Chris and Ingrid Hughes with Jonathan and Lydia serve among the Mamusi people of Papua New Guinea, and they are very happy to share that the Lord has provided for the Mamusi airstrip project through many churches and individuals. They have also heard that an agency that specialises in maintaining jungle airstrips are ready to assist the work! Please pray that the logistics can come together for the project to start as soon as possible. They are thankful that their co-workers, the Pavs, have just arrived back in PNG after their home assignment. This will make communication easier. The airstrip will be key to the work in Mamusi, for the long-term growth of the Church, and will also be a huge help for the community.
Since December, Chris, Ingrid and family have been away more than they have been at home. God has helped a lot as they have travelled around to different places. In January, Chris spoke in Norwegian four times at a conference in Bergen. They have also been able to visit quite a few churches and supporters around the UK. It’s been so encouraging to them to reconnect with people and even go to places they have never been to in person, but who have been pouring into the work for years. It has been humbling for them to walk into places where people are familiar with what they do and have been praying faithfully for them! It was especially precious for Chris and Ingrid when some from their Norwegian home church prayed for them after they shared the story of their last term in the church there.
Recently they visited the NTM Norway home office and a church in that area. They were encouraged as they spent time with people who have been on the field, who know what it is like, who listen well and who are generous and kind. They also enjoyed time with the leadership and seeing the beautiful Norwegian islands they call home!
As well as travelling and speaking they have made a start on medical appointments and hope to get various bits taken care of in the next couple of months. They sneaked in a couple of nice breaks with their wider family. Times like these don’t come around often for them; they are thankful for the privilege to be closer to family this year. Another highlight was visiting North Cotes to meet students, share in chapel and catch up with old friends serving there. Chris also got to give an update from Mamusi, shared from God’s Word and took part in a PNG village life demonstration at the REACH conference at NTM, North Cotes.
They really enjoyed having friends from the NTM-UK personnel department visit them for some debrief meetings. One of the fun things they had us do as a family was make a family crest – it was right up their street with a kind of medieval theme.
Just before Easter Chris and Ingrid will be running a kids’ holiday club with their local church in the UK and there’s a lot to prepare. They would love to see a good number of kids attend throughout the week, so they get to hear a clear Gospel message. After that, they head back to Norway where they will be visiting a couple of new churches as well as spending more time catching up with friends and family. They have a number of churches and individuals to visit in the UK too. Pray that they can finish setting up dates fairly soon and that they will be able to fit in as many as possible.
Praise God for:
Providing financially for the work on the airstrip.
Encouraging visits to different churches.
Progress with updating passports and visas.
The opportunity to spend time with family.
The amazing support network the Lord is raising for them in the UK and Norway. They rely on this wider team who pray for, encourage and support them.
Pray that:
God will use their time in the UK and Norway to expand their support team, challenge people to be more involved in reaching all nations and encourage believers to walk more closely with the Lord.
Their coworkers, the Pavs, to settle back in, and for much needed wisdom in handling the airstrip situation.
Mamusi will soon have a functional airstrip.
Medical issues can be sorted out while they are on home assignment.
They have wisdom in scheduling visits to different churches and individuals.
Pray for NTM-UK and Ethnos Norway – the needs are so huge all over the world and they would love to see more people coming forwards to serve with NTM all over the world. Pray for wisdom for how NTM can make the needs known and for receptive hearts in both countries.