Hello Everyone!
Since we have been sharing our journey of God calling us to Papua New Guinea, we have received so many questions that we thought we would answer them all in one shot.
ARE ALL YOUR KIDS GOING WITH YOU?
Our oldest daughter Kiera has one more semester of college and is planning on staying with her grandma while she finishes up. After that she intends on getting a job and saving money for her future plans. She has always been our driven and independent child, and we are proud of the path she is taking.
Our two other daughters, Lily and Charlotte, will possibly be older than 18 by the time deputation is done. They have both said they want to go with us to PNG, but are keeping their options open.
Our two sons, Silas and Colton, will be going with us and I am sure we will be glad for their physical help and humor while we are on the field.
HAS GOD CALLED US TO A SPECIFIC PLACE IN PNG?
As of right now, there is no specific place that God has led us. We are looking at coastal areas. There are a couple reasons for this. The first being a more ready supply of protein source for Melissa with fishing being so plentiful. The second is that there are several coastal areas where, from our understanding, no missionary work has been established. The place we are currently praying about is the Kupiano and Magarida coast in Abau district of Central Province.
Kupiano is about a 4 hour drive from Port Moresby and is the end of the line on the Magi Highway heading east. Every village east of there has to be reached by boat. Magarida is a 5 hour boat ride from Kupiano and we read in a prayer letter that they have asked for a church and pastor in their region.
![Rick and Mel](https://dispellingdarknesspng.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Rick-and-Mel.png)
WILL WE BE WORKING WITH ANOTHER MISSIONARY?
That is also something we don’t know. While there are so many wonderful missionaries spread throughout PNG, there aren’t any in the areas about which we have been praying. That doesn’t mean we are closed off to the idea of working with a veteran missionary short-term. We are just praying for God to lead clearly.
WHAT ABOUT HOUSING?
Housing is tricky. Land is a finite resource in PNG. It has been passed down from generation to generation amidst clans members for longer than people can remember. Imagine the map of the United States when it was owned by the Native Americans. Then imagine how it felt when an Englishman came and built a homestead after he “bought it” from one person in the tribe. What about everyone else who had a claim on that property? So, you can’t just move into a village a find a ready made place to buy or rent.
There are a few options when it comes to a housing.
- You live in a city and rent a home.
- You find a guest house and see if they will allow you to live there on a more permanent basis.
- You are invited into a village and they build you a home or grant you a place to build your own home, BUT at any point, if you fall from their graces you must surrender it all and leave.
- You go through a several year process of getting a long term lease on property and start clearing it yourself with hopes to build a home upon it. This is time consuming, expensive and labor intensive. You also need temporary housing during the 7-10 years it takes to lease that property.
In conclusion, we are still praying that God will lead us step by step about where to go and then open up a place for us to stay while we figure out our surroundings.
ARE YOU PLANNING ON SHIPPING A CONTAINER?
I think we will have a better idea about that the more information we have in regards to where we will be staying. It is more likely that when we come back on furlough we will be more clear about our needs.
HOW LONG WILL DEPUTATION TAKE?
Statistically, deputation takes between 18 months to 3 years. What we have heard repeatedly from different missionaries is that God’s timing is always best. It is natural to want to get there as quickly as possible, but deputation is a growing process (sometimes physically, lol) and at times you get all your support and then God makes you sit for months on end while you wait for your Visas.
So, any time line probably won’t be accurate.
WILL YOU BE COMING TO OUR CHURCH?
This is the great part about having so many friends that went to Bible College / Institute / Church with us. We get the opportunity to see you all again. The answer is, “We would love to!” We will be making calls to as many people as we can to see if we can share our ministry. If you want us to come, please let us know.
THANK YOU for being our friends and taking an interest in our ministry. We hope to see you soon!
The Schworers
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