The last letter you received from Jan and me was in October. Now I’ll fill you in on what has been happening these last few months. November was the start of the busy time for me at the office since we were getting ready for the Annual General Meeting in January. I love cooking Thanksgiving dinner; so again this year there were twelve people around the table to have the traditional meal. There was one other American couple and all the rest were from other countries. I have a short speech I give every year on the history of Thanksgiving and what it means to me. All the people that have spent Thanksgiving with us over the years enjoy the food and thank me for telling them about Thanksgiving.

December was like all my Decembers – lots of work and buying presents. This year we had Christmas dinner at the home of our friend Trevor Hattersley. There were fifteen very good friends. It was such a special day. In Papua New Guinea the twenty-sixth of December is always a holiday also. This is from the British tradition of Boxing Day. My understanding is that this is the day that boxes of food and gifts were given to people who delivered to your house (postman, milkman, etc). Jan and I and some friends went to one of the islands in Madang harbor for lunch and a swim.

January started out with a New Year’s Eve dinner and party at the Madang Country Club (golf club). On New Year’s Day we had about fifteen people over for homemade chili. I asked everyone to bring his or her homemade chili. There were people there from England, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium, and the USA and at least that many different kinds of chili.

Our Annual General Meeting was the third week in January. Jan and two of the translators held a computer workshop to introduce the new software Jan had been working on during the last half of 2001. The workshop was a success. The translators are all now using the same software from the beginning of their translation programs through to the publication of scriptures. The meeting went well and at the end all the Pioneer Bible Translator families came to our house for dinner. I cooked two big beef roasts and others brought the rest of the meal. It was a great closing to the meeting. For times like this I remember to thank God for the enlarged living room and dining room that Jan had done for me in 2000. We can have over thirty people eating, and it is still not too crowded.

During February Jan was busy installing new computers and updating software and the network in the office. I met with the representative of Pioneer Bible Translators’ new auditors in the United States. I have now completed all the work they required and sent it to them. Can you hear my sigh of relief?

In the last week of February and the first week of March I was in New Zealand for a Country Women’s Association South Pacific Area Conference. As you will remember Country Women’s Association is the service organization I have worked with all the time I have been in Papua New Guinea. My airline ticket was purchased through a gift from the South Pacific Area and the Madang Branch. This was a special gift for me and I was so happy I could attend with six Papua New Guinean women I have worked with for so many years. It was a good conference and the second week I traveled around part of the North Island of New Zealand. This part of New Zealand is known for its thermal activity. I also got to catch up with two families that used to live here in Madang and now live in Auckland, New Zealand. I enjoyed my trip but came back with the first cold I have had in a very long time. I still have a problem with my voice from time to time.

Jan has just gotten over malaria. We have been very blessed over the years. This is Jan’s third case of malaria and I have only had it once in the twenty-one years we have been in Papua New Guinea. He had very high fever for three days and one day he had three hours of chills and shaking. He was in bed for about four days and then worked half days for two. He is almost back to normal now.

Jan and I are getting ready now for our four months of home service. We leave Papua New Guinea on the ninth of May. We will spend a few days visiting supporters in Honolulu and arrive in Indianapolis on the fifteenth of May. We are looking forward to seeing our family and friends. I have sent e-mail to all our supporting churches telling them our schedule so far. If you received one of these please let us know soon when you want to have us visit your church.

We will miss the dedication of Pioneer Bible Translators of Papua New Guinea’s first complete New Testament. The Kire (pronounced KEY-ray) New Testament dedication will be the twenty-second of June. I am helping with the arrangements before we leave. This is a very special occasion for our branch and for David and Sharran Pryor and their family. This family led the translation team for the better part of twenty-five years. Please be praying for us as we plan, and then for the dedication and distribution of the New Testaments to the people of the Kire language group. Please pray that, as it is read and used by the people, the Holy Spirit will work in their lives.

Our time in the States is already filling up. We both have medical and dental appointments. Jan will attend a class reunion for his U. S. Army Helicopter Flight School the weekend after we arrive in Indianapolis. We know there could be high school reunions for both our high schools, but we have not received any final information yet. My family will have time together probably around my birthday in June. My friend Grace Flicker and I have known each other since we were four years old when my brother Tommy introduced us. I will be attending her daughter Shawn’s wedding in Missouri at the end of June. I will go to work for two weeks in July at Pioneer Bible Translators International office in Dallas, Texas. From there I will go to Idaho to join Jan for a short visit with our friend Carol Beth and her three children. We will spend as much time as possible while in Indianapolis with Hans, Tamara, Pippa and Audrey. We will spend time with Jan’s parents in Indianapolis also. As you can see, things are filling up fast, so if you want to see us, please E-mail me and let me know when we can get together.

After we leave the United States in August, we go for two weeks to Vienna, Austria, to visit friends. One of the couples we will visit will have their first child at the end of July, so we will get to spend time with the new baby. We now have so many friends in Vienna that it will be a very busy two weeks. After our time in Vienna, Jan and I fly back to London together, he then flies to Vietnam for two weeks and then on to Madang. I will spend five days in London and five days in Singapore, then on to Madang. Jan might need some prayer on his trip. He plans to backpack from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.

During the months since you last received a letter from us, my nephew, John Baisden, has had a valve replaced in his heart. He is doing quite well, and for that I am very grateful. My sister, Shirley Salmon, has had triple bypass surgery, then a second surgery to put in stents to repair two of the bypasses that did not work. My family was very concerned for both Shirley and John, we but thank God for his care and blessings as they both continue to recover. I would like for you to please continue to pray for them.

One of the translation families here in Papua New Guinea (Norm Weatherhead family) had to go to Australia and are now back home in Canada because their son Eric has leukemia. He started treatment in January. He has his good days and his bad days. It is still early in the treatment. Please pray for his recovery, and for his mother, father and brother as they all go through this time together.

We received Christmas gifts from several people and churches and want to thank you all for your gifts. The Easter packages we have received have been great, also.

Jan and I are looking forward to seeing you all soon.

Eunice & Jan Messersmith

This picture was taken from our front porch. The little boat is ours.