David and Chris Price are thankful that the Lord gave them the ability to finish their various tasks well before they left Asia-Pacific for a short six-week visit to New Zealand.
In particular, they were blessed to be able to attend a goodbye service for the playgroup children that are leaving to start junior school this year. They were very excited to be able to present each child with a colourful illustrated children’s Bible storybook in their language. The books contained many of the stories they had gone through with the children during the year. Pray that these Bible storybooks will not only be read by the children themselves but that the wider family members will be drawn to read them in families that don’t yet know the Lord.
David and Chris were blessed when one of the parents got up in the service to say how grateful she was that David had been teaching them the truth of the Bible and how to pray. She also said that her son now reminded them as a family of their need to pray and communicate with the Lord. Pray that what they have been taught will be used by the Lord to lead them closer to Him.
For the past few weeks, David and Chris have been taking a short home-assignment in New Zealand. They have had a wonderful time catching up with friends and family. It has been very helpful for David to find some closure following his father’s death last December. David has also been able to spend some quality time with his Mum to give his siblings a break for a few weeks.
The Lord has gone before them in so many ways and has met their every need – some of which they did not realise they had! David and Chris have been especially blessed by the way their friends at Hastings Baptist Church have come alongside them and made them feel very welcome and loved. David and Chris look forward to spending more time getting to know people even more towards the end of next year when they hope to be in New Zealand again.
Whilst in New Zealand David and Chris have both had different projects to work on. David has been getting the paper work together to apply for his visitor’s visa so that they can spend time together in the UK next year. This is a mammoth task, so please pray for wisdom for him as he works through this. They are thankful to each person who has played a part in the process. They hope to make it back to the UK in May next year.
Chris has been working on her master’s course in wound healing and advising on wound care with the team in Asia-Pacific via the internet and has been encouraged to see how the team there have worked through devising care plans for some complex wounds. A major celebration for Chris was having an article published in the British Journal of Nursing. Her tutor had encouraged her to do it and it involved a lot of extra work but is finally done! Now she has to finish the dissertation by the end of September!
Returning to Asia-Pacific will not be easy for them after having such a good time in New Zealand and experiencing western living again. For a few weeks they will probably be the only westerners again at the hospital, please pray that their co-worker will soon be able to return from her home assignment in the USA. However, David and Chris know that the Lord is faithful and He will give them the strength to be faithful in the work that He has given them to do.