Philip and Natalie Hansen with Louis and Timon, have exciting news to share. God is so good, and they are thankful for all He is doing! Even in the middle of challenges, He keeps reminding them that He is good and worthy to be trusted.
One blessing for Natalie was to be able to join a ladies Bible study group over Zoom from a supporting church in North Carolina. What a blessing this study has been, particularly the sweet fellowship with those ladies.
Another very special gift from the Lord became a double blessing. He is entrusting Philip and Natalie with twins! They are super excited and thrilled about it, but also realise there will be extra challenges and changes as well. God has already started providing. They met up with a German couple who have twins already, who gave much advice and information, and might have some things for twins in Germany that they can borrow and use while they are there! So gracious of God, to show them that He is in control and will take care of them. They only had a brief time with the couple, but God’s timing was perfect!
Psalm 107:1. Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!
In July, Philip and Natalie attended a nine-day ‘Advanced Language Workshop’, another great provision from God. They were both able to attend because more than ten different precious ladies and girls from the mission station took turns looking after their two boys! As they now take the tools from the workshop and analyse the Kovol language, it is finally helping them to understand some of the more complicated aspects of the language.
Just before they returned to Kovol from the workshop in Goroka, a man from their village died. Natalie had been hoping and praying that even though he was sick, he would somehow recover and one day hear the Gospel in his own language. Her heart was breaking that he died without hearing it clearly.
After the workshop, they made themselves a tightly packed plan, with weekly goals, to finish analysing discourse features of the Kovol language before they leave for Germany. They are also working on a plan to build an extension to their house, to have extra space for the twins (and maybe use that extra space for a short-term helper to stay with them).
Natalie started home schooling Louis in 1st grade this year but her laptop kept crashing, making it really challenging to keep up with the goals. With other challenges arising (like finding a place in Germany to live, a team conflict and health issues) she started getting frustrated angry and emotional, forgetting that she had just seen God’s goodness in so many ways. In the past God gave Natalie peace of heart, and helped her to let go of her plans and expectations and trust that HE IS STILL GOOD, regardless of what happens and she knows He will do so again.
In less than a week, they will fly to their supporting mission station to invest more in their team relationship, due to the conflicts they are experiencing. Natalie will be able to have an ultrasound and see how the babies are doing. They plan to attend the regional missions conference at the beginning of October, then return to Kovol for a few weeks, before heading to Germany for the delivery in November.
They are thankful for all your prayers, and partnership in bringing the Gospel to the Kovol people! They are longing for the day when they will hear, and when they can share stories of transformed lives!
Prayer request:
– healthy twins and safe pregnancy
– team unity
– to finish Kovol language analysis well
– a suitable car and place to live in Germany
Thankful for:
– a good workshop in Goroka
– for the gift of twins