oregon to spend time with the Winter family and share at their church. We had a wonderful time together eating, talking, laughing, shopping, and playing! Jeff got to help pack a 20ft. shipping container with all kinds of stuff for Nazarene Hospital, too! Speaking at their church was special as they have had several W&W teams come to PNG and so there were familiar faces and good memories represented!
Next episode...the final journey...via the Hawaii District!