Welcome to NicholasNews

Furlough 2012

Travel

July we just finished a very full and busy eight months in the U.S.A. It seems that when ever possible we were traveling one place or another. November we arrived in Dallas from our short vacation in Australia. After just three days we were on our way to Orlando to visit at the Wycliffe USA office. It was so good to see friends that after so many years. We rented a car to visit Gertrude's sister in Tampa.

We then flew up to Virginia to visit my family for Thanksgiving. During our time there we rented a car to visit supports driving from Virginia Beach up to Philadelphia. This was just a little taste of what our time home would be like.

While we were back to Dallas nearly every weekend we were on the road to visit different churches. As you look at the map you get an idea of all the places we went: Kansas City, MO (B), Baton Rouge, LA (D), Birmingham, AL (F), Austin, TX (H). On Easter Weekend we went from Longview, TX (J) to Houston, TX (K) then San Antonio, TX (L) then back to Dallas, TX. At each of the churches we visited we were given a warm welcome and opportunity to share what the Lord is doing in our ministry here in PNG.

Time in Dallas

In February I returned to the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics (GIAL). It felt good to be back. This time I took, Discourse Analysis and Translation Theory & Principles. Both classes were very challenging, I am pleased that I was able to do as well as I did. As I started classes and did not know how I would pay for them, but God has provided everything from scholarships our mission here in Papua New Guinea and a large gift from one supporting church, First Presbyterian of Schenectady, NY. That was an unexpected blessing.

A few weeks before starting classes at GIAL and stopped by to visit some friends at Dallas Seminary. As I was there I asked if I would be able to work there again. To my amazement I was offered job back. This was an unexpected blessing. This help us with added expenses of living at in the U.S. as well as helping us to pay off some of our debt from our airline tickets.

Another Road Trip

Right after I finished classes at GIAL we rented a car and drove to Albany, NY. We were able to spend 10 days in the area visiting churches and friends that have been supporting us over the years. It was so good to see so many, but was sorry that we were not able to catch up with everyone that we wanted to.

On the way back stopped in New York City to visit my brother and sister that we have not seen in a few years. As I was with my brother, Mark, we went to visit one of our cousin, Tony Blair, that I haven't seen in over 20 years. It was a fun reunion. He had just gotten home from work and so at 11:30 PM we are arriving at his door. He did not want to miss the opportunity to see us. It was about 1:00 AM as we were starting back to Mark's house. From NYC we continued on to Virginia to visit my parents who we saw on our way to New York as well.

E-mail