The first four months of 2019 have gone by like a flash for Gerolf and Mailis Wuest with Richard and Christian who are on home assignment in Germany.
At the beginning of January Mailis’s dad went to be with the Lord exactly two weeks after he trusted in Him. Gerolf and Mailis marvel at God’s grace and timing in everything! Please pray for the family as the loss of a husband, dad and grandpa was sudden and devastating.
Gerolf’s Mum continues to recover from her major surgery in January. Her faith in Christ during this time has been a great testimony of the Lord’s faithfulness!
After periods of sicknesses in January and February, their boys started to attend kindergarten, which they love. Initially both boys missed their Papuan friends a lot. Now they have made some good friends in the home-church (they still miss their friends in Dom).
Gerolf has been busy preaching and sharing about the Lord’s work in Papua New Guinea. He often attends different bi-weekly prayer meetings and Bible studies. Encouraging believers in their spiritual walk has also been important part of his time schedule. And he takes time to listen to recordings in the Dom language to keep it somewhat fresh in his mind.
Mailis is mostly focused on keeping the home front functioning but has had opportunities to share with ladies and spend time with friends (while the kids play with their kids) as well. As a family they have taken a few kids’ meetings, and found these to be very encouraging and fun.
Gerolf and Mailis keep in touch with their co-workers Jim and Judy Burdett who are in the Dom, Papua New Guinea for another couple of months until they go on home assignment in the USA. Their desire as missionaries is to see the believers growing in their personal walk with the Lord and the local churches becoming less and less dependent on outside help. Therefore, the time without missionaries there will surely be testing. They will have to depend on the Lord only in running the everyday church life and solving any problems that might come up. Please carry them in your prayers! Pray that challenges they will encounter would turn into times of growth and gaining maturity! Specifically pray for the three Bible teachers who are also serving as church leaders.
As a family, they will spend seven weeks in Estonia (Mailis’s home country) during the summer. They are very much looking forward to spending time with their friends and family. They will return to Germany at the end of July to attend a ‘Refresher Course’ for Ethnos360 missionaries. Another event that they are excited about!
Their initial plan was to return to PNG in September, but in fellowship with the leadership both in Germany and PNG they have decided to stay a bit longer.