Ginn Family Missions

February 11, 2024

The past few months have been a season of many transitions. We both officially finished our medical training during the summer of 2023 and took part-time jobs, allowing us more time at home with Henry. Working part-time also afforded us the opportunity to spend precious time with family and friends. We have been able to reconnect with many friends from college, which has been such a blessing to us.

We sold our home in Skokie, Illinois, which had been our refuge from the stress of work for the past five and a half years. After our house sold, we were able to spend our remaining time in the U.S. split between our parents’ homes in Illinois and Michigan. These weeks were such treasured times, especially since the schedule demands of our medical training has often forced us to miss family functions over the previous five years. Henry loved all the attention that he received from hanging out with all his grandparents.

Since October 2023, we’ve had the opportunity to speak at several churches about our calling to missions and our plans to serve in PNG. Being able to share our stories and fellowship with old and new friends brought us much encouragement in the midst of the stresses of transition. It’s been incredibly humbling to receive the encouragement of many people who so earnestly support our calling. We’ve had, and continue to have, many people sending us messages of encouragement and to say that they are praying for us. We’ve also had many people support us financially with generosity that has exceeded our wildest expectations reaffirmed that we serve a God of possibilities.

We made it.
We left Chicago on Saturday, February 3 and arrived in PNG on Monday, February 5. It took four flights and almost 36 hours of total travel time, but we made it to our new home in Kudjip, Papua New Guinea without any major hiccups. All ten piececs of checked luggage made it all the way, too!

We live in a three bedroom house on the mission station that also contains the hospital, maintenance facilities, other missionary and staff housing, and the Nazarene College of Nursing. We spent this first week settling in, which included a trip to Mt. Hagen (about 1 hour away by car) for groceries and some housewares. Our house is furnished with dishes, cookware, furniture, linens, and appliances. For the first few days, different neighbors invited us into thir homes for dinner. We have been so thankful to get to know our new neighbors/colleagues more and feel settled in our new home. We even participated in the weekly missionary volleyball match (which is almost unbelievable since neither of us are athletic)!

We’ve also started language training, which is comprised of some self study with various textbooks and curricula as well as about one hour each day with language tutors. Our tutors are Moses and Lucy and they are wonderful. Moses was a chaplain here at the hospital but now serves as a pastor at a nearby church. His wife Lucy is a part time chaplain at the hospital currently. Both are excellent instructors and have helped us immensely in our language study. This relationship has also served to help us learn about the culture of both the Highlands (where we are) and the coastal region (where Moses and Lucy are from).

On our first Sunday in PNG, we had the opportunity to travel with several other missionaries to a “bush church” where one of our fellow missionary doctors was preaching. On the best of days, rural PNG roads frequently require 4-wheel drive and lots of prayers for safe passage. Given the amount of rain that fell the previous day, however, we encountered roads that were muddy messes with large ruts. In fact, one of our 4-wheel drive vehicles got stuck in the mud, requiring a tow strap and many helpful PNG locals to get it back on solid ground. We all opted to walk the final stretch up the mountain to church, which gave us beautiful views of the mountains. We were graciously welcomed by the church members and invited to participate in the service. Unlike most of our church experiences in the U.S., in PNG, women sit on one side of the church and men sit on the other side. The pastor introduced all the missionaries present and thanked us for attending. The singing and preaching were done in Tok Pisin, which is the primary language spoken in PNG, and the service lasted 2.5-3 hours. Since we have started our language training already (and because Tok Pisin has heavy English influence), we were able to understand a decent amount of what was said. At the end of the service, the church members gifted us fresh fruits and vegetables as a “thank you” for coming to their church. It was such a beautiful service and the people we met were so kind and welcoming. After service concluded, we walked back down the mountain to our cars and trekked home for lunch.

In the coming week, we will be starting orientation at the hospital and continuing with our language training in the afternoon. We have been reminded daily of God’s goodness and feel that we are exactly where He wants us to be.

Thank you for your continued prayers as we settle in and start work in the hospital. Below are a list of specific prayer needs that we have.

Praises:

• safe and smooth travels to PNG
• the welcoming friends and community of Kudjip
• the generosity of our finanical and prayer partners

Prayer needs:

• finding a trusted nanny for Henry
• language learning
• flexibilty and patience as we figure out our roles at the hospital
• Brian’s upcoming board exam

P.S.
Since we no longer live in the U.S. and do not have a U.S. cell service plan, our U.S. phone numbers do not work. Going forward, the easiest way for you to contact us will be through email. If you would like to have our PNG phone numbers to use on WhatsApp, please let us know by sending us an email.